Nature attracts us with its beauty, its promise of serenity and its utter unpredictability. The wilderness calls out with a challenge attracting the most daring to places like Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro.

Then there other lesser-known places equally as dangerous—where death might be more eminent than when scaling one of the tallest mountains. Well, we haven’t compared deaths-per-year percentages, but we’re guessing it might be close, especially if people were allowed to actually visit some of the destinations.

Inspired by Listverse’s “Top 10 Places You Don’t Want to Visit,” we present the worst, most nauseating hikes in the world. Or these could be the greatest hikes for extreme thrill-seekers … if you’re into that sort of thing.

1. Ilha de Queimada Grande (a.k.a. Snake Island), Brazil – This 110-acre island off the coast of Brazil hosts a legendary amount of one of the most venomous snakes—the Golden Lancehead. Because of the high snake population (some say there’s five snakes for every square meter), the Brazilian Navy bans regular Joes, so you’re chances of actually hiking here are slim to none.

2. Eyjafjallajökull Glacier, Iceland – The Icelandic volcano, which was apparently named by a cat, has been all over the news lately. But did you know that it erupted near one of Iceland’s most popular hiking trails? Mt Pass Fimmvorduhals is about a 14-mile trek through the south coast of Iceland. During the first eruption on March 20 lava spewed across the trail, which is now closed until further notice.

3. Darvaza, Turkmenistan – Commonly known as the Door to Hell, a crater filled with poisonous gas that has been on fire since 1971. While there is no information on a trail near the crater, the area surrounding the fiery pit appears desolate. The only real danger threat would be taking a 20-meter plunge to the bottom.

4. The Maze, Utah – Named by Backpacker Magazine as one of the most dangerous hikes in America, The Maze is one of the least accessible sections of Canyonlands National Park. To top that, it’s one of the most remote spots in all of the States. Endless dead-end canyons that all seem to look the same can confuse hikers, and water is scarce. Backpacker aptly describes this place a “shadeless, 110°F funhouse.”

5. Mount Hua, China – This trek was pointed out by Galding as one of the craziest, most dangerous, most dizzying hikes in the world. What they didn’t mention is that those who aren’t so keen on absurdly steep paths can take a cable car and wave at your more adventurous friends on your way up to the top. Certain paths to the summit have actually been closed because of its extreme danger or revised for more security.

6. El Camino del Rey, Spain – With parts completely diminished, this walkway that sits 350 feet above a river has been closed by the government. However, that hasn’t kept adventurers from testing their luck along the 3-foot wide path. See the video below for nail-biting evidence.

Would you try any of these paths? Know of any other crazy trails? Let us know, and we’ll add ‘em to the list.

We traverse through the backwoods in order to get away from it all — to leave all that technology and noise behind. So, exploring the wilderness with an iPhone in tow is kinda an oxymoron, right? Maybe. However, trekking completely bereft of simple technologies (like a compass, for instance) can be slightly dangerous depending on the distance of your journey.

But what if your iPhone could act as a compass, a map, a GPS tracker, a weather reporter and a survival guide? Would it then make the smart phone an integral part of your camping experience? There is, of course, the argument that if you rely solely on your phone, it can lose its signal in remote locations. Or even worse, it can lose its charge.

Nevertheless, paired with the proper supplies, it can benefit you in many ways. Here are 18 applications for iPhones that will not only enhance your adventure, but could prove to be even lifesaving at times. (Hat tip to The Adventure Life and Triple Blaze for some app-etizing ideas.)

1. Trails ($2.99) – This GPS app lets hikers record, import and export hiking or biking maps. Featured by both the New York Times and MacLife, Trails can map while you listen to music or answer a phone call.

2. Bug Repellent ($.99) – Keep pesky mosquitoes and other insects far away with five different high-pitch frequencies. The noise continues to play after you lock your device.

3. Mosquito Device ($1.29) – Just like No. 2, this app emits a high frequency that is harmless to humans, pets and plants. As advertised, it can be used while camping, hunting, fishing, farming and sleeping.

4. Flashlight (free) – Considering you can own this glowing app at no cost, it’s a no brainer when it comes to lighting your way in the dark. Perhaps not exactly the same as a full-powered flashlight, but it’s definitely better than nothing. And it’s totally free.

5. iTrailMap 3D ($4.99) – Designed for skiers and snowboarders, this application gives you 3-D tracking on mountains and trails. You can record your tracks and also upload them on the web. There is also a free version that doesn’t include the 3-D aspect.

6. iBird Pro ($29.99) – While there are plenty of other bird apps out there, iBird Pro includes the most species (924 to be exact) as well as photos, drawings and the highest iTunes Store rating. It’s also frequently updated to give you the latest bird info.

7. MyNature ($6.99) – This comprehensive guide to animal track identification contains a database of 43 animals — from weasels to the largest grizzly bears. It will help you identify tracks and animals by their appearance including color and gait.

8. Critter Trax ($.99) – The less expensive version of No. 7 focuses mainly on wild game tracking. It contains more than 40 images of tracks, scat and photos of animals such as turkeys, whitetail deer, weasels, minks and more.

9. Knot Time ($2.99) – When you see a customer review with a headline like “Even my wife likes it! LOL!,” you know you’ve got a good app on your hands. A learning tool and field guide for tying knots, Knot Time pulls together 33 knots including the alpine butterfly, arbor knot, double surgeon’s knot, the rolling hitch and many more.

10. The Snow Report from The North Face (free) – Don’t travel in the mountains without this free app that updates you on snow conditions including 24-, 48- and 72-hour snowfall totals as well as avalanche advisories, five-day forecasts, trail maps and more.

11. Compass Go ($.99) – Given a thumbs up by Macworld, this simple GPS compass allows you to set a certain location in its memory so you can find your way back with ease. It’s applicable in the wilderness as well as helpful in finding your car in a crowded parking lot.

12. RiverGuide for Kayakers ($4.99) – If you’re thinking about kayaking, rafting or canoeing in the near future, do consider this app. In moments, it gives you the cubic feet per second of most U.S. rivers.

13. Trailguru (free) – Much like app No. 1, Trailguru will track your movements on the trail giving you vital statistics such as distance traveled, duration, pace/speed, elevation, and latitude and longitude. You can also post your activity to the Trailguru website, where you can visualize the outing on Google Earth and Google Maps.

14. Army Survival ($1.99) – With more than 1,400 pages, Army Survival is a comprehensive guide pulled straight from the U.S. Army Field Manual 21-76, titled “Survival.” It includes psychology of survival, basic survival medicine, shelters, water procurement and more.

15. The Boy Scout Handbook ($9.99) – Written by the Boy Scouts of America, this handbook is meant for both inspiration and information. It combines a century of history, vintage artwork along with a reference guide for the modern scout.

16. Elevation Pro ($.99) – The most popular elevation application includes USGS elevation as well as Google Maps and Twitter sharing. To find elevation of any place on Earth, all you have to do is touch the location, and the elevation stats will magically appear.

17. Topo 3D ($3.99) – What’s nice about this app is that once a map is downloaded, it will work without cellular or Internet connection. These maps include high-resolution, 3-D displays with GPS tracking.

18. RunKeeper Pro ($9.99) – Chart your fitness activity with an all-in-one application that keeps track of distance, time, speed, calories and route.

As much as we’re pro-hiking boot, we can’t ignore the back-to-basics movement. How basic, you ask? Well, it’s kind of like hiking around caveman style, but not quite.

Throughout ancient history — from the Egyptians to the Romans — people donned little to no footwear. The Barefoot Hiker, a guide book published in the early ’90s, outlines this bootless culture in 12 winding chapters. In chapter 5, the book even gives advice on how to hike barefoot IN. THE. SNOW. Our feet get numb just by thinking about it!

It turns out barefoot people are a very passionate group that even have a society dedicated to kicking off their boots. According to its website, barefooters “are a group of people who love going barefoot pretty much everywhere, all the time (not just around the house or at the beach), as a lifestyle choice, including out and about on streets, stores, in the country and hiking.”

Due to our natural footwear predilection, we can’t stop gawking at barefoot hiker videos on all kinds of surfaces — jagged rocks, slimy mud and subzero snow. Don’t get us wrong, we truly appreciate this sans shoes group, but we’ll be keeping our hiking boot technology like Thinsulate and Gore-Tex, thankyouverymuch. (By the way, we’re still trying to confirm whether this movement inspired that Britney Spears’ public-bathroom trek.)

In honor of this sole-ful bunch, here are the best of the best barefoot hikers on YouTube.

1. UPDATE: We have a new No. 1 video that comes from Barefoot Ted (BFT). He writes, “Maybe it is just my ego, but I can’t imagine a top 10 barefoot hiking videos that didn’t include a barefoot summit of the tallest mountain in the Continental USA…or am I missing something.” Nope! But apparently we were. BFT said he’s climbed it three times barefoot. Without further ado…

2. “My feet are kind of hurting,” John Sifferman, the man in this video, confesses. “But it’s too late, I don’t even have shoes … it’s just great to get out, exploring nature, going barefoot — that’s just a little perk. The real joy is just being out here, getting some good quality exercise.”

3. The hikers in this CNN report carry advanced hiking tools, yet deem shoes unnecessary. “When we first started out, we’d get a lot of astonishment like ‘did you forget your shoes?!” says one of the barefooters. Gotta love the new guy who tries to hike barefoot but puts his boots right back on. We’re right there with you, buddy!

4. It appears this hiker found a nice carpet of crunchy leaves to stroll upon. Let’s just hope there’s no critters napping beneath them.

5. Titled “Barefoot Hiking Proof,” this video serves as evidence of seasoned hiker going barefoot and is proud of it.

6. This barefoot video shows a man strolling barefoot up a mountainside. However, his trail is paved at first. He promptly replaces his sandals when the trail gets rough. And then the sandals go off again. “How do the little Ethiopian children do it? It hurts!”

7. Filmed by a hyper young boy, there’s a bit of icy barefooting going on in this shaky footage. “She’s bare FOOT. Man, she’s brave!” he calls to his mother.

8. More like a circus act, this barefoot stroller crosses a ravine via tree trunk successfully.

9. Just when you thought the last wintry video was bad, here’s two minutes of snow-crunching bootless hiking. How do his feet not fall off?

10. But is roaming without shoes on a rocky surface any better? This guy seems to think so.

11. Lastly, the “Barefoot Samurai” takes us on a strange (yet artistic?) adventure through a grassy forest.

(Image via Wikimedia Commons)

Sure, sure, you’ve gone on plenty of hikes. You know that sipping unfiltered stream water is frowned upon, let alone chugging gallons of it. And we needn’t remind you of how dangerous high-fiving grizzly bears and wiping with poison ivy can be.

While you might as well be a survivalist scholar, you have to admit it: There are still some things you can learn — or, at the very least, brush up on. And that’s where Dirt Time 2010 comes in!

For six days at an undisclosed location in Wyoming (don’t worry, they eventually tell you where), survival specialists like Christopher Nyerges, editor of Wilderness Way, and Paul Campbell, author of Survival Skills of Native California, will help you hone your staying-alive skills. Along with the basics — first-aid, fire-making and survival kits — this motley camping crew will give you the lowdown on braintanning, gourd-bowl and atlatl making as well as unarmed self-defense.

Other mentors whose brains you can pick include Rod Garcia, creator of the Skookum Bush Tool, and Joe Dabill, one of the most sought-after bow makers and instructors. The most recently confirmed guests include the authors of Naked into the Wilderness, a wilderness and survival skills book that includes primitive tool making and cooking methods.

According to the organizers, this event has limited spaces and will sell out. For more information, check out the official DT2010 page.

Here’s a slide show from Dirt Time 2008…

(Via ITS Tactical)

Last week we mentioned the upmost importance of bringing your own water along on a hike, and at the very least, boil it before you drink. The amount of random and disturbing creatures lurking in our natural water sources is a tad bit alarming — not to mention the added cocktail of chemicals and further troubling unmentionables that find their way in everyday.

So, to further alarm you, here are six of the nastiest bacterias and parasites that might be floating along just when you decide to quench your thirst. (We were going to show you more but honestly couldn’t stomach it.)

Name: Giardia lamblia
Domain: Eukaryota
The transmitters: Cows, beavers, deer and sheep.
Its ultimate goal: To colonize and reproduce in the small intestine.
Why it’s nasty: That small intestine, by the way, is yours. While it’s there, Mr. lamblia causes giardiasis, which will give you flu-like symptoms, especially in the stomach region.

Name: Salmonella
Domain: Bacteria
The transmitters: Aquatic vertebrates, birds and reptiles.
Its ultimate goal: This bacteria has been known to stay alive for weeks in a dry environment. And if you put it in water, those weeks can easily turn into months.
Why it’s nasty: While there are various strains, ingesting it can cause typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever or the foodborne illness salmonellosis. Yeah, yeah we know these might sound more like things you’d catch playing Oregon Trail. Nevertheless, they didn’t have bottled water back then, and you do.

Name: Toxoplasma gondii
Domain: Eukaryota
The transmitters: Warm-blooded mammals, specifically domestic and wild cats.
Its ultimate goal: To invade cells and slowly replicate in the parasite’s form.
Why it’s nasty: Leads to Toxoplasmosis. While some say up to one third of the world’s population carries this infection, it has proved to only have truly fatal effects on fetuses.

Name: Escherichia coli (commonly goes by its street name, E. coli)
Domain: Bacteria
The transmitters: Various strains can be found in humans, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, dogs and horses.
Its ultimate goal: To chillax in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms.
Why it’s nasty: While some strains are completely harmless, others can give you really serious bouts of food poisoning. And that’s never fun — especially in the wilderness.

Name: Cryptosporidium
Domain: Eukaryota
The transmitters: Humans, cattle, sheep and goats.
Its ultimate goal: To reproduce in the small intestines.
Why it’s nasty: Causes Cryptosporidiosis, or Crypto, which will give you an upset stomach, and is one of the most common waterborne diseases. While that sounds fairly minor, it could have you feeling not so hot for up to a month.

Name: Hookworm
Domain: Animalia
The transmitters: Infected mammals.
Its ultimate goal: This will also set up shop in the small intestines of a mammal, be it dog, cat or human.
Why it’s nasty: Once this parasite begins its work, you’ll experience flu-like symptoms. If left untreated, that can evolve into anemia and protein deficiency, including emaciation, cardiac failure and abdominal distension.

(Images via Wikimedia Commons)

Already planning that spring hike? Or perhaps cold-weather treks are more your thing? Whatever the season, there are 10 utterly serene and stunning locales that you won’t need a passport to penetrate.

1. Tongass National Forest

Being that it’s the United States’ largest forest, Tongass National Forest is statistically guaranteed to have plenty of breathtaking sights to take in. Located in southeastern Alaska, its 17 million acres holds numerous trails where you can spot an eagle, perhaps some spawning salmon and more.

2. Uncompahgre National Forest

Not only is this 100,000-acre forest covering part of the western slope of the Colorado Rockies rich in deep green foliage, it is also rich in history. Deserted mine shafts from the Gold Rush era are tucked along parts of the vast forest. And if for some reason, you get all hiked out during your stay, Uncompahgre offers excellent drives along the Million Dollar Highway.

3. Sierra National Forest

Home to Bull Buck, the second-largest tree on the planet, Sierra National Forest has enough sequoias to make even Michael Jordan feel small. The 2,700-year-old Bull Buck itself towers over 247 feet and will leave you feeling like you’re in some magical Alice in Wonderland dream. Located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, this California woodland’s hiking highlights includes John Muir Wilderness, Ansel Adams Wilderness and several others.

4. Black Hills National Forest

While the Black Hills National Forest sounds like something so bereft of color, many who know the area located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming well will tell you it’s anything but. Despite the fact that the hills do appear a shadowy shade of black at a distance, close up you’ll find a cornucopia of colors within its looming Ponderosa Pines, colorful grassland prairies and so much more.

5. Grand Canyon National Park

Climbing down a world famous gorge with a depth of about 6,000 feet (or 1 mile) can be a bit much for some. But for those with the endurance and will, this hike is bound to be one of the greatest adventures of a lifetime. The government site about Grand Canyon National Park gives lifesaving pointers such as avoid huffing and puffing to ensure your body is getting enough oxygen during that arduous journey.

6. Yellowstone National Park

Home to one of the world’s supervolcanoes (that’s been dormant for 640,000 years), this Wyoming wilderness safe haven also holds the famous Old Faithful Geyser and another active volcano. While the park’s geological attributes provide no eminent threat, perhaps it does add a hint of danger to your trek as you weave through trails overflowing with 1,350 plant species and the highest concentration of mammals in the lower 48.

7. Ocala National Forest

Be sure to bring a poncho along on this hike since an afternoon rainstorm is almost guaranteed in this tropical central Florida climate. Its 67-mile trail snakes north and south through numerous ecosystems including swaps where wooden boardwalks will keep your feet from getting soggy. And with camp grounds located every 10 to 12 miles, you’ll be able to rest easy throughout your journey.

8. Will Rogers Historic State Park

For those of us who enjoy a quick hike, but not a multi-day expedition, Will Rogers Historic State Park in Los Angeles presents itself as a fabulous city-meets-nature escape. And when smog isn’t trapping the city’s skyline like a sprawling Snuggie, you can spot the Pacific’s glittering ripples at Inspiration Point atop the Santa Monica Mountains.

9. Great Sand Dunes National Preserve

Containing the tallest sand dunes in North America, Great Sand Dunes National Preserve features several trails that give you great access to the dunes or allows you to hide from the heat beneath tree-lined pathways. Other trails within the park will invite you through pine forests covering Mount Herard and along Medano Lake, which borders the east side of the dunes.

10. Saguaro National Park

Located near Tucson, Ariz., Saguaro National Park is named after slow-growing, tree-sized cacti called saguaro, a symbol most often used to characterize the American west. And you won’t miss the saguaros while exploring the 165 miles of trails — including shorter trails for nature walks as well as longer routes for desert and mountain hikes.

(Images via Wikimedia Commons)