THERE IS ONLY ONE TODAY

Grand Canyon 2011

2011-02-20T13:32:00.007+13:00

From Grand Canyon 2011

Feb18

I got up early, early to drive up to the South Rim. I didn't leave until I called to be sure that I would be allowed to hike with he winter storm on it's way in. I was told no problem.

Last time I parked at the backcountry office and took the bikers express shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. This time I was arriving too late for that. Besides the hiker shuttle let off like 40 people who start hiking all at once. Where is the solitude in that.?Not that hiking the Grand Canyon is a solitary endeavor. However. I prefer not to be on the hiking highway.

Anyway the regular shuttle is supposed to come ever 15 minutes. It was a cold wait and a very long 15 minutes in which I contemplated the amount of clothing I was wearing. It turns out that this was the most clothing that I would wear all trip.

There were two men and their sons aged about 12 waiting for the shuttle as well. They were equipped (or so they thought) to camp at the bottom. Once the van picked us up they started discussing their equipment and they realized that they had left behind their tent poles. Lucky they realized at the top but they had to get off the shuttle and catch another one back to their car to get the poles.

I continued on and transferred shuttles at the visitor center and eventually made it to the south kaibob trailhead.

The sun seemed to be burning off the clouds. There was some snow and ice present but not enough for Yaktrax. I just picked my way around it.

As I descended it warmed and I stripped layers. I almost wished for shorts at one point. The sun was just right. It wasn"t too bright washing out the amazing colors of the rocks and it wasn't dark behind clouds.

I made it to Phantom Ranch in a little over four hours including many photo stops, restroom stops and lunch. The only unfortunate thing was my knee it started hurting towards the end. I feel like the tin man.

After I checked in I ran into a bunch of photogenic deer who begged me to take their photos and I obliged. Then I ambled down by the river to take more photos down there.

Dinner is at 6:30. It is served family style. I have ordered veggie chili. I think there is chocolate cake for desert. I will also (at an extra cost) a beer to round out he day.

The sky is blue now at the end of the day. Maybe the rain and snow that are supposed to start tonight at 11 are delayed. Otherwise I expect a wet hike out in the AM. I have lovely purple and as yet untested purple rain pants. Their biggest problem is the foot openings. They can be put on over boots so I think that I will have to start the day wearing them. The question is should I wear them over my regular pants. I will have to ponder this tonight.

The veggie chili was amazing. It was made with garbanzo beans and black beans. The tecate that I had with it went down a treat.

Feb 19
I left at 6am wearing the purple rain pants over my hiking pants. It was still dark but I was trying to beat the storm to the top. It started raining before I even got to the Colorado River. I was over dressed in my multiple layers and rain pants. I had to strip down a number of times before Indian Gardens. Finally I was wearing a short sleeve shirt, hiking pants, gaiters and my rain jacket and I was very comfortable. Although it was raining, it was a light, intermittent rain and was really no problem. I also still had some nice views. I made it to Indian Gardens at 8:30 and had a long break. From there it was up up up.

The first stop above Indian Gardens was 3 mile house. The trail became very sloppy with a river of water and several lakes instead of steps. At 1.5 mile rest stop it began pouring and there was ice on the trail. I put on my Yaktrax and had little problem. At some point above 1.5 mile rest stop there was an stone arch over the trail. On one side of the arch it was raining and on the other side is was snowing. It was very odd. The snow increased as I approached the top. I realized that the roads would be getting bad very soon. I struggled to get out of my shoes, Yaktrax and gaiters but my hands were frozen. I finally got my footwear off and used my rather new ice scraper to clean the very snowy windshield and headed out.

The roads were getting tricky fast. The subaru (now named Faith) did a wonderful job. I saw cars very out of control. One did a 180 right in front of me. I made it to Williams and decided to hop the freeway before it closed. Almost as soon as I got on I saw a car in the median. A little farther on there was some kind of accident on the east bound side. Traffic was backed up for miles. I only had to go about 20 miles and the snow lessened and driving became much easier. I made it home in the late afternoon. I have to say that hiking for 5.5 hours immediately followed by 4 hours of driving does not a comfortable body make but I am home safe and sound and happy.

National Geographic Lindblad Trip - Last Days

2010-07-01T04:08:00.003+12:00

From Ecuador

Photos here.

We made an early morning visit to one of the iconic places in the Galapagos - Cerro Dragon. It is a volcanic hill with views down to a unique rock formation next to a beautiful beach. It was many steps up but the view was very, very nice.

In the last days we went snorkeling many times. It was so great. What was so really good was that we saw penguins not only on the rocks but also in the water with us. It was really impossible to get a photo of them in the water. They are super fast swimmers. I was checking them out and one almost swam right into my face. It was like a guided missile shooting at me. It certainly startled me.

Austin did not snorkel until the last day. However, he saw everything on that last day. He got to see all the fish plus penguins, sea lions and turtles. It was great.

Thanks Dad for such a great trip. We all enjoyed it and will remember it always.

National Geographic Lindblad Trip - Santa Cruz Island

2010-07-01T03:18:00.003+12:00

From Ecuador

Check out the photos here.

Santa Cruz Island has a larger population than the other islands. The village of Puerto Ayora has a population of 15,000 people. It is home to the Charles Darwin Research Station. We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station and viewed some of its conservation efforts. Ever increasing tourism has impacted the amazing wildlife in the Galapagos. The Research Station studies the impact and tries to ensure the preservation of all wildlife in the Galapagos.

At the research station we saw our first tortoises. The station has a number of tortoises. They are pretty big animals and can weigh up to 800 lbs. Early visitors would take them from the Galapagos because they could survive a long time in ships and provide food for sailers. The population is now quite low. The Pinta Island tortoise has only one remaining specimen - Lonesome George. You would think him old at 77 years old but tortoises can live up to 150 years. If the research station can not find someone for George to mate with he may be the last of the Pinta Island tortoises. He won't mate with just any other tortoise. Some tortoises with similar DNA have been found on a volcano on Isabela island. Researches think that maybe a ship with a variety of tortoises wrecked and the tortoises made it to Isabela island. They are hoping that one of these tortoises will interest poor old Lonesome George. The research station has a breeding program to help increase populations of all tortoises in Galapagos islands.

The research station has worked hard to eradicate non-native species such as goats and rats on the various islands.

After checking out the station we walked into Puerto Ayora. There was plenty of shopping there that I ignored. My nephews got some crazy masks and pants. My brother-in-law also got some crazy pants. I am not sure anyone else bought anything. I used the internet which was much cheaper than on the ship.

We then headed up to the highlands. After lunch Huichi and I headed further up to check out large volcanic sink holes. These occur when a large bubble in lava forms. After the lava cools the bubble collapses forming a large sinkhole. Next we headed down to a farm. These farms have realized they can make additional income by opening up their farms and letting tourists walk around looking for tortoises in the wild. We did see a few. Apparently my sister's group saw like six.

National Geographic Lindblad Trip - Isabela and Fernandina Islands

2010-06-30T10:52:00.002+12:00

Check out the photos here.

During the night we went around the north side of Isabela Island and crossed the equator. It happened around 3am so I wasn't up to take notice. However, we rounded the top and headed south so we got to cross it again - all in one day. Surprise, surprise there was not actual line or sign there in the middle of the ocean. However we did spot blue whales (the largest mammal on Earth) and dolphins while doing this motoring around.

After breakfast went went on a panga ride along the cliffs of Punta Vicente Roca. It was quite beautiful. On the way back we saw a huge manta ray swimming along the surface.

Once we arrived back at the boat we quickly changed into our snorkeling gear for a snorkel. We hoped to see sea turtles in the water. The visibility was terrible. However, it was still a good snorkel. First of all a cormorant zoomed right by me in the water. We also saw two large turtles feeding on the rocks. I was watching one for quite a long time. It was right below me. I think that it wanted to come up for air and I had to move quickly to get out of its way. The photos are not as good as I would like due to the visibility but you can definitely see its a turtle.

Later int eh day we sailed towards Fernandina Island. Fernandina is the newest of all the islands and is still volcanically active. The island terrain is marked by ropy or pahoehoe lava flows. Here we saw many more marine iguanas. We had to be careful were we walked to ensure that we wouldn't destroy any of their nesting areas.

On this island there are many flightless cormorants. They lost their ability to fly because there was no need to expend the energy to fly due to the absence of predators on the island. They have these really cute tiny wings. They hold them up to dry just like the regular cormorants even though they don't need to dry them to fly. We were lucky enough to see rays in the water here too.

Walking back we saw the skeleton of a sperm whale. I got an awesome photo of Huichi pretending to chew on one of the ribs. On the way back to the boat we saw a really tiny little sea lion.

Poor little Austin feel asleep before dinner.

National Geographic Lindblad Trip - Floreana Island

2010-06-30T10:15:00.005+12:00

From Ecuador

Photos here.

We started the day with a pre-breakfast landing on Floreana Island. There were visited a "post office". This post office had been used for two centuries. People have put mail in a barrel and as other ships passed by they took the mail if it was addressed to someone in their area. I mailed a post card to my Aunt Karen. It has since been hand delivered to her in Connecticut. It arrived before I even left Ecuador. I picked up two post cards for Pagosa Springs because I am hoping to go up and visit a friend who lives up there. Even if I don't I am sure that someone in her family will be heading up that way and can take the cards to her and she can deliver them to the Pagosa residents.

After breakfast we (Huichi, JJ, Erica, Brody, and I) headed off to snorkel off a volcanic cone called Champion Islet. It was a little choppy and Brody stayed in the boat until in calmed down a bit. We did an amazing drift snorkel. This time the sea lions were playing all around us. It was incredible. We topped this off witha glass bottom boat ride.

We had lunch and then Huichi and I went out in the kayaks. We saw a number of sea birds on the rocky shore line. In addition we saw a group of rays swimming along the surface and one or two turtles swimming in the bay.

The day was not yet done. We went for a short walk across the island looking for flamingos. Brody used Dad's camera and took video. Unfortunately, we saw no flamingos. The turtles were nesting and we had to be very careful where we walked. We did find some baby turtle shells. They were not the fittest or luckiest and did not survive. It was a very pretty walk.

National Geographic Lindblad Trip - Espanola Island

2010-06-30T09:48:00.004+12:00

From Ecuador

Check out the photos here.

We landed at Punta Suarez on Espanola Island for an "arduous" hike of 1.75 miles. It was probably arduous for my five year old nephew but it was an easy walk with awesome wildlife sighting opportunities for me. There was wildlife everywhere. We saw marine iguanas and sea lions immediately. In fact you need to watch where you walk to ensure that you didn't accidentally walk on one. I was so excited to see an iguana swim. Iguanas are generally thought of as land animals. These found more food in the water and are the only iguana with a marine based food source. Other iguanas may swim to cross a river but these actively enter the water to eat algae. We also saw finches, warblers and mocking birds. As we walked further into the island we viewed the waved albatross. The waved albatross has a large body and is a great flyer but it has difficulty taking off. Generally it must jump off a cliff to take flight. I didn't see any doing this. Instead they were sitting on eggs or doing mating dances where they clicked beaks. Further along we stopped along some high cliffs where a bunch of marine iguanas were hanging out. They must be awesome climbers to get from the water to up there. There were some amazing blowholes a little farther on.

Later in the day we went snorkeling at Gardner Islet. We saw some huge schools of fish. When we snorkeled into a cave were were surprised by sea lions swimming with us. They cruised by at lightening speeds.

National Geographic Lindblad Trip - Baltra and North Seymour Islands

2010-06-30T09:09:00.004+12:00

From Ecuador

Check photos here.

It was a big trip to Ecuador for most of my family. After all of the really long trips to and from Australia it wasn't as bad for me. It was 4+ hour flight from PHX to Miami and then a long layover and a 4+ hour flight to Ecuador. The unfortunate thing was that the flight from Miami to Ecuador was greatly delayed. We eventually took off and made it to the hotel in Ecuador. It was the Hilton. It was a big change for me being used to the cheapest hotels and hostels. We didn't get much time to enjoy it though. We got in at 2am and our wake up call was for some extra early time like 5am.

It turns out that my brother-in-law, PJ, and nephew, Brody, sleep like the dead. They had the bolt on in their room and either didn't hear the phone or the ringer was off. Poor Erica was pounding on the door trying to wake them but couldn't get them to get up. She eventually got a key from the front desk but because the bolt was on she could only open the door a few inches. That seemed to help and eventually she woke up one of them and got them going in the morning.

We all had breakfast and then assembled to leave for a flight to the Galapagos Island. It was a typical case of hurry up and wait. Eventually we were told the flight was delay and we had until 9am. I went back to the room and slept. Long flights might not get to me but lack of sleep makes me a bit grumpy.

We eventually landed in Baltra on the Galapagos Island and took a "panga" (zodiac) out to the big ship. This in itself was a bit of an adventure - Dad walking with a cane, PJ can't swim, and Austin (age 5 and not an olympic swimmer) given a life jacket that he could swim in. The ship was great. Dad and I shared a "suite". We had lunch, a lifeboat drill and headed out for our first hike on North Seymour Island .

Now I have to say from here on out that the term hike was used throughout the cruise and the word "walk" was a better description. However, whether a walk or a hike the activity was filled with close encounters with animals. Sea lions met us at the spot the pangas dropped us off. We saw male magnificent frigate birds with their large red neck pouches. We also saw blue footed booby birds. The blue footed boobies were doing mating dances and nesting. North Seymour is one of the only Islands with land iguanas. We saw one or two on the island.

It was great that the staff fit in all of the day's activities even though the flight was late.

Volcano Circuit Carihuairazo - Chimborazo - Day 5

2010-06-29T07:39:00.004+12:00

From Ecuador

More photos here.

We ate breakfast, packed and headed up Chimborazo. Getting to the top requirs crampons, an ice axe and climbing experience. We were only going up to the next refuge and then past there as far was we could. Raul went with us to make sure we were safe.

The sun was behind Chimborazo as we headed up. It was cold even though we were heading uphill. We visited the Whymper Refuge. After that Raul gave us a choice - head to the Wymper Rocks or to one of the glaciers. We decided to go to the glacier. We were walking on dirt and snow on top of the glacier but got glimpses of the glacier as we went up. Above use we could see the large glacier and ice cascades. It was very beautiful. After awhile Raul said that we had reached the farthest we could go safely. We all hugged and took photos.

After a bit we meandered down a different way and took a group photo using my tripod and camera timer.

At the bottom we snacked, talked and waited for our transport. I felt like I became good friends with Hans and Dien. We had alot of laughs along the way and I feel really lucky to have been able to do the trip with them. Raul was a great guide we were lucky to have him. Raul works for Julio Verne and for himself. His email is raultenemaza@yahoo.es. He is currently developing a web site and if I find out what that is I will include it here at a later date.

Volcano Circuit Carihuairazo - Chimborazo - Day 4

2010-06-29T07:18:00.004+12:00

From Ecuador

More photos here.

I think that yesterday we kind of amazed our guide, Raul, when we asked for more places to walk to. We just expected to walk longer than we did. I guess that were were the fittest group that he had had so far because he said that we made much better time than the other groups.

We were only the fourth group to do this trip. It was a new program. Raul was really great and suggested that we walk the fourth and fifth day's distance all today. Then we would walk up Chimborazo on the fifth day before we left. We were all keen to do this as long as we had no altitude problems. We decided to make a decision at lunch when we reached the planned campsite for the day.

Despite it being very cool in the morning, I was very warm walking up, up, up. It was much drier on this side of the mountain. They call it a desert. The air became much thinner and breathing was more and more difficult. At lunch we all felt fine and decided to walk on to the Carrel refuge. I have to say on this day we didn't have alot more energy after reaching our destination but we were happy with our choice.

This refuge was much more crowded. There was a group of taxi drivers there have a big work party. They roasted a pig and were eating that. Of course, there were alot of jokes thrown my way because of the vegetarian thing. We also met a group of doctors from Utah. They were doing a study on the physiology of Ecuadorians related to living and visiting high altitudes. Because the refuge was such a busy place Raul and Diario had to wait to get into the kitchen. Since they prepare everything from scratch dinner took a little while. We were really hungry by the time we got dinner. The refuge had no electricity. Raul set up candles and we ate by candlelight. It was really cozy and nice.

After dinner we all had a touch of altitude sickness - headache and stomach. We went to bed hoping to acclimate overnight.

Volcano Circuit Carihuairazo - Chimborazo - Day 3

2010-06-29T06:47:00.007+12:00

From Ecuador

More photos here.

Walking in rubber boots left a couple of sores on my feet. I applied new skin and wrapped the sores with self adhesive tape. At breakfast I asked Raul about wearing my own boots. He said that the first part of the trail was still very wet and I would need to start out in rubber boots. However, he would put our regular boots on top of the horses so we could change into them as soon as the trail conditions improved.

The first part of the trail was very wet and muddy. One horse got really stuck in it and slogged around alot. We were a little worried about it. Dien's shoes were on top of that horse and when she put them on later they had a bit of mud on them from all that thrashing around.

After about an hour were were finally able to swap the rubber boots for our hiking boots. Dien, Hans and I were relieved to have our own shoes back on our feet.

We saw a large group of llamas deep in a glacial valley below us. Raul told us that there were 200 llamas. It turns out that one of our horse handlers, Diario, is part of a 100 person collective that owns those llamas and the land they graze on. The llama is used to make clothing and as a food source. They have one baby a year.

Further on we saw waterfalls and a large lake called the Laguna Cocha Negra. There was no existing glacier there but there had been on in the past. Raul did not remember it but Diario who grew up in that area said that a glacier did exist there when he was young. Climate change is so obvious in the change of the glaciers around the world.

Farther on along the trail we came across another group of llamas. None of the llamas that we saw were wild. They were all domesticated. They have very interesting faces. We were able to get a few photos of these with Chimborazo looming up behind them.

Not too far past there we found our nights lodging - a basic refuge. There were no other travelers there besides us. I had my own room. Dien and Hans (who are married) shared a room with bunk beds. We ate lunch outside in the sun under Chimborazo. It was magnificent.

After lunch we walked down to see the wild vicunas. Vicunas are related to alpacas and llamas. They have much less hair but it is very soft. In Ecuador the Incas only allowed royalty to wear the wool from vicunas. Despite the fact they can survive at very high altitudes they are fragile. They can not live in captivity. They were extinct or nearly extinct in Ecuador. They have been reintroduced from Peru and are now protected.

Vicunas make a strange screeching sound - like a bird or a monkey. They would look at us and make the sound. They they would run (very quickly) away. They are alot faster than llamas who are not slow. We chased them around a boggy area below Chimborazo trying to get good pictures. Mostly I got pictures of their butts has they ran away.

Volcano Circuit Carihuairazo - Chimborazo - Day 2

2010-06-27T03:01:00.006+12:00

From Ecuador

The photos are here.

We woke to a beautiful sunrise that showed off Carihuairazo and Tunguraha. Breakfast was great. We had hot drinks, granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, bread, jam, butter, and hot drinks. After breakfast we packed up and headed out. We walked straight for 4 1/2 hours to the next campsite. The walking wasn´t particularly hard but it was long. On the way we saw llamas, horses and various birds. We saw the native Polypepeis trees (paper trees) which are not very large. In fact most of the vegetation was quite small.

We camped in a valley between Carihuairazo and Chimborazo. We were met by two new horse handlers and three new horses. The others went home.

We had worn rubber boots again today because of the extremely wet and muddy conditions. Rubber boots don´t breath well and by the time we reached camp by feet were sopping wet from sweat. They were also white. I was so glad to take off my rubber boots. I had also developed a blister.

After lunch with our boots off and changing into our regular hiking boots, Hans, Dein and I headed up to take a better look at a nearby waterfall. It turns out we went the harder way but we still had fun.

Later we returned to camp for dinner and, of course, an early night. Again my zipper broke in the night. This time I applied the technique that Raul had used and I was able to get it to stay zipped up for the night. Unfortunately, it would not go down past a certain spot. However, I was warm and that was all that mattered.

Volcano Circuit Carihuairazo - Chimborazo - Day 1

2010-06-27T02:39:00.007+12:00

From Ecuador

Check out the photos here (for those of you who don't like to read)

The Volcano Circuit trip was five days of hiking and camping around two volcanos - Carihuairazo and Cimborazo. I used my SPOT to mark various locations along the S shaped route around the volcanos and created the map below.

View Volcano Circuit in a larger map

We met at the Julio Verne office at 9am. I was, of course, early. There I met Gerdien (Dien) and Hans who were doing the trek with me. We filled large plastic bags with the gear that we would take with us and left the remainder of our stuff in the Julio Verne office. Julio Verne provides all the camping gear, food and other things like rubber boots, rain-wind gear, a balaclava. We also met our guide - Raul.

We set out to Tisaleo, a mountain village, in a jeep with all our gear piled on top. In Tisaleo we unloaded the gear and put it on three horses. We also had to take off our hiking boots and put on rubber boots. I may at the back of my mind thought this was overdoing it but later I was really glad to be wearing these boots because the trail was so muddy that at certain times I sunk in so far that I thought the mud would go over the top and/or the boot would become lodged in the mud and not come out.

We walked down into a glacial valley called the Salasaca Valley. It had all the markings of a glacial valley including huge rocks dotting the floor of the valley. There we lunched. We sat on large clumps of vegetation that I thought would be wet but were not. From here we walked up to our campsite. Along the way we had very nice views of Carihuairazo - a nearby mountain. When we reached our campsite we were startled to learn that the guide and two horse handlers set up our tents for us. I guess this is kind of first class camping. It then started to rain. I hid in my tent and listened to my ipod hoping it would stop. After the rain it was really clear and we had views of Tunguraha, Altar, and Carihuairazo mountains. Hans, Dien and I walked up to the top of a nearby hill and had some nice views of Chimborazo as well. All of these mountains are actually volcanos and some of Ecuador´s 17 active volcanos. Tunguraha has been very active for the last 11 years or so. I could see it letting off gases from the top.

Dinner was a very nice with potato soup, rice and a garbanzo bean dish. The others also had avocado salad and chicken. After dinner as one does when they are camping we went to bed. A small disaster struck not too long after that my sleeping bag zipper (issued by Julio Verne) broke. There was no way that I could go throught the night like that so I had to ¨knock¨on the tent of the guide and ask him what to do. He performed some magic and it worked again (for the time being). The sleeping bag and fleece liner were very warm and comfortable otherwise. I had a big tent to myself.

Cotopaxi

2010-06-19T10:15:00.003+12:00

From Ecuador

Check out more photos here

This morning I had a great breakfast of tortillas (potatoes mashed and fried) and eggs. Eggs and potatoes have been a staple meal for me here. People in Ecuador do not seem to get what ¨no carne¨means or vegetariano. Today I heard a story of a girl who asked for them to take the meat off a kabab. She saw what she thought was a carrot on it but it turned out to be a sausage.

I then headed on on a tour to Cotopaxi. It is one of 17 active volcanos in Ecuador and I don´t think those include the Galapagos Islands. Well as my luck goes it was a cloudy day. However there were tons of wildflowers which I love. The guide showed me some blueberries. He then had two in his hand and ate one. When I put the other in my mouth he said ¨no¨. It turns out to be a drug berry which I had missed. My spanish is not what it used to be. I looked at the bush later and the leaves were almost identical. The berries were only slightly different.

We went up to the upper parking lot at something like 4500m and hike up to the refugio. On the way we saw some wild horses. It was a steep hike and it started snowing lightly. The refugio is kind of like huts in New Zealand or the chalets in Glacier NP. They have beds. They also have a kitchen and a small staff. I got a cup of hot chocolate for $1. We then hiked up to the edge of the glacier at 5000m. I have to say that breathing at this point was labored at best. I could see the edge of the glacier but not muc more because it was really snowing at his point. We headed back down to the refugio and waited to see if it would clear. It didn´t. We walked down in white snow on black lava rock. It was pretty but it was disappointing not to see the mountain. Once at the bottom as luck would have it, it started to clear. We still couldn´t see the top of the mountain but we could see the lower glaciers. Maybe would should have waited a little longer. The amazing thing about these glaciers is they are on red lava rock. The contrast between the white glacier, the red rock and the blue sky was very pretty.

We then headed to Laguna Limpiopungo and I did a short hike around the lake. I saw several birds and a rabbit. It was nice. I am now back in Latacungs and heading to Riobamba in the morning.

Zumbahua

2010-06-18T05:24:00.006+12:00

Photos here.

I decided to stop in Zumbahua because of the ¨fiesta¨. Although it is a pretty area there is nothing much to recommend about this town. I did enjoy the fiesta. The main event was the bull fighting. I like it first because it was FREE. I am such a cheap skate. It was very different from what I thought. The arena consisted of wood platforms that people used ladders to climb on. You could also watch from below these wood platforms. That was were I watched from. There were sometimes as many as 40 guys in the arena. Only a few had the capes. The rest mainly seemed to wait until to bull looked there way. Then would climb up the platform. I saw two that were not quick enough and blood was spilled. Also a poor dog really got it from a bull when it was in the arena. Sometimes the bull went crazy and just attacked the wood platform - maybe because people were throwing things at it or poking it. I wondered if they ever broke through. There were a couple of other things that people did that were kind of interting. One guy had two long poles. He would egg on the bull until it charged him. Then he kind of vaulted over the bull using the poles. It was funny to look at. Another guy egged ont he bull and then kind of did an acrobatic move and fllipped over the bull.

Also around the ring were various musicians. They played a very long tube. People were dancing and drinking alot. I asked one of the cowboys if i could take his picture. He wanted to charge me $5. I laughed and walked away. He came back to negociate. I couldn´t understand him at first. Then I realized he wanted a kiss in exchange. Again I laughed and walked away. I got a picture of someone else.

In the morning I was going to take the 6am bus to Latacunga. The hotel was locked up tight and at first I thought I coldn´t leave. I finally figured out which door I could leave from and how to work the lock. I got on the bus. They didn´t want to put my large backpack below. Then the bus stalled out on the hill. My backpack slammed down into the stairs onto the bus. As I tried to get it the driver stalled again. I went flying and so did part of the bus. So I wedged myself in until things go under control. Then I inched down to get my backpack and the water bottle that went flying. I really don´t understand this bus´s route. At one point it went up a hill and turned around. Then we drove for while and then on another road we backed up for about 2 miles. We then sat around for about 30 minutes maybe an hour. Finally we left and I arrived in Latacunga.

I have booked a one day tour to Cotopaxi Volacano. I am not summiting. That takes two days. I will walk up to the refuge and walk on the glacier for a bit.

Quilotoa

2010-06-18T05:04:00.004+12:00

From Ecuador

Check out more photos here.

I arrived at Quilotoa around 2pm. I found a place to stay. Interesting that when I asked about hot water they said sure. When I checked the water, there was none. I was assured that it would be turned on. This little problem was ongoing my entire stay. Note to self - ¨not only is hot water important but water all the time is important¨. It was really cold and I never did take a shower. I was lucky to have water to flush the toilet.

However, it was a beautiful place. It was really cloudy and I thought I wouldn´t have any views. I was wrong. I did have great views with the cloud coming over the rim of the crater and moving down. The elevation there was about 4000m. I decended about 4oom to the lake. It was a steep path and I knew I would be huffing and puffing upon my return. The lake is 250m deep and filled with cold water and sulfer. There are no fish and it is not possible to drink the water.

I did huff and puff on my way back up but I made it. Through one rather narrow section of the path I had to share the path with a guy and his horse. It was pretty scary but nothing bad came of it.

The next day I planned to hike to Chugchilian. A young kid said he would guide me for $10 dollars. He said it would be a three hour hike and we could return by bus. Luckily I checked with the owner of the hotel I was staying at. He said it was a six hour hike and the only returning bus returned at 4am. I instead walked around the rim of the crater. It was a beautiful walk with lots of flowers. Some like lupin I recognized. I was also able to see part of Volcano EcuCotopaxi in the distance.

When I returned from the hike a truck dropping off three travelers was in front of my hotel. He offered to take me to Zumbahua which was where I was heading for $5. However, I could take the bus for $1. I negociated him down to $3. It was certainly an experience riding in the back of one of those things - dirty, bumpy but good viewsw. We went a back way so we could take one of the drivers kids to the hospital. They were full of info and told me all about the fiesta in Zumbahua.

Riobamba

2010-06-18T04:55:00.002+12:00

My trip to Riobamba was supposedly on a non-stop bus. However, it seemed to make alot of stops to me. It was a very pretty ride to Riobamba. I managed to find my way from the bus station to a hotel. Unfortuantely all the tour operators were closed. There didn´t seem to be any other travelers except toursts on a big tour bus visiting KFC. I left a message via email for one of the tour operators. She came to find me at my hotel. Unfortunately there were no trips going out that week. She was optimisitic that someone would maybe come in and books something so I could join up.

Unfortunately, that wasn´t the case. Whether is was the volcano or the World Cup there were no other travelers around and the trips had a two person minimum. The tour operator gave me some instructions to visit a nearby llama farm. I succesfully navigated my way there via the local bus system. I was given a tour in spanish. I only understood about a quarter of it but it was okay. I took some pictures of llamas and alpacos.

The next morning it was raining. I decided to head out. I took another ¨executive¨bus but again there were many stops. I arrived in Latacunga just in time to catch a bus to Quilotoa. That seemed to be fate. On the way the bus was slowed because a group of Ecuadorian cowboys were hearding some cows into town. I later learned it was for a ¨fiesta¨.

I will add some photos when I get back home.

Siyeh Pass - Awesome, Wet and Cold

2009-08-15T11:30:00.003+12:00

Check out the photos here

I woke up today and didn't want a repeat of yesterday - sitting around all day because of bad weather. I decided I would hike or leave. After a quick look at the weather I decided I could probably get a hike in before it started raining again. (Remind me never to take a job as a meteorologist)

I drove up to St Mary checking out the clouds as I went. They did look threatening but I figured I could hike fast and beat them. When I got to the trailhead, the ranger led hike was grouping up. I thought I would pass them on the trail but I never did. Later I found out that they canceled the hike.

The hike up started along Siyeh Creek which was pretty and then went through forest. There were lots of flowers. Later it came out in a valley with views of the mountains around Logan Pass. I also passed by a glacier. There were several lakes at the base of Siyeh Mountain. They were different colors which I find odd. I went up and up and finally reached the pass. There I had some great views down three different valleys - the one I came through, one that angled north east and the one that I would walk out in. There was also a huge glacier. It was on the Going to the Sun Mountain (I think). This was certainly one of the best views I had of a glacier in the park until it was obscured by cloud. At this point I probably should have hightailed it out but I took my time taking photos of the valleys, glacier and sheep.

It soon started to rain accompanied by thunder and lightening. The rain was unrelenting and by the time I exited the trail I was very, very wet and cold. Unfortunately, the shuttle didn't come for quite a long time making things worse. Finally back in my car I cranked up the heat. My feet must have been really cold because they hurt as they warmed up.

On the way back to East Glacier I found new snow on the road.

I am going to head out in the morning. I am sad to leave Glacier National Park. I have had such a good time here and there are many more things I would like to do but I have a feeling that it is time to move on. I am glad that I got to do Siyeh Pass even though it was a bit uncomfortable.

Check out the photos here

Almost Beared Out AGAIN

2009-08-14T03:43:00.005+12:00

From Granite - Flattop Backpack

Granite Park - Flattop Backpack Photos

I decided to do one last backpack before leaving the lovely Glacier. The plan was to head out the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to Granite Park and the next day to continue on the Highline Trail to Fifty Mountain then make a U turn and head to Flattop for the night and exit the following day at the Loop on the Going to the Sun Road.

My friend, Aaron, hiked the first seven miles with me to Granite Chalet. The Highline Trail is awesome with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains and Lake McDonald. The skies looked very threatening but no rain came. About a mile or two in we had a grizzly encounter.

There were seven people stopped on the trail in front of us. There was a grizzly sow and two cubs near the trail. We could see one of the cubs playing in a tree. We decided to try and pass them on the trail. Those of us with bear spray pulled it and removed the safety. As we got a bit closer the bears moved up on the trail and we retreated. They (the bears) were not aggressive but they were too close for comfort. Not for a couple of guys -- they didn't retreat far. Instead they took photos. The grizzly was big and beautiful. The cubs were small and black instead of brown with white facial marking. They were sooo cute. However, I focused on safety versus photos and didn't get any photos. For those of you on Facebook Aaron posted a photo of the grizzly and cubs on my profile.

This watching the bear and retreating went on for a few repetitions. What we needed to do was get off the trail and let the bear go by. However, more and more people were piling up and everyone had a different opinion of what to do. I climbed up to let the bear go by but others did not. This put me in a very bad position as the bear might see the people on the trail and come my way to avoid them so I was forced to return to the trail. We retreated further to the point the trail became quite narrow on the edge of a very steep cliff leaving no maneuvering room. There was no way that I was going to walk along that with a bear. By this time the group was even larger. It was chaos. The photo guys had not retreated as far and had gone off the trail where I wanted to. The bear went right by them like I said it would. However, it must have seen us and was now above us. We decided the best option was to move forward on the trail. It was a certainly a scary moment but we got by without incident. The bear didn't seem to care much about us one way or the other.

Farther up the trail we came across the guys who were ahead of us. One had accidently discharged his bear spray and was trying to clean it out of his eyes. It also got on his water bottle so he couldn't drink out of it.

The rest of the hike to Granite Park was uneventful. We did see some male big horn sheep. Once at Granite Park I set up my tent and had lunch with Aaron. He then headed down to the Loop as he wasn't spending the evening. I headed up to Swiftcurrent Lookout at the top of Swiftcurrent Mountian. It was about five miles round trip but very uphill and very, very windy. The payoff was incredible. The views at the top were fantastic. There were views of the many lakes of the Many Glacier area - Bullhead Lake, Fishercap Lake, Sherburne Lake and some that I don't know the names of. There were also views of Swiftcurrent Glacier. Because the top of the mountain was bald, it offered 360 degree views of all the surrounding mountains. This was certainly one of the best hikes that I have done in Glacier.

It was so windy on the way down that I was blown backwards a few times but I made it down safely. Although it was really, really windy, my tent was sheltered in the trees. The toilet at Granite Park was interesting. It had no flies because if its unique construction.

The next morning I headed out for a very, very long day. I walked the Highline Trail north of the Granite Park. It was a clear day with phenomenal views. The moon was still out as well which was pretty cool. The wildflowers flourished along the trail. I walked twelve miles to the Fifty Mountain area and took a long break there. Then I headed back along the Flattop Trail. This walk was through burned forest. It offered great views of where I had previously walked on the Highline Trail. For some reason I thought this would be all downhill. I was wrong. The last six miles seemed to go on forever. Also there was a conspicuous lack of water. I began to worry that there would be no water at the campground. Finally I got to the campground and found that there was water. I was pretty happy because I had decided to walk another five miles out if there was no water.

The next morning I walked six and a half miles out to the Loop shuttle stop. There were some pretty creeks along the way and lots of raspberries. I at them along the way slowing me down. I also noticed huge piles of bear scat with berries in it. I began calling out regularly to ensure that I didn't surprise any bears along the way. Luckily, I didn't see anymore bears. It began to rain lightly on my way out. I made it up to the shuttle stop and got a shuttle to the top. While in the shuttle is started pouring so I guess I got out just in time. Rising early and getting going often has many advantages.

Sorry No Posts for awhile

2009-08-13T09:02:00.003+12:00

Sorry that there haven't been any recent posts. Between having friends in town and socialising lots and my computer refusing to connect to the wireless at Brownies, I was not able to get much done.

Here are a few things I missed posting about.

Triple Divide Day Hike (17 miles): I hiked from the Cutbank trailhead up to the Triple Divide Pass and then down to Medicine Grizzly lake with a few people who work at the Browning hospital. It was a pretty great day. (Click on the link to see the photos)

Painted Tipi (16 miles or so): I hiked up to Two Medicine Pass and then out a ridge to Painted Tipi Peak with Jane (from Sierra Vista) and a few of her friends from the East Glacier area. It was a great day. We had good views and it was awesome standing at the top of Painted Tipi. We also saw a herd of female big horn sheep on the way up.

Swiftcurrent Lookout Take 1 (16 miles or so): This was a very interesting hike in that I was almost "beared out" at the beginning when a bear heading the same way as I showed no concern that I was on the trail. I couldn't get by it. I was walking along with bear spray in one hand and a camera in the other. It finally moved off (SLOWLY) when a group of ten more people came on the trail. I had some great views of the Swiftcurrent Glacier on the way up. The hike was beautiful but by the time I got to Swiftcurrent Pass the mountain top was clouded in. I hike up to the Lookout anyway. It was a cold hike into the cloud but kind of cool in its own way. There were, of course, no views from the top. I had driven a group of Chinese girls out to hike Grinnell Glacier on a ranger led hike. When I got to the bottom, I found out that they no longer do that hike but the girls were okay. They did the hike on their own and had a fabulous time.

Avalanche Lake and Hidden Lake (8 miles)
The weather did not look good today. I ended up cancelling my hike (Siyeh Pass) and taking the Chinese girls to Avalanche Lake. It was good to hike it again when it wasn't raining. I finished the hike early and read my book while waiting for the Chinese girls. In the meantime, my friends from SLC (Matt, Yun and Arwyn) showed up and I had a chat with them before they headed up the same trail. When the Chinese girls finished I decided to try Logan Pass. Of course, there was no parking but at least it wasn't raining. I dropped the girls off to do Hidden Lake and drove down the road to the nearest pull out. I was waiting for parking there when a bunch of goats showed up. Then it was chaos as everyone pulled in to take photos of them. I was about to despair about getting a parking place when a flag girl for the construction held up the traffic so I could get the next parking space. Then I hoofed it up the road and on to the trail. I saw a deer eating some of the millions of wildflowers and soon caught up with the Chinese girls. It was good but short day.

Cobalt Lake (10 miles)
Watching the backcountry report I saw that one of the routes that I wanted to backpack was available so I got up early and went to Two Medicine Ranger station and got permits for two nights backcountry. Since I was there I hiked out to Cobalt Lake. There were so many ripe berries on the trail - huckleberries, service berries and whortle berries. On the way back I heard a noise and saw a moose. I watched it for quite awhile eating various plants and sucking up water. Pretty cool.

The Goat ate my flip flops

2009-08-01T08:56:00.003+12:00

I just finished a fantastic backpack. Check out the photos here or view the slide show at the bottom of the blog post.

I left early Wednesday morning from Jackson Glacier Overlook. After returning to my car to retrieve a forgotten hiking pole (five minutes down the trail), I was off. The weather started out perfectly but as I neared Jackson Glacier it clouded up so I wasn't able to see it well. (Just an excuse to return as far as I am concerned)

As I approached Gunsight Lake I was disappointed to see the mountain covered by clouds. However, slowly it cleared. While having a snack and taking photos I met a couple of guys from Seattle. I walked over Gunsight Pass with them. It was very cloudy and there weren't views from the top. It also started raining but lucky for us there is a shelter at the top and we took a break there waiting for the storm to clear. A little while later the rain stopped but the clouds remained. We descended from the pass to Lake Ellen Wilson campground. The guys headed on from there and I set up camp. The campground was on the edge of the lake and surrounded by huge boulders. The cooking area was below a huge angled boulder. There were both goats and deer at the site. It was a very nice place to camp.

The next day I went over another pass to Sperry Chalet. It was a comparatively short day (3 miles). I then walked up the Sperry Glacier Trail to the bottom of Sperry Glacier. After going up, up, up, I came to the Comeau Pass which is a staircase blasted into rock. It was crazy. Overall the hike was fantastic - lots of waterfalls, pika, goats, snow, mountains, glaciers. It certainly was one of the best that I have done.

On the way back to the Chalet I saw a goat with two kids. This was kind of unusual because all the rest seemed to have one kid. The goat family was walking right down the trail. When they got to a trail crew working, the mother went off to the right and the kids went left. Then they started bleating for their mother. It was so funny. I talked a bit to the trail crew and they told me they had seen a female grizzly with two cubs on the trail in the morning. It came face to face with a goat. There was a confrontation and then the goat took off up the hill. The grizzly followed but was too slow. What an amazing thing to have seen!

Back at the campground I found that my flip flops had become a snack for the goats. They must not have liked them too much as they are still wearable. Below is a photo showing their nibbling on one shoe.

From Gunsight Sperry Backpack

Since for me backpacks are synonymous with rain, it rained cats and dogs during the night. I stayed dry but had to pack out my very wet tent. The trail was wide so I wasn't drenched by water off the vegetation on the way out. However, I was very nervous coming down a I found that I was following very recent bear tracks. I called out often and didn't encounter the bear which was good. The photo below compares the bear tracks to my foot.

From Gunsight Sperry Backpack

Two Medicine Pass revisited

2009-07-29T09:56:00.004+12:00

I got up very early and set out for the ranger office to get some more backcountry camping permits. I ended up driving in following the ranger in to the park. This time I got out of my car and waited by the door in the chilly morning. I ended up getting permits to go over Gunsight Pass and go to Lake Ellen Wilson. It will be a hard first day and a very light second day.

After that I headed up to Two Medicine Pass. I hiked it with Jane, Becky and Al a couple weeks ago but we were socked in at the top and had absolutely no visibility. This morning the weather forecast was 70% chance of precipitation so I was racing the clock on the weather. The forest was ablaze with flowers including monkey flower.

From Two Medicine Pass

I kept up a steady pace to the top and beat the rain. There were some awesome views up there. I had hoped to walk the ridge to Painted Tipi peak. However, between the forecast of 45 mph winds and likely rain and being by myself I decided to put that off. It was still a great hike. I watched the rain come in and decided to make tracks out. I got some rain on the way down but the bigger issue was the water from the vegetation soaking my shoes. They are drying now. Hopefully to be good by the morning for my trip up Gunsight pass.

You can check out a map of the trip here

My photos are here or you can see the slideshow below.

Belly River Backpack

2009-07-27T11:24:00.004+12:00

I went to the ranger office early one morning to get permits for a backpacking trip. I arrived 10 minutes before opening and no one else was there. I parked in front of the office waiting for it to open - thinking I was first in line. WRONG -- just as the office opened a guy walked in right in front of me. I sat there in disbelief. Later when I didn't get the permits that I wanted I was wondering if I should have said something but I had a great backpack so it must have been fate.

From Belly River Backpack

I left from the Chief Mountain trail head. It is just 500ft from the Canadian border and is often patrolled by mounted border patrols and sometimes border patrol on foot. I didn't see any of them but the ranger said that they often dress up in camouflage and scare hikers.

I headed down from the trail head past the Belly River Ranger station and up Cosley Lake cutoff. I could see the Stoney Mountain peaks in the distance as I traveled. I passed by the Gros Ventre Falls and then came to Crosley Lake. This lake is so beautiful. I would love to camp by it sometime.

Awhile after I left the lake I heard a crack of an animal walking on sticks. I thought it was a deer or a moose but I made noise anyway in case it was a bear. I rounded the corner, continued to hear the animal and looked over to see that it was a bear. I think it was a black bear cub. It didn't seem at all concerned about me. It didn't even look in my direction even though it had to know that I was there. I didn't even take a photo. I walked on "bearly" pausing giving it all the space it needed.

I went on to my campsite on Glenns Lake. It was about a 10 mile backpack to here. The deer in this area are quite forward. They want any sweat soaked items for the salt. I was sure to put away anything like that but I heard a story about one deer that went after hiking poles attached to a tent and almost pulled the tent down.

I went up to Mokowanis Lake after I set up camp. It was a very pretty lake with some spectacular falls behind it. I tried to go to the falls. There is not an established trail to the falls and the "social trail" was so overgrown that I worried that if I twisted an ankle or something like that nobody would find me and I had to make due with seeing them from afar. I did get a good close up view of the Stoney Mountain Peaks. I returned to camp, ate dinner and went to bed.

Around midnight a mega storm came through with massive thunder, lightening and torrential rain. The thunder seemed to go on forever as it echoed off the surrounding mountains. My little tent held up okay. The storm seemed to let up around 7am but then another storm of the same magnitude came through pinning me in the tent until 10am. I had hoped to go up to Stoney Indian Pass but knew that I wouldn't make it with a late start - not to mention the need to dry out my tent which was dry on the inside but very wet on the outside. Instead I returned to Cosley Lake and dried out my shoes and tent. Afterwards I backpacked down to my campsite at Gable Creek.

The next morning I was up early and headed out to Elizabeth Lake where I was camping for the night. I went by the beautiful Dawn Mist Falls on the way. They are so powerful that they kick up heaps of mist. It was a short day and I got there before most people moved on. I meet a couple of folks who work in the Park. They gave me lots of info about the park. It was great. I walked half way up the Ptarmigan trail and was rewarded with views of Lakes Helen and Elizabeth. There were also views of many glaciers and peaks - including the Old Sun Glacier. As if that wasn't enough I saw a Bald Eagle spiraling up the updrafts and Trumpter Swans on Lake Elizabeth.

From Belly River Backpack

From there I walked back down to Elizabeth Lake and out to Helen Lake. The walk along Elizabeth lake was nice. It actually went along the lake shore unlike many other trails. The meadows were filled with wild flowers. Another day in paradise here in Glacier National Park.

That night there was another lightening storm which lit up my tent. Although the rain was not as bad as the previous storm it was enough to make a mess of the trails My rain pants, shoes, socks and feet were soaked in under an hour. I guess waterproof doesn't cover Montana wet trails and vegetation. I slipped and slided my way out of the Belly River and returned to East Glacier to clean and dry my gear and myself.

Check out the full size photos here or view the slide show below

Dawson Pitamaken Loop

2009-07-27T10:50:00.003+12:00

This is a long loop to start with - 18 miles or so - going up one pass, walking a ridge to another pass and descending through that pass. However, for us it was extra long because one of the trails was closed and we had to detour. The North Shore trail was closed because of a dead carcass and bear activity. Instead we took the South Shore trail adding an extra couple of miles.

The day started out spectacularly when I saw a moose on the side of the road on the drive into Two Medicine. Then on the trail we saw a grouse with its chicks. The South shore trail wasn't too spectacular except for some pretty views of the lake. From the end of the lake we headed up past No Name lake to Dawson pass. Once at the top we had views views of Two Medicine lake and No Name Lake as well as the beautiful mountains in the Coal Creek Nyack area.

From Dawson Pitamaken Loop

We saw several goats along the ridge. They looked very different from the white coated ones that we had seen earlier. I am not sure if they were a different kind or if they had already lost their winter coat.

We took a break at the Pitamaken overlook where I spotted a small animal with big, big ears. It was a pika. I should have snapped a quick picture but I was so excited that I called everyone's attention to it. It didn't like the attention and retreated to its rocky home.

From there we walked to Pitamaken pass and where we had spectacular views of Pitamaken lake, Oldman Lake and another lake that doesn't seem to have a name.

At the end of the twenty miles I was pretty done in but it was a GREAT hike with spectacular views but don't I say that everytime?

Full size photos here or check out the slide show below

Cracker Lake

2009-07-21T13:34:00.003+12:00

We went out to Cracker Lake today. It was my second trip. The first was the fateful trip with the very friendly moose. Today we had a very friendly moose and marmot.

From Cracker Lake and its Animals

See the rest of my photos here (full size) or in the slide show below.

Swiftcurrent Pass to Granite Chalet

2009-07-21T11:50:00.003+12:00

A big day today - up and over Swiftcurrent Pass to Granite Chalet. This is a picture of what we are going over.

From Swiftcurrent Pass

It was a great day. There was just a bit of wind which helped keep us cool in the really sunny bits. The trail out passed by a couple of lakes and got a view of all the lakes at once. It was really nice. I was glad to go to Granite Chalet a second time because we had fantastic views. I was able to get photos of mountains that had been clouded in and some fantastic photos of the chalet from above.

See full size photos here or view the slideshow below.

Grinnell Glacier Hike

2009-07-21T11:25:00.003+12:00

When hiking the Highline Trail I did a spur trail called the Grinnell Overlook. It climbs to a ridge that overlooks the Grinnell Glacier. The top of the photo below is where we hiked to last week.

From Grinnell Glacier

Today we hiked up to the bottom of the Glacier from the other side and I took the above photo.

The Grinnell Glacier was featured in the movie - the Inconvenient Truth. It is rapidly disappearing. In fact, all the glaciers of Glacier National Park will be gone in something like twelve years. It is quite sad.

However, this hike was very beautiful. You can see the full size photos here or view the small version slideshow below.

Iceberg Lake and Ptarmigan Tunnel

2009-07-18T16:07:00.004+12:00

I met up with my new AZ hiking friends for a hike to Iceberg Lake, Ptarmigan Lake and Ptarmigan Tunnel. On the way up to Iceberg lake we saw a grizzly in the distance. We felt lucky and walked on almost walking into a light colored black bear. We backed off and it went its way and we went ours up to Iceberg Lake.

From Ptarmigan Tunnel

We spotted a ptarmigan (type of bird) on the way but no other wildlife on our way out. The trail was surrounded by wildflowers and was very beautiful. Iceberg lake had many more icebergs in it this visit. We had it to ourselves for our visit which was really nice.

We then headed up the steeper trail to Ptarmigan lake and Ptarmigan tunnel. The tunnel was blasted through the hillside to create a pass for horses. It was a hot walk up but very pretty. The biggest problem was the mosquitoes which tried to eat us alive at the lake. We made a quick dash past there.

On the way back we cooled off at a small waterfall. The water was icy cold but felt great. After we felt refreshed we headed down the trail where we met up with an old friend - the bear we saw on the way up. We back tracked up the trail but the bear just kept walking up the trail. It is much easier walking than through the woods for them.

From Ptarmigan Tunnel

Soon another group of hikers came down. We kind of got off to the side and the bear not liking the number of people there went off into the woods. As we continued down the trail we found out that the bear had walked right by a group of people checking out Ptarmigan Falls. They didn't have much room at all to move out of its way.

At the bottom we treated ourselves to some huckleberry frozen yogurt. Yum!

I am heading up to Many Glacier for a couple days to camp and hike with some of my AZ hiking friends. There is no cell or internet service there.

Photos here

Medicine Grizzly Lake

2009-07-18T15:44:00.003+12:00

I decided to follow up on some errands first thing. For example, I found out that I passed my AZ Biology teaching exam. Yeah!!! Then I headed up for an easier hike. I went out to Medicine Grizzly Lake - 12 miles but only 500 ft elevation gain.

From Medicine Grizzly

It was a very pretty hike initially along a creek and then through flower filled meadows to a lake at the bottom of a bowl of cliffs with waterfalls streaming down them. I met a group of guys mapping the lake. However, their solar panel failed so they were mostly kayaking and fishing while batteries were obtained.

See more photos here or in the slide show below.

Highline Trail

2009-07-16T15:03:00.005+12:00

Yesterday I planned to hike to Cobalt lake and possibly up to Two Medicine Pass. In the parking lot I met three people from Sierra Vista. They invited me to hike with them and it turned out that we were very compatible hikers in terms of speed, etc. We hiked out to Cobalt lake and then decided to head up to Two Medicine Pass. Well, the clouds closed in and we saw alot of clouds and not much else but it was a good day all around. This is a picture of us at Two Medicine Pass.

From Highline Trail

Afterwards I had a Sam Adams Light and some chips with my new hiking friends and we decided to hike the Highline Trail together. In the meantime a friend from an earlier hike turned up and decided to hike with us as well so we were very grizzly safe with five people in our party.

The Highline trail goes from Logan Pass to Granite Chalet. It is 7.6 miles with alot of up and down. We also went up to Grinnell Glacier Overlook. I am not sure how much elevation gain it was but it was very steep. At the top we saw Salamander glacier and Grinnell glacier. We also had views of Grinnell lake, Lake Josephine and Lake Sherburne. We took a break and a few photos. Then we hiked up above the overlook and got even better views.

From Highline Trail

Check out the best of my full size photos here or view the slide show below

Trip to Going to Sun Road

2009-07-14T14:02:00.002+12:00

From Going to the Sun Road

I took three nice people from the hostel to the Going to the Sun Road. My initial idea was that they would take the shuttle and go wherever they want. However, in the end we all went up to Logan Pass and hiked Hidden Lake. Two of us hiked all the way down to the lake. The other two went to the overlook. It was great. There were lots of goats and marmots and even a deer. The lake was really beautiful. We hiked past the lake to some falls below it. At the end of the hike we all met up and went for another hike to St Mary falls and Virginia falls. It was really nice.

Check out the rest of the photos here or in the mini slide show below.

Goat Haunt Backpack

2009-07-14T00:43:00.003+12:00

As I walked back into my campsite at Akamina (2 miles) it started pouring rain. By the time that I reached the campsite I was pretty wet but the rain had stopped. I decided to check out Forum Falls and Forum Lake to dry my pants and jacket out before I settled down. I stopped in and saw the ranger on the way. I let him know that I paid for two nights in US dollars. He hadn't even realized that I hadn't paid the evening before. Akamina is comparatively cheap - $5 per night. It is actually in a British Columbia provincial park bordering Waterton National Park. They provide fire wood and a place to store your food. It was a great little place.

It was quite cold that night and the next morning. My fingers were numb by the time I finished packing up. I felt warmer after the two mile walk back to my car. I then drove to a picnic area and sorted my gear for an overnight backpack to Goat Haunt. Deer were all over Waterton townsite - even mothers and fawns and they showed no real fear of humans. There were signs about keeping your dogs away because apparently the deer have killed a few curious dogs while trying to protect their fawns.

The hike out to Goat Haunt turned out to be over nine miles. For some reason I thought it was supposed to be much less. It was pretty with views of Waterton Lake along the way. It was interesting to cross the border. There were two boundary markers with different dates. It would have been interesting to know a little more about that. At one point I came across alot of fur on the trail. There was also a skull. It was an obvious kill of a bear or cougar. I was a little nervous after that as the trail was overgrown. I was calling out quite often to let the big carnivores know that I was coming.

From Goat Haunt Backpack

At Goat Haunt I had to go through customs as it was in the USA. This was only showing my passport. I dried out my gear for an hour or so and then headed out to check out Olson Mountain, Olson Creek and Lake Janet. I was tired but it was a beautiful walk. There were lots of oddly shaped mountains. I would really like to explore that area more sometime in the future. On the way back to camp I went up a trail to Rainbow Falls. This was totally uninspiring. However there was a muddy area on the way were a deer was sucking at the mud. It turns out that they get minerals of some kind from this area.

The next morning I headed back to Waterton. It was a still beautiful morning and I got some great photos of mountains reflected in the lake. There was no immigration process here. The ranger was really nice and made sure I knew that there was a Mt Olson and Olson drainage.

From Goat Haunt Backpack

I was calling out again on the way back but at one point I rounded a turn and saw a huge brown rump. My heart stopped but I soon realised that it was a moose. This wasn't too bad but they can be dangerous too. I pondered what to do. I called out and made noise but it kind of hung out on the trail for a while. Eventually it moved off and I edged down the trail. No problems.

After I finished walking back to Waterton I drove down to East Glacier. The Chief Mountain Hwy was fantastic. I really hope I can check out the Belly River region that is along there.

Full size photos here or see slideshow below.

Waterton Lake National Park (Akamina and Lineham)

2009-07-10T11:21:00.004+12:00

Last night I camped at Akamina which is actually a park in British Columbia. I hiked in 2 miles from the Waterton trail head. A funny thing on the way to the campground. I met a couple from Perth. The girl worked in Mullewa last year about an hour away from me. It is a small world.

I was the only one at the campground that I saw. My gear all worked well and it rained so it was a good test. The down side was that I didn't have the cash to pay for the campsite. I had to leave an IOU.

In the morning I hiked out and hiked the Lineham Ridge hike. It was 17.2 km in length and gained 950m in elevation so it wasn't a walk in the park. It started off great when a deer walked right by me as I organised my stuff. The trail was surrounded by wildflowers which helped ease the climb. On the way up I stopped at Lower Rowe lake. It was pretty. I saw three marmots peaking their heads out below a rock. I can't believe it but I got their picture.

From Lineham Ridge Trail

I was extra bear cautious calling out often. I think this scared a group of big horn sheep because I didn't see them on my way out but when I looked back I saw them. I walked back down hill to get a photo. The hike went up, up, up past the tree line through snow and scree but it was worth it. The view from the top was super.

In the morning I am backpacking out to Goat Haunt in the USA (passport needed) and checking out Olson Creek.

View photos here or watch the slideshow below

Eiffel Lake

2009-07-09T06:08:00.002+12:00

I was up early checking out the weather to determine the best course of action. I found that it was very foggy but I could see blue sky above me. I decided to head out and hike to Eiffel lake. I drove to the trailhead at Moraine Lake. The lake was a gorgeous color.

From Eiffel Lake

I headed up the trail after taking a few photos of the lake. It was up a series of switchbacks. At the top of the switchbacks I was disappointed that I didn't have a good view of the lake but the view of the Faye Glacier was great. Also the jagged snowy peaks were beautiful. It was quite overcast. However as I approached Eiffel Lake blue sky opened up overhead. I was so lucky. I also saw more of the marmots on the way. On the way down, it started snowing a little. That was quite funny. Especially when I bumped into a couple of hikers with bare butts on the trail as they changed pants. It was really quite a busy trail for that.

At the bottom I did another walk along the lakeside to try and get a nice photo of Moraine Lake. It was such a beautiful color. The only downside was the helicopter. They were upgrading one of the trails and it was flying back and forth with supplies.

Icefields Parkway

2009-07-09T05:44:00.003+12:00

I woke to a rainy and very cloudy day. I had hoped to do several hikes as I headed south on the Icefields parkway but the weather put that in doubt. As I drove through the deep glacial valleys much of the scenery was obscured by cloud. Needless to say I as a little sad as I hadn't spent much time taking photos on the way up. I stopped and checked out the Athabasca Falls which were pretty impressive and I saw a coyote right on the road.

From Icefield Parkway

Luckily, the Columbia Icefields were not covered by cloud. I took a few photos, spoke to the information desk and headed out to hike to Wilcox Pass. It was a nice hike. The views of the glacier were good but the cloud was closing in. As I approached what I believe was the end of the trail the drizzle of rain turned into a gush. I also heard a loud crack which was either a big avalanche or thunder. I took this as a sign to head back. On the way back I spotted some big horned sheep on the hillside. They were too far away for a photo but I could check them out with my scope. There were also lots of pretty wildflowers on the way. On the way down it stopped raining and I started questioning my decision to turn around. As I got to my car it started pouring down so it turns out that I did make the right decision. I drove in the rain for quite awhile. I had to cancel my plans to hike in various other areas. On the upside, I spotted a "bear jam" - a bunch of cars pulled over to check out a bear. It was a black bear walking parallel to the road. It was pretty cool.

Check out the rest of the full size photos here or view the mini slide show below.

Jasper Hikes

2009-07-06T15:20:00.002+12:00

I woke early and posted photos and blog write ups. I checked out the trail status and discovered that one of the trails that I was going to hike with Bev and Steve was closed. I decided to go to the Malgine area instead. I popped by Bev and Steve's chalet and let them know that I would be going it on my own.

I headed off to the Malgine area and was dismayed by the very, very slow speed limit - 60 km/h. That is less than 40 mph. On the upside I saw a caribou.

From Hikes from Jasper

The views of Medicine and Malgine lake were nice along the way. I hiked the Bald hill trail, the Moose Loop Trail, Mona Lake and Malgine Canyon. It was not as long as it sounds. I saw some very interesting marmots along the trail. Here is a picture of one that kept sticking his head out at me.

From Hikes from Jasper

I had dinner with Bev and Steve who are heading to BC in the morning. I am heading back down the Icefields Highway stopping and hiking along the way.

Photos here or in the slide show below.

Plain of Six Glaciers

2009-07-06T01:02:00.005+12:00

From Plain of the Six Glaciers

On the way up to Jasper I did an awesome hike called Plain of Six Glaciers. As you would have guessed you see six glaciers. I didn't count them but there were many. I linked this hike with a hike to Lake Agnes. There were two tea houses on the way but they were so busy that I didn't get anything at them but they looked fun.

It was a long drive to Jasper - not in distance but in time. However, the glacier views along the way were awesome. I can't wait to check some of that out on my way back. I did see mountain goats on the way to Jasper as well. In Jasper I saw an elk right by my hostel.

Hikes from Castle Mt in Banff Canada

2009-07-06T00:44:00.002+12:00

I have to start this blog day out with a rant. I know that Johnston Canyon is a busy place and lots of people are enjoying hiking in the area. However, a few things really spoil it for the rest of us

1- Hiking while listening to music with your friends is not fun for the rest of us trying to hear the wildlife.

2- Puffing on a cigarette while walking on the trail is unpleasant for those of us wishing to enjoy the forest smells.

3- Acting as if the trail is there for you and you alone is inconsiderate.

Now about day 1 hiking in the Castle Mountain region --

I met up with Bev and Steve in their hotel yesterday. They enjoyed greyhounds on their balcony and then we went out for a nice meal. We arranged to meet at my hostel in the AM to hike. We went up to Stanley Glacier and hike it. It is 8.4 km roundtrip with an elevation gain of 395m. It was pretty with snow covered mountains around us.

From Hikes from Castle Mt

We saw a marmot on the way which was nice. I took a tumble off the trail and have a big bruise to prove it. All and all it was very nice. Afterwards we went to Johnstone Canyon where we viewed the Upper and Lower Falls. Bev and Steve headed back to their Banff Lodge and I went up to the Ink Pots. They were nice and I talked to a few Canadian teachers up there.

Heading back to the hostel I saw two black bear cubs on the side of the road. I was in my car and they were pretty close. Woo Hoo is all I can say

Many Glacier Hikes

2009-07-06T00:39:00.002+12:00

Iceberg Lake

From Many Glacier Hikes

I gave a girl named Kerrianne a ride to Many Glacier. She decided to hike Iceberg Lake in the Ranger Led hike. I wasn't ready as I was fussing around with my blisters. However, I caught up to the group and passed it on the way up. It was a stunning hike with lots of mountains and wildflowers.

From Many Glacier Hikes

We caught a glimpse of a bear on the way out but he was soon hidden by trees and out of view. Iceberg lake was really pretty. There were a herd of goats on the mountainside by the lake. I used my scope to check them out. A couple of crazy people decided to go for a swim. You would hear them scream as they hit the water. Yes there were icebergs floating in the water.

From Many Glacier Hikes

From here Kerrianne, myself and another girl named Kate decided to hike up to Ptarmigan Lake. On the way we saw a dog like figure in the snow up the mountainside. It was a coyote or wolf. I couldn't get my scope out quickly enough to check it out. It was a steep uphill climb. The people in front of us and behind us saw a moose but it seemed to hide from us.

Not to say that I am a scammer but I got tired of paying $20 to camp so I put all my gear in my backpack and hiked into the campground. Hikers w/o cars pay only $5. It turns out that other hikers have been driving in and dropping off their stuff so I was almost legit.

Grinnell Glacier
Although I had thought to go up the Swiftcurrent Pass it was cloudy in the morning and I was worried that I would have poor views. After speaking to the ranger I decided to hike to Grinnell Lake, Hidden Falls, Grinnell Glacier (as far as the trail was open) and if I have more energy go to Redrock Falls.

It as a pretty, pretty hike but I feel like I say that everytime. I walked along Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes. Right as I started hiking along Josephine Lake I came across a moose and her calf right on the trail. Worried that I would be charged I bushwacked as far as i could through the dense woods. This seemed to work as the moose kept eating and didn't charge me. Grinnell Lake at ground level was pretty but as I ascended on the Grinnell Glacier trail the brilliant color of the lake became apparent. It was so blue.

From Many Glacier Hikes

Unfortunately, the Grinnell Glacier trail stopped short of the Grinnell Glacier but where it stopped afforded a view of the Salmon Glacier. I sat on a nice rock up there. I took off my shoes and inspected my blisters. Just then the word went out that there was a family of bears on the hillside. Sure enough a mother grizzly and her two cubs were digging in a glacier lily patch. They then proceeded to frolic across the hillside and slide down a snow bank. You could see them with your naked eye but it was better with the scope. It was a great lunch show. Later I headed down the trail. After a break I headed out to Redrock Falls. It was pretty but not as impressive as the other falls that I have seen.

Pitamaken Pass

2009-07-06T00:33:00.002+12:00

From Pitamakan Pass

Amy was leading a hike to Oldman lake and I decided to go up again and see what changed in a week. Funnily enough although Steve wasn't there this week, another Steve showed up to hike. We went at a stiff pace but another hiker named Cyrus caught up with us. Luckily he did because I had dropped my bear spray and he found it and returned it to me. Since bear spray cost $44 I was very happy about that.

After we hiked up to Oldman lake in record time we decided to attempt Pitamakan Pass and maybe do the Pitamakan/ Dawson Loop. There was still alot of snow on the trail in certain places and I took a slide down one place. The view from the top was awesome. We could see lots of gorgeous lakes.

From Pitamakan Pass

We could also see the trail going on and it had alot of snow on it. If you slipped up there, you would go a long way down the steep scree slope. It didn't look too good to me and we decided to head back the way we came. Steve took a bit of a slide on the way down but generally it was okay.

I got a blister and it popped on the way back providing a painful last mile or so. It was a long day 17 miles or so. The whole loop Pitamakan and Dawson would only have been a mile or so more. I can't wait to try it after the snow finally melts

A Very Friendly Moose

2009-06-28T14:01:00.003+12:00

I have been hiking everyday and loving it. However, the best hike I have done so far has to be Cracker Lake in the Many Glacier region of Glacier National Park. Just to be fair I will mention the other hikes I have done - Cobalt Lake (Two Medicine area), Swiftcurrent Nature Hike (Many Glacier area) and Virginia/Mary/ Baring Falls in the Mary Lake area. They all had highlights and were all pretty.

Cracker Lake starts out a bit poorly as it is on a horse trail and you are walking on a churned up trail with horse manure. However, after 1.7 miles there are no more horses. It climbs steadily and then turns a bit roly/ poly with up and down bits. You see some pretty waterfalls and lots of wildflowers but the jewel is Cracker Lake itself which is a brilliant turquoise color. As I approached the end of the trail I saw several fluffy marmots. I was busy chasing them to get there photo when I noticed a moose down by the lake.

From Cracker Lake

I watched it as it got ever closer to me. Then it kind of trotted in my direction in what I would describe as a curious manner. However, after going to a number of ranger talks it has been drilled into my head that moose are dangerous and can charge you and harm you which their hooves so I looked for a bit of cover. There was not much - a tangle of small trees and some rocks. I jumped into the trees. After awhile I came out and as soon as the moose saw me it headed my way again. This time I hid behind a rock. The moose kind of moved into the trees and looked around. I watched the marmots on the rocks and the goat on the hillside. After awhile I came out and didn't see the moose anywhere. I took some pictures of the lake and the area around it and then went over to the big rocks to look down on the trail that I walked in on. I saw the moose swimming across the lake. Figuring I was safe I headed down the trail. Interestingly the moose headed down on the other side of the creek flowing from the river. I watched it for a long time. After I finished walking down the trail, I went to the ranger office and explained what happened. The ranger said that the moose likely was attracted to either the salt on my skin or maybe my sunscreen. He also said that you know when a moose is charging you as it acts very aggressive. Anyway it was a very interesting encounter. Just after that I had lunch with a deer that wasn't at all scared by me.

Cracker Lake Photos

Cobalt Lake and Lake Mary Area Photos

Scenic Point and Upper Medicine Lake Hikes

2009-06-25T15:14:00.003+12:00

Scenic Point
6.2 miles - 2350 ft elevation gain

This was a steady uphill hike on the way out. It went by a small waterfall and wound through the trees for a short time. However, most of the hike was exposed and I hoped I would see bears, goats or sheep on the hillside. Unfortunately I did not but it was a beautiful hike with incredible views of Lower Medicine Lake. As I neared the top the wind increased and it was "blowing a gale". I was nearly knocked over in certain spots along the ridge. I had to walk over an area of snow that dropped steeply off to the left. I hugged the rock wall and hoped for the best. Scenic Point itself had views to the east and the plains. The wind was so strong that I couldn't quite make it up to the ridge facing west.

Photos here or slide show below.

Upper Medicine Lake

11.5 miles -- 400 ft elevation gain

I set out to walk around the lake and meet the ranger led walk on the other side. I figure that walking with a group is safer in terms of the bears. I beat them to the boat landing and enjoyed listening to the ranger speak about her experiences as a bear control ranger. However, there were around 20 people in the group and I soon broke off and walked on my own. I saw a huge bear print (shown below) and walked very carefully calling out often.

From Upper Medicine Lake

The views from the lake were impressive and the wildflowers along the way were incredible. I also visited the Twin Falls which were quite nice little waterfalls. On the way back I lost my bear bell as I climbed over an avalanche that covered a section of trail.

Full size photos here or slide show below.

Old Man Lake Hike

2009-06-22T12:43:00.002+12:00

From Old Man Lake HIke

Today I hiked with Ranger Amy again up to Old Man Lake. There were only three of us in the group. It was a beautiful hike with lots of wildflowers. Today there wasn't fresh bear scat on the trail but we were vigilant anyway. However, the only wildlife we saw were hares, birds, squirrels and chipmunks. I saw a brilliantly colored (orange under the wings) bird that I later learned was called a flicker. We also saw nests or colonies of small caterpillar. They were pretty interesting. We crossed numerous streams - some with bridges and others without. There were a number of waterfalls along the way. The last mile or so was in the snow which was not easy walking. There was some post holing (when your foot sinks deeply into the snow) and slipping and sliding. I wore my YakTrax but they weren't much help in the deeper snow. On a side note I loaned them to a guy yesterday. He broke them. That is a bummer. I think they will still kind of work but they are definitely damaged. Since they were worn only two times I am thinking of returning them to REI. The lake was still partially frozen and the area was very beautiful so I didn't dwell much on my broken YakTrax.

See the full size photos here or view the slide show below

Glacier National Park

2009-06-21T12:46:00.003+12:00

It was a long drive to Glacier and rainy most of the way. I stayed in a hotel in Butte on the way up. I picked up a new pair of hiking boots in the Missoula REI. Both of my Keens have developed deterioration in the heel causing pain and bleeding. You gotta love REI who take back all merchandise. I was able to get a more expensive pair of boots for the two pairs but I am not happy about hiking in boots that aren't broken in.

I got a call from my sister as I was about to enter the park. A school had called about a position. This is very annoying because I contacted HR and they put a note in my file to contact me by cell phone. There is only spotty cell service in the National Park but I did call the school three times. They didn't bother to call back. No worries.

From Glacier National Park I

I tried to break in my boots on a short walk around the lake. The next morning I hiked up to Apgar Lookout. I had a great view and met another solo hiker (Mark) who wanted to hike later in the day so we agreed to meet at Avalanche Lake at 2:00. However, by 2:00 is was quite rainy. I didn't wait and left without him. Not very nice I suppose. It was a good hike but would be much better on a clear sunny day. I drove up the rest of the Going to the Sun Road after the hike (mostly to use the car heater to dry myself off). When I got back into cell reception I realised Mark had called a couple of times.

The next morning I decided to take my wet tent to East Glacier and try out Brownies youth hostel there. For one it would be dry. For another it costs only $13 vs $20 for a campsite. Also it has showers, internet, cell service and laundry which the campgrounds don't. I texted Mark and told him I would be hiking at Two Medicine at noon and apologized for not waiting for him yesterday. The weather was great. I stopped by Running Eagle falls on the way in. When I got to the hike meeting place Mark was there and he was understanding about the day before. We hiked with a Park naturalist and a group of others. There were some awesome waterfalls (Rockwell and Aster). Mark and I hiked up to Aster view point as well. It had great views. A really good day!

Check out full size photos here or see the slideshow below

Yellowstone Trip

2009-06-15T08:28:00.006+12:00

After a very fun visit with the fine Fine family that included pizza, wii, hammie and playing outside, we headed up to Yellowstone. We set up camp and then headed over to the Junior Ranger program. It was about identifying animal sounds. That was Brody's first step to becoming a Junior Ranger. Next we headed to Old Faithful. We had a bit of time before the next eruption so we checked out the other attractions. We lucked

It was a long trip but we managed to set up camp, and see Old Faithful anyway. Brody was definitely more interested in the bison along the trail. We also saw both Plume and Beehive geysers go off. At 9:30 we went to the evening program about the animals of Madison. I asked the ranger if we could toast marshmallows in the fire and he said yes. However, he had a hard time making the fire so I ended up making it for him. Then I roasted the marshmallows. At which point Brody decided he he liked them better raw. After the presentation we walked back and poor Brody was both frozen and scared. He was worried about bears and wolves after learning more about them.

From Yellowstone

The next morning we had a talk about animals and why we don't need to fear them as long as we follow the animal rules. We did the Northern Loop and went out the road to the Lamar valley. We saw heaps of animals - bison, elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, goats. It was fantastic. Brody must have been a little sleepy still. He feel asleep in the car. It as too bad as we went by a bear and he didn't get to see it. I was disappointed with the Mammoth Hot Springs area. There was much less water in the terraces and they were not as interesting as when I went many years ago. However, there were lots of elk hanging around and Brody loved that. We stopped at Norris Geyser Basin on the way back to camp. Brody settled in for some PSP in the tent and I went for a walk. I encountered a few bison on the same trail and got out of their way. When I got back to camp there were several bison hanging around the campground. I went to get Brody but he had already heard and had gone to see them. I built him a campfire and cooked up some delicious canned spagetti and meatballs for his dinner. As Brody sat by the fire about 15 buffalo walked through our section of the campground. One right through our camp. A mother, father and calf hung out at the next campsite. We kept still and watched them trying not to disturb them. It was certainly better than watching TV while eating dinner. Eventually they moved on without incident.

From Yellowstone

The next morning we did the lower circle of the Park. Brody really enjoyed the waterfalls. He said they were the first ones he had seen. We also visited the mud volcano area. Many of the geothermal features had dragon names and he like that but I think maybe he expected them to look like a dragon. We also visited the West Thumb Geyser area which is right on Lake Yellowstone. It was pretty interesting. Brody finished up his Junior Ranger booklet and was awarded a Junior Ranger patch. We bought him a Junior Ranger vest with lots of pockets for him to wear as well. We visted Old Faithful again. When it went off it went much higher than last time and Brody was very impressed. We took a shower at the Old Faithful Inn (our first in Yellowstone). Then we bought our last souviners and ate dinner at a diner in the Old Faithful area.

The next morning it started pouring rain at 4am. Luckily Brody slept through it but I couldn't sleep worrying about packing up in the rain. When it let up, I packed up the wet gear and Brody and hit the road. Brody slept for about three more hours as I drove. I caught a few buffalo and elk on the way out. With the exception of a small but non-stinging wasp encounter in car, the trip went well.

We arrived in Park City in the early afternoon. As we walked up to the Fine's door, we heard young Josh yelling Brody, Brody, Brody. It was a great welcome. Brody played with the Fine kids for a few hours and ate some mac and cheese and then we headed down to the airport. All went well there until I was pulled up by security for bringing my swiss army knife. I had forgotten about it because I wasn't flying. Luckily we had enough time to return to the car and leave it there. After a bit for frozen yogurt I took Brody to the gate and he got on the plane.

It was a great trip and I hope Brody will have good memories of it for a long, long time.

More photos of the trip can be seen here or in the slideshow below.

Bryce Canyon with Brody

2009-06-10T12:13:00.003+12:00

Brody slept like a log and finally I had to wake him to leave for Bryce. It wasn't a long drive but there is a time change and we wanted to do quite a bit there. We arrived at 11:00 and checked in. Then went in the Park. We visited the Visitor Center. Highlights there include a stuffed porcupine and a historic rifle. Following that we drove up to Natural Bridge which is a large stone formation shaped like a bridge.

Afterwards we drove back to Sunrise Point where I whipped up a bit of mac and cheese on the camp stove. It started to rain during this but only drops so we persevered on with lunch. After that we hiked the Queens Garden/ Navajo Loop trail. It is supposed to be one of the top 3 mile hikes in the world or so someone said on the trail. There were lots of amazing hoodoos. Brody enjoyed climbing around on the rocks. We climbed out in a narrow canyon. It was kind of steep and, although he complained of hurting legs, Brody did pretty well. I treated him to a Moon pie at the top. From there we returned to Rubys and moved into our tipi.

From Bryce Canyon with Brody

Next it was off for a swim. After debating whether to swim in the indoor or outdoor pool, Brody decided on the indoor one. Good thing, I think, as it was 50 degrees. He had a great swim. He was disappointed that I didn't go in but seemed to like it when I through him a penny and he could dive for it.

After that he showered and shopped. He found a cowboys and Indians plastic figurine set to buy. He is a born shopper that one.

Tonight we are off to see a presentation on night creatures in the Park if he makes it to 8:30.

Grand Canyon with Brody

2009-06-10T12:04:00.005+12:00

The drive from Mesa to Jacobs Lake went well. I was amazed that there is still snow on Mt Humphreys. The section of the drive on 89A was just great. It was so beautiful at the Colorado River. Brody liked it but liked the gift shop more. I would love to come and explore this area more.

We got to Jacobs Lake around 5:00 and set up the tent. It was pretty chilly especially for Brody. He retired to tent to use his electronics very soon. He warmed up when I put a second sleeping bag over him and enjoyed his PSP until bedtime.

We were both up early the next morning but Brody didn't want to move into the cold. Eventually hot chocolate got him moving. We were on our way very early and spotted a herd of buffalo outside the North Rim Park Entrance.

Inside the park we came across a mule deer. It was not shy at all and I got a few photos. The next stop was the visitor center where we learned that the mule deer has a deadly kick. I am glad we didn't get to close to the deer. We walked along the Transept Trail and then out to Bright Angel Point.

After that we drove out to some other view points. We saw a herd of mule deer right by the road. I think we both liked Angels Window he best. Brody spotted several lizards. Unfortunately, Brody was stung by a bee on the way back. It was painful but there was no allergic reaction. We were in luck as we sat at a picnic table his mom called. We somehow had come into a very slight cell signal and I didn't even know. I think that made him feel better than anything.

From Grand Canyon with Brody

We stopped by and checked out a spring in a cliff and we also saw an ancient Indian granary on the way. Brody knew what a granary was from his spelling words which was pretty impressive. We also checked out an Indian Ruin.

On the way back we saw the buffalo again. Once at the campground we walked to the Jacob's Lake Inn for cookies and I discovered wireless internet. Yeah!!!

Kathmandu

2009-05-17T12:48:00.005+12:00

I had two days in Kathmandu at the end of my trip because I was worried that I would get caught in a strike and be unable to travel. I didn't want to miss my flight.

The first thing I did when I returned to Kathmandu was to return to my initial guesthouse and tell them that I was unhappy with their service. They had charged me three times as much as a bus ticket cost for my ticket to Besishar. Additionally they sold it to me for a day that they knew the bus wouldn't run (strike day) costing me alot of taxi money. They also charged me an extra 500 rupees for a TIMS card which is free. The front desk guys were really nice and admitted that what had been done was wrong and were sorry. Unfortunately the guy who did all those things wasn't there. They did ask me to write my complaint down. (Nothing ever happened). I was supposed to stay there on return and they had stored some gear for me. There was no problem with me picking up my stuff and not staying there.

I ended up staying at the Kathmandu View Guesthouse. It was much much nicer than the Potala and cost less. I went to dinner at my favorite veggie place and ate spinach tofu curry. It is so yummy.

The next day I went down to Durbar Square quite early. I saw a guard in old fashioned clothing, lots of temples and prayer. I saw quite a few monkeys. I walked around a bit more and saw a big white tower. Back at the Guesthouse I bumped into Julie, a friend from Chitwan. We went to the Monkey Temple. It was a nice walk except for the bit over the river which was like an open sewer. There were lots of monkeys at the temple. The temple also had good views of urban Kathmandu.

Monkey 2 from kris on Vimeo.

Monkey 1 from kris on Vimeo.

The rest of that day and the next morning was spent souvenir shopping.

The flight home went without problems except when I got to the Kathmandu airport and they closed the restaurant and were using it for a lounge for a delayed flight. I hadn't eaten and expected to eat there. I must have looked and sounded pathetic because eventually they let me in and I had one last veggie curry before I left.

I got into LAX two hours early. I had to overnight because there were no late evening flights to PHX. I stayed at the Crown Plaza. The initial room they gave me was already occupied and I walked in on some guy in bed -- very embarrassing. Eventually I got a room and I have to say that they have the nicest beds there. I would totally recommend it.

I flew out to PHX without problem the next day and spent the next week trying to overcome my jet lag.

Click here for full size photos or see slideshow below

Royal Chitwan National Park

2009-05-17T12:00:00.003+12:00

I took a tourist bus from Pokara to Chitwan. It was certainly nicer than my last experience with Nepal buses. However, it was still not what I would call comfortable. Although the bus was mostly filled with tourists, there were Nepali people on the bus. Because of the strike, this was a problem. As we approached the strike line all the Nepali people had to exit the bus. Only tourists were allowed to cross the strike line in buses. So many Nepali people were walking or taking rickshaws. I felt really bad being able to take a bus. When we let people off the bus, we had to wait a long time. I really didn't understand why at the time. We finally got going and about 10 minutes later a couple of guys with big sticks got on the bus obviously looking for anyone trying to break the strike. We moved on and drove for about 5 more minutes and then some of the people we let off got back on. It was now clear to me that the long wait had been while these guys had walked through the strike line to a safe place to be picked up by us.

I was let off about 15 minutes later. As I was trying to describe my backpack to the guy on top of the bus, someone else's backpack sailed off the top of the bus and landed at my feet. I was pretty lucky it didn't take me out and that it wasn't my backpack as I am sure a fall like that must have broken or dented something in the pack.

We waited for another bus to take us and bus passengers from another bus to a nearby hotel for lunch. We then drove on to the Chitwan NP where we boarded a boat, crossed the river and walked about 10 minutes to the Island Jungle Resort. Below is a summary of the activities that I did there. Despite it being really, really hot, visiting here was really awesome.

Elephant snacking from kris on Vimeo.

Elephant Close up from kris on Vimeo.

Elephant Ride
Three or four people ride an elephant on a platform. The elephant is controlled by a mahout. As far as I could tell they control the elephant by nudging them behind their ears with bare feet, talking to them and clocking them on the head with either a stick or a pointy metal bar. I asked and the training to become a mahout occurs in India and it lasts 2 years. Riding the elephant we saw rhinos, peacocks, eagles, monkeys and several other birds. One of the most amazing experiences was when the mahout spotted a python. He used the elephant to knock down all the trees in that area. Then got down and pointed the the snake which had curled up in a hole. He poked it a bit and it crawled out. Then he yanked on its tail as it tried to slither way. Photo below.

From Chitwan

Elephant Washing
Elephant washing is a supercool experience. You wade into the water and climb up onto an elephant. Then it sucks up water in its trunk and squirts you. One of the elephants also likes to throw you off like a bucking bronco.

Bird Watching
This was kind of a slow activity for me but we saw a cool nest and a baby bird. Most of the birds we saw on the trip were junglefowl (like chickens/ roosters). We also saw flycatchers, eagles, peacocks, bulbils, etc

River Boat Ride
Mellow ride on the river

Jungle Walk / Nature Walk
Prior to doing this we got a lecture about the dangerous animals of the jungle and what to do if we encounter them.

Rhino: climb a tree (impossible no limbs), hide behind a tree, or if no cover run in a zig zag as rhinos run straight.
Sloth Bear: stay together and make alot of noise
Tiger: do not turn back, keep eye contact slowly back away.

One the first one the most dangerous thing we saw were bees. We saw cool red bugs called cotton bugs and learned about the jungle. The most impressive thing was seeing tiger tracks. They were right by the camp. On the longer jungle walk we saw a male rhino. The guides had us hide behind a tree and tried to distract the rhino with a loud noise in another direction. It took off but we then encountered it again down the track and had to hide again. I might mention at this point that the guides had only big sticks for protection.

Cultural Dance
Nearby village kids came and performed three dances for us.

Full size photos here or watch slideshow below

Pokara

2009-05-17T10:18:00.005+12:00

April 25
On the way to Pokara my taxi driver let me know that today is the Mother's Festival (equivalent to Mother's Day). He also told me why it is so hazy. There are many fires burning. In one multiple army officers were killed trying to get it under control. It turns out that fires are common at this time. Some are accidental. Others are set to clear land or stimulate regeneration in the jungle.

Pokara is situated on Lake Fewa. The area of Pokara that most people stay in is Lakeside and that is where I plan to stay.

Despite being hungry, hot and tired I spent a bit of time looking around for a place to stay in Pokara. There are something like 700 hotels there. I finally got a reasonably priced one (200 rupees) with an attached bath. The only downside was the disco behind it but I figure that is what ear plugs are for. Also it doesn't stay open past 11 pm so if I am tortured it won't be all night like I have been in Mexico.

April 26
I took a boat across the lake early in the morning as the sun was rising. There were so many egrets in the bamboo. I have never seen that many in one place. The ride took about 10 minutes and cost 250 rupees. The irony here is that you could rent a boat and driver for an hour for the same. I hiked up the side of the mountain to the Peace Pagoda. The views were nice on the way up but the mountains were obscured by haze. The Peace Pagoda was fairly impressive. After reaching the top and checking it out, I headed down the other side to visit the Tibetan Refugee Village. I found the village and bought a few souvenirs hoping that the money went to the refugees. From there I continued on to see Devi Falls. However, at a point I figured I has passed them. I asked and it turned out that I was right. Since I heard there was no water in the falls I didn't double back. Instead I continued on past the Fewa Lake dam into Pokara.

Once back I bought a new skirt and shirt to change into later. It would be good to be in some clothes other than my hiking gear. I also bought my ticket for Chitwan NP. There is a strike in the area but apparently the tourist buses are still able to get through.

From Pokara

At sunset I went down by the lake. The sun was quite red as it set due to the haze from the fires. There were a bunch of water buffalo taking a bath while I was down there. A woman went out in a boat to herd them in. Then one went onto the Palace grounds (now occupied by the army). A soldier with a gun helped herd it back. It was funny.

Water Buffalo Bathing from kris on Vimeo.

April 27
Today I walked north of town. It was quite a nice walk. I saw lots of birds - egrets, kingfishers, vultures, etc. The lake was calm and still. It seemed less polluted than around Fewa. Walked out into a field and got some pretty closeup video of water buffalo taking a bath.The rest of the day was spent marking time waiting to leave for Chitwan the next morning.

Click here for full size photos or watch the slide show below.

Annapurna Base Camp (ABC)

2009-05-14T06:10:00.005+12:00

April 20 - Chomrong
I woke early, perceived haze and did not do the traditional Poon Hill hike for sunrise. Instead I slept for another 30 minutes or so and then headed off for Chomrong. I should have had great views on the first section of this trip as well because it climbed up to a ridge. The top was pretty with views of the tops of a couple mountains but hazy and not what it could be. The rest of the day was alot of up and down. I ran into Ben from my guesthouse the evening before. He told me an amusing story about the abrasive US woman dressed in orange. Apparently, she was yelling at people and pushing them out of her way at the top of Poon Hill. I am glad I didn't go. I would have been cringing to be at all associated (by nationality) with her.

This day seemed never ending climbing up and then down over three mountainous areas. I saw Ben again later on and he said something like "What was that - 1.5 hours of going down steps?". By the time I got to Chomrong I was wiped out. I think the guesthouses at the top here must have the best views. I ended up staying farther down at a really nice place called Chomrong Cottage. My room here was one of the few that I have stayed in that I wouldn't mind hanging out in. Lots of windows with views and a very soft blanket on the bed. Also I had a nice hot shower here.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon speaking to the lodge owner whose father also has diabetes. She told me that yoga and wheatgrass juice have significantly reduced her father's issues. I am not sure if my dad will take this onboard. She also makes a great pizza.

Later at dinner I spoke to her husband who is very politically minded (I later found out a Maoist). He explained that strikes are a result of a coalition government. When one aspect doesn't agree with another a strike or bandh is called. It rained alot this evening.

April 21 - Himalaya
There were some nice views of Annapurna South this morning as I headed down thousands of steps to cross a river. Then I walked up another thousand to Sinawa. From there I walked to Bamboo and on to Himalaya. I came across a group of monkeys. They ran away when they initially saw me and then as I waited quitely they came back. They were so cute. I watched them eat and play until a large group of hikers came down and scared them.

From ABC

About an hour from Himalaya it started raining. Learning from my earlier ezperience with rain I put on my rain coat immediately. The rain gradually increased to the point that I tried to put on the gaiters that I bought on the Annapurna Circuit. I realized that on the clips was broken. Oh well, I used a rubber band and that seemed to keep them up. I ate lunch in Himalaya hoping that the rain would subside. Instead it turned to hail. I decided that I would stay in Himalaya and just have a longer day the next day. I think that was a good decision. The trail was already sloppy and who needs to get that wet to save an hour or two the next day. For that matter I am sure if I need an extra day that I could take it.

From ABC

April 22 - ABC
We were up early and moving to try and get to ABC by noon fearing more rain/ hail / snow. I am breaking the AMS rules and ascending 1200m today hoping not to have any ill effects. I took a preventive Diamox and crossed my fingers.

I saw another group of monkeys - a good omen for the day? I had to cross to the opposite side of the river today. It was brown and gushing from snow melt and rain. I crossed over on a feeble looking brown metal bridge. It didn't make me feel at all confident. On the other side I had to follow white flags and cairns. I found myself off trail almost immediately and had to back track but I was soon following the correct path. During the day I crossed several more rivers / swollen creeks. Some with "bridges" (wood planks with rock on them crossing the water) and others without. I began to long for the suspension bridges of the Circuit.

At Machhapurchre Base Camp (MBC) the views started and got better from there. The pointy top of Machhapuchre was peaking out from behind clouds. A few other in that direction were doing the same. Annapurna South and Annapurna I were hidden behind clouds. One of the guides heading up at the same time as myself told me and his client a story about Machhapuchre. Apparently only one climbing permit had ever been issued for the sacred mountain and all the climbers and their porters died after climbing. Fearing that God had been angered no climbing permits have been issued since.

From ABC

From MBC we walked through snow up to ABC. It was quite warm. At one point just below ABC I broke through the snow and my foot got a good soaking in the stream below - not a warm stream I might say. The guide who told me a story latched on to me as I got to ABC and got me a room at the lodge he was at. It seemed pretty standard so I stayed there. The lodge owner was very concerned when I told him I went through the snow. I assured him I wasn't hurt - only unhappy about wet feet.

I ate a good pizza and then sat in the sun listening to my ipod admiring the views until it started raining (and then hailing and then snowing) again. After that everyone sat in the dining hall swapping stories.

April 23 - Sinawa
There is a little accumulation from yesterday's snow but everything is clear. It was amazing watching the mountains light up from the sunrise but very, very cold. ABC, also called Annapurna Sanctuary, is a bowl surrounded by something like ten peaks. After taking my fill of pictures I started heading down taking more pictures along the way.

From ABC

I walked down, down, down first through snow and then on trail. I saw wildflowers surrounded by last nights snow. It warmed up fast. I was stripping layers and soon I was down to only a long sleeve shirt. I couldn't believe as I was passing an avalanche zone (where all the literature says not to stop) that I feel through the snow again and I saw a couple taking a break right below what was left of the last avalanche. I got up as fast as I could and out of there. The rock face goes straight up and apparently Hiun Chuli is directly above you here even though you can't see it.

I considered going all the way back to Chomrong and staying at the nice Chomrong Cottage again but instead stopped in Sinawa. I got a fairly cheap room that included a hot shower.

I meet a couple of UK med students who were trying to organize a trial for an alternative AMS treatment. I gave them some advice about ABC and the last of my Diamox.

April 24 - Kyumi
I woke to some nice views of Hiun Chuli and Machhapuchre (also called Fishtail). From Sinawa is was down many, many stairs to the river and then up many more to Chomrong.

From ABC

From Chomrong I walked to Jhinu (home of hotsprings) and then on to New Bridge. Along the way I met a bunch of porters. I asked them how weight much they carried in baskets of things like coke. They told me 60kg. They picked up my pack and told me it was about 15kg. There was a young boy (age 10ish) with them. He was carrying 30kg. I felt like such a whimp. I saw another porter who was like a walking market place with veggies and a scale. He was walking from village to village selling produce.

Kyumi is a nice place near the river. I stayed at the Beehive guesthouse. It has a hot shower but it was quite warm so even a cold shower would have been welcome. It is funny because our guesthouse became quite crowded and the next one which could be seen just down the trail was quite empty. In fact, another group wanted to stay at the Beehive and there wasn't enough room. They asked me and this German girl I didn't know to share a room. I had already negotiated a good price and wasn't into that besides the other guesthouse was minutes down the trail.

April 25 - Pokara
A few hours walk from Kyumi brought me to Nyapal. I had planned to catch a bus to Pokara but a guide that I met the previous evening told me that I might be able to negociate a taxi for as low as 600 rupees. I was able to and treated myself. After spending so many hours free and couldn't imagine being squeezed into a local bus for two hours. It was well worth it.

See all full size photos here or watch the slideshow below.

Annapurna Circuit Part 4- The Western section of the route

2009-05-10T12:09:00.004+12:00

April 16 Jomsom
Despite my best intentions to sleep in, I found myself up early and ready to go. I watched the porters get ready in the morning. The tie together two large duffels. Then add a small daypack. To carry it they take a loop of rope and put is around the duffel and then over their head. I can't even imagine.

Most of the trek today was desolate and windy. Although I figured today would be all on road walking, I noticed where porters and other trekkers turned off and was able to walk on a trail for part of the time. The road is rather unpleasant with jeeps going by stirring up dust and billowing diesel fumes.

From AC Part 4

I did see the cutest baby donkey in Kagbeni. I also had an up close and personal experience with a goat just past Kagbeni. I had to make an emergency stop after lunch (I should have stuck with the boiled potato). I barely made it to a fair sized rock. I dropped down, put my hand in a very spiny bush [painful], took care of business and looked up and there was a goat right in my face checking out what I was doing. It kind of startled me but in retrospect it is kind of funny.

I got to Jomsom early (1:30) but was told by two lodges that they had no rooms. Later I realised this was probably because I asked for a single and they could make more money if they rent a double versus a single. I did eventually find a place to stay. It wasn't too expensive but they charged for showers so I didn't have one. Lyb and Graeme coincidentally ended up at the same guesthouse.

I found some internet (slow) and some awesome chocolate apple crumble.

April 17 Kalopani
Got up and ate chapati for the first time. It is kind of like a fresh tortilla. A good meal would definitely be chapati and egg as Emily had advised me early on. Today must be a very good date in the Hindu calendar because I saw two funerals and a celebration. A small part of today was walked on the other side of the river on a trail but the majority was on the road. It is much warmer down here and my feet are rubbed a bit raw with a few blisters.

The guesthouse in Kalopani had an awesome view of Dhauligiri once the clouds cleared. I saw Lyb and Graeme and motioned them to the guesthouse. The girl running it was really nice and it had hot showers. This area is really suffering because people tend to take a jeep down because they don't like walking on the road. (I am just a bit too cheap to pay for the jeep - they make you pay the fare all the way to the end no matter where you get off)

April 18 Tatopani
Today is a longish day (24 km). There was a large section on the opposite side of the river off the road. I was lucky because I was heading to a bridge to cross the river. A bunch of kids told me not to go that way. There was a second bridge farther down that I could cross. As I was heading to it I saw a couple of guys who must have crossed on the first bridge. They were negotiating a large landslide. Glad those kids warned me. When I did cross the river I went through a couple of villages. In one a man making baskets. He was very friendly and told me that he sells them to local people (versus trekkers).

In Dana I had a good view of Annapurna South and got a few interesting photos of it with bougainvillea in the foreground.

From AC Part 4

It was really warm by the time I got to Tatopani. Tatopani is famous for its hot springs but the last thing that I wanted to do was go to a hot spring in the heat. I stayed in a nice guesthouse with a great garden. However, my room was not so great. I could see the light of the guy next door and smell his cigarette due to a definite gap in the ceiling.

April 19 Gorepani
Today's hike is up, up, up from Tatopani (1190m) to Gorepani (2860m). It is also very exposed so I got up very early and headed out to try and maximize the morning coolness. Well, the morning wasn't exactly cool but it wasn't hot either. I met up with a group along the way that asked where I started from - they were just starting out for the day. They were amazed that I started from Gorepani. I guess it had taken them eight hours the day before to get to that point. They basically thought I was a bit crazy I think. I will call the main lady from this group the Orange lady as I encountered her again later.

There were some rhododendrons on the way but it looks like I missed most of the flowering.

I got to Gorepani early. There are alot of guesthouses - most of them blue. I found a nice one called the Hungry Eye. I would have a good view from my room if the clouds cleared. It had a hot shower and a heater in the the dining room. After I had a nice shower and washed my clothes, I went for a wander. I encountered the Orange Lady and her crew again. I cringed as she called this Nepali guy "an asshole for telling her where to stay" in a very, very loud American voice. Then I saw her heading for my guesthouse. "Oh no" I thought.

Awhile later I saw Lyb and Graeme come to town. Graeme was definitely wiped out. They looked at a few places and then decided to stay at the same guesthouse as myself. We were all sitting around the dining area talking and talking to another guy named Ben. Ben it turned out works in Afghanistan as a diplomat dealing with the illegal immigrant/ refugee crisis. Prior to that he worked in London in counter terrorism (this was during the time of the London bombings). Anyway, he told us the Orange lady moved on. We had a couple of beers to celebrate our last night together on the Circuit. From this point I will be moving on to Chomrong to start Annapurna Base Camp. Lyb and Graeme will walk out and catch a bus to Pokara.

See full size photos here or see slide show below.

Annapurna Circuit Part 3 - Going over the pass

2009-05-07T04:29:00.006+12:00

April 15 Muktinath

From AC Part 3

Our initial plan was to leave at 5am so the day started very, very early at 4am. I got my stuff together and waited for Lyb and Graeme in the dining area. Overnight a young woman became very ill (dysentery). Her mother was appalled by the price of international calls ($5 per minute). I chatted with them briefly. I considered giving them antibiotics for the illness but I knew that I would see the doctors as they descended from the Pass (they had stopped in the afternoon before on their way to High Camp). The moon over the mountains was beautiful. At 5:00am it was still quite dark. Our departure was delayed as Lyb and Graeme didn't have flashlights or headlamps. We were on the way by 5:30. I think we were the last ones to leave - very unusual for me.

I was glad to have the porter to carry my bag but the hike up was easier than it was the day before during our acclimatization hike. Lyb and Graeme didn't have a porter so I arrived at High Camp before them. There was a really sick guy there. I think that he had HAPE there was stuff streaming out of his nose. Apparently he had seen the doctors and his guide was encouraging him to go down immediately. The poor guy felt that he couldn't walk. I suggested a horse as I had seen people going over the Pass on them. The guide misinterpreted and thought that I meant for the sick guy to go over the Pass but I meant go down on the horse.

On the way up from here we bumped into the doctors. I told them about the dysentery case at Phedi. I asked if they had any medicine but they didn't so I gave them some of my antibotics. I knew that I could get more in the next couple of days.

After we left High Camp the trail went through patches of steep snow. More than once my porter steadied me as I wobbled along. I tried to keep Lyb and Graeme in sight. One slip by any of us could have been disasterous. It was easy to see how people just disappeared. My back began to ache a bit which was crazy since I wan't wearing a pack. Our next stop was a tea house on the way up. We reached it almost at the same time. I went out back to use the toilet and almost gagged. The toilet was a room full of shit and toilet paper - not even a hole in the floor. Meanwhile there was a sign advertising Yak riding. I wanted to get a photo of the yak maybe even with me on top of it so I asked about it. The teahouse people just laughed and said that Golly (my porter) was my yak. The Nepali people have a good sense of humor and I laughed along with them. I hadn't eaten much so I ate a granola bar and hoped that the diarrhea I had been experiencing wouldn't act up.

We walked on to the Pass from here. It was so beautiful. However, that ache in my back became a horrendous pain. I now realised what it was - menstrual cramps. By the time we got to the Pass I was almost doubled over in pain. I dug out of my pack some ibuprofen and hoped that it would be fast acting. I ate some snickers bar with it. Lyb and Graeme were soon at the top and we took photos at the top. It was Graeme's birthday. What an awesome thing to do on your birthday !!!!

From AC Part 3

Now after about 1000m of uphill we had 1500m of steep downhill. We walked downhill for an hour or so more taking in awesome scenery including some cool glaciers when the diarrhea struck. I have to say that I was feeling pretty crappy on the way down (although Lyb's corn chips helped) and I was so happy when we made it to a tea house to stop and eat. I ate only boiled potato and some sprite to ease my diarrhea issues.

An hour or so later we were in Muktinath. We had been on the trail for 11 hours. We saw Bridgette and Mike from NZ and found out that Mike had gotten really sick at High Camp) and had to take a horse over the pass. Bridgette had gone over by herself.

I was ecstatic to find a hot shower at my hotel. Then I caught up with Lyb and Graeme and had a beer. Woo Hoo! A long hard day but I am so glad I did it.

Annapurna Circuit Part 2 - Now its getting good

2009-05-06T03:06:00.007+12:00

April 11 Ngawal (3657 m)
Today is another gorgeous day. I walked through pine forest past a few ponds to Lower Pisang. I saw the cutest little baby goat on the way. Lower Pisang was deserted as the farmers plowed their fields after the first rain in an apparently very long time. I then took a trail from Lower Pisang to the Upper Route to Manang. However, the trail disappeared and there was no one (Nepali or trekker) to ask the way. That in itself was pretty unusual. I back tracked and took the more traveled route to Upper Pisang and on to Ghyaru. The trail had great views of Annapurna II. I came across goral (wild goat - antelopes) but they were too fast for me to get their photo. I heard a big crack and saw a huge avalanche cascade down Annapurna II. I forgot that I had a scope with me. I should have taken that out to watch but it was impressive even to the naked eye. All was going well until I reached an exposed steep climb to the village of Ghyaru. The altitude and with less air really took its toll on this climb up to 4000m. I felt like I constantly had to stop to catch my breath. The views from the top were sooo impressive. I had lunch with Annapurna II right in front of me.

From AC Part 2

After lunch I had headed along the trail to the next village. Along the way I saw more of those goral. They went down what appeared to be a nearly vertical cliff face. I also saw a small rodent. I later found out that it was a mountain rat. This was kind of confusing as it had no tail but two different Nepalese guides told me that was what it was.

From AC Part 2

I came across a Yak herder moving a Yak and its calf along the same trail. He asked me to climb up off the trail. This was a challenge with my pack. The Yak kept eying me and not moving past. They are apparently a bit temperamental so it was a little worrying. The herder kept yelling at it and throwing its calf forward and eventually it moved on.

I spent the night in Ngawal. I think I was the only trekker in the whole village. I was certainly the only trekker in the guesthouse. I hadn't seen any trekkers on the trail today because most chose to go on the lower (easier) route and because I had done some longer days and stayed in some more unusual places.

April 12 Manang (3540m)
It was pretty chilly (but beautiful) in the morning. I ate breakfast with the guesthouse owner in the kitchen by the fire. I watched her making Tibetan tea (made with yak butter and kind of plunged in a long tube)

I hiked on to Manang where I treated myself to a piece of apple crumble. I found a hotel with a hot shower and took advantage of it. Then I hiked up a trail to view the Gangapurna glacier and the lake below it. There were incredible views of the glacier and the lake. Up above the tea house there was a view point with incredible views down the valley. When I returned I went to the Himalayan Rescue Association seminar on Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) presented by a US doctor. Over half the audience had symptoms already. I got some Diamox in case I developed any symptoms later as I go over the Thorong La Pass.

April 13 Letdar (4200m)
After alot of internal discussion I decided to skip Khangsar. I headed out of Manang stopping in Gunsang for a bit of Tibetan bread. It was awesome place to eat breakfast. I bumped into Florien on my way to Yak Karka riding his bike up. He was doing well on this section of the trail. I continued on to Letdar past Yak Karka feeling the lack of oxygen. Even this was pushing it it terms of AMS prevention advice and when I reached there I had a headache (AMS symptom) so I took some Diamox, drank as much water as possible and hoped for the best. If the headache didn't subside I would not be able to continue on the next day without risking more severe issues. I met a really nice couple (Bridgette and Mike) from NZ who also happened to be teachers. We talked about the Kepler Track and various other tracks in NZ. I met a couple of guys who had taken the trail from Khangsar. Apparently is was not an obvious trail so I am glad that I didn't attempt that one on my own.

Chatted with a Nepali guide of Tibetan descent about Tibet and the impact of the Chinese invasion on the Tibetan people. It was very interesting.

A couple from Netherlands had to go down. One had some more severe AMS - bad headache and nausea.

April 14 Thorung Phedi Base Camp (4450m)
Today is Nepali New Year. I saw a Tibetan style Yak camp and Yak in the distance. Further along I saw some a bit closer and watched them for awhile with my scope. I walked through a landslide area with rocks bouncing down - very worrying. When I got to Phedi there were three blue sheep grazing above the lodge. I snapped a quick photo of them. Guess what? They aren't blue. Most of the people that I had been hanging out with decided to head up to High Camp from Phedi. This was greatly discouraged by the AMS talk and my guide book. I really wanted to go to make the next day a shorter day by heading up to High Camp but I didn't want to risk getting altitude sickness so I stayed at Phedi. I also decided to get a porter for the next day up to the pass. I felt a bit of whimp watching Florian head up to High Camp carrying both his pack and his bike on his back. Further whimpiness-- I tried to get a room with an attached bathroom because I didn't want to have to walk to the bathroo in the cold but they said "no" that they were saving those for couples. I even offered to pay the couple rate. They said I could only have one if I could find a friend to share with. Well let me tell you there are very few women on their own up there so I gave up. Although Florian said that if he had to come back down we could share a room. The irony of this is that later in the afternoon the lodge owner asked me to share a room with a girl. I said "can we get an attached bathroom?" but no they were all already taken so I ended up sharing (I think they were out of rooms) but still had to walk to the toilet in the cold.

I met Lyb and Graeme and decided to go over the pass with them the next day (safety in numbers). We went for an acclimatization hike up towards High Camp. I was sucking air and my head hurt (AMS symptom) and all I could think was "I am so glad I got a porter for tomarrow when I am carrying my pack"

See full sized photos here or watch the slideshow below.

Annapurna Circuit Part I

2009-04-27T20:14:00.008+12:00

April 7 Bhulbhule I left Kathmandu on a local bus bound for Besishar. All I can say is that it was like being a sardine in the canning process for 8 hours. It was soooo hot. Once there I took another bus to Bhulbhule. This trip was about an hour over extremely rough road. I didn't think a bus could be so crowded. It was so crowded that I was unable to drink from my water bottle because someone was basically sitting on top of me. I arrived hot, sweaty, jet lagged, exhausted and hungry. I stayed at the first hotel and tried to eat right away (5pm) but it wasn't possible. I went to my room, ate a few granola bars and waited until 6pm when I was able to eat. The nice guy from the counter actually came and knocked on my door at 5:45 to say that my dal bhat was ready. It is a common dish here consisting of rice, dal (lentils), veg curry, and a papadam. Perfect for me. I hit the sack soon afterward to recover from a rather unpleasant day.

April 8 Chamje I was up early and had a bit of Tibetan bread for breakfast. It a fried bread. I hit the trail at 6:45am. The morning started with a long, long walk up the hill to Bahundanda (a 500m climb). On the other side I met Eric and Emily from Oregon. They had already done Everest Base Camp (EBC) and were full of info. Emily and Eric stopped in Ghermu for breakfast/ lunch. I continued on. It was downhill to Syanje. There I was taking photos of a suspension bridge when I noticed an armed (with a machine gun I think) army officer heading across the suspension bridge towards me. Uh Oh! I wondered if I had taken a photo of some military strategic location and I was in trouble but no he was just crossing the bridge. I breathed a sigh of relief. I crossed the bridge at Syanje. The other side of the river was a bit of a mess as they are building a road all the way to Manang. One section of trail was really just a bunch of boulders and it was very exposed to the sun -- so hot. I lunched in Jagat where I viewed a donkey traffic jam in town. One donkey train was heading uphill and the other downhill and they got congested in town. How different is that from the life you live? Leaving Jagat I bumped into Roz who I had met on Bus #2 the day before. We walked together for the rest of the day. She is studying abroad for a semester and was doing a paper on the people of the Manang region. We almost missed the trail when it turned off from the "new road". It was almost impossible to pick up. Luckily a guy called us back and sent us on our way. Our hiking day ended in Chamje, a small village perched on the steep hillside across from a gorgeous waterfall. The only downside -- a cold shower. It rained in the late afternoon and evening.

April 9 Bagarchap I tried to get out early the next morning but disorganization struck as I misplaced a number of things and had to pack and repack by pack a number of times. I was out at 6:15am which is early by most people's standard. On the way out of town I met up with Emily and Eric again. We walked to Tal and had breakfast there. There was supposed to be a bakery but none was found. We ate breakfast at a lodge next to another waterfall. During breakfast it started to rain again. We got out our pack covers. Emily and Eric also got out their rain gear. I as quite warm and the rain was not heavy so I didn't. (Not one of my better ideas).

On the trail we saw a group of porters carrying musical instruments. It turns out that Nepali New Year is coming up. We think they are going to Chame or Manang for the celebrations. On the trail are numerous trains of donkeys bringing supplies to villages. It becomes and objective to stay in front of them. Today while passing some donkeys one must have gotten a bit antsy and gave me a good bump from the back. Emily told me later that she got completed knocked over by one. Note to self -- stay on the uphill side of the donkeys no matter what.

The rain continued to come down for the next couple of hours increasing in intensity and the temperature dropped. By the time I realized that I should put my rain gear on it was too late. I was soaked. I preserved on. As we entered Bagarchap it had started to hail. Eric joked about the snow in my hair. We stopped at the first lodge. I really thought it would stop raining but it didn't even ease. We stayed in Bagarchap. The lodge owners were really, really nice. They let us come into the kitchen and warm ourselves by the cooking fire. The son of the owner was in town visiting. His English was very good. He had studied in Singapore and was working for an HIV prevention organization in Kathmandu.

April 10 Bhratang There is new snow an the mountains above us. Today is a beautiful blue sky day. All around are clear mountain views.

From AC Part 1

There are no words to describe it. Chame was my destination but I arrived very early. I found a cybercafe (dial up) and sent a note home. It was 10 rupees per minute = $2 for 15 minutes. I ate lunch at the same place and met an interesting guy from Germany - Florian. He is mountain biking the Annapurna Circuit (AC). He has to carry his bike in certain areas and push it in others. I am not really sure how much he actually is riding it, especially on this side. I can't even imagine how it was carrying his bike over that section the other day when they were "building the new road". He plans to do the whole circuit if the weather cooperates. Two Scots turned back yesterday due to the snow (rain down here) - they didn't want to wait for the pass to clear. Florian had to pay $10 / day for a bike permit on top of his ACAP permit.

The hills are getting harder and since my pack weight isn't changing it must be the altitude. I picked up a pair of gaiters for <$5 in case I might need them later. I arrived at Bhratang at 2:30 and decided to call it a day. It had snowed here last night. There was about a foot left in the shade under the table out front of the lodge I stayed in. I took a shower (a bucket of hot water) in the coldest room ever. During this so called show I spilled about a third of the Dr Bonners. Oh well maybe that will lighten my pack but I may not be able to clean myself or my clothes towards the end of my journey. To my surprise the sun dropped behind the mountains an hour later and it really cooled off. Luckily there was an indoor dining room and around 6pm they built a fire in the stove in there to help heat the room. The downside is that my room is nowhere near this and it will be chilly.

Additional photos here or in slideshow below.

Nepal Trip Part 1

2009-04-07T01:17:00.004+12:00

The trip to Nepal was long but there were minimal delays and Thai airways is a good airline to fly on. Getting through immigration was hectic at best. They were not organized and the people in front of me in line were not organized. Either they had not completed the application or they didn't have photos and they were holding everything up. Some poor guy asked me to save his place in line and then the line split twice. I didn't see him after that.

I was super glad to have arranged transport from the airport. I found my pickup easily and he took me back to the hotel. On the way he told me that the next day (today) there would be no taxis, buses and that many businesses would be closed due to fighting and police. I couldn't get much more out of him. I asked about going to Besishar where I planned to start the trek and he was unsure if I could go or not. At the hotel the manager told me that he could/ would organize my TIMS card, ACAP permit and bus ticket. (He also wanted to organize a porter or guide but I didn't go along with that).

I walked to the Himalayan Rescue Association and filed a paperwork for the US embassy in case of any problems. Already I could see that the traffic in Kathmandu was a bigger hazard than any I would meet on the trail. I made it safe and sound and also got some literature on AMS (altitude sickness).

Back at the hotel neither my ticket or permits had turned up after dinner so I asked for a wake up call and said I would collect them in the morning and hit the sack. The hotel was not too loud only a few barking dogs - an antihistimine and ear plugs fixed that up. I slept on and off until the morning. I woke before my wake up call (which was actually a knock on the door) and was away at 6:30am for the bus. (My tickets and permits were ready when I went downstairs).

The taxi driver to the bus station was worried that the bus would not run and sure enough when we got there no bus. It was canceled due to the problem that day. It was still not clear to me exactly what the problem was but I did see a heavy police presence on the streets. The taxi driver helped me change my ticket and it was back to the hotel. There I found out the problem was some kind of strike. People really didn't seem to know the cause only that there might be fighting (outside of the tourist area of Thamel that I am staying in). Luckily they had a room for me. I went up to the roof top garden and spent some time there. It was very pretty but there were not really views of the mountains due to the haze/ pollution.

I had a big lunch of spinch and tofu curry plus some potato things. It was really good. Then took an afternoon nap (probably a bad idea).

There are frequent power cuts here but many places have backup generators so there is at least light if the power goes out.

Well I will try it all again in the morning. Hopefully my trek will start then with a bus ride to Besishar (local bus because no tourist bus goes there). Then a jeep up to Bhulebhule. I am not sure how long this will take but I anticipate a minimum of 8 hours so the walking may not begin until the next day.

Heading off to Nepal

2009-04-04T09:20:00.004+13:00

It's hard to believe that the day is finally here. I leave Phoenix at 5pm and board my long flight (17.5 hours) tonight at 11:10PM. I arrive in Bangkok early on Sunday. There I have a four hour layover before boarding a relatively short (3.5 hours) flight to Kathmandu. I arrive there in the early afternoon. I will try to get my permits and errands done in one day and leave the following day but it is likely that I will stay two nights to recover from the jet lag. This is the likely route I will take. I am hoping to do the Annapurna Circuit plus the Annapurna Sanctuary.

Today I have gone over my gear to try and get it just right. I don't want to take too much as I have to carry it on my back but I don't want to forget that one thing that might make my trip significantly more comfortable. Below is a list of what I am taking on this trip - including what I am wearing on the plane. I thought it might amuse you.

3 pairs of underwear
4 pairs of socks
2 pairs of hiking pants (one pair convertible to shorts - however, it is not culturally appropriate for me to wear shorts)
rain jacket and rain pants
thermal underwear bottom and top (merino wool poly mix)
two short sleeve merino wool tops
one light-weight poly short sleeve top
one long sleeve merino wool top
another long sleeve top (either cotton or poly - not yet sure - as I am wearing it on the plane I have about another hour to decide)
fleece
down vest
hat
gloves
backpack cover
three water bottles
water purification tablets
ipod nano (with various music and audio books)
camera plus three extra batteries and four extra memory cards
lots of toilet paper (not available in most places on the trek)
Dr Bonners soap (18 uses including shampoo and clothes detergent)
toothbrush and toothpaste
medical kit (to be supplemented with antibiotic and giardia treatment in Nepal)
guidebook
composition book (for my manual blog)
Biology study book (to study for the next teacher exam I have to take)
pens
flip flops
water proof Keen hiking boots

It will be very warm humid jungle at the start of the trek and then freezing as I go over the high point. Apparently the lodges can be quite cold (no heating). You may have noticed that I have included lots of merino wool. It apparently doesn't hold smell. We will see how this holds up. I am not sure how many showers/ baths there are along the way. Not much else to say but wish me luck (no altitude sickness, no injury, no other sickness).

Powers Cabin backpack

2009-03-23T09:00:00.005+13:00

The goal of this backpack was to reach the cabin where in 1918 the Powers family were involved in a gunfight with local law enforcement. The Powers family was mining gold in what is now the Galiuro Wilderness in the Coronado National Forest near Wilcox, AZ. The Powers sons failed to register for the draft (likely because they were illiterate and didn't understand the letter requiring this). Local law went up to the cabin at dawn and a gunfight ensued in which the father was killed, the sheriff was killed and the sons fled on horseback. It is theorized that the failure to register for the draft was just an excuse and that the real reason for the gunfight was control over the gold mine. Whatever the reason, this led to one of the largest manhunts in Arizona history.

The backpack epic started with a small adventure on what might be loosely called a road. We were supposed to start from FR 159 but a section that went through a private land area was closed. We went on a 'workaround' which was a road fit for an ATV but was well handled by Wilma in her 4WD truk. This was more of a problem because we missed the turn off to get to FR 159. This section of the "road" so hectic that we were hanging on with white knuckles. When we realized that we were in the wrong place we debated bushwacking to the right place. Instead we backtracked in the truck and found the turnoff. The next obstacle was a road closed sign. After a bit of discussion we drove past that to the trailhead hoping we wouldn't get a ticket) (which we didn't) . Finally at the trailhead we started the climb. The heavy packs slowed everyone down. Each person carried between 35 and 39 pounds. We knew that coming out would be better because most of the food would be eaten and the stove fuel used up.

We climbed 2000 feet to our high point (Skyline). On the way there were a few questions as to the correct direction to take however between the gps, topo maps and common sense we made it the top and were rewarded with amazing views. Then we had a few miles of downhill dropping most of that 2000 feet to our camp site. I had concerns that we were arriving quite late and went ahead to scout the turnoff for it. On the way I found water and a closer campsite so I decided to hike back up and tell the others. After I found them we discussed our options and decided to fill our water bottles and move on to Holdout Spring where we planned to camp.

We initially thought that holdout springs was one of the places the Powers boys hid during their flight from the Law but later found out it wasn't. Once we got there we filled our water bottles with water from the spring and checked out a nearby cave. People had built fireplaces and a loft into the cave. We discussed staying in it but were put off by the bats and the insects in the cave. Instead we walked back to a near campsite built a campfire, set up the bear bag and pitched our tents in the dark. Dinner was quite late and I sacked out soon after.

The next morning we got up, ate a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal (breakfast of choice for backpackers) and explored another nearby cave. We decided to watch sunset from this cave as it was high above our campsite. Afterwards we headed downstream to Rattlesnake Creek (but luckily didn't see any snakes) and up to Powers cabin. I was feeling quite poor with a nagging headache. At the cabin the girls re-enacted the Powers family shoot out and we had lunch. As the others were reading the Powers story I explored the nearby Powers gold mine and decided to head back to camp to rest and try to get rid of my headache. I am not quite sure how it happened but I took a wrong turn on my way back. I soon realized and returned to the junction. I reviewed the map and headed out three times making the same wrong turn each time. Eventually the others came down from the Cabin and set me off in the right direction. On the way back we stopped at some nice pools in the creek. There were more of the Powers story was read while feet were soaked in the water. It was getting late so we started heading back. Unfortunately, half of us missed the turn off for Holdout Springs. We barely made it back by sunset. I felt like I should get the bonehead backpacker award by this time.

We walked up to the cave to watch the sunset. Wilma found some ancient artifacts from either Indians or early man by the cave. How cool was that? After the sunset we set out to eat as much food as we could to lighten our packs for the hike out the next day. It was a great meal of chana masala, cous cous, sundried tomatos, rice pilaf, and beef stew (not for me). We discussed our plans for the next day (an early wake up to try and beat the heat walking up the mountain). I hit the sack early (as usual) and the others stayed up reading the Powers family story.

The next morning we were up before six but still didn't manage to break camp until 7:50. I guess these things always take longer than you think. We headed out and up the side of the mountain. We were a little concerned about Carolyn's knee which had significantly swollen over the last two days. I lent her my hiking pole and we wrapped her knee in an ace bandage securing it with duct tape. With that she was able to make it out. We had lunch at Skyline (our high point) and were out at a reasonable hour.

During our backpack we saw very little wildlife (mostly ravens and squirrels) but did see indications that larger lifeforms were there. We saw lots of bear scat. One particular scat was next to a big hole dug out of the ground and the scat had lots of hair in it as if a rabbit or something had been dug up and eaten. We also smelled a rather musky smell that Wilma thought might have been a mountain lion. Needless to say we were all happy that we did not encounter either of these creatures up close. Driving back we saw a couple of Northern Harriers.

My full size photos are here. Below is a slideshow of the same but smaller images.

Mount Kimball Hike

2009-03-16T05:52:00.010+13:00

I decided to hike Mount Kimball with the Sierra Club. The problem was getting to Tucson so early. Initially the hike was scheduled to start at 6:30am. That would mean that I would have to leave around 4:30am. That would have been quite a push yet doable. Luckily the hike time was changed to 8:15. There were a few people from Phoenix interested in going. Rebecca volunteered to drive and even offered to pay for gas. I took her up on the ride but I did help out with the gas. No one else from Phoenix wanted to get up early so we went on our own. We left at 6am. Luckily Rebecca also lives in Mesa so I met her at a location not far from my house.

The drive to Tucson was uneventful except for seeing three javalina crossing the road.

We arrived in Tucson early and hit McDonalds to use the facilities. That was a good thing as there were none at the trailhead. At the trailhead we met up with the hike leader (John) and three other hikers (Bill, Bill and Karen). We took two vehicles and went to the start of the hike Finger Rock Trailhead. There we began our long ascent to the top of Mt Kimball. The grade was quite steep all the way up (4500 ft) and exposed but we were blessed with clouds and a bit of rain. I was glad I packed that rain jacket. (The weather underground forecast didn't really show much chance of rain but when I looked at the hourly forecast it said 10% chance in the morning so I packed it. )

On the way up we found out that one of the hikers was a geologist and he gave us a run down on the area. He was also in his 70s and easily completed the hike. I know we all were hoping that we could complete a hike like that in our 70s. Two of the hikers had these neat little lightweight scopes. I think I have found something else to buy for my Nepal trip.

We saw a smattering of wildflowers on the hike and one very small snake. Our pace was a bit slower than I am used to but it allowed me to really see everything and get some good pictures.

The view from the top was fantastic. Although it was a bit windy and chilly up there. I lent my raincoat to one of the other hikers who had gotten wet in the rain.

The way down was very steep and everyone except John took a tumble at one point or another. There was blood here and there but nothing too serious. I do have to say that it seemed to go on and on. Towards the end Rebecca and I had to leave the group behind to get back to the car and drive back. We decided to take a little pee break on the trail so we could hit the road immediately and then noticed two people enjoying the sunset. So we went down a little further and peed and then wouldn't you believe it the same people came walking back down the trail. Luckily we both had our pants back up by this time.

As it was we didn't leave until 6:30ish and I didn't get home until 8:30pm after I stopped to get my sister's mail. The hike was well worth it however.

My iPhone battery didn't last the whole hike so the map is not quite complete but what it got is here. It is best to look at this in "terrain view". My full size photos are here.

Update: Here is a trip report and photos from another of the hikers (Bill). There are a couple of photos of me.

Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim

2009-03-02T07:14:00.005+13:00

I was up by 5:30 and on the Bright Angel trail by 6am. It was pretty dark. I came across some trail signs but wasn't able to read them. I wished I had the iPhone flashlight app but I had to make due with turning up the brightness to read the signs. I felt totally disoriented but when I got to the bridge I knew I was in the right place. This bridge has a metal grate across the bottom and I can see why it mules might get spooked. It was kind of scary going over it. I took it easy due to my legs still being sore and it being dark but made really good time to the half way point - Indian Gardens. It was a beautful walk along Bright Angel creek. There were many trees along the creek. I really want to return when the leaves turn because it would transform this from a pretty walk to a spectacular walk.

I began the ascent from Indian Gardens to the Rim. This last section hold the most elevation gain - around 3,000 ft in five miles. I was uncertain how I would go but I continued to make really good time. My muscles were not bothering me on the uphill at all except for the minor dips in the trail.

I saw two large birds with white markings that I think were condors soaring overhead. One seemed to be checking me out. It was a great show.

Later I came across a group with a dog. It seems that everyone had been telling them that it is against the rules to have a dog on the trail and that was annoying them because they were quite rude to the guys in front of me and to me when I told them that I had passed two rangers below. As I left them I worried about how mules react to dogs. When I came across my first mule train, I asked the wrangler/ guide and sure enough mules are afraid of dogs so I let him know about the dog on the trail. I passed two more mule trains and let them know as well.

Several people commented on my shorts but I was generally warm walking uphill with my pack. I did have to put a fleece on for the last section. The last section was really icy. I saw more than one person slip and hit the ground hard. I was so happy to have brought my YakTrax. I had great traction between them and the hiking pole. I tried to warn people at the top to go back and buy the instep crampons that they sell at the Bright Angel lodge for only $10 but they went ahead. I guess they weren't worried about either slipping and hurting themselves or going over the edge.

I made it out of the canyon in less than 5 1/2 hours and felt great. I think I made such good time because I took fewer photos on the way out. The ones I did take are here and in the slide show below. This was an amazing experience.

I also can certainly see why people get in trouble here. Despite it being only February it was quite hot on the S. Kaibab Trail, the Clear Creek Trail and parts of the N. Kaibab Trail. I wouldn't want to be on those trails in the summer heat.

I hope to return in the autumn when the leaves are changing and walk from the North Rim to the South Rim staying the night at Phantom Ranch again.

Phantom Ranch to Ribbon Falls

2009-03-02T06:59:00.008+13:00

When got up Friday morning, I realized that one of my dorm mates had gone to sleep at 4pm the day before and slept through until 5am. She then left to hike out. My other thee dorm mates got up to hike out soon afterward. They were trying to off load clothing and food to lighten their packs. In the end they took the clothes but left some snacks which I helped finish off - pretzels and oreos.

I felt pretty sore and stiff. It's true what they say about the hike down being harder on you than the hike up. The good news is that the soreness was in my quads, hams and calves - not my feet - the acupuncture must be working. I only had minor twinges in my feet over the last two days. I took it easy and bought a post card for my nephews. I wrote it and posted it to be carried out by mule. I bet they will think that is pretty funny. I also got myself a Phantom Ranch tshirt.

Soon afterwards I headed out to hike to Ribbon Falls. You can see the photos here or at the end of this post (unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be working at the moment). It was a pretty hike through steep canyons along Bright Angel Creek on the North Kaibab trail. The falls were about 6 miles up on the North Kaibab trail. The falls were really amazing. You could even walk behind them.

When I returned, I had several new room mates in my dorm. Two of them had these cool head lamps that clip on a baseball cap. I really want to get one of those. They appeared to be in better shape after the hike down than the previous days room mates and were planning on hiking to Ribbon Falls the next day so I told them how nice it was.

We got a couple of other room mates later. One asked me to give up my lower bunk because she has epilepsy and was worried about falling off the top bunk. I politely refused but wondered why she didn't worry about falling off one of the cliff face on the way down the South Kaibab trail. The other new room mate discovered a baby scorpion in the shower.

Dinner was much the same with some nice conversation with a couple from Chicago that had hiked into the Canyon annually for the last three years. They had never done any hiking or camping but read up on it and went for it. They were a hoot. They were stopping at Indian Gardens to overnight on their way out and were a bit skeptical of my plan to hike all the way out and drive back to Mesa all in one day. Between this input and my soreness I have to say that I was a tad bit nervous about my plan.

It was another early night in the dorm room. I planned to be up early and leave by 6 am.

South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch

2009-03-01T16:47:00.005+13:00

I traveled to Flagstaff on Wed night to spend the night with Kurt and Julie. It was my first time using the gps and I heard the term "recalculating" a number of times as I missed numerous turns. It turns out that it tells you to turn even though it really doesn't want you to. I took the machine at it's command and it had to recalculate until I got the hang of it.

Eventually I made it. The drive was pretty but longer than I expected especially with those "recalculations". The nicest part was going by Lake Mary as the sun was setting. It was great catching up with Kurt and Julie but I tried to hit the sack earlyish (9:30).

I planned to leave by 6am but hit the snooze and actually left around 6:30. I am not sure the gps took me the shortest way but I made it to the Grand Canyon. On the way in I saw a few elk. They crossed the road right in front of me.

It was quite chilly when I arrived. I saw several elk on the way in. I caught the 9am South Kaibab Hiker shuttle which was very full when it picked up. A boy scout troop from Tucson was on it as well as a group from Canada. I tried to wait them out and let them get on the trail ahead of me but to no avail. We got on the trail at exactly the same time. No problem I passed them at their first rest break.

The trail was in great condition. I didn't need the yaktrax I bought and brought. The weather was also great. The colors inside the canyon were lovely. I hope the pictures do it justice.

It was so amazing walking down and hard to describe the sheer size of the colorful rock faces around me as I walked down. It was magical and I hope that my photos can reflect some if this. I felt so awed by the towering rock formations near and far.

Although there were many people on the trail like Milford track, I was generally alone to ponder the beauty and magnitude of it except for a squirrel now and then. One cheeky fella put on a little show for me. I got a few cute photos of him.

On the way down I passed a trail maintenance crew using a jack hammer. Although this was loud and obnoxious it reminded me the work required to build and maintain the trail. I guess the same goes for the mule train carrying the trash out even though I almost got a face full of trash as it passed.

As I walked down the temperature rose steadily and I rapidly stripped off my layers- jacket, fleece, hat, and finally long sleeve shirt.

Eventually I made it down to the Colorado river and passed over the Black Bridge. All mule trains go over the Black Bridge which has wood planking. The other bridge has a grate bottom which scares the mules.

Across the river were 800 year old Indian ruins, the Bright Angel camground and finally Phantom Ranch. It took me 4.5 hours to hike down. I checked into my dorm and ate lunch contemplating what to do next. There are a number of hikes from Phantom Ranch. I wanted to do two of them - Clear Creek and Ribbon Falls. With only one full day down at Phantom Ranch and a ten mile ascent to the South Rim it was a hard choice. So I decided to hike out part of the Clear Creek trail after I finished my late lunch and go to Ribbon Falls on my full day.

The first section of the Clear Creek trail goes up without relent for about a mile but you are paid off with more stunning views of the river - this time from the north and heading east. I walked along the trail for a out another mile or so. Then I returned to it dorm room for a hot shower. By now it had cooled down so that even in a long sleeve shirt I was chilly outside.

I ate dinner with one of the women from my dorm and her husband. The were very nice. I also met a film mker who made a documentary about the first blind man to climb Everest. The food was awesome. I had veggie chili and there was also stew. This was accompained by salad, corn bread, and chocolate cake. I also bought a beer to go along with it. The other women in my dorm went to the earlier meal which was steak. (All meals must be booked in advance)

After dinner I went back to the dorm and discovered my roommates in bed. I decided to type up this blog entry on my iphone and then hit the sack myself.

A Busy Weekend

2009-02-17T16:22:00.005+13:00

It was a great President's Weekend - very busy but fun. Check out the photos here or in the slide show below.

I was up early on Saturday to head out for a hike in Tucson. We were meeting at Fry's at 7:30am. An old high school buddy, Dana, came into town to hike with me and was also meeting me there. I hadn't seen Dana in 25 years or so. We chatted the whole way to Tucson catching up on each other's lives.

The hike was in the Saguaro National Park. It began at the Hugh Norris Trailhead. it went up, up, up and then followed a ridgeline until an easy climb to Wasson Peak. We then returned along a slightly different route that headed down and then back up to the ridgeline. It was a really good workout and a good crew of folks some of whom I had hiked with on Thursday.

Hugh Norris to Wasson Peak

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We headed back to Mesa where we went out to dinner at an awesome Indian place. It was a really great meal. Dana, Chris (her husband), Ali (her daughter), Erica, PJ, JJ, Huichi and I all went. Dad did everything he could to get out of eating Indian.

The next morning we were up even earlier to head out to the Lost Dutchman Marathon - Huichi to run the 1/2 marathon, me to walk the 10K, and the Melies clan (all of them) to walk the 2mile Fun Walk/Run. It was sooo cold in the morning. Poor little Austin was very uncomfortable and was carried most of the way by PJ. Then got a bit hassled by the runners at the finish because he wasn't crossing fast enough. The Melies finished first and headed out quickly due to the cold and the children's short tempers. Funnily enough they happened to be leaving right when I was crossing the road they drove out so I had a little cheering section. I crossed next and got some film of Huichi running at the very end. (This video can be seen on Facebook)

Dana was supposed to run as well but woke up and wasn't feeling that great. I caught up with her and her family at REI on her way out of town. I hope that we can keep in touch and do a few more things together this year.

Later that night we had a huge family dinner followed by a photos of all the Lost Dutchman participants.

Monday morning I took Brody out to Butcher Jones to hike around Saguaro lake. Unfortunately, I screwed up the Tonto Pass and had to go past the turnoff and on to a gas station near Ft McDowell Casino to purchase it. It was an incredibly pretty hike as was the scenery on the way there and back. Right now it is so green. The rock is red and the water and sky are blue. I would really like to hike more in that area. Brody enjoyed the hike but found the uphill sections very challenging. We only did half the hike (3 miles) but we both enjoyed it.

Butcher jones

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Ballantine Trail / Pine Creek Loop Hike

2009-02-13T14:57:00.003+13:00

My Photos here and other hike photos here.

Today started out as overcast and cool but the clouds cleared and it warmed into a beautiful day. In the distance Four Peaks and Mt Ord were covered by snow and quite beautiful. Our recent rain filled the creeks and the desert was very, very green. We saw a few small wildflowers. I am excited for the full on wildflower season. They said that last year the entire hill sides were yellow with wild flowers.

The hike was ten miles with a 1900ft elevation gain. We encountered some small patches of snow but nothing like what Huichi and I encountered on Sunday.

At one point we had to cross a creek. One of the hikers hide in the bushes and another let him know when someone else in the group was coming so he could get some candid water crossings. I think they were hoping that someone would fall in but everyone was more sure footed than that.

I did okay there as well but later when walking up the side of this steep hill I lost my footing and somehow plunged my arm into a bush of cat claw. There was blood but not much. I was able to stop it with pressure which was great because I didn't want to get my first aid kit out of my backpack.

Another funny thing was this sign giving directions. It was laying on the ground. Go figure - you could pick it up and point it in any direction. Since I was with people who had hiked the trail before I wasn't worried and this is exactly why I hike with the group because the trails and the markings in AZ can often be very vague.

I chose to wear pants because it was cool. I don't understand why they can't make hiking pants that fit properly. They are like the ultra hip huggers. They must be made for people who have enormous waists. I must not be the only one because there was a guy there hiking in short, shorts - these tiny, thin nylon running shorts. I should have got a picture of him.

Ballantine

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Visting Vegas

2009-02-09T17:17:00.004+13:00

On my way back from Park City I stopped into Vegas to visit JJ and Huichi. Huichi and I had planned to do a few hikes but the weather conspired against us. It poured rain all day Saturday. We decided to go see a movie but when we got there (right on time vs early) the only seats together were in the front row. Instead we went to REI, cooked dinner and watched a few movies on their nice TV (50 inches). It was almost like being at the movies.

Sunday the weather was better so we decided to try to go hiking. Our first stop was Red Spring which has brillant red rocks. It was warm and pleasant.

Our second stop was the Willow Spring - White Rock loop (six miles). The trail started out fine. As we progressed we moved above the snow line. I was okay in my Keens but Huichi was in trail runners and got wet feet. I offered to turn back numerous times due to slippery, wet conditions but Huichi wanted to continue. It was a really beautiful hike. However, by the time we got to Willow Springs we were both pretty cold. There was no question of stopping for lunch. Huichi couldn't even feel her fingers. However, the next section of the walk was nice and we warmed up by the time we got to the end. We then hiked up to Keystone Thrust adding another two miles to the hike.

White rock

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From there we drove down to Icebox Canyon. It was late and the weather appeared to be worsening so we only hiked a short time but saw a pretty good waterfall and then headed home.

A fun trip - I want to come back and hike in Valley of Fire with Huichi.

You can see my full size photos here or in the slideshow below.

Blue Sky Winter Days in Park City

2009-02-09T17:09:00.003+13:00

I spent a lovely week in Park City with Wendy. Wendy introduced me to cross country skiing which was great - once I got the skis on. It took us ten minutes or so to make this happen. In the end I was standing in the snow in my socks examining the boot and ski trying to figure out how they work. (They were Bob's skis so perhaps it would have been sensible for me to ask him how to put them on before borrowing but why be sensible?) Turns out we didn't realise that there was this little clip that needed to be attended to prior to putting the skis on. After we got over this hurdle taking the skis on and off was much easier.

I especially like when you can slide through powder. I was lucky to get eight days of warm (ish) blue sky days while there and went cc skiing most days. It was like hiking in the snow but with a few more falls. Oh yes, I fell once or twice each day and hurt nothing except my pride. One of the funnier falls was when while skiing along my ski went under a branch at ground level stopping my skis but not my body as I tumbled head over heels forward.

We also went hiking in the snow. It was beautiful as well. Wendy went in her trail runners using yaktrax. It was the first time that I had seen them. They are stretchy metal things that attach to the bottom of shoes to provide traction. They are different from crampons in that they are not spiky but rather coiled metal bands.

I went to an old friend's house to watch the Super Bowl. It was perhaps the first Super Bowl that I actually watched. It was either because the AZ Cardinals were in it or more likely that Rich (my old friend) had a 127in TV. You really couldn't ignore it.

I caught up with Rich and another old friend a couple nights before I left. We went out to eat. It was a great time - lots of laughs except when we fed a five year old child some Indian food. Danger, danger Will Robinson - Nothing stopped her crying until the really nice waiter went out to his car and got her a piece of gum.

On the not so good side, Sage - Wendy's dog - had quite an ordeal while I was there. Sage was attacked and bitten by a dog. Within 24 hours she was so sick she had to be carried to the vet. Even after seeing the vet and being treated for antibiotics poor Sage didn't turn the corner until after midnight that night. We were all so worried but she is a strong dog and pulled through. Unfortunately, we were unable to track down the offender so it and its owner got off scott free while poor Sage continues bleeding and pusing all over the place as her wound drains. Luckily, her owner, Wendy, is a nurse who cleans and drains her wound daily.

You can see my full size photos here or check out the slide show below.

Bluff Springs Hike

2009-01-26T12:24:00.003+13:00

I had a great day out with the AOTC hiking from the Peralta Trailhead to the Bluff Springs Trail to the Lost Dutchman Trail. It was ten miles with an elevation gain of 1400ft. I have included my iphone gps stats below. You can click on "Bluff Springs" and see more at the EveryTrail site. Also below is a slide show of photos from the trip.

Bluff springs

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Boulder Canyon/ Second Water HIke

2009-01-19T04:31:00.004+13:00

Yesterday I joined the AOTC group to hike the Boulder Canyon and Second Water trails. For those of you who just like to view the photos, they are here. There is also a slideshow at the end of this post.

The trip was an out and back trip of approximately 15 miles. I used my iphone gps and it was out from that but you can see the information it gives below. (It was not set to high accuracy to conserve battery power. ) For a phone I think it give a pretty good overview of what we did that day. You can click on the link and see more detailed information and maps.

The hike was very pretty with great views of Battleship Mountain. The desert was very green. We saw only one flower and one cactus about to bloom. If we get some more rain it might be a good wildflower season which starts in February and peaks in March. We also saw an old indian clay mine.

The trip leaders, Dan and Garry, were awesome. They made sure everyone was safe. Apparently ten people were lost on the trail last year. It was a great day out.

Boulder canyon/ second water

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Dixie's Tupperware Party

2009-01-12T15:18:00.002+13:00

Dad and I went to see a show called Dixie's Tupperware Party. It is a comedy about the life of an ex-con who needed to get a job to get back her kids. The job chosen was tupperware. The show was very funny with Dixie offering a variety of alternatives for the uses of tupperware and many sexual references. We had seats right at the front and Dad became almost a co-star when he volunteered the information that he had never been to a tupperware party. Dixie often called on him when when making an off hand remark. However, the exceptionally funny bit came when she had him come on stage to demonstrate the use of the tupperware can opener. For those of you who do not know this can opener, it works very differently than the regular one. She gave Dad instruction on its use for five to ten minutes. Poor dad struggled but was finally able to get it happening. After all that I thought that she was going to give him a can opener but no instead he got the can of fruit that he opened. To give Dad credit when Wendy came to visit me she tried to open a can of something while I was at work and gave up. I had one of these Tupperware can openers. Below is a picture that we took after the show.

From Dixie's Tupperware Party

Romero Canyon

2009-01-12T07:41:00.007+13:00

Went out yesterday with AOTC (Arizona Outdoor Travel Club) to do a hike in the Tuscon region. We met at Fry's Electronics at 6:30am and journeyed down to Catalina State Park where we split into two groups. Group A hiked to the Romero Saddle and Group B hiked a fair ways into Romero Canyon. Since it was my first hike back I went with Group B. The day started out with a small emergency. Grace's water had all spilled out in transit. However, myself and others had extra so we filled her up. The hike was beautiful. I put some photos here. I was glad that I did the 10mile hike as my foot was quite sore on the way down. However, it wasn't as bad as it could have been and I was able to walk eight miles today without issue. I am seeing the acupuncturists again tomorrow in hope that I can get to a pain free point.

I tried out the iphone Trails application on the return leg of the hike. It created this map. I am not sure how accurate it is. For sure the speed is out. Also the distance and elevation don't seem to exactly match but it is kind of cool.

Romero canyon

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Hiking in the last weekend in 2008

2008-12-29T11:19:00.001+13:00

South Mountain Park
We attempted a family hike/ walk at South Mountain. It almost didn't happen because we couldn't find the correct entrance where JJ and Huichi were waiting. However, using our iphone location sensor and Google maps we were able to find the way. Once we got there we started walking. Huichi and I set a bit of a faster pace. After a time we called the others and discovered they had turned off the trail. We walked back but missed the turn off so we walked all the way back to the parking lot. Once there we headed up the trail that we figured the others would be coming down. We found them. However, the littlest nephew had fallen down twice and had decided that his walk had come to an end. PJ ended up carrying him the rest of the way because he wouldn't ride JJ's shoulders. The older nephew did fine.

Peralta Trail
Huichi wanted to hike out to see Weaver's Needle. She figured we could hike out and back before she and JJ were to leave on Sunday. We had a good time hiking out. The rocks rise in a striking steep manner around the trail. The trail steadly goes up until you reach Fremont Saddle. There was snow on the trail which is pretty funny. Worse there was ice on the trail and both Huichi and I slipped more than once. At the top the views were great. We headed down carefully. As we reached the bottom of the trail I got a call from Dad. We were running late. My brother was less than impressed when we arrived home ten minutes after he and Huichi were supposed to be heading back to Las Vegas. Photos here

More photos in Facebook

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Getting Home for Christmas

2008-12-25T10:30:00.001+13:00

Flight to Bangkok
Well I finally got on the plane to Bangkok and it took off around 2 hours late. That was the upside. The downside were two children who cried most of the time. Also none of the toilets on my side of the plane worked. It's no wonder I am feeling a bit stopped up now.

Bangkok
By the time I got here my connecting flight was long gone. However, I have to say there were pretty organized. They had a little sign with my name on it. I was offered new flights and a room. The room was in the Novetel and it was a beautiful hotel. The bed was really soft. I got to my room around 2am. The bad news - more screaming children in the hotel. I had to get up at 5:30. Then I got a free breakfast and I had an awesome waffle that they made right in front of me. When I got to the airport I checked in and they said I would have to get my boarding pass for Tokyo to LAX in Tokyo. Well I had about an hour layover. I said that I wanted my boarding pass before and that I was worried about a middle seat. They said they couldn't do anything. Finally, they said they would telex Tokyo about my seat and a veggie meal. I asked for a copy of the telex. In the mean time I went to an Internet centre to get my boarding pass for my flight from LAX to PHX (Southwest). I was able to check in but couldn't print it. I wasn't really sure what would happen from that. The really good news is that I got a whole row (3 seats) on this flight. The flight was only half full.

Tokyo
Again they met me at the gate with a sign with my name on it. They escorted me to my departing gate and guess what? They gave me a middle seat. I complained. They said that was all they could do. I said that wasn't good enough. I suggested maybe they should upgrade me. They said sorry and asked if it was alright. I said "No' that I had bought the ticket nine months ago and paid quite a bit of money. That I had addressed this issue at Bangkiok and showed them the telex. In the end I kept my cool and walked away. Later they came over to me and gave me an aisle seat in premium economy. Funny it appeared that a fight almost broke out. I didn't understand what was going on because it was in Japanese. The flight attendant looked like she was about to have a heart attack. It was a pretty nice flight but I couldn't eat the dinner (no veggie meal). I took one of Wendy's sleeping pills and got some more sleep.

LAX
I got through immigration so fast I couldn't believe it. That was likely because I was going to wait anyway as my bags didn't arrive and I had to fill out alot of paperwork. The folks were pretty nice. They seemed to even have my name already so I feel that those bags should turn up pretty quickly. I made my way over to Terminal 1, printed out my boarding pass (B11 - not good for me I like to be A1), went through security and called Dad. That is when I got another piece of bad news. My flight had a two hour delay. I am currently trying to get on an earilier flight standby but i am not feeling optimistic as they are all oversold and they are offering people money to take later flights.

The very good news is that it seems pretty likely I will make it home sometime tonight (Dec 24)

Merry Christmas !!

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Last Days in Oz

2008-12-23T22:18:00.001+13:00

Sunday Dec 21st
I took the bus from Geraldton to Perth. In order to take a later bus I went on the inland route bus which takes longer - seven hours to be specific. I will never understand why on a half full bus they insist on putting people next to each other and leaving entire rows empty. I was lucky enough to sit next to a guy who smoke a cigarette right before getting on the bus. He was also on the large side making the situation uncomfortable. After about a half hour I moved to a row with no one in it and stayed there the rest of the trip. The bus did get in 15 minutes early which was GREAT!

Monday Dec 22nd
Got up at 6am for a 7am pickup to go to Rottnest. I almost didn't get to go because I hadn't taken my credit card but they ended up letting me go anyway. Rottnest is so lovely. I rode a rental bike around the island. I stopped and snorkeled at Parker Point. There I ran into two difficulties - bad rental mask and my camera stopped working. I think I am camera cursed. I still had a great day riding around the island but was sad not to get more than a few photos. In a Yellowstone like fashion I saw a few other riders pulled over and I went over to check it out. There were several quokkas (small marsupials) including a mother with her young. She was kind of hugging him. I finished my ride around the island stopping at Little Parakeet Bay. I realy think Parker Point and Little Salmon and Big Salmon are the most lovely spots on the island. I took the boat and bus back and returned at 7pm. (The transit time on this trip was longer because I left from the Perth Jetty - I recommend the Fremantle one but I didn't want to haul all my stuff down there). Oh I forgot to say I took Kwells (sea sick medication) and it was well worth it because others did get sick on the way over and the way back.

Tuesday Dec 23
I got up and reorganised my gear. I am taking much more carryon in case my luggage doesn't make it to LAX when I do. I am still missing my favorite REI shirt. I think it is gone for good. However, it is always good to have an excuse to go to REI. If I am lucky there will be a sale on or something soon. I also walked to the post office to mail a couple of postcards and did a walk down the Swan River. I saw heaps of birds - herons, egrets, pelicans, ibis, and some that I didn't know what they were. Not much more time here in Perth and then I will begin my epic 23 hour + layover plane journey back to family and friends.

At the Airport
I took the 2pm shuttle to the airport thus arriving very early. There were still a few people waiting in line in front of me. We noticed that the counter personnel seemed to be experiencing issues. The line behind us grew longer and longer all the way down the terminal to the arrivals area. We waited and waited. After about an hour and a half they seemed to get the system kind of working (but slowly). So I got checked in around 2.5 hours after I arrived. I was probably the 10th person in economy to get checked in. There is no word when we will board. Although the departure sign said Go to Gate and then Boarding. Now they are saying that Boarding will be manual and slow. What a surprise.

Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.olson.au/LastDaysInOz#

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Dolphin Video

2008-07-27T15:26:00.004+12:00

Dolphin Video from kris on Vimeo.

Note: If the video doesn't come up, try clicking on the link to it.

There are more videos. Check out the links to the right.

Wendy's Last Days in Geraldton

2008-07-27T14:30:00.003+12:00

I returned to a busy work week. Wendy amused herself with a day trip to Kalbarri and a return trip to Shark Bay (Denham and Monkey Mia). She had a great time but ran out of petrol (gas) on the way home (25km from Geraldton). She was assisted by two nice guys who I think work for the Dept of Conservation.

Yesterday we took a drive out to the Geraldton Spy Base. It is nicely sign posted and even has a lookout. I guess that it isn't a secret spy base. We were treated to a kangaroo sighting and some great wildflowers.

Afterwards we took a scenic drive to Ellendale Pool. I had never been on the road before but thought it looked interesting. That is was. It changed from a nice paved road to a gravel road to a very muddy dirt road. The upside (besides the general pretty scenery) was that we saw several ring- necked parrots and a huge flock of ibis. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any photos as they were pretty skittish.

Ellendale Pools was a pretty place but quite noisy with a huge flock of white cockatoos. It was also extremely muddy. There were a few people camping there and we couldn't figure out why. An added bonus to the place was that there were huge signs warning about Ameobic Meningitis.

We moved on to Greenough River to do a walk along the river. It was very pretty and we saw another echidna. They are cute little things. It walked under a bush before we could get a photo.

Today we were planning to go back and do another section of the walk but it is pissing down rain. Too bad for Wendy's last day but we hear that it is sooo hot in Park City so a cool but rainy day is not too bad. We will probably head out to an olive plantation later. I don't think the rain will matter to much for that.

Our last pictures (I think) are here.

Shark Bay

2008-07-20T16:32:00.011+12:00

I forgot to say in my last post that it started pouring when we arrived in Shark Bay. Not the best welcome we have received. We looked around for a place to stay and found that generally only the most expensive places had availability. Finally we found a "cabin" at a caravan park. They were funny. When we asked if we could see it they said "no" they didn't have time for that. When we decided to stay one nigh to see if we like it, they said "no, two night bookings only". After a big sign they decided to show Wendy the cabin and we decided to stay.

After a leisurely morning waking up at 7:30 am (that was late compared to a wake up of 6am most mornings) we ate breakfast, organized our tours (water and land) and headed down to the Telecenter to use the Internet. I posted a blog post and Wendy Skyped a few people.

After that it was off to Monkey Mia. Right as we got there a few dolphins came right up to the beach. It was pretty great. I don't think either of us got any good photos of that. We ate lunch and then headed out on a three hour catamaran wildlife sighting tour. Wendy and I volunteered to work the "grinder" to put up the sails.

Unfortunately, it was really blowing and it was quite hard to spot wildlife. We did see a few loggerhead turtles and a couple of dolphins. Because it was so windy the boat was really moving. Both Wendy and I got absolutely soaked. Apparently we were in the absolute worst seats. I wish they had told us that before we were soaked.

After we got off the boat we had a bowl of fries and I had a beer and Wendy had a hot chocolate. We visited the boat place and got a pass for a repeat trip on the boat. Then we did a nature walk. Wendy spotted an echidna. No photos unfortunately.

We returned home for a awesome dinner prepared by me of stir fry carrots, zucchini and chili tofu. I also cooked a butternut squash.

The next day was another very early morning. We left at 7am and Wendy saw a lively kangaroo hopping across the road. We got to Monkey Mia for the dolphin feeding at 7:30 am. There were lots of people but it was still pretty easy to see the dolphins. We watched two dolphin feedings and I got some great photos and video. There were also some HUGE pelicans. When posing with one I must have gotten a little close because it came at me with its scary big beak. I was lucky I didn't lose an eye. I don't know what it is about these birds. They just don't like me.

After the dolphin feeding we headed into the Francis Peron National Park on a 4WD tour. The great things was that Wendy and I were the only ones on the tour. Our guide was Russell and he was a prankster. The tour started out very slowly with some historical stuff at the Peron homestead but as we got into the national park it became very, very beautiful with white sand beaches against red rock and the blue water of Shark Bay.

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing a dugong and its calf. We had binoculars and were able to get a great view of them from the beach. Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos. There was no way they would come out as anything other than a black smudge using my camera. Wendy tried to get some with her film camera but it will be awhile before we see those. At the same spot we also saw a Goulds monitor lizard.

The other highlight of the day for me was on the way out of the park. Russell pulled over and said he had something to show us. He then grabbed and showed us a snake. Wendy wanted to see it and went out to touch/ hold it and begged me to take a picture. When taking a picture, I noticed it looked a little strange. It was a rubber snake. I don't know how he made it look so real or how Wendy thought is was real as she was holding it. It was soooo funny. You have to look at Wendy's expression.

All Shark Bay pictures are here

Note: This is a slightly different location than all of the other photos

Exmouth to Shark Bay

2008-07-18T13:42:00.002+12:00

I bullied Wendy into leaving really early but that was a good thing because we made seven stops on the way to Shark Bay and didn't arrive until after five. We stopped in Carnarvon for fuel and groceries. Then we stopped in two places for wildflower pictures. Then at the Overlander Roadhouse to pee. Then we stopped at Hamlin Pool to see the Stromatolites (spelling). This was pretty over rated. We tried to help a guy push start his BMW motorcycle there. Unfortunately, we weren't much help. I think he was a bit crazy driving down the isolated WA coast on a dead battery. We checked out the quarry used to create bricks out of cockle shells cemented together over time by rainwater. That was kind of cool. The next stop was Shell Beach. As it sounds like it is a beach made up of shells.

Today we are going on a cruise in search of marine life. Tomorrow we are going to the dolphin feeding and then on to the Francis Peron National Park. We are extending our "tour" one day and heading back to Geraldton on Sunday.

I have added several new photos to the web album.

Hopefully we will have some great ones to post in a few days.

Whale Shark Mission accomplished

2008-07-16T22:51:00.003+12:00

Wendy and I went out on the whale shark tour today. The first snorkel was pretty amazing and we saw a huge grouper/cod. Then the boat broke down and we thought the day was finished so we did another snorkel in a pretty amazing area. The boat was fixed in about an hour and we headed off in search of whale sharks. First we swam with a 3m male for about 10 minutes. Then we swam with a 8m female for around an hour. It was a GREAT day. I am running out of time so I will write more later. Check out the additional pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.olson.au/WendySAustralianAdventures

Oyster Stacks and another trip to Turquoise Bay

2008-07-15T22:28:00.004+12:00

Today we were set to go on the whale shark tour AGAIN but the boat broke down. That was bad luck but it was an absolutely awesome day. We signed up for the next tour and headed out to Oyster Stacks. Oyster Stacks is a rocky beach with several bombies to snorkel. I was so glad to have booties because last time I turned back due to foot pain. High tide was at 8:15 and we didn't get there until 10 so it was a very shallow snorkel but brilliant. After a bit of time here we headed off to Turquoise Bay. There we took a lot of photos because I think it will be our last day there. We also did a snorkel there. I was lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time with a turtle. I also found several clownfish.

With a bit of luck we will see the whale sharks tomorrow and then we will head to Shark Bay the next day. A side note - Wendy had decided to pay for another whale shark tour if our boat wasn't going out tomorrow. For those of you who know her that is quite a decision. However, probably not bigger than my decision to buy a new camera in Exmouth after my other one broke down.

For anyone who doesn't know what a whale shark is you can look at my prior experiences with the whale shark here.

I added 18 new pictures to my picture site here.

No Whalesharks today

2008-07-15T12:49:00.002+12:00

The whaleshark boat broke down so no whale sharks today. We are going to go and try to snorkel at Oyster stacks and return again to Turquoise Bay.
I forgot to mention that we saw lots of emus yesterday. Wendy was super excited. She ran into the grass to get some photos. Unfortunately, the grass was almost like cactus and she got pretty scraped and scratched up.

Plans change

2008-07-14T22:22:00.004+12:00

Yesterday morning we did a very early morning snorkel at Turquoise Bay. It would have been earlier if we hadn't had to wait 40 minutes at the Cape Range NP entrance. We had the misfortune of getting there right when it opened and were behind a number of people lined up to get prime camping spots. Both of us were pretty annoyed as we had to be back in Exmouth at 11:45am. We eventually got to Turquoise Bay and although it was quite cold we both went for a snorkel and saw more great stuff. We returned to Exmouth and Wendy went on the Navy Pier Dive. I used that time to call the campground in Karijini National Park. It was completely booked out. We would have been able to get a place in Tom Price but that would mean driving into the Park each day. With our already short time I decided it didn't make sense. When Wendy got off her dive we had a strategy meeting. She was very happy to stay on in Exmouth so that is what we have decided to do. We will be here until Thursday when we leave for Shark Bay. I am going to do the repeat Whale Shark thing on Tuesday. We heard about someone who saw five whale sharks (a mom and some babies). Wow wouldn't that be awesome to see!

This morning I bought a new camera. Today we headed out to Yardie Creek and did a short walk there. Then we went to Sandy Bay for lunch and had a snorkel at Turquoise Bay - our favorite. Today I was really lucky and saw a spotted ray, a clownfish, a turtle and some sharks. I found the sharks under a ledge. When I saw around to have a look I woke one up. It swam away and then the others swam away. It was a white tipped reef shark. It came back awhile later to have a look at me. I was hoping that I didn't piss it off too much.

I have added more photos to the exisiting album here. Please let me know if you have problems accessing this.

Whale Shark Trip

2008-07-13T17:20:00.001+12:00

We had a good day on the whale shark tour despite the fact that Wendy had a touch of sea sickness. We saw two dugongs (similar to a manatee), a turtle, and many humpback whales. The two humpback whales were very close to the boat. However, we did not see a whale shark. Wendy is booked in for a repeat tour on Monday. I may or may not do it again. One very bad thing did happen. My NEW camera has stopped working. I am not sure what the problem is. It did seem to be wet inside. I did do all the right things like rinsing it after using it so I am not sure what is going on.

Check out the photos I did get so far at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.olson.au/WendySAustralianAdventures

Turquoise Bay (Exmouth)

2008-07-13T17:19:00.000+12:00

We got up early after a night with little sleep due (loud people). The drive was interesting with termite hills and a huge eagle. We got a few good pics of that. We drove straight to Turquoise Bay. It was as spectacular as I remember it. I saw a turtle in my first snorkel. Wendy saw an octopus and a shark.

In my second snorkel I saw two sharks. One was sleeping and it kind of scared me when I saw it under a coral over hang. Wendy saw a couple more turtles and several sharks. She was a bit worried to see so many at once but that didn't stop her from chasing them for a picture.

We are thinking of staying on in Exmouth for an extra day. Tomorrow we head off on a whale shark tour. I think Wendy is going to dive at the Navy pier the following day.

From Perth to Coral Bay

2008-07-13T17:18:00.000+12:00

On Monday July 7 I picked up a very tired Wendy Wolfe from the Perth Airport at 1;30. Lucky Wendy's flight had arrived 30 minutes early so she spent the time trying to find a coffee. Unfortunately, she had no Australian currency and they wouldn't process a credit card transaction for less than $10 so she had no coffee until we found each other.

The trip North to Geraldton took about 4.5 hours and was uneventful. The drive was very green due to the rain that we have received. Wendy was very impressed. She was exhausted by the time she reached my house after traveling for around 36 hours and hit the bed as soon as possible.

On Tuesday we walked and drove around Geraldton seeing the Museum, the "city center", my workplace, the Catholic cathedral, the ocean and the lighthouse. After that we bought some food for our adventures up North and Wendy headed to bed.

We left on Wednesday morning around 7:45am and drove north. The drive was much greener than I have ever seen it. We saw several water holes on the way. Unfortunately, the only kangaroos we saw were dead on the side of the road. We did see a big eagle and several other bird species. We arrived in Coral Bay at 3:30PM just in time for the fish feeding. It was as impressive as I remember it.

We checked in and watched the sunset. Wendy had an early night and I bumped into a few friends from Geraldton. We had a beer together.

Wednesday morning started out quite cool. I was wearing flannel pj bottoms, a fleece and a hat. I was wondering if I would be able to hit the water. Fortunately, it warmed up very quickly and it turned into a calm beautiful day. Wendy and I each bought a rashie to reduce the chance of sunburn and we hit the water for a snorkel and it was incredible as usual. Wendy lucked out and saw a turtle. I saw lots of great coral and fish. I was so cold and shriveled when I got out that I couldn't contemplate another snorkel for a couple of hours. After a hummus sandwich or two I was ready to give it a go again. The second snorkel was not as magnificent due to the wind and tide coming in and reducing the visibility but it was still great. I happened upon a blue spotted ray.

Later we went for a walk up the beach and saw another ray. Wendy stayed later and took a few sunset photos. I returned to the Ningaloo Club and downloaded my digital photos. For dinner we had a stir fry of chili tofu, zucchini, carrot, spinach (and for Wendy only red pepper) with cous cous. It seemed like the best thing that I have eaten in a long, long time.

Off to bed as we have an early morning tomorrow when we head up to Exmouth and Turquoise Bay.

Operation New Stove Complete

2008-06-22T15:56:00.003+12:00

Two more weeks to vacation !! Wendy arrives on 7 July and we are off on our big adventure on 9 July.

The Stove (Continued)

I was in the middle of a meeting when I get a call from the discount electronics store from which I bought my tenant's new stove. The gist of the conversation was that they were about to deliver the stove. This would be good if I had arranged that with the tenant and the electrician. (Note: here in Australia stove are not plugged in but rather wired directly into the electrical system of the house). I said that was not convenient and I would call them back. A minute later I get another call saying that the stove needs to be delivered because it was scheduled to be delivered. I said that was crazy as I never spoke to them about delivery. Needless to say after the meeting I got on the phone and organised with the tenant and the electrician for delivery the next day after work. When I called the store they were unable to say whether or not they could deliver. I was glad to see that the stove was there when I got home the next day. The electrician disconnected the old stove, we moved it and unpacked the new stove. Unfortunately there was a big dent and scratch on the side of the stove. I called the store. There advice was for me to bring back the stove. That was not really possible on my bike and they didn't have another stove except for the floor model anyway. We negociated a discount on the stove. We installed it and then the really bad thing happened. The oven racks wouldn't fit in the stove. After a trip to the electronics store we determined this was due to the dent. The stove would need to be disconnected and returned.

Long story short - the stove was returned (picked up by the store) and I organised for the stove my friend offered me a few weeks ago to be installed. It turns out that it is a better stove and my tenant is happier. It as a lot of hassle and I don't think I will buy anything from that shop again.

Travel back to the USA

Well apparently due to flight changes due to fuel costs my flight back to the US has been cancelled. I am currently working with the travel agent to reschedule. It looks as though I will be arriving earlier on Christmas eve. When I have more definite plans, I will let you all know.

The Wood Duck

I have previously mentioned about the wood duck. It is the award for doing the dumbest/ funniest thing at work. Last week Dave from my department played a game of soccer at lunch. Three of us were all in the office afterwards with all three doors open. He says "Kris I hope you don't mind if I change my shirt". Then as we are talking about various work related things and he says "Don't look I am changing my shorts". Needless to say I was a tad bit surprised. After he got the wood duck he said "at least I kept my boxers on". It was a good laugh for us all.

Winter is Here?

2008-06-07T20:10:00.013+12:00

June 1 signals the official start of winter here in Australia. However, it is winter at its absolute mildest. This morning I had to wear a long sleeve shirt at 9am - very chilly (ha, ha). Every day I walk or ride down the bike path. Last week they built a cute little gazebo by the bike path near my house. Here are a couple of pictures of the gazebo and bike path.

Events of the Week
New Stove
My tenant brought of the remains of the rounded things that go under the heating elements in an electric stove. Hers had rusted out. I thought "No problem" just order an replacement. It is not quite that easy. I called Westinghouse (the manufacturer) but they said without the model number it is impossible to send replacements and if it is an old stove it is unlikely that they make them anymore anyway. Well the model number was unreadable on the stove. I went to a stove repair place and got the same story. After thinking of having them made and thinking of trying to get out to the tip (the Aussie term for the dump), I decided that buying a new stove was the way to go. I found one on sale but then decided to buy an extended warranty and have it delivered so I ended up paying more than the ticket price anyway. I don't have it yet as they had to order one in unless I wanted to take the floor model.

Then in Australia all the stoves are wired into the electrical system (verses using a plug) so I need to get an electrician to disconnect the old and reconnect the new. I lucked out there as one of the people who are taking my foster dog is an electrician and he has said he will do it for me. Now I have to pay to have the old stove taken away. Is there no end to this I ask myself?

A bit of belated good luck on Sunday - a friend offered to give me a stove. I guess I will replace both stoves (the one in my rental unit and the one in my unit).

Theft vs Prank
Many of you have heard stories of people I work with and will know immediately who I am talking about in this story. Last week we had a raffle at work to support Beyond Blue. One guy won a six pack of Corona. A couple of pranksters swapped out two of the Corona for Hahn Light (comparable to Bud Light). The guy flew into a rage and went off about the theft of his beer. The next work day (this was after the weekend and holiday monday) he complained to the principal about a thief at work. Needless to say that several people thought this was quite funny. He then got the Wood Duck award (given out weekly to teachers doing a stupid thing) which, of course, set him off again.

Harriers
Sunday was a great morning for a bit of a walk. I did 7km with Harriers. I took a few pictures along the way with my phone. It was a dual purpose activity. I wanted a few photos for here but I also wanted to be sure that I know how to use the bluetooth functions on the phone and on my macbook. Here are a few photos of the beach and the iconic Geraldton lighthouse.

Won the Footy Tipping

2008-06-01T19:42:00.004+12:00

Footy Tipping

I set up the work online football betting competition (called tipping here). Since I set it up, I decided that I should enter despite the fact that I have little interest or knowledge of Aussie Rules football. There are sixteen participants and throughout the comp I have been at the bottom (14, 15, or 16). Last week I won the weekly picks. I moved up to 8th position. I would love to chalk this up to skill but it is more like one guy at work said "only someone with no knowledge of football would have done well this week". I believe that I have moved up again this week. I got six out of eight correct. However, the site is currently closed while they update the comp.

Greenough Walk

I did an 8.5 km walk with the Geraldton Harriers club. The walk was in Greenough south of Geraldton. It was very green due to a decent amount of rain this year. However, this morning it was dry which was good for walking. The walk started at the Pioneer Museum and went along a road into the sand dunes. You can check out some photos here. I took them with my broken camera. I had to go into school and use a card reader to get the photos off the camera. It was a good thing I walked in the am because it poured in the late afternoon.

Foundation Day

Monday is Foundation Day and a holiday here. I would to say that I don't have to go to work but being a bit of a workaholic I am going in. I went in yesterday to do the computer stock take. Tomorrow I need to review my staff's reports (I started this yesterday but found numerous typos, spelling and grammar errors) and clean up the server. I hope it won't take too long.

Wood Duck

Each week the person who does the stupidest or funniest thing at work gets an award called the Wood Duck. I was the lucky recipient last week. I was trying to show this new Hungarian teacher how the school internet filters work. Figuring that if I typed "porn" into a Google search I would get the filter message, I demonstrated this. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Luckily, I only got a list of results and no images. It still somewhat astounds me that putting in myspace will bring an immediate filter block but porn will not. One of my coworkers volunteered to check out the porn links. What a guy! (ha, ha). It did come up as blocked once you clicked on the porn links. I am glad to hear that we are protecting our young charges at school.

Reading

I am currently reading The Prisoner of Guantanamo (Fesperman) and listening to London Bridges (Patterson).

Movies

I haven't seen much of interest lately. I saw Elizabeth which was okay. I just saw a quick overview of Blindness and that looks interesting. However, I doubt it will make it to Australia before I leave.

Bowling

2008-05-03T12:21:00.004+12:00

The first week back to school has been very, very hectic. It started out well with a day of professional development. I organized the day for the Business and Computing staff. We did quite of bit of curriculum improvement stuff but also some technical skills. The last hour of the day was devoted to team building. We went bowling. It was a lot of fun and seemed to further develop the department collegiality. The rest of the week was crazy with the new teacher notebooks arriving and an array of computer / network problems.

No one has called to see my foster dog that I am keeping for Geraldton Dog Rescue. He peed on the carpet so I am keeping an extra close eye on him. I keep him in the laundry room at night but the last two nights he locked himself in the small bathroom (which only holds a toilet) off the laundry room. Dad theorizes that the dog was chasing something behind the door so I need to prop it open with something heavy.

Tomorrow I am off to Harriers to do a 7km walk at the Greenough River. I think it will be pretty challenging as I have heard that it is through the sand dunes.

Whale Sharks

2008-05-03T12:19:00.002+12:00

Dad let me know that there is a program in Georgia where injured Iraq veterans swim with whale sharks. While searching for information on that I came across this video about whale sharks.

Mission Whale Shark Accomplished

2008-04-18T22:25:00.007+12:00

UPDATE: Photos Here

After ten long weeks of work I headed up to the Ningaloo Reef with Tanya (a fellow teacher). We stopped for the night in Carnavon to visit with her mom and then went up to Exmouth the next day. As it was a 900 km journey the stop was welcome. Our first day in Exmouth we went to a small beach called Bundegi and did a snorkel. Although the conditions weren't ideal it was just what we needed after driving so far.

The next day I went on the whale shark tour and Tanya went out on a dive boat to the Murion Islands. There were 18 people on my tour. We headed around to the west side of the cape and took a boat to the outside of the reef. We saw some dolphins on the way. There we had a snorkel. It wasn't spectacular but I saw a couple of turtles.

The whale shark spotter plan went up and we headed south to snorkel with the whale sharks. Each boat can only stay with the whale shark for 90 minutes and swimmers can only be in the water for 60 minutes. The company that I went with (Ningaloo Reef Dreaming) uses its own spotter plane so we were not going to have to share any shark sightings with other boats. There are also rules about where you can be in relations to the whale shark. You need to be 3 m from the shark on the sides and 4m from the shark around the tail. You are not allowed to be in front of the shark.

The plane did not immediately find a whale shark so we had a bit of a swim and later another snorkel. Then right as we sat down to lunch the spotter plane found two whale sharks for us. The first group finished eating and geared up. When we were near the area the whale shark had been seen one of the guides jumped in and located the shark. He swam along side and then the other swimmers jumped in. They were supposed to immediately look for the shark and then swim to the side of the shark (as opposed to the front of the shark). In the excitement they forgot.

Our group got their chance in a bit. It was really exciting. I got quite a few photos. The groups swapped back and forth. On my second swim I was getting a bit tired. I then realised that it was only me, the guide and the shark. The rest of the people couldn't keep up. When I got back to the boat the skipper and the deckie were really impressed. In their words "Girl you can swim". It was a great experience. I got another two swims. It was really great.

The only down side of the day was that somehow I lost my sunglasses. The crew said that we swam with the shark all up for 51 minutes. The average swim time of the other tour operators in 2007 was 6 minutes. For the operator that I went with the average swim time in 2007 was 48 minutes so we had a great swim. The whale shark wasn't huge. It was 3.5m. The big ones in the area run around 10-12 m. The largest one seen is 18m.

Tanya had a good day diving. She did three dives and was quite pleased.

The next day we drove into Ningaloo Reef Marine Park and snorkeled at a couple of places. The best was Turquoise Bay. We saw a few dolphins as we walked down the beach. I did two snorkels there. There were heaps of fish. On the first snorkel I also saw a reef shark. On the second snorkel I found a turtle that let me swim with it for about 15-20 minutes. It went up for air twice, swam gracefully around and ate a bit of something from the sea floor. It was really great. Unfortunately, my camera quit working.

Later we went back to Exmouth and I read by the pool for the rest of the day. Later I found that I had really sunburned my back and bottom. It was very, very painful.

The next day we drove down to Coral Bay. Tanya and I did a nice snorkel there. The corals there are so great - a great variety of color, size and shape. My favorite is the lavender coral. Due to my sunburn I spent the rest of the day in the shade. Tanya did a ATV tour and had a super time.

Just before sunset I spread some of my mom's ashes in the bay. She very much enjoyed her visit to Coral Bay several years ago. Amazingly my camera came to life just to take a photo of the area I put the ashes. I am not sure if that was heavenly intervention or fate.

Today we drove back. It took about 8 hours so I am a bit done in.

I tried to get the photos off my camera. I think it is only the display that is broken. However, I couldn't get them. I am going to try to use a card reader to get them directly from the memory card. I will post them if I can.

All in all it was a really great trip.