A wrap of the biggest stories and best writing about the outdoors from New Zealand and around the world.

Eighteen-month-old Australian Lucy Brown, her parents and her 65-year-old grandmother completed the gruelling trek to the base camp in Nepal, which sits at an altitude of 5,364 metres, in November last year.

“It was a pretty special experience,” Lucy’s father Scott Brown said. “[We] definitely didn’t take it lightly, put a lot of training into it … there was, I guess, some risk but it ended up working out well.”

Lucy’s late grandfather, Ray Brown, was the first Western Australian to summit Mount Everest in 1999. Scott Brown spent his 10th birthday at the Mt Everest base camp with his father. A decade later, on his 20th birthday, he returned to visit a memorial site Nepalese locals built to honour his father and returned again on his 30th birthday. “Then 40 rolled around but we had an addition to the family,” Mr Brown said.

Mr Brown and his partner hope their trip demonstrates the possibilities of adventure travel with young children for other families. “For those parents out there that are keen to travel with their kids, I’d say go for it,” he said. Read the full story from ABC News.

Watch: Hikers film ‘10ft tall aliens’ in Brazil

Two “10ft tall aliens” have allegedly been spotted on a hilltop in Brazil. Eyewitness Sara Dalete said she was hiking with family members when they came across the mysterious figures, standing on the Brazilian island of Ilha do Mel.

She said it wasn’t possible to reach the hilltop where they were or communicate with them. According to Sara, the figures moved very quickly and seemed to be around 10 feet tall.

“Our summer is from another world. Even strange beings come here to enjoy our coastline,” a spokesperson for the government of Parana state said, making light of the sighting. Watch the video at the Independent.

Biking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing proves costly for Swiss tourists

Two Swiss tourists spotted cycling the Tongariro Alpine Crossing have been fined $400 each and had their bikes confiscated by the Department of Conservation.

Video footage obtained by DOC shows trampers on the Crossing watching on in bemusement as the two cyclists wind their way through the sacred landscape of the Dual World Heritage Tongariro National Park.

DOC Tongariro Operations Manager George Taylor says to get to the point where they were filmed, the rule-breaking mountain bikers had to pass signs warning mountain biking was not permitted, traverse hundreds of steps, go past numerous walkers – and not encounter a single other cyclist.

It is an offence under the Tongariro National Park bylaws (1981) to use a vehicle, including bicycles, off formed roads. “Mountain biking is clearly not a permitted activity – it’s an affront to those working to protect the fragile environment and cultural significance of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing to see people deliberately disregard the rules and clear communication of those,” says Taylor. Read the full story from Wilderness.

Hiker breaks “Calendar Year Triple Crown” record by walking 12,000km in 234 days

Hiking any of the USA’s big three national scenic trails – the Appalachian Trail (AT), Continental Divide Trail (CDT), and Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) – is a lifelong dream for many hikers. Completing all three trails, known as the Triple Crown, is usually a multi-year effort with fewer than 700 known finishers. 

A Calendar Year Triple Crown (CYTC) is gained by completing all three in a single year. Fewer than 20 hikers had ever completed the 12,000km feat when Billy “Wahoo” Meredith stepped up to the southern terminus of the PCT in Campo, California on May 2, looking for a record.

“I went into this with the FKT as my main goal,” Meredith says. “I just kinda jump into things. If I’m gonna try to do it fast, I might as well go for the record and see.”

Before Meredith’s hike, Jeff Garmire held the official self-supported record at 252 and a half days, set in 2016. On December 22, 234 days, 9 hours, and 55 minutes after setting out, Meredith completed his trek and secured the FKT. Read the full story from Backpacker.

DOC call to prevent the spread of invasive algae to lakes and rivers

People heading into Nelson Lakes National Park this summer are being asked to clean their gear at new cleaning stations to prevent invasive algae from being spread to the park’s pristine alpine lakes and rivers. The stations are located near the main access points at Coldwater, Lakehead and Sabine huts.

“Gear needs to be soaked for just 10 minutes in the 10 percent detergent solution at the cleaning stations to kill the microscopic algae,” DOC Nelson Lakes senior biodiversity ranger Melissa Griffin said.

“If gear has been dry for at least 48 hours and is bone dry, it is safe to use, but not if dry for less time. For example, if people have swum in Lakes Rotoiti or Rotoroa one day and they plan to swim elsewhere the next day, their togs should be treated with the detergent solution even if dry.”

NIWA testing found the water clarity at Rotomairewhenua/Blue Lake is the highest for freshwater in the world, with 70-80-metres visibility – close to optically pure. Read the full story from RNZ.