We follow an Irish amateur filmmaker on three famous multi-day treks in Africa, Nepal and Chile.
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Posted: 19 April 2016
by Edward Greenland
Three Epic Multi-Day Treks Abroad - Video
Sometimes you find a short film on youtube and think 'how can this possibly have so few views when Justin Bieber has billions?'
Well, when it comes to outdoor videos, there are so many gems out there hidden away from the mass commercial markets, you just wouldn't believe it.
Irish amateur filmmaker Martin Critchley is another great example of this. A man who has created well over half a century of brilliant hill walking / trekking films that only combine to the same page views as a cat falling off a table.
So here are some of his best three videos following him and a partner trekking three famous international routes including Mount Kilamanjaro in Kenya, Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, and the Eastern Himalayas in Nepal.
Five days in the Eastern Himalaya: The Sandakphu to Phalut Trek (above)
Official description of the video: This 70 km 5-day trek was organised by Adventures Unlimited, a Darjeeling based adventure travel company.
We did the trek in mid-September 2014, at the tail end of the Monsoon season. The route from Manjeybhanjan to Sepi Goan weaves its way in and out of Nepal and India and takes in the two highest peaks in the state of West Bengal: Sandakphu (3,630m) and Phalut (3,600m) on the Singalila Ridge.
Trekkers pass through the Singalila National Park and many interesting Sherpa villages, and, weather permitting, will get an uninterrupted view of the Himalaya Mountain Range some 320 km in length, including four of the highest mountains on Earth: Lhotse, Everest, Makalu and Kanchenjunga.
The 'Big W' Trek (W to E) Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile
Official description of the video: This film covers a three and a half day trek of the 'W' route from west to east in the Torres Del Paine National Park. We caught the catamaran from Pudeto to the camp site at Lodge de Montaña Paine Grande. We camped here for 2 nights using it as a base to explore the Grey Valley and Glaciar Grey.
The second day of trekking took us from Paine Grande to Campamento Italiano, where we set up camp and then ascended the wild and rugged Valle del Francés to the scenic viewpoint above Campo Británico.
Day three saw us undertake the long 23 km trek from Campamento Italiano to Campamento Torres via refugios Los Cuernos and Chilenos along probably the prettiest section of the park which offers fine views over the turquoise Lago Nordenskjöld. We rose pre dawn on day four to make the steep ascent to the Torres del Paine viewpoint. Breaking camp we hiked down to Hotel Las Torres to pick up a shuttle bus back to the park entrance in the early afternoon.
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro via the 7-day Machame-Mweka Route
Official description of the video: The Machame-Mweka route of Kilimanjaro is one of the most popular, traversing numerous distinctive eco zones ranging from steamy tropical rainforest to arid alpine desert, offering stunning scenery which we hope we have captured adequately in this film! We did the route over 7 days to aid with acclimatisation during the season of the ‘short rains’ in November 2014.
This turned out to be a good idea as the weather was actually very good overall and the route much less busy and congested than it would be during peak season, allowing us moments of true solitude. Our GPS recorded the almost 48 kilometres covered by this route and over 5,000m of ascent and descent.
We booked our climb over the internet with a local company based in Moshi (Kilismile) and were delighted with the excellent service provided by our guides, cook and porters. Our grateful thanks to them all.