The Great Wide Out of Doors

2011-11-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

Despite its lack of working heat, I drove the beater I've got for my long-term-temporary stay in Spokane up to northern Idaho to hike Iron Mountain. I had to stay a couple of times to warm my feet up and had to wander the back roads finding the trail head, but once I got started I was in for a solid hike.

The climb up started up mostly dry, with just a little snow on the trees.

A view on the way up. The trail cimbed 3400 feet in 3.5 miles, nice and steep. It was good to get out and work the lungs a little bit.

About halfway up, the snow that was barely present solidified, eventually becoming about 3 inches deep.

The view (or lack thereof) from the peak. At this point, I had climbed up into the clouds.

The clouds lifted a little bit as I was hiking down, which provided a bit of a preview of what the view could have been if it wasn't cloudy. Across the Kootenai is another mountain range - the Selkirks - which could make for some awesome snow shoeing while I'm still in Spokane.

The Kootenai River. Pretty sweet. It might have been a cold drive out and back, but it was definitely worth it.

Paid To Do This

2011-10-31T21:29:00.001-07:00

I spent the last week learning and practicing day and night navigation as part of my training. We spent the week in Kaniksu National Forest walking around in the woods and camping. It was good training...it was also sweet to spend a week in the woods again.

Hiking through a clearing the first day. The Washington forests could get really thick, so hitting open spots like this were a welcome relief.

One guy found this sweet elk head while we were navigating. He carried all 30 pounds of it the rest of the day back to the camp.

From on top of one of the peaks we climbed our first day of navigation. The schedule was more packed than it seemed. We'd wake up, eat breakfast, do a land navigation, eat dinner, do a night navigation, then go to sleep. The first few days we were in two groups with an instructor apiece, then a group by ourselves, then the last two days we did solo day and night treks. I felt pretty comfortable with navigation, but I still learned a lot during the course, and adapting to the thick forests of northern Washington was challenging, especially at night.

Working on the fire at our base camp. We mainly operated out of one camp, although one of our treks involved moving to a new site and setting up camp for the night. We lived pretty high on the hog, though, with propane stoves, coolers, and lots of fire wood.

One day we ran a scenario that included a helicopter insertion and extraction. This is the view from where the helicopter was supposed to pick us up. We ended up having to hike down to the valley, as the pickup site on the mountain was a bit sketchy.

Our instructors for the course were survival instructors. Being survival instructors, they were real big on practicing building fires, so we built them all the time. Here we're making a small fire to get us by until the helo came to pick us up.

Me at the pickup site. My pants are military issue, but we were allowed to modify the standard uniforms a bit to be more conducive to the field environment.

Some of the guys running out to get on the helo. The orange vests are on their rucks because that day happened to coincide with the opening of elk and deer hunting season in the national forest that we were hiking in.

Ready to lift off.

Rocking the sweet glasses we had to wear to keep dirt out of our eyes when the rotor wash picks up entering and exiting the helo.

The view out the side of the helo. I'm getting paid to do this...

Mt Cour D'Alene

2011-10-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Jess came for a weekend visit, and since I'd just purchased a sweet '91 Oldsmobile, we decided to take advantage of it and go for a hike. We headed east to Idaho and hiked Mt. Cour D'Alene.

A view through the trees down to Lake Cour D'Alene. It was pretty great to be back in the mountains.

The light wasn't great, but the flowers on this tree were pretty cool.

Another view of the lake and the mountains beyond. There wasn't any view from the top, but it was a good little hike. Nice to get out, stretch the legs, and smell the mountain air again.

Awesome Alaskan April

2011-04-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I headed down to the Deltas for a pre-Easter jaunt. Our goal was Institute Peak, which has thwarted me twice thus far. We had heard that the snow was still pretty sweet down there, and our hearing was good. It ended up snowing a bunch more on our ski in, which made for some tough trail-breaking, but some solid skiing.

The way in was pretty cloudy, with snow falling and little depth perception. This photo is actually in pretty good light - we ended up climbing on an old moraine to the right of this valley for no good reason, which made for some interesting poking around.

Jeff fell on the way in. It is infrequent enough that it must be documented. Incidentally, this is the only one of these photos that I took.

The next morning the weather was still pretty cloudy, so we took a leisurely breakfast in Jeff's new tent.

It did clear up late morning, though. Excited for the day.

At the base of the climb up Institute. Neither of us had approached from this aspect before, and we had a tough time finding a good route up, particularly considering the avy danger from all the new snowfall. In the end, we didn't make the top.

We didn't make the summit, but we did do some schralping. The break in the tracks a third of the way down is from me sliding a good 20 feet or so.

The McCallum Glacier/Creek area has some sweet bowls and snow fields. It would be awesome to have a few days back in here after snowfall like this.

Pretty awesome spot to pitch a tent.

Yet another amazing ridge in the Deltas. The areas back off the roads are so much bigger than you ever realize when you're driving by, even though they're only a 5 or 6 mile ski in. It can be overwhelming just standing among such size, drinking it in. It was great to be back in the mountains.

Flattop Romps

2011-04-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

Post-Selection I've started dipping my toes in the Chugach State Park waters, beginning with climbing Flattop Peak. It's a half-hour drive from my house, right at the east edge of Anchorage, and a kind of entrance to the Chugach mountain range.

Jess and I hiked out to the base of the first Flattop Peak a week ago. It was pretty gray, and pretty icy. Since neither of us had more rugged footwear than regular hiking shoes, we stopped short of climbing the peak.

I couldn't let climbing it go, though, so I came back with crampons on a day with more sunlight, and after a week of off-and-on snow. You could see right from the start that there was way more white stuff.

About halfway up the peak. It's pretty benign if you've got the feet for it, but the very top is a bit tricky, and can apparently be much more so when it gets heavily corniced.

From the top, looking at the Chugach spilling into Turnagain Arm. Lots of good stuff back there.

Playing around with the panorama on my camera. Tough to beat that view...I've got a lot to get to know.

Semi-obligatory ice ax shot. Never needed the ax, but it was comforting to have around.

There are three Flattop peaks. I climbed back to this one, the second, but decided to pass on going back to the third, which was a good ways away and considerably steeper. Next time.

Besides being amazing to have such great mountains so close to home, it's also amazing to see the people who climb around on them when they're so close. I watched a guy slide 30 feet down a fairly steep slope before fortunately stopping himself on some brush. He was wearing winter boots with little tread and nothing else for stopping himself on the snow. Flattop is apparently regularly the source of rescues for people who've put themselves in place they shouldn't be.

On the other hand, after the first peak there were hardly any tracks. Evidently it only takes a little bit of work to earn some solitude. I'm cool with putting in the work.

Back North

2011-01-17T22:45:00.000-08:00

I set off for Anchorage on my birthday, and arrived 14 days and 6,226 miles later. Armed with a forgetful mind and an unfamiliar new camera, I managed to take no photos of the friends and family I saw along the way, and didn't really capture how beautiful much of the scenery was. However, here are a few snapshots from along the road.

The red rocks for which Red Rock Canyon state park, where I spent a night, got its name. I swear that the entirety of Oklahoma was flat, except for this one scar in the earth. Sweet scar, though.

A well-situated mission in New Mexico. After dashing across Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, the land of enchantment was a welcome sight. I always forget how beautiful that state is until I'm back in it again.

The smog in LA doesn't make for great breathing, but the sunsets do seem to be consistently good. I also caught one from Venice Beach, standing amongst the medical marijuana doctors and other characters, but forgot my camera.

This sign was posted at the front of my brother's apartment in LA. I stayed with my cousin.

A bit of the view looking out from my friend Virginia and her husband George's house on the Oregon coast. Up on the hill overlooking a bay, they were in a really beautiful spot.

Yep, the Oregon coast is awesome.

Sunset on the Oregon coast. Not more than 30 seconds after the sun dipped below the horizon, the clouds on the right began to drop rain on us. Perfect timing.

After skiing, wandering, and frozen-pond skating with my friend Seth in Squamish, British Columbia, I pointed north towards the real cold. The next four days the temperature didn't get above -30.

Once deep enough into Canada, everything was snow covered.

There's a stretch of Canada where a large herd of buffalo roam. Hitting one would not have made my day, but these guys seemed more interested in trying to conserve energy and stay warm than in wandering along the road.

When I pulled into Anchorage, it was considerably warmer - almost 0. Nice ending to a long drive.

AT Wrap-up

2011-01-17T22:29:00.000-08:00

This is a much-delayed post-script to my AT journey, but I figure later is better than never. If you've got 15 minutes to spend, we put together a little slide show of some of the better photos from the trail. The first song in the slide show is called "Welcome Home, Son", by a band called Radical Face. I thought of this song often as I hiked. By the time we'd started hiking, I'd already been back from Afghanistan 6 months, and I'd only been deployed for 7. Still, hiking the trail felt to me like a re-introduction to the US, especially parts of the country that I'd forgotten existed. It would be easy to think of the route that the AT follows as traveling a very slow road from Boston to New York, then Washington, and finally on to Atlanta. In some respects this is true, and I think that one of the great features of the trail is that someone can be a hiker and, within an hour or two, also be a tourist in some of the biggest and most unique cities in America. At the same time, I was constantly astonished by the small farms and towns we encountered, not just in rural states like Maine and Vermont, but along the entire trail. More than that, I am still amazed to reflect on the kindness and generosity shown us by total strangers; people giving of their cars, homes, food, and time, often for no better reason than because it seemed like the right thing to do. I suppose that was the re-introduction that took me most by surprise; not to the greatness of America's natural beauty, but to the greatness of its people.

AT Photos

2009-12-29T13:16:00.000-08:00

So Priya beat me to the punch and uploaded a bunch of photos from the entire trip, along with some comments. You can view the photos from the trip here.

Journey's End

2009-12-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

Priya and Christian reached the summit of Springer Mountain Dec 21st, 2,178 miles from where they began in Maine. More photos will follow, but here's a quick shot from the summit. Thanks to all who helped along the way - it's been the adventure of a lifetime.

Down to the Homestretch

2009-12-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

On Saturday evening, the hikers were near Bryson City, NC - a mere 135 miles from Springer. They are looking forward to meeting up with Christian's brother Stephen later this week, and are targeting a Dec 21 end date. Next update will be from the hikers themselves!

Winter is here

2009-12-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

We've made it to the Great Smokey Mountains and winter has arrived! We had a great Thanksgiving in Boone with the Ellis family and many other thru-hikers. Priya is back on the trail and her knee is holding up well. Estimated time of arrival at Springer Mountain is 2 weeks from now!
The following pics are (1) the Thanksgiving group at the Ellis "deer camp," outside to enjoy the season's first snow; (2&3) what that snow looked like in the mountains; (4) snow, breath, nasal fluid and who knows what else frozen in Christian's beard; (5) Priya and 2 giants crossing cold, wet meadows; (6) dinnertime in the shelter; (7) Priya and Elmer, who runs the lovely Sunnybank Inn in Hot Springs. He also happens to have taught at her high school in Singapore several decades ago; (8) frozen fog on the pine needles; (9) icicles in the Smokies with Pete on the trail; (10) Priya getting as close to the fire as possible in the shelter; (11) ahhh those beautiful Smokey Mountains.

In Tennessee

2009-11-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

We made it to Damascus, VA on Friday. I tweaked my knee and made the tough decision to rest for a few days while Christian continues South. He and fellow SOBOs Pete, Kirtley, Josey, and Pork will join me for Thanksgiving in Boone, NC, where Josey's parents, Bob and Roni, are cooking up enough food for the impending thru-hiker stampede. I plan to rejoin the SOBO gang on Friday. --Priya

Josey's father, Bob; Pete; Josey; Kirtley; Christian; Pete's friend, Brian; Josey's mother, Roni

Priya atop Tinker Cliffs

Christian hugging the great Keffer Oak

Sunrise from our campsite on the front lawn of The Homeplace in Catawba - site of the previous night's long-awaited, family style, Southern dinner.

James River Foot Bridge in the morning

Our favorite winter berry -- the M berry.

An old school house museum on the Trail...

... with "Rules for Teachers" that would make Priya rethink her profession.

intense focus at lunchtime

beautiful Virginia pastures

The crisp fall days we've enjoyed... most of the time.

3/4 Complete

2009-11-18T06:29:00.000-08:00

Got a quick update from the hikers on Monday evening. They passed the 3/4 AT mark, plan to stop in Damascus on Friday, and should hit the Tennessee border by this weekend. They have met a group (three people plus a dog) of Southbounders who they have been walking with for the last several days, and are enjoying the new company. Chris and Priya will spend Thanksgiving with the family of one of their new friends at their farm in Boone, NC.

Pearisburg, VA

2009-11-10T21:48:00.001-08:00

Priya and Christian reached Pearisburg, VA today. They are doing well, but are expecting Ida to bring them some rain in the next few days. They met up with a few other southbound hikers and are looking forward to the additional company as they move further south.

They are 624 miles from Springer.

Virginia Fall

2009-10-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

Updating from the small town of Montebello, VA, we've now passed into and out of Shenandoah National Park are in the meat of Virginia's section of the AT.

We've had some of our roughest weather the last few weeks. In Maryland we hiked 15 miles in the rain, with the temperatures in the low 40's. This is Priya in a bathroom that we used to hang up our gear and cook dinner - the only dry place available.

Christian's parents met us in Harper's Ferry at the bridge crossing into West Virginia - the "spirtual halfway point", as this is where the Appalachian Trial Conservancy Headquarters is located.

Our first night in the Shenandoahs we slept under the stars at this sweet spot overlooking the valley.

Fall in the Shenandoahs...the leaves were amazing.

Some berries still left at the end of fall. We saw 4 bear in the Shenandoahs, all trying to stock up for winter.

A view of the trees as their leaves turned. The past couple of days have brought wind and rain, so from here on out we don't expect much fall foliage to be left.

We caught the sunset off these clouds as we hiked into camp late one evening.

Fall colors on a tree just south of Shenandoah.

Most of the leaves we saw had turned orange or yellow, but this stand of young trees had a cool red color.

Trees in the fog. We've been hit by more rainy weather recently than in quite a while, making staying dry and keeping equipment dry a challenge.

Getting deeper into Virginia has brought us back into bigger mountains - we've climbed above 4,000 feet elevation for the first time since Vermont, and have consistently been above 3,000 feet. We're looking forward to what the rest of Virginia has to offer, and the Smokies are beckoning.

Back in the Old Dominion

2009-10-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

So we've left Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia behind, entered the AT's longest state, and now have less than 1,000 miles left in our journey. Pretty exciting stuff. Christian's computer doesn't want to act right, so no photos, but a few videos.

Into VA...

Maryland left us with a bang...two days of temps in the 40's and quite a bit of rain. We were lucky to be meeting Christian's parents in Harper's Ferry.

While visiting the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters, we happened to get interviewed by some Korean filmmakers shooting a documentary about the AT. At the end of the interview, they presented Christian with a t-shirt.

Christian's parents joined us for the hike out of Harper's Ferry. They also brought the rain - literally. Unbeknownst to us, the day we arrived at Harper's was the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid. The huge crowd of history enthusiasts expected to arrive was tamped down somewhat by the rain, but Christian's parents didn't shy away from the challenge.

1,000 Miles and Counting

2009-10-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

***Note: Apologies, but this posting is almost a week delayed. Chris wrote it last Saturday while in Boiling Springs. Today, he and Priya have now passed the halfway mark of the AT, are in West Virginia, and will be meeting up with Christian's family in Harper's Ferry this weekend...stay tuned for more [timely] updates/photos.***

Checking in from Boiling Springs, PA, where we had the chance to spend some time with Priya's family. We've now crossed the 1,000 mile mark, and will cross our halfway point the day after leaving Boiling Springs. This update jumps around a little, with photos from New Hampshire and Vermont as well as from our recent states, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

One of our last few ridges in the White Mountains. With the exception of the weather a couple of days, we had spectacular views and great weather throughout the White Mountains, not something many people can say.

Christian sitting by Lonesome Lake. In the backgroud is Franconia Ridge, which we'd just hiked over, still mostly covered in cloud.

Hiking into Hanover, New Hampshire, we passed this bog. The grasses were covered with cobwebs; pretty cool.

Some tall pines in Vermont.

Christian offers up his Nalgene to the good weather gods on Killington Peak.

On top of Bromley Mountain, Vermont. The spray paint was helpful, as the trail went over a ski resort with plenty of trails cut into the mountain.

Looking out over the valley in New Jersey. It's hard not to think of New Jersey as anything othe than turnpikes and chemical plants, but the latter stretch of the trail through the state was quite beautiful.

Cool looking vine growing up the tree.

Hiking through the Palmerton Zinc Superfund site. Ironically, the restoration of the environmental damage has reached a point where grasses have grown back, but few trees, resulting in the site featuring some of the most diverse grassland in the state of Pennslyvania. It also made for some gorgeous views.

The town of Palmerton opens the basement of its borough office up to hikers as a free hostel. It used to be the town jail, but the accomodations are actually quite nice. In Palmerton we also enjoyed a care package from Christian's parents and Priya's sister, full of lots of goodies......and V8.

A daddy long legs watches over the state game regulations. Those little guys are everywhere.

Tragedy on the Appalachian Trail.

Christian looking out from the Pinnacle in Pennsylvania. This outcropping was popular weekend spot, and we watched several hawks migrating south past Pennsylvania farm fields.

We encountered our first turtle on the trail. He wasn't quite moving our speed.

Laundry on the line in camp.

A couple hiking the opposite direction found wild grapes the day before, and told us about them. They were pretty tasty.

Christian fitting right in with a mural in Duncannon, Pennsylvania.

Beautiful sky over the Cumberland Valley.

There was a wedding going on mere feet from the AT in Boiling Springs. The juxtaposition between Christian and the bridesmaids was too much not to document.

Priya's family came along for a "slack-pack." Because they were in town with a car, we were able to do essentially a day-hike along part of the trail.

Since we were slack-packing, Priya decided to sherpa Christian's pack for a little while.

Everyone likes to complain about the rocks in Pennsylvania, but the state's treated us pretty well. We're looking forward to the leaves continuing to change, and good hiking in crisp fall weather.

2009-09-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hello from Unionville, New York. We are enjoying the hospitality of some friends of the trail just over the border from New Jersey. That's right - we're on our 7th state, and have completed 843 miles of the journey. Pennsylvania will be up soon, and it's on to the long states - PA, VA, and NC/TN. The progress meter is below, and some video and photos from the trail.

Priya looking out over a pretty spot in Connecticut. For such a relatively short stretch of trail, it was quite scenic.

The maintenance shed at a hydroelectric dam had a shower spigot on the outside of the building, which we took advantage of. It was our first shower in 6 days, and we wouldn't have a hot shower (this one certainly was not) for another 6 days. It felt good to scrub with a little soap, though.

Christian in front of an impressive falls near Lake Village, CT.

A short video of the falls and the river flowing south.

For a while, the trail followed the Housatonic River in Connecticut. We'd been crossing paths with the river since Dalton, MA, and it had grown quite a bit. Christian took a refreshing swim this afternoon.

Priya walking over a fence in New York. Some of the trail continues to pass through farmland, and often these stiles are used for hikers to cross over barbed wire or electrified fences.

Priya in a tunnel of birch in southern New York.

This sign was on the Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River. Priya concurs.

The view off the bridge looking down the Hudson River.

Christian looking out at the border onto some farmland.

The Dover Oak in New York. One of the two oldest trees on the AT, it's been around for about 350 years. Priya's a real tree-hugger.

We'd kept hearing about all these deli stops in New York and New Jersey, and finally were able to experience one. It was everything Christian'd dreamed of - ham cappi, prosciutto, salami, pepperoni, provolone, roasted red pepper, and Italian dressing. Amazing.

Priya really liked these flowers as we were walking through a flat section of New Jersey. The stems have an amazing color.

Easy way? The AT doesn't take the easy way! That's all we've got for now. Until next time...

Bear Mountain, NY

2009-09-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

Priya and Christian were in Bear Mountain yesterday after crossing the Hudson River. The Trail runs straight through the Bear Mountain Zoo, so they were getting ready for a short but very noticeable change of AT scenery. Their next stop will be in Unionville, NY in about three nights.

They have traveled 786.5 miles from Katahdin.

Brian's Visit

2009-09-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

Brian met up with Christian and Priya on the Trail last Thursday, and kindly sent along some photographs from his visit.

At a shelter near Mt. Everett, MA. They enjoyed a gourmet dinner of pasta, wine, and hot chocolate around the campfire.

While impresing Brian with his fire-building skills, Christian was quick to give credit to the birch bark.

The fire was very welcome on one of the chilliest nights on the Trail.

Hanging the packs on the shelter's ceiling helps prevent mice from getting in.

Lefty and Home Fries referencing their trusty Thru-Hiker's Handbook.

Hikers on the move.

Dalton, MA

2009-09-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

Christian and Priya took their first on-Trail zero day today in Dalton. After a great day visiting with friends Rose and Lauren they are enjoying the hospitality of a "Trail Magician" (plus three dogs) whose house they are staying at for the night, and will return to the Trail tomorrow both well-fed and well-equipped. Their next stop should be in Salisbury, CT on or around this coming Saturday.

Update from Vermont

2009-09-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

We've arrived at Manchester Center, Vermont and were fortunate enough to be taken in by a hostel owner, even after his hostel had officially shut down for the season. We can't get any photo updates done, but here are a few videos hot off the presses, photos to follow as soon as possible.

Also new to the blog, a progress meter! Completed is in blue, still to come is in red.

After having spectacular weather all throughout the Whites, things got a little tough when we walked the 7-mile stretch of Franconia Ridge - 40 mph winds and cloudy. It would get worse on Mt. Moosilauke, when rain was added to the mix, but fortunately that was just a 0.8 mile stretch above treeline; very doable.

Here's Franconia Ridge in nice weather, as seen a couple of days later.

A few miles after crossing the border into Vermont, we transitioned into a mix of big pine forests interspersed with farmland...some of the farms offer ice cream and other treats along the way, which is pretty cool.

Also along the way was a lodge that had a pet pig named Alice. Here's Priya feeding the pig some crab apples from a tree along the trail. That's all for now - hopefully some photos to follow soon.

Rutland, VT

2009-09-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Christian and Priya are doing well and have made it to Rutland. Their big news today was that they finally secured a replacement water filter cartridge, ending what had been quite the debacle. They will be working their way through the Greens into Massachusetts over the next few days and should be stopping in Manchester Center next weekend to re-supply.

Out of the Whites and into the Greens

2009-09-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

So unfortunately no pictures again, but we've now passed out of the White Mountains, and shortly out of New Hampshire. Our next few miles will take us into Vermont and the Green Mountains, just in time for the start of New England autumn. We enjoyed some good and bad weather, spectacular views, and great trail magic when a Trail friend hosted us at her beautiful house. As the miles go by more easily, we look forward to traversing several states in the coming month.

First 345 Miles

2009-08-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the collected photos from our first month on the trail. We've now traveled 345 miles, through the 100 Mile Wilderness, the mountains of southern Maine, and much of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It's been an unbelievable journey thus far, and promises to continue to be so once we return from the strategic pause.

Crossing over a stream the day after Katahdin. There were several river crossings throughout Maine, but by the time we reached them the river level had dropped, or people had put logs like this across them. Fortunate for us - we met one thru-hiker who lost his entire pack when it got washed away in a river crossing.

Looking out from the shelter at Rainbow Stream. This was day 3 of our trip.

Swimming at Cooper Brook Falls. The water coming down off of the falls was moving fast enough that you could almost swim like those pools that shoot water at you and make you swim in place. Finding a great swimming hole at the end of the day is always a great way to unwind.

Laundry day. Priya's washing her pants out by the stream at Cooper Brook Falls.

This is us on top of Whitecap Mountain, the first climb of any great significance after Katahdin. The wind made the summit a bit cool, but kept the black flies from tearing us up.

Us next to the Screw Auger Falls, some cool waterfalls in the Gulf Hagas section of the 100 Mile Wilderness.

Filtering water for the next day's walking.

This leaf has a bow tie.

Looking down the Barren Ledges at the 100 Mile Wilderness. For a while, this was my favorite spot, although I think the Whites have now beaten it out.

A fitting photo of our time in the 100 Mile Wilderness - a blaze indicating that where the trail should go is currently underwater.

Our first "trail family". We spent the second half of the 100 Mile Wilderness sharing shelters and campsites with most of these folks.

From Monson on south we would find occasional patches of wild strawberries near roads. As we got further south, we also started to run into some raspberry and blueberry.

Broken down bog bridges, huge roots in the trail, and large pools of standing water. This is Maine.

Looking north from Saddleback Mountain. This was our first extended ridgewalk. Unfortunately, we were in the clouds most of the time - this was about the best view that we got. It was nice walking, though.

Scrambling through Mahoosuc Notch. The mile that goes through this notch is reputed to be the "most difficult mile" on the AT. I don't know that I'd say that, but it was a lot of fun - a mile of scrambling over, under, and around big boulders.

Priya on top of Little Baldpate Mountain.

Walking along the trail I spied a rowboat and paddle next to a lake, and decided to take the boat out for a middle-of-the-lake lunch. It was pretty cool.

Crossing over the Maine/New Hampshire border. As soon as we left Maine, the trail conditions improved, rain stopped, and the climbing got easy...at least, that's what we heard would happen.

Our hitch-hiking aid. With this by our side, we've had little trouble getting rides when we needed them.

A view looking north from New Hampshire back to southern Maine. There is a great deal of debate as to which stretch of mountains is tougher - the Whites in New Hampshire, or the mountains of southern Maine. I can only say for sure that the last 170 miles of hiking up to this point had been pretty rugged, with lots of straight up and straight down.

Priya with a fellow southbounder at a great swimming hole near the start of the Whites.

Me jumping into the Rattle River. It was a good omen for out time in the Whites thus far that we started out in beautiful weather, with a sweet swimming hole to cool off in.

Snickers was referring to their campaign to eliminate hunger in the US, but Priya's using this Snickers on her own hunger.

Sunset at the Imp Campsite - the end of our first day in the Whites.

This was supposed to be a shot of my dental floss repair to my boots, but it's hard to see the floss so instead it's just me looking crazy.

Walking from Mt. Madison to Mt. Washington. We climbed Madison at sunset, slept at the Madison Hut, then got an early morning start headed towards Washington. The walking and the views were amazing.

Looking down over the Great Gulf Wilderness on the way up Mt. Washington. As usual, photos fail to portray how spectacular the view was.

Priya giving a talk, along with another thru-hiker, at the Mizpah Hut. The huts are quite expensive to stay at, but thru-hikers can stay for free in exchange for doing work around the hut. Sometimes the work isn't much fun - shoveling compost, for instance, but sometimes you get to do cool things like talk to the other campers staying at the hut about the thru-hiker experience.

Walking toward the Mizpah Hut. Beautiful.

My emergency repair on my boots. The sole started to fall off, and the parachute cord was all that would hold the front up.

The Whites on the way between Lakes of the Clouds and the Mizpah Hut. The two days we spent above ridgeline in the Presidentials had without a doubt the most spectacular views of the trip thus far. There's no doubt more to look forward to, but this will be pretty hard to beat.

In to Andover

2009-07-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I'm still unable to post any pictures, but we've made it to Andover, Maine - about 30 miles away from the Maine/New Hampshire border. The last few days have seen us on our biggest climbs, as we approach the White Mountains. Yesterday was a 12.8 mile day, with a little over 4,000 feet of elevation gain and about 3,400 feet of elevation loss. Pretty big day. The weather has been off and on, some days raining some days enough sun to let us dry out. Hopefully as we approach the Whites, where much of the hiking is above treeline, it'll clear out a little bit and afford us some good views of what we're hiking through.

Into the Biggun's

2009-07-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Not much time to post, but we've made it as far as Stratton. The next 100 miles or so should be our toughest stretches, as we head into the mountains of Southern Maine and New Hampshire. After a rainy beginning, we've had amazing weather for the last week or so, hopefully to continue. Lots of pictures have been taken - hopefully we'll be able to post some soon.

They're Off

2009-07-04T02:50:00.000-07:00

With Christian and Priya heading to Mt. Katahdin today to begin the AT, I have joined this blog to update everyone on their progress.

If you wish to send Christian and Priya care packages that they can pick up along the way, please email me me or write me a note letting me know; this way we can avoid multiple packages arriving in one town.

Below are the post offices that they will be stopping at within the first month. Please keep in mind that the itinerary is approximate and will change:

Campsite; Mile Marker; Approx. Arrival; Mail Drop Address

Monson; 2061.7; 7/13/2009; Monson, ME 04464
Pinkham Notch; 1857.2; 7/24/2009; PO Box 298, Rt 16, Gorham, NH 03581
Kinsman; 1798.7; 8/2/2009; North Woodstock, NH 03262

If you meet up with these two along the Trail and have stories, updates, or photos, please send them my way so we can update the blog.

Tara Varghese

Denali Highway Road Trip

2009-06-30T13:47:00.002-07:00

With Jared shortly on his way to the desert and I to the AT, we decided to take one more trip, down the Rich to the Denali Highway, and back up the Parks. Neither of us had driven the Denali before, so we were in to see something new.

Perhaps the greatest mile of highway anywhere - the short section that follows along beside Rainbow Ridge.

Jared had rented a kayak so that we could paddle the Tangle Lakes for our first night of camping. I was unfamiliar with the lakes, but they ended up being absolutely beautiful, and placed in a stunning setting.

In my packraft. The raft doesn't do great on flat water, but it holds its own, and it was nice to take it out and continue to experiment with it.

Jared in the kayak. Trolling for fish as we paddled, he caught a grayling and a lake trout.

The fish were to make for a supplement to our dinner along with other food we'd brought. Jared's about to fillet it on some snow near where we ended up camping.

Among other things forgotten, Jared neglected to bring along a beanie, and was forced instead to go for the bedouin look, wrapping his head with his fleece pants. Also forgotten were the poles to the tent, which led to some interesting shelter creations on our two nights camping.

The weather took a turn for the worse towards what were probably the more scenic parts of the Denali Highway, but here's a sample of the view looking north. Among the mountains in the distance are Deborah, Hess, and Hayes.

We spent our second night near Denali National Park. Here's one of our shelter concoctions.

And me crawling into the shelter. It wasn't comfortable, but it kept the mosquitoes out and (probably) would have kept the rain out, too.

Even with the weather, the ride down the Denali Highway was incredible. Certainly a place to return to for further adventuring.

Salcha River Boating

2009-06-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

Having heard that searching from rivers for bear is a good way to see one, Jared decided that he wanted to try driving up the Salcha River a way, for a good adventure and to see if he could find some bears, and I tagged around.

We rented a 100hp flat-bottomed boat for the trip. Here's Jared behind the wheel.

It was a pretty powerful little boat, with a 2 or 3 inch draft, which was sweet. We only managed to run into up onto gravel bars once a piece.

Me behind the wheel. We started out with the cover on the boat, but as it was a beautiful day we eventually peeled it back.

After running into a bit of a log jam, we decided to start heading back. On the way out, we explored a little side creek, and Jared brought his fishing pole along. The creek ended up being a gold mine--Jared caught 7 grayling, and I caught 4. Here's Jared with one of his.

One of my fish. We only held on to one, and threw the rest back.

Our initial thought for cooking the fish was to roast it over the fire. It started out alright, but the fire burned so hot that it burned up our spit.

We resorted to baking the fish on rocks by the fire, which turned out quite well.

Me chowing down on the grayling. It was pretty tasty, even without additional flavoring. They say grayling doesn't taste great if you don't eat it fresh. We got it about as fresh as you can.

My hair starting to get out of control. I didn't have high expectations for a trip powered by internal combustion, but it ended up being a pretty fun trip.

Attempt on Institute

2009-06-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

On the drive back from Seward I was eyeing the Deltas to see what conditions looked like up there. Institute Peak and the area surrounding it was still quite snow-covered, so I talked Tim into heading down there with me.

We slept near the base of the Gulkana Glacier, with the plan to awake early, summit by about noon, and be back at the car by 5.

Conditions weren't great when we started hiking - it was overcast and the everything above 5000 feet or so was obscured by clouds, but we decided t give it a shot. The first couple of miles were hiked in boots.

After a couple of creek crossings, one over a conveniently-placed bridge, we got to snowline and started skinning. Here's Tim disappearing into the ether. Needless to say, conditions never improved. We went for a while in a completely flat light, not always entirely sure we were headed the right direction.

Eventually we hit what we believed to be the summit ridge, where it got steep enough to throw on the crampons. Already past our projected turnaround time, this is Tim right before starting our final push to try to make the summit before it got too late.

Institute's an 8000 peak. We got up to about 7500 when I fell 15 feet into a crevasse. This is a picture I took looking up out of the crevasse, with the rope that was my lifeline on the right. It took about an hour for me to climb out, at which point we decided to descend.

The high points never lost their cloud cover, but on the descent the lower sections started to clear up, making it a nice ski down.

Towards the bottom the snow turned real wet and manky. Here's Tim switching back to boots after having rocked out.

Tim getting ready to jump across a stream on the way back.

Crossing the same bridge we came in on - it picked up this wild harmonic motion at the either end, which made crossing it pretty fun.

So I'm still o-fer on Delta range summits, but the trip was great. It encompassed a little time on crampons, skis, and boots, and I had a new experience - climbing out of crevasse. Hopefully I'll never have that experience again, but it makes for a good story now.

Resurrection Bay Sea Kayaking

2009-06-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

With a fair number of people having a 4-day weekend over Memorial Day, 5 of us got together and drove down to Seward to go on a sea kayaking trip. We ended up renting kayaks for two days, paddling around Resurrection Bay, camping out, then coming back the next day. Photos are courtesy of Jeff and his sweet new digi SLR.

A bunch of buoys at the place where we picked up our kayaks.

Picking out a good 'yak. With 5, we had 2 double kayaks and 1 single.

Hanging out waiting for our water taxi to arrive.

Erin and I paddling. The weather was pretty good - it wasn't sunny, but the rain that did fall was light, and it wasn't too cold. We spent quite a while on the first day exploring little coves up and down the bay.

There were some other people hanging out on the water, though not that many. This boat was registered in Juneau.

We camped on Fox Island out in the bay, on a little spit coming off the main island. After setting up tents and hauling our gear into the camp site, we got a good fire going. Dinner for the night was cheddarwurst and macaroni and cheese.

A pretty cool look at some trees on the spit.

In the morning, I decided to go for a swim in the bay. It was cold.

Cool clouds coming over a saddle in the two mountains that composed Fox Island.

Exploring around in the morning, we spotted a small cave, and I went back to check it out. It didn't go back very far, but was fun to poke around in.

All in all, Seward's a pretty amazing place, with mountains everywhere and beautiful water to paddle around in. Combined with good weather and corresponding great views for the drive down and the drive back, and the brilliant hospitality of Erin's parents before and after kayaking, it made for a great trip.

Castner Hike

2009-06-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

Toward the end of April, Jared and I headed down to the Deltas, the eastern edge of the Alaska Range, to kick around on a glacier for the day.

We decided to hike up the Castner Glacier for a while. Here's a view looking up the glacier - while it had been blustery and cloudy driving down, things looked pretty good over where we were hiking.

Knee deep in a post-hole. We ended up switching to snow shoes eventually, but the snow was a bit too rotten even for them in some places, and we spent quite a bit of time knee deep in snow.

Jared by where a creek was cutting through the glacier. All of this is covered by snow in winter - you can't even tell it's there.

Jared descending next to a small lake that formed on top of the glacier. It was a good short hike, and cool to be back on glaciers and back in snow.

Denali Overnighter

2009-05-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

At the start of this week, I decided to take an overnight trip in Denali. The shuttle buses in the park weren't operating yet, so my options for where to hike were rather limited. I ended up parking at the Savage River Campground, about 15 miles in from the park entrance, and hiking up Savage River, then back down Jenny Creek.

The view looking south towards the Savage River terminus. I hiked back towards the mountains in the distance, and ended up climbing a ridge to the left before turning back north on my way out.

The walk in entailed quite a bit of following moose trail and schwacking through brush. I encountered little bear sign, with a couple of exceptions.

As I started to get further up the valley, more and more inviting ridges beckoned. I passed on this one, but found it to be quite aesthetically pleasing.

In a couple of spots along the river, the rocks were tinged this yellowish color. I'm not sure what causes it, but it's a pretty cool contrast with the normal grey.

I did end up picking a ridge to climb. This is a view looking back down the valley that I'd hiked up.

Camp in the high country. A wind picked up soon after I'd pitched my tent, with gusts up to probably about 40mph. I was quite proud of the tent for keeping it together - I didn't have to re-stake or adjust anything, and it held the whole time.

I thought this bird was planning on joining me at my campsite for the night, but he departed shortly after I took his photo.

The next morning I followed the ridge around for a while. This is me looking haggard on top of the highest point I reached in the ridge. If you look carefully, you can see faintly in the background Denali, the highest point in North America.

While the snow was almost completely melted on the south-facing slopes of the ridge, north-facing slopes were still holding a fair amount of snow in some sections. Much of it was nice to walk through, like this stuff, easy to punch steps into. Some of it, though, was a bit sketchy - icy and slick and tough to get a good grip on.

The icy sections I encountered convinced me to descend into Jenny Creek rather than trying to follow the ridge for a ways longer. This is looking down Jenny Creek. I was hoping that the snow would be hard overflow ice, but that didn't last long and I ended up fighting through brush again for several miles.

I ran into these 4 caribou towards the end of the day. The second day ended up being a bit longer than expected, and I was provided a solid reminder of what walking through trail-less Alaska is like, which is to say it kicked my behind. A good toe dipped back into the waters of the Alaskan backcountry, with hopefully some more to come shortly.

Shenandoah Paddle

2009-05-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

With spring blooming in Virginia, I decided to take a paddle trip out in the Shenandoahs. The Shenandoah River running by Front Royal doesn't run supremely fast, but makes for a nice float trip.

The section I paddled was about 14 miles long, with one class II rapid and otherwise mostly tepid water. The water was high this early in the season, which was nice. I didn't have to spend any time hopping out of the kayak to drag it over rocks.

I took a short lunch break on a nice section of the river. Much of the section I did was in state or national park, with sweet little possible camp sites on both sides of the river.

The flowers were blooming.

Obligatory attempt at a self-portrait. It was cool in the morning when I started, but I was quickly down to shorts and a t-shirt, and had blue skies the whole day.

The turtles were also digging the sunshine and warm temps. By the time I'd managed to get my camera out for this photo, about half of the turtles had already been scared off. Those guys were all over.

A pretty good day spent on the water.

Damascus Trip

2009-04-08T13:32:00.001-07:00

Having some time on my hands, I decided to take a trip down to Southwestern Virginia, centered around the town of Damascus. The goal was to take advantage of multiple forms of outdoor activity - hike the Dragon's Tooth (near Blacksburg), bike half of the Virginia Creeper Trail, then hike Mt. Rogers, with camping to be done in the backcountry.

The Dragon's Tooth hike went as scheduled, but the weather didn't want to cooperate. Hiking through the clouds next to this stream was cool, though. Created that very ephereal green and mist sensation, as if you were walking through a forest with some hobbits.

The rock formation that gives the Dragon's Tooth its name. It seems like there could be some good climbing opportunities on the tooth and the surrounding area.

Imagine a luscious view of mountainous green stretching into piedmont in the distance...that's what I did.

By the time I reached the Jefferson National Forest, the night's destination, the weather had cleared considerably. Much of my short hike in to a camp spot was along a creek framed by rhododendrons, perhaps the most awesome evergreen of them all.

There's nothing better than cooking, sleeping, and waking up in the woods.

The weather was looking good as I walked out.

Unfortunately, it didn't hold for too long. The VA Creeper Trail is an old railroad line converted into a bike trail. It stretches from Abingdon to Whitetop Station, about 34 miles, with Damascus as the mid-point. I did an out-and-back from Damascus to Whitetop Station. I didn't see any rain, but had clouds most of the day. This is one of the old trestles on the trail - many of the originals still remain.

The trail winds along Whitetop Laurel Creek for much of the section that I did. The creek abounds in little rapids, brook trout, and sweet swimming holes. I took advantage of this one. The water was...brisk.

The Mt. Rogers hike was canceled due to socked-in conditions all night and the morning. I was, however, treated to this sweet sunset as I drove down out of the clouds. Pretty awesome.

All told, a successful trip. It's too easy to forgot how amazing the outdoor opportunities in Virginia can be, and how lush the forest gets, especially in early spring. Pretty awesome.

Strickler Knob Hike

2009-04-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

I took a short day-hike with Stephen and his friend Will up Strickler Knob. Not many pictures, but the weather was perfect, and the hike was a good butt-kicker.

We were met by a friend as we started the hike up.

The end of the hike was a nice scramble, in the style of Old Rag.

Some summit shots. The knob was convenient enough to have a huge rock hanging over the rest of the knob, perfect for the Ranger Pose. Here's Stephen.

Me.

And Will.

It was good to get back to the homeland - the Blue Ridge in Virginia, and to get out and hiking again. This was an excellent re-introduction.

German Journey

2009-03-12T07:42:00.001-07:00

After leaving Israel, I flew to Germany to hang out with Kathleen. Our plans were aggressively unplanned, but we ended up going to Cochem and Bernkastel, a couple of towns near her house, then Berlin for a few days, then Luxembourg city. Pretty cool.

The first day was spent visiting the towns. Most of the towns where Kathleen lives feature at least one castle, mostly on a vista overlooking the rest of the town. This is Schloss Cochem.

Closer up to the castle. We unfortunately missed the tour of the inside, but got to walk up to the castle. The image on the side of the castle is of a man carrying a child across a river, presumably the Mosel, which runs through the town.

After Cochem, we went to Bernkastel. In the middle of a bunch of winding streets was this guy. We're not sure who it is a representative of, but he's intense.

The town also had a cemetary with a memorial to its citizens who lost their lives fighting in World War I.

There's a castle in Bernkastel as well. I pointed this out to Kathleen, but she put the kibosh on walking up there in the rain.

The following day we journeyed to Berlin. Our key points of interest were the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, and Checkpoint Charlie, but we ran into lots of other interesting architecture and history along the way. This is the Kaiser Wilhelm Church. Bombed out during WWII, a new church has been built alongside the remains.

The inside of the old church has been restored, and features some amazing mosiacs.

After some walking, we made it to the Brandenburg Gate. Quite an impressive structure. German architecture overall was interesting; it seemed to me fairly aggressive, perhaps because I'd just come from seeing mostly holy sites in Israel.

The Reichstag, famously burned during the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s. It's been rebuilt, and the dome you see placed on top. The dome also has a restaurant inside, and parliament once again meets in the Reichstag.

We wandered for a ways between the Reichstag and Checkpoint Charlie, encountering several impressive buildings along the way. These are the French and German Cathedrals in the Gendarmenmarkt. The two are nearly indistinguishable, with the French Cathedral being built by Huguenots fleeing persecution in France, and the German Cathedral built shortly thereafter. I believe the German is on the left.

Also on the Gendarmenmarkt is the Concert House. The pictures on either side of the entrance are somewhat similar to the poster for Silence of the Lambs.

This church was one of many buildings designed by a famous architect, but I'm afraid I didn't catch his name.

How many Germans does it take to change a lightbulb? Two, along with a cherry-picker, and utility van. Extremely difficult operation, that.

The Berliner Dome or Berlin Cathedral, built at the end of the 19th century.

We went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, which has been around since before of the Berlin Wall. They had a lot of fascinating exhibits on people escaping across the wall, and also had the original sign from Checkpoint Charlie.

Outside they had a mock-up of what the Checkpoint used to look like. Kathleen is standing watch.

This is the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall still standing. A fence had to be erected around it to protect the wall from souvenir hunters looking to chip pieces of the wall off, although it was obviously too late for some sections of the wall.

Berlin gave way to Luxembourg City. We first stopped at a memorial cemetary. Among the 5000-odd American dead, General George S. Pattion was buried there.

I had never been to such a cemetary before. It was humbling to look over the rows of lives sacrificed to allow me to be where I am today.

There was also a German cemetary near the same spot. The American army was in the habit of burying both their own and their enemy's dead, and both were later moved to these two sites. The difference in style is interesting. Additionally, Kathleen pointed out that while there are several American flags flying over our cemetary, the German cemetary is absent of any German flags.

Luxembourg City itself was pretty cool. At one time one of the most heavily fortified locations in Europe, it had centuries worth of fortifications, along with underground tunnels and fortifications.

The city center itself had some churches, one dating back to the 13th century, an abbey, and the Grand Ducal Palace of Lexumbourg. It's still in operation, and we observed the guards closing down the Palace for the day.

So after lots of good German beer and food, it was time to return home, with the hope to return again sometime. The layout of German towns, little hamlets really, and the greenness of the countryside was enchanting, and hopefully I'll get to return and drink in it further.

Berlin Bears

2009-03-12T07:36:00.001-07:00

Berlin had all these bears around the city. I've seen something like it before, with cows in Chicago, but they were still fun.

The bear mayor.

My best bear pose.

Kathleen's.

I really wanted to ride this bear, but Kathleen wouldn't let me embarass her like that...I was pretty disappointed.

I took out my disappointment on another bear.

In return, Kathleen decided to give the EU bear some lovin'.

Maitre D' bear, at your service. We passed.

Israeli Living

2009-03-12T06:12:00.001-07:00

After returning from Texas, I was incredibly blessed to be able to go with my Aunt and godmother Mary and Uncle Allen to visit the Holy Land for a week, followed by a trip to Germany to hang out with Kathleen. It was a whirl-wind tour, hitting up almost all of the major sites in and around Israel, along with a couple of rare opportunities that I wouldn't have come across otherwise.

We started out in Tel Aviv. Below is a view of the Mediterranean. If you squint, you can see surfers in the water. I don't know if the rock breaks are a part of it, but there were in fact waves big enough to get a ride on, which I wouldn't have expected.

St. Peter's Church in the port town of Jaffa. This was the first of many beautiful churches we were to visit, most of them maintained by the Franciscans.

Jaffa was for a time the major port city on the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Like every old city in Israel, it has a mix of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim influences...here you can see a mosque's minaret in the foreground.

We left Jaffa to go to its successor port, Caesarea. Built by Herod, it is a modern of ancient engineering. Herod was called "Herod the Builder," and Caesarea is an example of why the name is apt. The town had it all - port, market, ampitheatre, and of course, sea-side palace with swimming pool and great views.

After Caesarea, we went to Nazareth to see the Church of the Immaculate Conception. This church has two floors, with altars on both floors. One is on the ground where the Conception is said to have taken place, while the second was built over it, enlarging the church.

A mass was being said on the lower altar. There were services going on at several of the churches we visited, which was pretty cool to see. It's nice to know that the church still serves its purpose, beyond being a pilgrimage site.

I was to learn that shorts are not allowed in most of the churches at holy sites, out of respect for the church and ground. Not yet having learned when we were in Nazareth, I had to get a piece of cloth to wrap around my legs to cover up.

The second day we drove up to the Mount of Beatitudes, the site where Jesus preached the Beatitudes. The church built there did an excellent job of integrating its architecture with its location.

The altar of the church.

With the exception of the Negev Desert, all of Israel was covered in beautiful flora. Green fields, wild mustard, and domestic olive, grape, banana, and other plants covered the countryside. The Mount was no exception, with a spectacular view overlooking the Sea of Galilee.

We left the Mount for the city of Capernaum. We toured the ruins of the city, many of which were well intact from the times before Jesus. It was here that I first started to notice the dichotomy between Christian tour guides and all others - the Christian tour guides used the AD/BC notation, while everyone else used the BCE/CE. In this photo is Aunt Mary, Uncle Allen, and our tour guide George walking through a synagogue.

We were joined in the Golan Heights by a retired Israeli General and war hero named Effie. He grew up on the Sea of Galilee, overlooked by the Golan Heights, and had many incredible stories to tell, from growing up being shot at by Syrians in the Heights, to his role in the Yom Kippur War. This is a view of the eastern side of the Golan Heights, looking down onto the border between Israel and Syria.

We also went to the site of an excavation that Effie's wife Ellit (not sure of the spelling) had spent a great deal of time organizing and executing. The Golan's geology is mostly volcanic, so the stones used to build the synagogue they found on their land were still mostly intact, just grown over. As a result, they were able to do a great deal of rebuilding the synagogue as it once was.

The Golan Heights was probably the most beautiful part of Israel. Looking down from the plateau into the valley was simply amazing. Effie spoke of how he liked to come out into the country, sit, and contemplate. I could dig it.

The next day we attemped a hike of Arbel, a series of cliffs on the Sea of Galilee. We were trying to get to some caves where Jewish rebels holed up before being smoked out by the Romans. You can see from this picture that the weather didn't want to cooperate.

We attempted to press on anyway. Aunt Mary, still looking happy.

Aunt Mary, not so happy at this point. Between how steep the trail was, and the slick rocks because of rain, we decided to turn back.

Post hiking took us to what was, archaeologically speaking, the most incredible part of the tour. What started as a small discovery in the town of Beth She'an had turned into an enormous excavation of the town, one not even close to being completed.

The town, like Effie and Ellit's synagogue, had been destroyed by a large earthquake in the 2nd century. After the earthquake, there seems to have been a mass evacuation of the area, with the ruins of the town simply left behind.

Left behind were an ampitheater, baths, temple, markets, and many other identifiable hallmarks of a typical Roman city.

Transitioning to the Negev Desert, we stopped at the place where the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, by a Bedouin looking for his goat. The next day we went to the fortress at Masada. There's a tram up the mountain, but I chose to hike it. I can tell you, if you were trying to seige the fortress, that'd be some tough work.

Herod constructed the fortress, it is thought to watch over his trade route. The fortress became famous after his death, when Jewish rebels holed up in Masada while fighting the Romans. On the verge of being overtaken, the Jewish leaders made a pact to, rather than surrender to Romans, kill themselves, first by killing their families, then by drawing lots to kill each other. One man was left behind to fight the Romans, and ultimately die. Interestingly, this story is known because a woman whose husband had already died was evidently forgotten about, and lived to tell the story to the historian Flavius Josephus.

We also went swimming in the Dead Sea. I don't have any pictures, but bobbing on a sea of salt is a pretty interesting experience. After swimming, we went to Bethlehem to see the Church of the Nativity. The church was originally started around the 30s AD. I don't have any good pictures of the hall of the church itself, which is too bad. It's in a style that I enjoy, grand in scale while simple in decoration. To me, it gave an air of importance to the place.

The most important sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem as well have multiple altars, Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic (and sometimes others). The place where Jesus was born does not, but the church that was built up over it does. You can see the difference between the Eastern churches and the Roman church in the altars. The Orthodox altar:

And the Roman:

Our fifth day was a Jerusalem heavy day. We walked the Via Dolorosa, which is the path of the 14 Stations of the Cross. It leads through the Old City of Jerusalem, through winding narrow roads. These are a couple of churches early in the walk.

You can see the crown of thorns in the ceiling of this church.

The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place of the crucification. It had been raining pretty much the entire day, but the sun broke through clouds briefly as we approached the church.

The church actually has multiple chapels in it, with multiple strains of the Christian faith competing for space. In fact, a Muslim holds the keys to the church in an effort to prevent arguments between the different strains. The Russian Orthodox have an altar of the site where Jesus was crucified.

The Roman Catholics have an altar next to it. I don't have any pictures, but Jesus' tomb is also enclosed in the church, which is counterintuitive. When the church was being built, the rock surrounding the site was hewn away, which led to Jesus' tomb actually rising in relief against the rock that was torn out to create the church, so that now there is little sense of the rock surrounding the tomb.

The church was originally built by St. Helena in the 300s. As you walk through the church, you walk through time, from the Russian Orthodox construction in the 1800s to the Crusader construction of the 1100s to St. Helena's chapel, from the 300s.

The next morning started with the Dome of the Rock. It's controlled by Jordanian authority, and non-Muslims have not been allowed inside the Dome since Ariel Sharon visited, I believe in 2000. Never mind the rock's importance to the three main monotheistic faiths...

Our final day in Israel was spent mostly at an Israeli Air Force Base. This is us with our tour guides, Danny, a former USAF pilot and retired Israeli pilot, and on the far right Lou, one of the four original members of the Israeli Air Force. He had some remarkable stories of the early days.

Here's Aunt Mary and Uncle Allen in an F-16.

And me, taking out some bad guys.

Uncle Allen and I, fresh off some simulator time.

Our final visit was to the Abbey of the Dormition, where the Virgin Mother fell asleep and was brought up to Heaven. Below is the chapel constructed in the basement of the site. Again, another chapel is also built above this one.

The visit to Israel was an unbelievable experience. I think we managed to pack as much as possible into a limited amount of time, and even just having a few moments, it's impossible not to feel the full weight of some of the places you find yourself in. The experience of a lifetime.

Pedernales, Texas?

2009-03-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

As soon as I gained any measure of freedom from crutches, casts, and etc., I took off for some traveling. My first taste of any kind of outdoors excursion came, in all places, in Texas. Now, usually I'm not all that enamored of the state, but Priya and I went to Pedernales State Park, and it ended up being pretty cool. Plus, I got a small measure of backpacking out of the deal.

Not exactly a primitive backcountry, the walk was marked by wide trails, but with good views.

While walking, we came across this sweet little hole. Unfortunately, swimming there wasn't allowed.

There was, however, a swimming area. Here I am getting ready to gingerly take a dip. The still-sort-of-injured foot kept me from using my tried and true jump-in-before-your-body-feels-the-shock method for entering cold water.

A view down the swimming hole.

Priya post swimming.

The major innovation of the trip was putting almonds in a jar of honey. An awesome treat, particularly if your stove is giving you the business and won't let you eat your breakfast. When the almonds get low enough in the jar, you start to feel like Pooh Bear tried to get into a jar of honey.

All in all, a pretty good little trip. Not exactly strenuous, but then I'm not exactly in shape for a strenuous outing. It felt good to have a backpack on my back again.

Kung Fu Master of the Cold

2008-05-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

My kung fu is ridiculous.

Pre-Deployment AK Jaunt

2008-05-08T01:15:00.000-07:00

Prior to heading out for Afghanistan, I took a trip to Alaska and to Texas. I wouldn't of course visit Alaska without taking a trip down to the Fairbanksans' Playground, the Delta Mountains. The plan was to ski up Michaels Creek and climb Silvertip. Things didn't turn out quite as planned, but the mountains remained amazing.

Yes, Virginia, the Delta Mountains are awesome.

The ski in was mostly through a tight canyon. Pretty different from a glacial ski in, there were some interesting spots trying to avoid running water. Overall, though, it was pretty awesome getting a new view every few minutes as you twist and turn through the canyon.

These big waves of snow were formed by wind ripping through the canyon...pretty intense.

Jeff's stoked about the view once we cleared the canyon. Having climbed up through the canyon, we didn't realize just how high up in the mountains we'd be once we got into the bowl. Turns out that Michael's Creek is a hidden gem of the Deltas. Almost all of the terrain seemed skiable and easy to access, which was awesome.

Hanging out in the kitchen on our first day. It had been really warm, but as soon as we set up the kitchen clouds moved in, the temps dropped, and a slight wind picked up. Which was pretty good timing on our part.

We woke up in the morning to cloudy, snow, near-whiteout conditions. Trying to sleep in a few more hours didn't help matters much, so once again the Deltas defeated my summit bid. After deciding not to go for Silvertip, we waited around a little while longer figuring out what to do. In the end, we decided to explore the bowl we were in. We went up one spot that wasn't as cool as it appeared it would be, then decided to climb up to the ridge that would have spilled over onto the Jarvis Glacier. It got pretty windy as we got to the top of the ridge.

Real windy.

Jeff brought the ol' ski goggles for the trip. Would have been a good move up on the ridge.

A little product place for Hilleberg. The tent was my new toy for the trip, and it was awesome. Way more spacious than any other mountaineering tent I've been in.

Jeff rocking his AK Rocks hat.

The ski out included some nice mellow slopes that were very doable, even with a pack on, even for me.

On our ski out we encountered what looked to be some pretty sweet snow with a moderate climb up, so we decided to drop packs and hit it. Turns out the snow was sweet.

Looking back as we climbed up for our run. The cloud-covered mountain is Silvertip. I don't know what the winds would have been like up there, but based on what they were like on the smaller ridge in the foreground, it wouldn't have been a whole lot of fun.

A view on the way down. To the left were some rocks that weren't that cool, and to the right was a big gully with plenty of cornices and other uncool features, so we stuck to the little line of good snow all the way down.

I was pretty excited by my first (only) real good backcountry run of the year.

Our tracks coming down the run.

Jeff approves of these tracks.

So do I.

The wind from the night before had brought a whole bunch of snow into the canyon. It coated the rocks on the canyon walls and evened all the snow out, creating some awesome views.

The snow on the side of the canyon.

And some more.

The entire ski out of the canyon, there was an amazing view of the mountains west of the Rich.

As we drove down to check out Arctic Man, we noticed this sweet cloud caught by Black Cap.

View of the Deltas from the Highway. I didn't realize until I came back just how much I'd miss those mountains. The water in Florida's okay, but this stuff's awesome.

Sweet Sunsets at the Edge of the Gulf

2008-02-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

Having made the decision that if I'm going to be surrounded by water, I might as well try to spend my time out in it, I headed out with my friend Theresa to the 10,000 Islands area, just at the north end of Everglades National Park. Taking advantage of President's Day, we spent three days out paddling and camping around some of the keys in the area.

Navigating out to the keys was pretty easy - there were navigational markers the whole way. It was kind of nice to hit the gulf, though. There's nothing to reassure the navigator's mind like a huge body of water exactly where you'd like one to be.

This shark was probably about a foot and a half or so long...not sure what kind it was. In addition to this guy, we also spotted four dolphins, one of which breached only a few foot away from the canoe, and three sting rays, which were pretty cool to see.

We camped the first night at Camp Lulu Key, just outside the Everglades National Park boundaries. Being outside the park, there were no camper restrictions, so we made camp with several other people in the area. Behind our campsite on the key was a little cove, and at the end of the day a bunch of pelicans were all gathered fishing. This is one caught mid-dive. There were a pair that would dive in tandem, which was pretty cool, but I wasn't able to get a good picture of them.

I took this photo as sunset was approaching our first night and kind of played around with it in GIMP to give it a little bit of a funky look.

Our view of sunset the first night was going to be obstructed by mangroves, so we paddled out to watch it. Most of our camping neighbors were also watching. Sunsets seem to be one of the few naturally occurring events that can make just about everyone around stop whatever they're doing and watch.

Sunrise over Camp Lulu Key was probably the best that we saw. The low tide created these calm pools that made for a really sweet reflection.

Mangrove at Panther Key. We paddled over to this key the second morning. Most of the islands were made up of these trees with their cool root structure. I haven't yet paddled through a mangrove tunnel, but I'd like to at some point.

View down Picnic Key, where we spent our second night. You can kind of make out a fellow paddler at the edge of the trees. He and his partner went nuts, hacking at dead trees with a machete and building a huge fire that they enjoyed from the comfort of their dug-out-of-the-sand sofa.

The clouds at sunset on Picnic Key. We'd end up going 3 for 4 on spectacular sunsets/rises. The sunrise the morning of the last day was too cloudy to be amazing, so we just packed up and headed back to the canoe launch.

So this trip was a lot drier (notwithstanding the boat wake that swept over the canoe on the paddle in) and a lot warmer. I learned to bring plenty of water, and a bandana or something to wipe down your skin (after a few days, the salt on your skin gets to be less than awesome). We'll see how viable these trips remain as the temps warm - it was roasting as it was, in the middle of February. 25 miles of paddling came pretty easy, though (that's statute miles...do you record this sort of thing in nautical miles?), and my Chaco tan is coming back, and that's a good thing.

Floridian Foray

2008-01-20T19:54:00.001-08:00

With a 4-day weekend in front of me, I decided to try to get out and explore the ol' Florida a bit. Water being its key attraction, I started with grand plans for a float trip that eventually got scaled down to a one-night trip with a dude from the element named Ray, after other parties bailed. The basic idea was to take a canoe and a couple of kayaks down to Ft. DeSoto State Park, paddle across the channel to an island named Shell Key (it appears that to Floridians "key"is to "island" as "snowmachine" is to "snowmobile" for Alaskans), and set up camp. The canoe would transport our gear, then we'd use the kayaks to explore the area and catch fish for dinner.

More trail rated than you can shake a stick at.

A view of our flotilla. To move everything at once, we lashed the kayaks together and dragged them behind us in the canoe. It worked pretty decently, even in a moderate chop.

One of the signs circling the key. Our camp was in the trees - we actually approached from the water on the other side. This was taken on the second day. The first day was cloudy, but warm. We kayaked for several hours without any success catching fish before a thunderstorm chased us back to camp. We got a fire going in time for a torrential downpour, waited that out long enough to eat, then slept. Next time, I'm bringing more than a wool blanket for sleeping.

Our camp. Ray's got a "tent cot" going on in the background. That's right, a cot that is also a tent, kind of like a jungle hammock, but much heavier, and without the damage to trees. Cool concept. Waterproofing needs some work - he had to cut a hole in the cot to drain the water out of it.

We happened upon a sweet rope swing by our campsite.

View from the key's beach. I must admit, the morning view was pretty awesome.

While the second day was gorgeous, it was also fairly cold. While I probably didn't need the hat and rain jacket, I was going with it since I'd just gotten feeling back in my toes.

All in all, sleeping in a tent was awesome, the camp site was pretty sweet, and paddling around randomly was cool, although a fish or two would have been nice. Yep, I think this water camping thing might have some potential.

Road Trip out West

2008-01-18T18:29:00.000-08:00

I had a little bit of leave saved up and an itching to be in the mountains, so after Christmas my brother and I headed out on a road trip through the West. The basic idea was to fly into Las Vegas, drive East to Taos for a couple of days of skiing, spend New Year's at Philmont, drive North to Denver, hike a 14er, maybe ski a day, then go home.

We slept the first night at a state park just over the New Mexico border. It felt great to wake up in a tent to a crisp, clear morning. We didn't stay long, though, as the road and Taos were beckoning.

Ahh...the mountains.

Taos was more mogul-filled than I had anticipated, but by the second day of skiing I found something more along the lines of looking for. I don't have any photos of it, but the afternoon I made a few runs down the Kachina Bowl, which was full of sweet steep runs that made me wish I'd hit them up sooner.

Stephen rocking it on skis. It was the first time he'd been on two planks in about 7 or 8 years, so it started off a little rocky. He was solid by the second day, though. After a long holdout, Taos is opening to snowboarders March 19 of this year. Too late for Stephen, though.

You'll notice the snow on my hat...it wasn't placed there intentionally.

After New Year's at Philmont we took a hike out to Lover's Leap. We were out earlier than most of the other hikers, for good reason. It was 14 degrees at the start of the hike. We hiked the road out to Lover's and considered returning via the trail, but some of our party was unaccustomed to the cold, so we ended up going back via the road again.

A ranger from Stephen's time at the ranch named Danny hiked with us out to Lover's Leap. Pretty cool dude.

While it was cold enough for my brother's goatee to gather frost, my stubble sadly garnered none.

The Tooth, as seen with snow on the ground. Unfortunately, unhikeable due to icy conditions on the trail up.

Due to high avalanche danger, climbing the 14er was canceled. With a day to fill, Stephen and I checked out Boulder and too a walk up Boulder Creek. This is from Stephen playing around with his camera.

When the trail got slow, we scrambled around on the rocks for a while.

Stephen bouldering. How literal.

Me doing a little bouldering.

We ended up spending our second Colorado day out at Vail. This is Steve, whose hospitality we enjoyed both in Denver and out at Vail.

You can pay $15 for a spaghetti lunch on Vail. Or you can split $5 and eat summer sausage, cheese, and crackers. Scrumptious.

Stephen, back in his natural environment on a snowboard.

A shot of one of the bowls. I'm the little dot skiing down.

Overall, the trip turned out pretty awesome, and a nice change from the flat, snowless land of Florida. I look forward to being out in the mountains again.

Kenai & Seward Exploration

2007-10-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

After a short 3-day trip to Denali (where Priya and I saw two griz on foot, finally achieving one of my Alaska dreams...thankfully more than a quarter mile away, but still), we headed down to the Anchorage Jamboree frisbee tournament, followed by what was originally intended to be a 3-day sea kayaking trip. Sticker shock cancelled the 3-day trip, so we ended up doing the 30-mile Johnson Pass trail, then spending a day kayaking. In between, we also checked out Seward and the Root Glacier at the base of Kenai Fjords National Park.

Incredibly, the trail we went on traversed 30 miles of mountainous terrain without climbing more than 1000'. I'm not sure how that worked, but after two days of hardcore ultimate, I wasn't unhappy about the break.

After about 7 miles, the hike turned into a walk next to this meandering river. It also led to a few pretty big lakes (a seaplane landed in one while we were there). Swimming was a possibility we briefly took advantage of, but I can say from experience that even in July those lakes are remarkably cold.

Reflection made for a postcard, or to be bogarted by Microsoft for a background image or something.

Can't complain about that view.

So talented.

Little piece of the Exit Glacier. Almost as impressive as the ice were the signs on the drive in indicating how far the glacier used to extend.

This is the beach where we launched our kayaks from. While I would have thought the water this far out from the bay would have been bitter cold, it was actually quite nice. It was warm throughout the day and I ended up taking a dip right before we left that felt great.

We didn't kayak by any glaciers on this trip, but spent a lot of time ducking in to little coves checking them out. This one had a cool waterfall at the end of it. There was still plenty of snow on the mountains to feed the falls.

Another cool little cove. Overall, it was a sweet trip. Sea kayaking remains one of those things I wish I had more experience in. Guess I'll just have to go out and get it.

Wrangell Traverse

2007-10-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

In June Jeff and I decided to throw down a little cash and do a fly-in to the Wrangells. I'd looked at a few of their suggested trips, and a traverse that went near Donoho Peak jumped out at me, in part because it was described as one of the most rugged trips and in part because the itinerary didn't give a full trip plan, sort of ending with "once you've gotten to this point, figure out how to get the rest of the way". I'd heard when calling to the fly-in places that they were having a late spring, so we brought snow shoes down just in case. In the end, we were on the shoes probably 50% of the trip, so it was a great call. Once again, the Wrangells were mindblowing. We ended up hiking for about 5 days (6 total, but two were sort of half days), then doing a day hike the 7th day and getting flown out the 8th. Jeff also picked up a fisheye lens for the trip, which you'll see below. If this wasn't the most intense trip I've done in Alaska, it was close. We put in long days covering some hard miles over snow, across rivers, up and down mountains, over and by glaciers. The scenery, as typical, well, suffice to say it seems impossible sitting in my chair now that I could have seen such amazing beauty. Oh, and I saw a bear on foot in Alaska. Not a griz, though...that would come a few days later in Denali. Anyway, lots of pictures of an amazing trip below.

As a result of poor route finding on the way down, we had to descend through these sharp drops to get to our next valley. The photo doesn't properly portray how intense it was; at one point we had to drop packs and after Jeff down climbed about 15' I tied our packs to the tent fly and lowered them to him, then I down climbed myself.

Good view from the first valley we descended into. We climbed up the mountain to the right of the photo, bypassing the glacier with some sketchy snow covering it.

Jeff after our second big climb on our second day. This was also the highest elevation we would achieve - 6700'.

The aircraft contrails in the background of these photos is pretty sweet, as is the view created by the fisheye.

View from the opening of the valley on our third day. This valley would end up being a long mix of snow, not quite dry ground, and dry ground that made the snowshoe vs. boot decision difficult.

There were some pretty significant river crossings to contend with. The water was especially high given the late spring.

View inside the tent.

Pausing for a break just down off the second pass of the traverse. Coming up from the glacier on the other side of the traverse, we walked through a notch in the mountains where three different ranges came together. Walking out of the notch and into this area was a revelation...the kind of alpine high that instantly affirms for you how incredible it is to be out in the mountains doing what you're doing.

This couloir had Jeff going nuts thinking about the skiing possibilities. It was across from our camp in a high valley that for some reason had an entirely different character than the rest of the traverse; large chunks of rocks with more of a granite feel to them than anywhere else, and unbroken by any tundra.

I'm a fan of this photo of me pumping water, for some reason.

Hmm...rice and beans.

About halfway up the last major climb we had for the traverse. This was over a 2000' climb, but by day 5 we were in peak condition, and didn't have any problems making it up to the top. Jeff's sporting the bandana to prevent the ol' sunburn.

Photos can't possibly represent how stunning the blues of this lake were. The clarity of the water created by the snow melting into a lake was breathtaking.

There were slides from the spring melt just about every day we were walking, some of them fairly significant. We definitely had to take into account the snow conditions as we were climbing up and down the mountains. This slide was older, but pretty impressive.

The traverse ended in a valley that was once a major mining area. There were several cabins marked on the map, but we stopped at this one after we didn't see any others. As it turned out, there was a cabin about a mile up the valley that was constructed by NPS for hikers to sleep in. We never found it, but this one served as a fine place to cook dinner. The next day we explored the valley and ended up climbing up to a mine entrance on the side of a mountain at 6200'. None of the pictures turned out great, but suffice it to say that a short day of exploring turned into a long day of hiking, snow traversing, and climbing, to discover that if you were a miner in the Wrangells, you probably spent most of your day waking up on the side of one of many beautiful mountains, only to eat breakfast and walk back into darkness for the rest of the day. Not exactly fun.

Jeff rocking the '60's era snowmachine we found in the cabin.

Rocking it at the cabin.

This building was used to haul equipment up to the mountain behind it. Pretty intense - the wire runs out of sight now. I can't imagine what it took to haul the equipment to get this thing up and running.

So I don't have a good ending photo for this one, but it was one amazing trip, and I wish I had several lifetimes to explore this area and all of Alaska. Just awesome.

Hutlinana Hot Springs

2007-07-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

One of Jeff's old roommates was in town, and he and his friend wanted to get an Alaskan experience. Being that they were relatively raw campers and hikers, we decided to go out to Hutlinana Hot Springs. I'd never been there before, but found the route from some documents floating around and knew that the hike wouldn't be more than 7 miles in.

We ended up driving out the night before and camping by the side of the road. We awoke to snow coming down, truly giving them a part of the Alaska experience.

On the hike in, we walked by a huge array of beaver dams damming up the Hutlinana River. It was pretty sweet.

I don't know what the mountain range around the area was, but there were several clusters of cool mountains. A good reminder that no matter where you go in Alaska, you run into some amazing terrain.

We encountered the hot springs early in the afternoon. It wasn't a totally natural springs, there was a small pool built up out of tarp, but it was pretty well worked into the river.

The temperature of the water was quite nice.

On the way out, we had a good little climb back up to the highway. Overall, the springs was pretty cool. I think it could be way better in winter, but I'm glad I got out to it before departing the AK.

Triangle Attempt Part Deux

2007-07-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

In May Jeff and I decided to make another attempt on Triangle. Because of the time of year, there was a significant amount of snow melted off the glacier. We ended up hiking in a couple of miles before being able to switch to skis.

This of course made us infinitely more core, as Jeff can attest to.

So can I.

We ended up skiing for a while through some hard driving snow. It wasn't whiteout, but it was pretty rocking.

When we got to camp, we had blue skies for a while. Camping on a glacier at 25-30 degrees is way more awesome than doing it at -10, let me tell you.

The bluebird didn't last, then, and when we awoke to make our bid, then waited another hour, then another hour, and the skies were getting worse, we packed it up and headed in.

Not before cursing the snow gods, though.

We ended up skiing through more intense snowfall most of the way out. It started to clear up at the end, though, providing some reminders of how awesome the Deltas are.

The glacier looked pretty cool, too. So much melt made it a study in contrast, especially with the gray light.

So overall, good trip, but summit denied once again.

Delta Day Adventure

2007-05-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Jeff took a Saturday to go down heli-skiing in Valdez, and the snow in the Deltas looked sweet on the way down, so that night we met near McCallum Creek, and headed out the next morning from the Arctic Man parking lot in search of some close-to-the-road schralping

Heli-skiing looked pretty sweet

From the Arctic Man parking lot looking at the Gulkana Glacier. Turns out the mountains are way closer from here than most other places we've been in the Deltas.

There was a significant amount of snowmelt, so we had to bootpack some of the way

We climbed up to the first little bump on a ridge between the Gulkana and McCallum Glaciers. The spine of the ridge afforded a pretty solid climb without any too-intense inclines

I'm the little speck on the ridge

Jeff digs it

Jeff schralping our way descent. We only had enough time for one downhill, but it was pretty sweet. A little icy, with 3 inches of corn baked by the sun

Why yes, yes it does

Triangle Trip

2007-05-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

We went on an Alaska Alpine Club trip down to the Deltas at the beginning of April, trying to climb Triangle Peak, one of the more popular climbs in the Deltas.

The ski in was in whiteout conditions most of the way.

When the clouds cleared, though, the view was sweet and the conditions were awesome - a foot of fresh powder blanketed the glacier

Snow falling at night.

Sweet little ice wall on the glacier

We didn't end up getting to do the climb. The freshie turned out to be super unstable, and not very safe, so we just skied out. We got to make about five turns, though, which were sweet.

Colorado Doesn't Trust Truckers

2007-03-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

We saw this series of signs come down out of the canyon. Oddly, there was no sign at the end to let truckers know that they were now safe.

Colorado Schralp

2007-03-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

Being that Jared's gone to the guard, we now have some heads up notice of when the guard's going to be flying places. So, when we found out that a KC-135 was headed to Denver, Colorado, for a couple of days, Jeff and I had to hop on and catch some spring gnar in CO.

The ride up was pretty sweet. Passengers sit along the walls of the rear of the tanker, so once the jet is at altitude, you can spread sleeping bags on the floor of passenger compartment and sleep. Probably the greatest flight ever.

Colorado is so warm! It was probably 45-50 both days on the mountain. The Coloradans were all wearing their big jackets, but coming from AK the temps were amazing. We spent the first day at Vail (pictured here), and the second day at Keystone.

Jeff the tourist.

Touring the Vail Village, apres ski style.

After a couple of weeks of giving up drinking for Lent, I thought I was seeing things...

Checking out some slide activity in the canyon.

Jeff and I at Keystone.

Breckenridge as seen from the top of Keystone.

Rocking the tele...not nearly as many free heelers were hanging out in Colorado as in the AK.

At Keystone, Shane (who was deployed with me in Saudi Arabia) was able to get the day off to schralp the gnar with us.

360

Keystone does not allow sledding. Bummer.

Jeff's pretty impressed with his rooster tails.

Keystone tourist.

Ditto.

Colorado has 7-11s, and 7-11s have Slurpees, and that is awesome.

On the way back we refueled some F-16s out of Buckley

We got to hang out in the boom pod while they refueled the vehicles. It was pretty awesome. Overall, just two days of schralping, but a sweet couple of days warming up and some awesome spring corn.

Cantwell Tour

2007-03-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

For President's Day weekend Jeff and I were looking to do some schralping somewhere in warmer climes (which more or less ruled out the Deltas). A careful examination of the map turned up a place called Petersville Road, just south of Trapper Creek. It looked pretty sweet, with easy access to some nice mountains, so we headed out. When we started traveling down the road, though, we found first, that the road ended 10 miles earlier than the map indicated, and second...snowmachines. Everywhere. Hundreds of them. So we headed north again and ended up touring just south of Cantwell.

The scenery around the Denali area was, as usual, amazing.

Jeff, riding a rail.

Down jackets are awesome in the cold.

The first day was just a ski in to camp. The next day, we woke up and toured around a small plateau just off the train tracks.

This is looking out towards the start of Kesugi Ridge, which we hiked last summer.

This is the site of our second camp. Just below it, we laid some tracks right as sunset was falling.

Jeff had scored some down booties since our last overnight trip. Here he is rocking down jacket and booties. He claimed the booties made him feel like a ninja...

And here he practices his double dragon kick.

Overall, not the schralp we were hoping for, but a pretty decent tour, and a nice re-introduction to winter camping, AK-style.

Back from the Desert

2007-02-24T23:12:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I both returned from deployments around the same time (Jeff to Iraq, myself to camp cupcake aka Saudi Arabia), so with some of our R&R time we headed down to Anchorage to ski the powder that had been dumping on Alyeska the whole time we were in the desert and do some backcountry skiing in the area. Sadly, when we showed up it had been getting above freezing for about a week during the day, resulting in boiler plate conditions on the slopes. So the Alyeska skiing wasn't great. We spent a couple of days touring around Hatcher Pass and a day at Turnagain Pass, though, where the snow was better (especially Hatcher) and the touring was good.

The temps were also warm down at Turnagain Pass, so the snow conditions weren't great there, either, but it was good to be out climbing in the mountains again.

The slope we climbed up.

Jeff schralping down the ice.

The Independence Mine district near Hatcher Pass. Hatcher had the best snow conditions of any on the trip, icy in some spots but pretty decent. The whole area is filled with easily accessible runs, for both skiers and snowmachiners.

Some old mine buildings in the Independence Mine.

Jeff skiing near the mine buildings.

Free heeling amongst the mine buildings.

We climbed up to this sweet little bowl. Off to the right, there were several slides where the sun hadn't been hitting the mountain so much, but in the sun conditions were good.

Jeff found a little backcountry jump...going for the 180.

Almost around.

King of the Mountain.

Jeff schralping down this field of pillowy rocks.

We headed down a chute to get down the backside of the bowl. If you look, you can see our tracks coming out the bottom of the third chute from the left.

Kesugi Ridge

2006-08-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

For the 4th a bunch of us went down Denali way to take advantage of the 4-day weekend. We started with some whitewater rafting, then went on to the Main Event - hiking Kesugi Ridge. The ridge is in Denali State Park, south of Denali National Park, and it affords some amazing views of the Alaska Range.

Here's the group at the start of the trip, minus Matt and Jeff.

Here's the Alaska Range late on the first day.

On the ridge the first day.

Another awesome view of the Alaskas. You can kind of make out Denali in the background.

The perspective on this photo is kind of cool.

Mt. Kesugi, namesake of the ridge.

The Palace went on its first (and perhaps last) backpacking trip ever. We were kind of worried about the wind - I'm using the fly here as a kite.

Here's the group with these awesome dogs we passed. I think we passed about 20 different groups, and I'm fairly confident they all had between 1 and 25 dogs.

Is Jeff constipated here, or what?

There were some awesome rock formations up near some of the "divides" on the ridge. None of this was any good to climb, but it looks sweet.

Sweet view.

Danielle and Abby hanging out.

Up on the ridge.

The dip in the glacial tarn was awesome. Super invigorating.

The water was cold.

Jeff went swimming with his shorts, so he had to construct a kilt from his jacket. The mosquito net is a nice touch.

Wide open ridge.

Checking out the map. For the most part we simply followed this nice trail along the ridge, but there was some debate about where we should head down off the ridge - the trail can be anywhere from 17 to 34 miles long, depending on where you head down. We ended up walking about 27 miles.

The bridge had fallen down in winter, and the repair crew was only about halfway through their repairs, but they let us walk across it anyway.

The hike overall was pretty awesome. Amazing views, some nice up and down, and the chance to take a swim. Pretty sweet.

All Kinds of Trail Rated

2006-06-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

These are just a few shots of my Jeep in action. I was most proud when she had three pairs of skis and a bike for the most recent ski trip. Pretty sweet to see.

Hauling gear for a backpacking trip. Trail Rated.

Plowing through creeks. Trail Rated.

Hauling gear for a multi-adventure trip. Trail Rated.

Jeep. All kinds of Trail Rated.

Skiing in June?

2006-06-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

Skiing in June? Why, yes. Alyeska got a huge amount of snowfall and ended up staying open until the weekend of June 3rd. So Jeff, Margaret, Chris, and I threw out any plans we may have made and headed south, young people. Sam came along for a day to do a hike near Denali.

We drove down to Denali Friday night and set up camp near the town. Our goal was to climb around on Bison Gulch. That day, though, it was in the 40s and as we climbed we began to experience winds approaching 50 and 60 mph. Here's us climbing. Tell me that Sam doesn't look like the Snow G.I. Joe.

After turning back, Jeff was dismayed to see that The Palace had blown over.

And of course, as we were leaving the ridge we'd wanted to climb became beautiful and sunny.

We woke up Sunday morning in Girdwood, where we proceeded to schralp the spring gnar. Here's a look at the North Face coming up the tram. Not too much left here.

Chris and I on the lift. The temps were awesome, but there was a little wind so we all ended up skiing in long sleeves the whole time.

The view down the lift.

The shades? $10 at the Hub of Alaska. Nice.

Here's Chris schralping the gnar, looking like a pro.

Nice work, Chris.

The bowl was still open, so that was cool. After our last run, we loaded back into the Jeep, loaded up on Qdoba, and made the Fairbanks run. I pulled into my apartment around 2:30 in the morning. Totally worth it.

Himalayas of North America

2006-06-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

The weekend after Denali was a 4 day weekend for Memorial Day. Jeff, Stephen, and I went south to do this 24 mile loop in the Wrangell-St. Elias. I think I've heard that park called the Himalayas of North America. I've never been in the Himalayas, but I can tell you that these mountains were absolutely gorgeous.

The loop we were doing was in the eastern part of the park, which turned out to be a long drive. Here's me enjoying the view at a rest break.

The trail started (and ended) following a stream for a while. This is Trail Creek, and we came back on Lost Creek.

Hippies Smell Like Poop. At least, that's what Jeff's shirt says.

There were some stream crossings involved. Stephen gets airborne here.

I'm not sure that this picture turned out as sweet as it actually looked (shocker), but where glacial-fed streams bled into Trail Creek there was this cool dual-color effect.

One we left the main trail, we started a pretty intense uphill.

Here's Jeff and Stephen powering up to the pass we were trying to reach. Most of this valley was formed by a glacier, the moraine of which we were to climb over to get to the pass.

Jeff stopping to take a break.

There were (despite the ranger's assurances) some significant snow fields. Here Stephen's in up to his waist.

As we got closer to the moraine we were funneled down into what turned out to be a stream bed. Lots of snow, bad footing, and eventually I plunged through into the creek up to my knee. Stephen and Jeff scrambled up onto a loaf formed by the moraine.

The snow was at that point pretty demoralizing, so we stopped to cook dinner.

Stephen the Chef.

After dinner, things started to clear, and the sun came out (as seen here). After much in-decision, we decided to press on over the pass.

Starting the push up to the pass, we moved deep into this ampitheater of mountains more beautiful than any I'd seen in a while. I felt like I was in a cathedral.

The hike over the pass was intense...a 40 degree slope on loose scree and snow. It took a bit longer than we thought, but we made it, and the way down was fast.

We camped out that night just below the pass, turning in about 12:30 AM. About 12 hours of hiking in nearly 24-hour daylight...Alaska rules.

The next day validated our decision to make the pass the night. It rained quite a bit. We were able to follow Lost Creek off down the valley for a while before running into this canyon. At that point, we had to climb back up onto the side of the mountains, but after an hour were able to head back down to the creek.

We headed from the Wrangells to Anchorage, where Jeff and I were to mountain bike and Stephen get ready to head to Philmont. Our intent was to camp by the side of the road, but we forgot that Anchorage is a real city, and you can't just pull off to the side of the road. So we had to bend the rules.

Mountain biking the next day was pretty nice. There are approximately a butt-ton of trails right near the suburbs, I guess in the Flattop Mountain area.

The trails were super-muddy, though. I endo'd a couple of times, and we both got stuck in mud up to our chains, but I can't complain. It was an awesome trip.

Denali

2006-06-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

My first trip after the knee injury was a pretty righteous welcome back. My brother Stephen came up to see the AK for himself and we spent four days in Denali National Park, hiking west from the Teklanika to the East fork of the Toklat, over to the Polychromes, and then ended up heading down the west fork of Toklat to catch a bus. As is apparently typical, Stephen's first day in the tundra was kind of rough, but he soon re-found his love for backpacking.

As we pulled into camp on our first day, it had started to rain. We went to sleep thinking that we might wake up with wet tents. Turns out it snowed the whole night, and there were 2 inches of fresh snow on the ground, a trend that continued throughout the day. Here's Stephen rocking it on a ridge we decided to climb.

Here's me on the same ridge. Our temps went from these sub-freezing to 70s by the end of the day. Only in Alaska can you experience all 4 seasons in one trip.

I discovered while we were out there that I had forgotten my spoon. Fortunately, you can use cardboard as an exceptional spoon for almost any backpacking food.

At the end of the second day, we hiked the East Fork of the Toklat into camp. It was pretty sweet, because at this point in the season there was still a lot of what is known as overflow ice, which meant we were walking the whole time either on ice or on gravel. Our feet were quite drier than when I was in Denali last year.

Nice little moose rack on the Toklat.

Our camp at a creek coming off of the Toklat.

Bear print in the ice. I still have yet to see a bear on foot in Alaska...I think all these bears supposedly in Alaska are a myth. They only live and come out within 1 mile of the Denali Park Road.

Stephen shooting some caribou. He brought some heavy camera gear, and was cursing it on the first day, but I think he was glad to have it here.

Our camp on the third day. We'd climbed partway up a ridge hoping to push over the Polychromes the next day, but the weather wasn't looking so good.

When we woke up the next day, though, the clouds had lifted to a beautiful Alaskan day.

Here are some of the mountains surrounding our ridge.

We started to climb up to go over the Polychromes, one of those addictive high alpine get-your-blood-pumping it's good to be alive climbs. Awesome.

When we reached the top, though, there were some significant snow difficulties on fairly ridges, so we ended heading back down.

We ended up hiking out on a wide valley through a canyon-y stream to the West Fork of the Toklat and taking the river the last three miles in.

Here's a picture taken from the bus ride back.

And another. Which just goes to show why even the bus ride is an incredible treat.

The Van is Awesome!

2006-06-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

So there was this contractor leaving Alaska for warmer climes in Arkansas, and he had way too much stuff to be able to sell or ship. As a result, Jared got two 1980s era snowmachines, and I got...a 1985 Ford Econoline 150 van. It's awesome. Here are some pictures of my new baby.

Here's the van from the front. Mark (the contractor) did all of the arctic camo painting himself. Eventually I will replace, but for now it stands.

He also drew this pentagram to get his neighbors to leave him alone. I have no problem with my neighbors (and am not much for the anti-Christ), so he painted over it for me before I left. Now there's just some more arctic camo back there.

Me driving the van. It took a little sweet loving to get her going, but now she runs (mostly) great.

The van and its proud new owner.

With more suitable eye protection.

Stupid Knee

2006-05-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

No new trips...a balky knee has been keeping me away. I updated the Steese and Tors trips with some photos from Sam, though. I also found out that the first picture from Alyeska that I claimed was Girdwood (the photo that looks like it's off a postcard) is actually of North Pole. Who would have thunk it? Not me.

Schralping the Gnar

2006-04-15T02:55:00.000-07:00

Schralp the Gnar - To snowboard sweetly on great snow

So neither Jeff nor I snowboard, but one weekend once I got done we drove back down to McCallum Creek for some unfinished business. We weren't able to get started until late Saturday night (we set up camp in the dark), so we spent a bit of Sunday traveling cross-country rather than downhill, but the weather was incredible and there was plenty of gnar to be schralped.

Our camp.

This was some snow in the flat section where we camped. We kept hearing these whoompfing noises that are sort of signals of avalanche danger, so we didn't move up to the higher country until we could see where we were going. You can see the lines where slabs of hard snow were sinking into the soft snow underneath.

Me on top of a little hill. This shot would have been cooler if I could have gotten more into the sun's beam. We were so unaccustomed to skiing in the sunlight that neither of us remembered sunglasses or sunscreen. As alternatives we wore our goggles the wholed day, and used chapstick on our faces. The goggles worked well, but I missed some spaces with the chapstick, resulting in some funny-looking sunburn on my face.

Climbing up a ridge. I think on the day we ended up climbing about 3000 feet, and got close to 6000 feet elevation.

Our destination: the ridge off in the distance. I think it ended up being about 5 miles from where we started the day. I was surprised by the number of areas where the snow had melted away already.

More climbing.

A closer view of the ridge. We ended up skiing to the left of that highest point, where the sun had been hitting the snow all day and the ridge wasn't so corniced.

Taking a break on top of the ridge. This trip re-confirmed how amazing the Deltas are. Not that I ever thought they weren't, just that every time I'm down there it slaps me in the face again.

Jeff traversing the ridge.

Jeff is pleased with our location.

Jeff on the way down. The spot where we headed down was pretty nice; about 6-8 inches of powdery stuff on top of a nice deep base. It was afternoon by the time we got here, and the temps were around 40-45, so the snow was actually feeling the heat a little bit, but overall pretty sweet.

Jeff schralping.

Me schralping.

Free the heel, free the mind.

A side-by-side comparison of my line (on the left) with Jeff's. Who do you figure is the better skier?

It's hard to see unless you look at the picture full-size, but we took two laps up on the upper part of this slope and you can see our lines in this picture.

Good day.

Alyeska Trip

2006-04-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

On a 4 day weekend, Jeff and I took a trip down to Anchorage to ski Alyeska. Jared joined us a day later for his first-ever introduction to skiing. Alyeska is, to someone who had never been skiing outside the East Coast (me), incredible. I think it's a 2,200 foot mountain, and there's an awesome amount of skiing to be done. The weather in Anchorage was typically cloudy, but on the third day the clouds pushed off and it was absolutely gorgeous (hence most of the pictures were taken from that time period). There are a lot of pictures again, so hang on.

In the town of Girdwood, where Alyeska is located.

Jeff the tourist.

I call this my Bode Miller look.

Jeff rocking it down the side of some slope. Conditions on the first two days weren't the greatest, but it was still pretty righteous.

Alyeska by night.

The ski resort also has a pretty nice hotel that has a pool and hot tub. We didn't care to pay for the hotel, but managed to poach the pool and hot tub twice.

Jeff approves of the hot tub.

Random bumper stickers in Anchorage.

On the last day, the skies opened and the weather was awesome. I call this next set of pictures "Yes, Virginia, Alaska is beautiful."

In addition to the awesome weather, Alyeska opened up a bowl that had previously been un-touched, and cut this traverse into it.

Jeff and I switched skis for a few runs. Not being used to the fixed heel, I was kind of slow on the traverse.

Jeff rocking it free heel.

Unfortunate

Me going down on the fat skis.

Sweet view on the ski down.

Jeff and Jared.

Jared and me. Alyeska was a pretty big step for Jared's first couple of days skiing, but he got hooked, which is awesome.

Hopefully I'll make it back to Alyeska again. It was an amazing few days.

McCallum Creek

2006-03-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

In January Jeff and I took advantage of a three day weekend to head down to the McCallum creek area, which is towards the bottom of the Delta range. We weren't able to find too much great skiing (mostly because we were looking in the wrong spot), but we got a couple good turns in, enjoyed some great views, and did a lot of scouting for out next trip down there.

Mountains on the ski in.

Me kicking it to our camping spot. When we crested this little ridge we were met by about 50 caribou, who promptly ran off, not to be seen again for the rest of the trip.

Mountains off to our east.

The first day out we climbed about 2/3 of the way up this peak and skied down. A bunch of it was tore up by caribou, but there was some decent snow to be found.

Chilling out at the campsite. We got a little snow the first night that we were out.

The moon over our campsite.

Jeff rocking down a ridge. Little did we know that just out of sight that ridge would end in a cliff, so we ended up having to climb back up to where this photo was taken from.

In the tent. After a day of climbing around looking for skiing spots, and finding few, we collapsed into the tent, eschewing hot food for granola and sandwiches.

Dawn breaking on the mountains.

And again.

Sunrise (or maybe it's sunset...I'm not for sure) coming up over the hills.

Tracks set against the sun.

Tolovana Hot Springs

2006-03-25T15:57:00.000-08:00

Before the year was over I took a trip to the Tolovana Hot Springs with Sam, Jeff, Margaret, Jared, and Chris. The springs are pretty cool; it's an 11 mile trip in to a couple of cabins that they have set up close to the springs. One of the tubs wasn't the warmest in the world, but the tub closer to the actual hot springs felt great.

The crew at the parking lot. It was -10 with probably 15 mph winds. Jeff's eye ball actually froze as he skied over Tolovana Dome.

Margaret and Jared. Jeff and I were on skis and everyone else was on foot, so we ended up making it in to the cabin about an hour before they did.

Margaret and Chris.

Margaret and I in the cabin. I'm rocking the BCG (birth control goggles). They're pretty tough to break, I've got a couple pair, and they're so unbelieveably emo.

Beers on the wood-burning stove. All the beer we carried in was frozen when we arrived, so we had to thaw it out on the stove. Two beers, 11 miles of dehydrating hiking, and soaking in hot tub is a pretty potent combination.

Chris approves of the trip.

Lee's Cabin

2006-03-25T15:51:00.000-08:00

Just before Thanksgiving last year I took a trip up to the White Mountains to stay in one of the BLM's cabins. Originally a couple of other people were going to go, but they ended up having to work, so it was just me rocking it. We hadn't gotten much snowfall yet, so I ended up taking snowshoes to save my skis. The cabin was surprisingly nice. It had a stove and lantern in it, along with some goodies left behind by other campers. I attribute all of this partially to the fact that the main users were snowmachiners and ATVers, who can drag more crap with them. I took advantage, though.

Lee's cabin, named after a local who died of cancer and apparently loved coming up to the Whites.

View west of the cabin.

Me chilling on the cabin porch. It was up to 25 during the day, which was pretty nice.

On the way out I detoured and climbed up Wickersham Dome because I had some extra time. It was a nice little kick in the rear to end the trip. This is the view north from the Dome.

Looking south.

Now for something entirely different...

2006-03-25T15:43:00.000-08:00

Over Halloween, I went to Victoria, British Columbia, to play in an ultimate tournament with some ultimate players from Fairbanks. Going by the name Mustache Rodeo, we rolled into town sporting mustaches (well, I couldn't, but the other guys did), jean shorts, and salmon pink tank tops, easily responsible for bringing the most outrageous uniform to the tournament. Not only that, but we traveled in style, riding individual scooters in squadron form anywhere we went. It was a good time, the fields were softened by rain and perfect for making bids, and the ultimate was awesome.

The team

Me after a day of laying out

Mustache Rodeo rocking it scooter style

End of Season bike trip

2006-03-18T15:46:00.000-08:00

With fall about to end and a three day weekend to take advantage of, Sam, Chris, and I decided to ride our bikes down to Delta Junction, then kick around the Deltas for a day. We took two bikes and a car so that we could get back quickly and so that people could take occasional breaks from riding. We ended up biking down in a day, camping near the terminus of the Canwell Glacier, then taking a day hike back up the glacier a bit.

Sam rocking it on his bike. His bike had an extremely comfortable cushioned seat, as opposed to the hard small mountain bike seat that gave me some pretty rad saddle soreness by the end of the day.

The mountains at a stop along the way.

Sam and Chris kicking it.

Sam hiking up the glacier.

Lower Miller and the ridges rising next to the Canwell. The fall colors were beautiful...made me wish I'd gotten out in September more than I did.

Pretty sweet ice fall. We hiked out to this point to check it out, then turned around and finished the hike. It had rained pretty heavily the night before, so we were universally soaked bush-whacking through all the shrubs.

Sam and Chris on their way off the glacier.

Little glacial stream coming off the Canwell.

Steese Trip

2006-03-18T15:34:00.000-08:00

At the start of July, several of us took a trip up to the Pinnell Mountain Trail in the Steese National Conservation Area. It's a 27 mile trail along alpine tundra. The first day was pretty cloudy, with intermittent rain and poor visibility. Things started to clear, up, though, when we arrived at the first cabin that afternoon. The next day the weather was much better, and despite a late start we reached the second cabin by 1, so we decided to just finish the trail that day. All told, a pretty hike with ever-present good scenery and some nice elevation changes.

The mountains in the distance at our first cabin.

Jeff checking out the view.

Priya and I at the second cabin, looking more like homesteaders than backpackers.

A brazen marmot. They were all over the area surrounding the second cabin, and some of them didn't give a crap about how close they were to humans.

Here are some of the shots that Sam took. This is Priya and I near Porky, I think. Priya's rocking the head net? Why? Apparently her memory is too short to realize that the mosquito situation in the Steese dominated the one down in Denali.

Pretty sweet view. I think Sam got most of these on the way out...he only hiked for a day.

Quinn and Margaret eating lunch.

Another nice pic. The mountains of Alaska are awesome, in part because you get so much variety. The character of the Steese is totally different from Denali.

The last picture is of a money rainbow that Sam saw on his way out. Sadly, it was totally hidden from our view.

Denali is Awesome

2006-03-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

The biggest trip that I've taken since being up in Alaska was spending a week in Denali National Park. Hiking a trail-less pristine wilderness is absolutely incredible. The park is about the size of Massachusets, so the 60 miles that Priya and I covered aren't even close to enough time spent in the park. It was gorgeous. We hiked through tundra, high tundra, up mountains, along glacial rivers, in the rain and in the heat of the sun, all while trying to avoid the swarms of mosquitoes that followed us like (literally) black clouds. The bus ride into the park itself was pretty sweet, and getting dropped off at a semi-random junction in the road and let go into the wilderness was awesome. Hang on, because there are a ton of pictures on this one. Despite my foreknowledge that these pictures can't possibly describing how incredible the trip was, I'm going to give it a shot anyway.

Priya and I on the bus ride in. That day was beautiful, affording incredible views of the Alaska Range.

One of said views.

Priya at Stony Creek. This is where we got dropped off of the bus.

Climbing over a rock outcropping. The first day we discovered how cold glacial streams are on the feet, how hard it is to get boots dry, and what lengths we were willing to go to to avoid getting our feet more wet.

Mountains across the stream from our first campsite.

Me on our first climb up to a plateau betweent two creeks. This climb was followed shortly by a fairly large thunderstorm. As we were traveling on a bare plateau at the time, it was less than cool.

Me on a gravel bar next to Clearwater Creek. Gravel bars were our friends...they meant no trudging through tundra (which is kind of like walking on irregularly shaped foot deep sponges), and if they were wide enough no river crossings.

Our first mosquito-free dinner in three days. This particular creek just happened to have enough breeze blowing through to keep the bugs away. It also let us dry out our gear a bit. After camping at Clearwater that night, we followed Moonlight Creek a ways until Priya got tired of it and decided we just climb straight up to the ridge. After several hours of 'schwacking through dense tangles of trees, we made it to the ridge, where we experienced incredibly smooth hiking. Lots of up and down, but few mosquitoes and high, dry tundra. Awesome.

Priya hiking the ridge.

Our first big climb on the ridge. The other side was a mess of scree...pretty rough going trying to get down safely.

Priya at the edge of one of the peaks we climbed over.

Me hiking the ridge. Unfortunately, smoke from a forest fire had blown in, so we didn't have the best of views. Hiking that ridge, though, gave me the most incredible edge-of-the-earth feeling that I've ever experienced.

Another shot of mountains along the ridge.

A picture from the last day of the hike. We climbed the peak just past those clouds expecting to have another 5- miles of peak climbing only to find...a road. We had been hiking the Kantishna Hills, and it turns out that the area we were in still had small, but active, mines operating in it, and there was a road to get back to them. So those last 5-7 miles went by way faster than we were expecting.

A griz rumbling around near the bus. We didn't see any griz on foot, which disappointed me. I still haven't see any bear on foot since I've been in Alaska.

The griz wandering between our bus and the wilderness photographers in front of us.

Cool view of the sun over the mountains on our way out. Denali is awesome.

Sea Kayaking Valdez

2006-03-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

Priya came to visit for about a month in June and July, and one of the places we went was to Valdez. We took a sea kayak trip back to the Shoup Glacier, which was incredible. The area surrounding the glacier was awesome, and the glacier itself was awesome.

This is us facing away from the glacier. The mountains surrounding Shoup Bay were covered in greenery, and we saw a bear rumbling around while we were kayaking in.

Us in the kayak. Priya was the navigator for the trip because my leg's were too long for me to fit in the backseat. We were all good once she got a hang of using the rudder. The glacier was actively calving (falling apart), so we couldn't get to close. Our guide told us the danger isn't so much the waves created by pieces of the glacier falling off as small chunks of ice getting launched at high velocity in the general direction of anyone who's too close.

It was, all told, about a six hour tour, so we ate lunch at a spot overlooking the glacier.

Me at the lunch spot.

After lunch we kayaked to the other side of the bay and wandered around on the glacier for a while. It was mostly covered with rock, but where there was ice exposed the glacier had a beautiful deep blue. If you notice the people in front of the glacier, you'll get a sense of how big the glacier is. I've found up here that in pictures and in person sense of scale is, for whatever reason, ludricously out of whack

Us in front of the exposed ice.

Anchorage Trip

2006-03-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

In June (or maybe May?) I took a trip with my friends Jen and Margaret down to Anchorage. We took a day to hike Wolverine Pass in the Chugach Range. It was a lot colder than we were anticipating, not thinking that the proximity to the coast would actually keep temps lower than in Fairbanks in the summer. The wind was a bit brutal, too. It was a nice hike, though, and the mountains in the Chugach are awesome.

Jen rocking it up to the pass.

Margaret is cold.

Some mountains to our East.

Jen and Margaret.

The trio.

A sweet stream at the bottom of the hike.

Floating the Chena

2006-03-17T22:06:00.000-08:00

In May I organized a day trip down the Chena River, in the same state park as the Granite Tors. We started the float at the North Fork and followed the river about 10 miles. The water was still very cold, as we all found out. Both of the boats flipped at least once. There weren't any major rapids, but the water volume was high and there were a lot of sweepers, particularly in the narrow North Fork.

There weren't many mountain views, but the river itself is scenic. I came back later in the summer with my parents and we spotted about five bald eagles flying across the river in front of us.

Sam at the front of the canoe. Our boat only flipped once, but it necessitated my chasing the canoe for 1,000 feet or so down the river.

A view of the Granite Tors from the river.

Granite Tors Hike

2006-03-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

In May I got some people together to hike the Granite Tors near Fairbanks. It's a 15 mile loop that starts and ends at the Chena River. Even in May there was enough snow that we got lost a couple of times when the trail was buried for 1,000 foot stretches. It's a pretty sweet little hike, though.

Frankie's dog Keys sniffing around a stream near the bottom of the hike.

Sam and Frankie on the climb up. There's a 3,000 foot elevation gain, most over a few miles close to the start of the hike.

Frankie eating her lunch. She actually brought more food and water for her dog for herself. Notice the burnout in the background.

In search of adventure.

Frankie with Keys.

Me on top of one of the Tors. The trail is named for these granite formations that were formed when volcanic activity effectively pushed columns of rock up through the earth. Some of the columns can be up to 100 feet in height, and the area is often frequented by climbers.

Here's a good view from the Tors.

And another...I like the perspective this one gives.

Institute

2006-03-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

In March I took a trip with the Alaska Alpine Club to attempt to summit Institute Mountain, in the Delta Range. Though my team didn't summit successfully, it was my first experience with deep, fresh powder, and it was awesome. Plus, the scenery was gorgeous.

View of Institute as we were approaching our base camp.

The rope team about halfway up the climb.

Eating lunch overlooking the Castner Glacier.

Delta Range stretching east.

The view before I took the plunge down. In 2000 feet, I think I fell about twenty times. It was awesome.

Derick on the ski down.

Clouds at sunset.