Easter Island, Santiago, Atacama Desert

The metaphor is so obvious. Easter Island isolated in the Pacific Ocean — once the island got into trouble, there was no way they could get free. There was no other people from whom they could get help. In the same way that we on Planet Earth, if we ruin our own world we won't be able to get help.

Jared Diamond

Amigos,

Chile is a land of extremes and nature on a colossal level. 

There is so much to say about this exciting trip but so little time, I am reloading for a backpack on the John Muir Trail, so I must give you the abbreviated version.  Of all our travels, this exhausting trip is hard to beat.

Phoenix, Miami, Santiago, Easter Island, Santiago, Valparaiso, Santiago, Coloma, San Pedro de Atacoma, Andes, San Pedro,  Coloma, Santiago, Miami, Phoenix

The mystical allure of Easter Island has been with Gerry and I since we were kids,  a magnetic vibe.  We were not disappointed and blown away by this tiny piece of volcanic land, one of the most remote and isolated locations on the planet. The island (Rapa Nui)  with logic defying statues is eco-friendly and has simple savage beauty.  Our hotel was right on the water and the restaurants were perfect for those of us that love sea food. The pisco sours were not bad either. The white sand of Anakena Beach with its turquoise sea and coconut trees was breathtaking. 

We all know that the most pervasive images on Easter Island are the statues. (moai) The question that has yet to be answered …how were these giant statues moved where they were carved to their platforms.  Of course ELG knows, but the wolf is keeping it a secret mystery. 

This was our second visit to  cosmopolitan Santiago and it gave us the opportunity to see more of this worldly city. We did revisit the arts district and figured out the metro, although we found the city a great opportunity to stroll, each neighborhood has its own texture. 

Our boutique hotel was centrally located. Very nice! 

We took a day trip to colorful Valparaiso and visited one of the homes of the celebrated poet Pablo Neruda, a Nobel Prize winner. 

ELG purchased a book….20 Poems of Life and a Broken Down Bell. This was enjoyable reading on the long flights. 

Ever since I watched the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, filmed in the Atacama desert, I have wanted to go here. It is the driest location on the planet and off the charts beautiful!  It last rained in some of the area in 1921. And yes I am a desert rat!!

We both absolutely loved the time we spent here. San Pedro, is simply a handful of pretty adobe streets with a tree lined plaza and gorgeous church. A scene from a Fist Full of Dollars.  Our hotel and service was fantastic.

We took day trips to the Valley of the Luna, and Lagunas Altiplanicas. Fabulous!!!

We both feel so fortunate to be able to travel off the beaten path, sharing the experiences with each other as well as making new friends from around the world.

OK gotta go-Next up-The John Muir Trail in 9 days. 

Take care.

Japan-Cherry Blossom Time

Tokyo, Mount Fuji,  Kyoto, Horoshima, Nara, Oasaka 

Great weather, outstanding scenery, wonderful people. Another quality adventure. We are so fortunate!

The Zion in Winter

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. 

John Muir

The boys and I just returned from a much needed road trip and raw nature fix. It was fantastic!! At times the freezing cold was brutal, the climbing icy and dangerous, the winds savage, but we were stimulated by the elements and loved every moment.

Our 5 day pass  brought us to the Cameron Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation the first night where we pigged out on Navajo Tacos  at the post’s fabulous restaurant. 

The next morning we drove 18 miles south of Tuba City and on to a dirt road to Coalmine Canyon. Very few people know about Coalmine, it is quite isolated. You need a Navajo permit to hike around the rim and a Hopi permit to hike in the canyon. 

Coalmine is nothing less than astounding! It rivals Bryce. The winds were close to 60 mph and the wind chill well below zero.

We then drove to Page and hiked to Horseshoe Bend and then on to Grand Staircase Escalante and hiked the Hoodoo trail in wind that pelted us with stinging sand. 

Then on to Zion where we spent three glorious days hiking to Inspiration Point (8 miles) Emerald Pools and then up to Angels Landing. Angels Landing was a bit nerve wracking for the boys, ELG had done it several times with clients but not in these weather conditions. 

The Park was practically empty and simply a fabulous time to be there. We enjoyed several nice restaurants and Polygamy Porter brews.

Dingo for being macho macho man and admonishing  ELG because the wolf did not want to hike down Coalmine Canyon when there were 60mph winds and below zero wind chill.

-ELG who let a Thunder-blast in the middle of the night that woke everyone up, and then started choking and coughing in an attempt to suppress his giggles.

-Dingo, Jake, and ELG for being so cheap they only rented one room at the Holiday Inn where all 4 guys slept in 2 double beds.

-Lobo and Dingo for smuggling in Tequila in a Starbucks cup to the restaurant at Cameron, and then mixing it with lemonade when no one was looking.

-Lobo for saying “Howaya, where ya from?" to everybody he met on and off the trails.

-Jake for a vicious silent but deadly on the trail causing a hiker down the trail to yell, “I got wind of that!!”

-Cole for not leaning into the shower.

Thats it!! Still running against da wind!! Happy Holidays!!

Tour Du Mont Blanc

See me, feel me, touch me, heal me
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me

Following you, I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet”

The WHO

Six days after trekking in the palaces of nature, and completing the “Tour Du Mont Blanc,  young Peter Hayes and ELG celebrated at a WHO concert in Vienna. Our other two hiking buddies, Dan and Brandon, had returned to the states and their jobs.  It was hard to believe that our “Tour du Mont Blanc was over,  following  7 months of training, planning and preparation.

My hiking comrades were all former Marine officers and served in Desert Storm.   Camaraderie and teamwork were excellent during this tour of duty. The scenery was spectacular. The food and drink to die for. The refuges and hotels were charming and alluring. We met and befriended several people from different parts of the planet.

We all flew into Geneva and took  a private shuttle to Chamonix, France, a celebrated resort spotted at the foot of Mont Blanc. Chamonix is viewed as the origination and one of the capitals of mountaineering. Chamonix would be our start and finish points for our Tour. We elected to hike counter-clockwise. The weather was warm. 

The “TMB” is a circuit of a mountain block, covering  France, Italy and Switzerland, a journey of around 170km, depending on the precise route taken, with an accumulated altitude gain and loss of about 33,000 feet.  There are 11 passes to cross as the tour progresses from valley to valley. The trails are steep, often times w/o switchbacks. Our backpacks weighed about 20 pounds each.  We elected not to pay a service to transport them from refuge to refuge (hostel) like all the guided tour groups and many others we met on the trail. We did not make our reservations past the second day and had to combine stages a couple of times because the refuges were full. 

There is far too much to detail, so this will be an abbreviated report. After the TMB I spent five marvelous days in Vienna with Pete in his fabulous bungalow in the City Center, with a side trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. 

 I will, however, provide the ever popular “Men Behaving Badly” after the photos below.

North to Alaska

To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world. John Muir

OK back in Arizona to the monsoon and a leaking roof. Gee its great to be back home!! More climbing Camelback and cross training in prep for the Tour Du Mont Blanc in early September.
We enjoyed this getaway from the heat trip, particularly the visitation with my brother Tom and his lovely wife Brandy in Seattle, and the  company of our great Reno friends Doug Damon, Diana Damon, Lew Carnahan, and Bunny Carnahan.  However, we simply are NOT "cruise people", and  will probably NOT cruise again. 
Our ship, the  Solstice was ulta modern, and the food was fantastic! Rating of 10. The gym was excellent...rating of a 10. We purchased the select dining and  premium drink packages and the goal became "Beat Da Ship" We did! ...with over $900 (ship cost) of cocktails and not eating in the buffet, nor getting suckered into buying all the expensive extras.
The customer service was excellent. Rating of a 10.  
The views were nice. Rating of an 8, particularly our view of Russia.  The wildlife was just OK, we did see some whales, a few sea lions and eagles-rating 5, nothing like the land trip we took a few years ago where we saw a large variety of animals. … .griz, black bears, moose, large pods of whales, caribou and many others. 
The ship’s excursions were over priced and totally without character or adventure. Rating of a 2. On one excursion we had to wait 1 1/2 hours on the ship to depart to Juneau and our excursion left without us. We ended up booking another that only included whale watching and not a hike to the glacier. It was mediocre at best.  

 The Skagway train was a total ripoff. 
We did enjoy seeing the totems on Ketchikan that we engineered on our own,  taking a city bus to a state park. ELG and Lew Carnahan and Bunny Carnahan scored hand carved totems. The Carnahan's bought a large one, perfect for their Truckee house.
Overall it was a good, DIFFERENT experience for us...... visiting my brother and wife in Seattle   our travel companions, and BEATING the ship were the highlights.

Planned: Next week… a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Men Behaving Badly: ELG for setting the goal of “beating the ship of booze" (coined by Doug Damon) 

Bloody Mary's with breakfast, Alaskan Ambers with lunch, old fashions, wine and Baileys with dinner. Doug proclaimed this achievement-EPIC!!

Doug: For purchasing the soft drink package for $300 bucks and then objecting to his lovely wife Diana indulging in a spa massage because the ship was ripping us off!!

Lew: for violating the “no politics” treaty

The Kingdom of Bhutan-Time Warp

“Bhutan all but bases its identity upon its loneliness, and its refusal to be assimilated into India, or Tibet or Nepal"

Thimphu, Punakha, Wangdue, Gangtey, Paro Bhutan -8 days in Shangri-La

The Kingdom of Bhutan was a much needed peaceful retreat from 15 intense, chaotic days in India.  Bhutan is a remarkable throw back to centuries past with a unique outlook on progress.  There are few that have ventured here and experienced the natural charm of a country where Gross National Happiness is deemed more important than Gross National Product. By law, at least 60 per cent of the country must remain forested for future generations. It is also a deeply Buddhist land, where monasteries are part of its fabric. We found the country mysterious and magical. Every sign of human settlement repeated the mantra of contentment: “This is just enough.” 

We enjoyed many pleasant surprises.  The Bhutanese are very well educated, fun loving and vibrant. Our guide Tashi is one of the smartest and  most spiritual human beings that we have ever met.   His reverence and respect for nature constantly lifted our spirits. When we returned we brought home a new schnauzer…. a  2 month old puppy and we named her Tashi.  However, Tashi, the puppy is rarely peaceful, but also very smart.

Similar to the Navajo Nation here in Arizona where basketball is an important piece of their culture, the same passion for hoops exists in Bhutan. Every school we saw had basketball courts. Tashi told us that the local high school team warmed up to  Survivor's smash hit.. “Eye of the Tiger”  And yes, there are Tigers in Bhutan as well as Snow Leopards and an amazing diversity of plants and other creatures. 

Archery is their National Sport (see photo) below and the Bhutanese always bring home Olympic medals.

The Bhutanese pride themselves on a sustainable approach to Tourism. Visitors must apply for a visa and pay a minimum tariff of $250 (US) per day which sounds pricey, however this fee is all inclusive- accommodations, food, transport and an official guide.(Tashi)

Bhutan is a picture-book landscape that rivals Patagonia South America.  If I could choose one word that separates Bhutan from the rest of the world it would be “civility”

So where is Bhutan? Look at your globe or world atlas.  No one we know has been there. Hardly anybody in the U.S. knows where it is. It is NOT part of India. However there are very close ties to India and India serves as protection from a Chinese invasion. 

The King and Queen of Bhutan are beloved. They are both quite physically attractive people. 

Health care is free for all Bhutanese AND all foreign visitors.  A gentleman in our group of 6  became very ill with urinary issues and he was taken to a hospital twice, treated, hooked up with a catheter and was able to continue with the trip, all at no charge!

There were so many  but our biggest highlight was a demanding climb to a monastery called the “Tigers Nest” described below. 

Gerry was suffering from a throat infection but being the warrior that she is, she nailed it!!

I would love to return and do the “Snowman Trek” one of the most difficult in the world. It takes 24 days at elevations between 4500 and 5320 meters. 

There were so many cultural discoveries and drop dead scenic beautiful locations that we experienced  in our short visit that took us  over narrow, winding, white knuckle, dirt mountain roads in the Himalayas to remote locations.  I wish I had the time to tell you about all of them. The pictures below tell a better story.

In closing, Bhutan is simply unreal, the landscape gives the impression of vast space and intimacy at the same time.  If there is one location to pick on this planet that is truly unforgettable, and a dream come true it is the Kingdom of Bhutan.  You can make it happen!! 

A Tough Steep Climb in altitude to the legendary Tiger's Nest Monastery -Spectacular Views ....Paro Bhutan

The trail climbs thru blue pines to 3 water powered prayer wheels then switchbacks steeply up the ridge where a sign exhorts you to "Walk to guru's glory. After about 300m you reach a small chorten and some prayer flags on the ridge. The trail crosses an archery ground-(we dodged one arrow), there is a small cafeteria where you can get a cup of tea, then the trail continues to a spring, and the basic monastery guesthouse. A bit further there is a viewpoint that puts you eyeball to eyeball with the monastery that looks like it is growing out of the rocks. It seems close however its on the far side of a valley about 300 m away. The trail curves past an awesome chapel of butter lamps and descends to a waterfall by the Snow Lion Cave, a meditation retreat jammed into a rock crevice, now you have to climb steeply back up to the monastery entrance.  We  then climbed to higher chapels that included a couple of perilous log ladders... from here the trail descends past a charming Holy Spring and down to the monastery guest house.
On the way back we climbed up to one of the temples. Then the steep climb down and up and back down.  A long journey but we had a great picnic lunch below.