Skywalker Seeing Great Interest in Annapurna Circuit in Nepal

Posted by skywalker on March 12, 2014 in Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, Books by Bill Walker, Skywalker--Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail | 0 comments

Bill Walker, author of the Skywalker hiking series on the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail, reports that American audiences are exhibiting great interest in the most popular hiking trail in Asia, the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. This horseshoe-shaped circuit that runs through the Himalayas in Nepal ultimately reaches 17, 768 feet and requires approximately three weeks to cover.

“The beauty of the Annapurna Circuit is that it allows a person of average abilities such as myself who has never done and never will do any technical climbing to nonetheless reach great elevations in the world’s greatest mountain range.” Indeed trekkers normally ascend about 1,200 feet per day until finally reaching base camp at which point they head out early the following day to ascend the final 3,300 feet over Thorung La Pass, before descending 3,300 feet.

So will the Annapurna Circuit, which is already inundated with Europeans of all stripes, see an onrush of Americans the way the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage did in Europe in the wake of the Hollywood movie, The Way?    “Based on my experience, yes,” Walker says. “I got the idea of doing the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) while on the Appalachian Trail, and the idea of doing the Camino de Santiago while on the Pacific Crest Trail. Hiking trails are fabulous grapevines.”

Bill Walker is the author of The Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. He is also the author of Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail, Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail, and The Best Way–El Camino de Santiago.