Africa and Elsewhere
	Mount Kenya, Kenya
	South Coast Track, Tasmania
	Swiss Alps

Mount Kenya, Kenya

For the true trekking experience up Africa's second-highest peak, the Chogoria Route is the way to go. Though other routes get you up the mountain faster, they also increase your chance of suffering altitude sickness. Besides, who's in a hurry? Rush and you'll miss the amazing, strange, and wonderful landscape that surrounds you. Volcanic and glacial activity have combined to create phantasmagoric crags. Diverse ecosystems ranging from rain forest to moors to barren alpine uplands provide habitat for animals you thought only lived in zoos: rhinos, monkeys, zebras, and cape buffalo, not to mention the occasional lion. The path is fairly well-worn; guides can make life easier but are not crucial. If you have technical climbing skills, you can ascend the true summit, known as Batian, at 17,053 feet. If not, you'll still feel pretty bad-ass when you reach Point Lenana, the so-called trekkers' summit, at 16,350 feet.

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GORP Hiking Expert Karen Berger climbs Mount Kenya.
More info on Mount Kenya.

South Coast Track, Tasmania

Is your knowledge of Tasmania limited to what you learned from Bugs Bunny cartoons? If so, you need to get out more. A good place to start is the island's South Coast Track. Along the way, you'll scale the Ironbound Range and tumble through rain forests where parrots sit in fantastical leatherwood trees. You'll also camp on unsullied beaches strewn with abalone, ringed by eucalyptus trees shooting 300 feet toward the sky. What you won't see here is people—visitation averages about 2,000 hikers a year in Tasmania's largest unbroken wilderness. Wildlife along the South Coast Track includes most of the storybook creatures you learned about in grade school: bandicoots, seals, platypi, wallabies, and, of course, the shy Tasmanian devil. The best time to visit is November to March (Tasmania's summer). Thick rains sometimes make passage in the region difficult, so plan to keep the daily mileage low. You'll want to take your time anyway to fully absorb the unique ecological wonderland that surrounds you.

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More info on the South Coast Track.

Swiss Alps

For a more luxurious trek, it's hard to beat the Alps for their winning combination of hospitality and scenery. The Swiss Berghaus, or mountain inn, is a venerable institution, offering warm beds and victuals for weary travelers. Ancient paths tread by shepherds and herdsmen through the ages form a cozy network of thoroughfares among snowy peaks and glaciers. Along the way, you'll also encounter the "alps," the mountain farms and cheese dairies from which the mountains get their name. In the Jungfrau region, you'll walk beneath the looming grandeur of the Eiger, Monch, and the Jungfrau itself along with many fellow tourists of varying abilities. For a more remote journey among quaint French-speaking villages, try the Haute Route out of Valais. The great pleasure of inn-to-inn hiking is that, with food and shelter taken care of, you only ever need carry a daypack. Without the heavy load, you can devote full attention to the crisp mountain air and local charm that have drawn visitors here for centuries.

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