Tag Archive: mountains

Kyrgyz Trek – Day Five: Looking into the Abyss

That first hot cup of tea was glorious after a long cold night, and when I tipped my tent to dry in the morning sun and panes of ice cracked and fell off,… Continue reading

Kyrgyz Trek – Day Four

It was the best of campsites, it was the worst of campsites, but first we had to get there. Day Four started in another perfect mountain valley, whose light green-blue river of melted… Continue reading

Kyrgyz Trek – Day Three

I awoke surrounded by monsters. Their growls, snarls, and roars made Jurassic Park sound like a petting zoo, and I was very aware that I could see no further than the fabric of… Continue reading

Kyrgyzstan Trek Day Two – Orcas and Golden Spirals

Sometime in the mid-1980’s my family went to Seaworld, in large part to see Shamu the killer whale. (We didn’t know any better.) My brother had recently been given one of those thin… Continue reading

Kyrgyzstan Trek – Day One in the Mountains of Heaven

On Day One of my 6-day hike in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, I had no idea what to expect. Apparently my guides were playing it by ear a bit too. The route normally… Continue reading

He didn’t really need to kick that yak in the jaw

I opened my eyes this morning to clouds on the forested slopes of the lower Himalaya across the river valley from my balcony. India has been what they promised, a swirl of mango… Continue reading

A Tahoe Reminder

No signal. I love when it says that. In fact, seeking that elusive status was one of my reasons for going up to Tahoe in the first place. To spend two days in… Continue reading

Hornafjordur. It won’t notice when it kills you.

Someone lived here. That’s the thing that boggled my mind, as I leaned into the wind, peering at the fuzzy shapes of dunes through the mesh of my cheap hooded shirt pulled across… Continue reading

Dog is my guru, an off season pilgrimage to Sri Pada.

The guidebooks and the Christians will tell you the footprint at the peak belongs to Adam, left when he first stepped to Earth after being cast out from Eden. The Buddhists say it’s… Continue reading