Hiker Blog

Filed under: Biking, Climbing, Hiking, Camping

Female over 30 seeking adventure and good times.

This might sound like a personal ad for an online dating service, but in reality it's the cry of an oft-neglected travel niche: the female adventure traveler.

There aren't too many travel outfitters that specialize in women who would rather kayak in Greenland than shop in Paris. But, they do exist.

One of the most established ones is Adventure Women. This very cool outfitter has been around for 26 years and serves up adventures for "women traveling solo, or with sisters, mothers, daughters, and friends." In other words, no dudes allowed--nor for that matter, prissy girls.

That's because the women who sign up for these "small, congenial, non-smoking groups" are those that seek far more from a vacation than just sitting on the beach and ordering room service. Instead, these are women turned on by bear sightings, rafting in the Grand Canyon, trekking in the Himalayas, going on safari in Botswana, and more. Oh, and they have to be over 30.

If that's you, consider a different vacation this year where you take off with the girls and leave your man at home watching the game. It's a win-win situation if you ask me!

 

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Filed under: Hiking, Gear, Holiday Ideas

If you're a person who likes to include your pets in your holiday festivities, here are 10 items that range from the useful to the over the top I've looked around for those that might serve taking your dog on the road. Perhaps, you've really wanted to have that funky dog car seat that looks like a frog, but haven't felt like you could spend the money. You could use the holidays as an excuse--or use the chance to go to a New Year's party in style as the reason for a splurge. What dog wouldn't delight with such a gift?

1.This hoodie would make a Christmas hike all that more festive. (This is from a company in Great Britain, but I'm sure you can find a similar choice if you are in the U.S.)

2. How about a leather pet carrier? If you pet doesn't like it, it looks perfect for a file holder to take back and forth to the office. (Also from a British company, as are numbers 3--6)

3. This overnight bag with goodies might be just what your pooch wants under the tree. It comes with all that might make a weekend away that more fun.

4. This snuggle rug blanket actually does look useful. It's big enough to go over a car seat to keep dog hair from getting everywhere. Sure you can use an old towel, but where's the style in that?

5. Maybe you carry a plastic grocery bag wadded up in your hand for the moments your dog leaves a deposit on your neighbor's lawn or on the sidewalk. With one of these classic poop bag holders, won't you look all that more prepared? (We actually have something like this that my husband found on a walk one day. It attaches to a leash.)

6. If the Christmas hoodie is too much, how about this dog scarf? It's made to fit over a collar. At least that's what I saw in the description. It comes in various color combos as well. (I did buy our dog a scarf once. Silly? Maybe.)

7. Here's spill proof water bowl. This link leads to other ideas that are also actually useful. This one is an American company as are the remaining 3 gift ideas. (We use an old metal mixing bowl and that does not work at all when the car is moving. Sloshy.)

8. This carrying case is the rugged cousin to the leather case already featured. This one's called the Sherpa Bag. I'm not sure what a sherpa would think about carrying one of these, but if you need a carrier to carry, this one does have the bells and whistles.

9. To carry food, this item called the Travel-tainer is what gave me the idea for this post. You can buy it at PETCO besides buying it on-line. This was featured as a gift idea in the Columbus Dispatch's travel section a couple weeks ago.

10. I actually did buy our dog a portable bowl. It was featured in my son's school's fundraiser book. The Outward Hound Bottle and Bowl pictured here looks like it would be useful if you're hiking and camping. The water bottle for the dog is not a bad idea.

 

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Filed under: Hiking, Peru

So I'm in the midst of planning a backpacking trip through Peru. As I was flipping through some reading material, I couldn't help but be bombarded by endless mentions of Machu Picchu. Yet there's a little known alternative to one of the seven modern wonders of the world.

It's Choquequirao, another lost Inca city, modeled after Machu Picchu in fact. And it's only 100 miles away. I'm still considering whether I can make it to both in a week. To hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu takes 3-4 days. To hike to Choquequirao (after that 100 mile cab ride from Cusco) takes a little less.

Apparently Choquequirao gets only 1% of the tourists that Machu Picchu has to endure. It's just as big, but more sprawled out so things don't look as photogenic. If you're looking for a true lost city experience, though, I think Choquequirao might just be your best bet.

 

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Filed under: Activism, Hiking, Books, Transportation

Over at World Hum, Frank Bures has an interesting interview with Will Self, a British novelist, journalist, and ardent defender of the long, meandering walk. Last year, on a journey from London to New York, Self walked the 26 miles from his home in south London to Heathrow Airport, then walked 20 miles from JFK in New York to his hotel in Manhattan.

For this peripatetic author, the urban hikes are about more than fitness; indeed, Self is often seeking puffing on a cigarette during his walks. Self is a student of psychogeography, a very smart-sounding term that is actually relatively simple-- it's about removing city dwellers from their hermetically-sealed modes of transportation-- cars, subways, buses-- and finding a way for them to really experience the urban landscape.

"People don't know where they are anymore, " he said last year in a story about his lengthy airport walks. "In the post-industrial age, this is the only form of real exploration left. Anyone can go and see the Ituri pygmy, but how many people have walked all the way from the airport to the city?"

In the World Hum interview, Self compares his practice of psychogeography to another of his passions, writing. "Like writing-which is low start-up, all you need is a pen and a piece of paper-psychogeography is bare-bones. You just get out there and experience. It doesn't require the hypermediated world, it is more akin to a meditational practice."

Check out Self's new book Psychogeography right here.

 

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Filed under: Climbing, Hiking, Stories, South America, Ecuador

Several months ago, a friend named Justin and I decided that, after months of playing in Ecuador, we wanted a real physical challenge. We visited a tour company in Quito to find out what they could offer, and we were intrigued by their ad for a grueling hike up Mt. Cotopaxi, the world's tallest active volcano at 19,347 ft. After ironing out some details, and confident in our physical fitness levels, Justin and I were assigned a guide, and we were on our way.

The bus and jeep rides to the base of the mountain were breathtakingly beautiful, and once we arrived, we hiked up to the "base camp" refuge by about 3:00 pm. Our guide, Carlos, prepared enormous plates of food for us, and insisted that we eat as much as possible. Justin and I did as much carbo-loading as we could, and we had already slumped back in our chairs when we saw Carlos bringing in two more giant plates of food. He laid the plates in front of us as if to say, "And now, for the main course." After some protest, we nibbled dutifully.

At midnight, after getting no sleep due to an altitude-induced headache, I got up, along with 20 or so other climbers, to begin the cold, dark ascent. As this short article about the hike up Cotopaxi puts it, "After you add illness, inexperience and altitude, we had the makings of a great adventure."

We practiced using crampons and ice axes for the first time, roped ourselves to our trusty guide, and began our slow, plodding ascent. After about five hours of trudging up the mountain, Justin's asthma had him in a bad way. I didn't feel so great either. Justin made the tough decision to turn around, and because we were all roped together, that meant I had to come down too. Frigid and exhausted, I feigned great disappointment.

Though we didn't quite make the summit, and even though the climb was bone-chillingly cold, I'd still do it again. It can be easy to lounge on the beaches, or go out drinking every night, or just generally turn into a waste of space when on a long trip. My advice, though I don't always follow it, is to challenge yourself not to fall into those easy traps. Pick an activity you think you probably can't do-- and give it a shot. If you succeed, great. If you fail, well, sometimes it's not the worst thing for us to be knocked right on our asses.

More on Cotopaxi here and some scenic photos of it here.

 

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Filed under: Hiking, Nepal, Photo of the Day

Ah, yes. The milky blue waters of a high altitude, Himalayan lake.

These aren't the type of waters that make you want to take off your clothes and jump in for a quick dip. No, these waters run deep and cold and warm shelter is a far distance away. This is simply a breathtakingly perfect place to stop for lunch while trekking to other, equally as mind-blowing vistas.

Wow. A big thanks goes out to Pixelskew for reminding me of the glories of Nepal with this great shot.

If you'd like one of your gems considered for Photo of the Day, be sure to pay a visit to our Gadling Flickr Pool and upload your finest.

 

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Filed under: Biking, Climbing, Hiking, Gear, Camping

I never really thought about it before, but properly lacing your shoes is one of the most important, yet often neglected preparations one can make for travel.

Sure, you can laugh at the idea of a post telling you how to tie your shoe, but did you have any idea that there are 2 trillion ways to do so? And, that there is specific lacing technique to maximize performance for various activities?

I had no idea either, but thankfully there is someone on this planet who can teach us all about it. Ian Fieggen is a man with a serious lacing fetish that runs a site dedicated entirely to the different ways one can lace up their shoes and boots.

Take, for example, the Bushwalking Lace (above). This majestic design "distributes pressure evenly" and keeps "the knots and ends to the side... away from snagging undergrowth."

Such an intricate lace is typical of what one can find on Fieggen's site--although I was equally impressed with some of the vanity, checkerboard lacing that serves no purpose other than simply being fashionable.

(Via Wired.com)

 

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Filed under: Hiking, History, Paddling, Scuba Diving, Stories, United States, Internet Tools

A friend of mine moved to Florida recently and has discovered the wonders of Florida's underwater scene. Actually, he hasn't made it to any of the places that he's salivating over whenever he browses the Web site underwaterflorida.com, but he's planning upcoming outings for whenever he has time off from work.

He showed me the section of the Web site that lists many of Florida's freshwater springs by region. If you click on each one, there's a description about what makes a particular spring unique from another. For example, Rainbow Springs is one of the clearest in Florida. Here you can snorkel, canoe and swim. There is also a hiking trail and tropical gardens. As I'm sitting in gray, cold Ohio, tropical gardens sound divine.

DeLeon Springs caught my attention, but it has nothing to do with the fountain of youth. What it does have something to do with is the Civil War. There used to be a sugar mill here that was burned down twice by Confederate soldiers. Now you can canoe and scuba dive.

Hearing my friend talk about the places he'd like to go (he's up in Ohio for the holidays) reminds me of what is so alluring about moving to a totally new state, country or even a new town. Although, there's a certain coziness about living in one place for a long enough time that it's as comfortable as an easy chair, and you've been to the same dentist or mechanic so many times that you don't even have to remember how to get there anymore, there's an edginess that's missing.

That crackle of excitement when learning to navigate the unknown and making new discoveries is hard to come by when settled down--which is why travel is as necessary as breathing. Moving to Florida, particularly this time of year, makes sense to me, particularly when there are more than 30 springs listed with directions on how to get there. Of course, moving means packing and that's another story. Still, Skybus flies to Florida and the next round of cheap seats should be posted soon.

 

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Filed under: Arts and Culture, Hiking, History, Learning, Japan

As the teams left Mumbai, India for Osaka, Japan I thought, now there's a contrast. I haven't been to Mumbai or Osaka, but I've lived in New Delhi and traveled in Japan. If you put the two places on a spectrum, they'd be at opposite ends. Smells, sounds, music styles, food, religion, dress--if you come up with a category, I can assure you that they are nothing alike.

Ah, I have one. Tea is a popular beverage and both places have a real fondness for flowers. And one more similarity. Temples are quite prominent as cultural and historical landmarks in both countries. If you want insight into the inner workings of the countries' belief systems, the temples are a good place to start.

Japan's organizational style seemed to suit the teams well once they got to Japan, although for most of this episode TK and Rachel weren't featured. Since they made a mistake by going through two airports--New Delhi and Beijing-- to get to Osaka, by the time they landed in Japan, it was almost dark. The moral is: Never, never, never expect that going through two airports will get you anywhere fast, particularly if one of the airports is the one in New Delhi.

The other three teams ended up on a flight that went from Mumbai through Hong Kong to Osaka which meant they hit the ground about the same time, managing to be neck and neck for a good part of the episode. The first stop was Kishiwada Castle, a majestic, pagoda style building with pristine, orderly gardens.

Built in 1547, the castle is now a folk museum. Hmmm. I didn't see any folk art or folk artifacts, but perhaps that's because the teams barely had time to catch their breath from hoofing around the grounds and up into the main building to find their clue that would direct them to Kanjosan Noda Station--part of Osaka's subway system.

At the point when Nate and Jen snatched their clue out of the box, they were as happy as could be since they figured out they were in first place. Likewise Ron, still vowing to be a better father and a better traveling companion, quit chastizing Christina and let her lead the way for a change--after all, she lived in Japan before and had studied Japanese. Don and Nick , now in third place, continued along in their consistent, affable and respectful way, even though Don was beginning to feel road weary and it showed.

I did notice Nick's smart move when he asked the taxi driver to stay and wait for them while they looked for their clue at the castle. When I lived in India I often asked the taxi I hired to take me someplace to wait. It was worth paying the extra money just to have a taxi after whatever errand I was on in order not to be left stranded.

Once at the station, each of the teams found the station cleaner person who handed them their Road Block instructions. One member from each team had to don white gloves and a hat worn by Japanese taxi drivers so they could actually become taxi drivers just long enough to take a Japanese couple assigned to their cab to the post office five miles away, drop them off and head back to meet up with their team mate. Not so easy.

In Japan traffic patterns are opposite to the U.S. and the driver's side is on the right. Then there are the signs mostly written in Japanese and the one way streets and the roundabouts. If I was doing this leg, I would have flashed back to my high school driver's ed nightmare.

While watching the couples patiently sitting in the back seats of the taxis I thought that it must have not been that hot in Osaka. No one was perspiring. Can you imagine what it would have been like to be the Japanese couple wondering if and when they'd get to the post office? Or what it would have been like to drive if the temperature was what it was in Mumbai?

During this task, Christina discovered knowing Japanese did not do squat. She set the windshield wipers off once and couldn't find the key. Turns out, she doesn't drive back in the U.S. because she doesn't have a car.

I was totally rooting for Jen in this part of the race. She was so darned pleased with herself, and so proud of how she looked in that hat. She's growing on me. The white gloves and hat reminded me of the airport folks who work at Narita airport. Japan is such a tidy place. Plus, she's so polite to everyone. Notice how many times she turns to say, "Thank you?"

One snippet I enjoyed seeing during this segment was watching Don and Ron drink water and share snacks at the subway station while they waited for their team mates to come back. It was a "Since I can't do much about anything at this point, I may as well relax" moment.

The relaxation was totally over after Jen & Nate, with Christina & Ron close behind, headed off for their second Road Block. Nick managed to get himself lost while driving the taxi, therefore arrived at the subway 10 minutes behind the other two.

I'm not sure why Don is worried about his age. Nick somehow manages to get lost during every episode. If Don had been driving, they may have fared better. Still with TK and Rachel not even in Osaka yet, what's the hurry?

Halfway through the episode there was a shot of TK & Rachel heading through the airport in New Delhi realizing that they probably made a bad move. The first time I saw the New Delhi Airport I wondered the same thing. The lighting in that place is so funky; it can make you think something is wrong with your eye sight--plus it doesn't really smell all that swell.

After the taxi driving, you'd think that Jen and Nate could have enjoyed their triumph. She was trying to by excitedly recounting her moves, but he was an idiot. Instead of praising her for her driving skills, he told her that he couldn't really listen while they were taxiing it to the Kita-mido Temple, a 16th Century Buddhist temple for their next Road Block directions.

Oh, bad move. This prompted Jen to become upset and the mood chilled which they had a hard time shaking, even after they arrived first at Saera Flower Shop for the Road Block task "Sense of Smell. "

If teams picked Sense of Smell their task was to pick a real flower from the fake flowers by sniffing it out. Ron and Christina also chose the Sense of Smell. As soon as they hit the shop close behind Nate & Jen, Christina told her father to blow his nose and he did. They found their flower not long after Nate and Jen found theirs and left.

Since Nate and Jen were back in their bickering mood, they had a heck of a time finding a taxi to take them to the Pit Stop at Tempozan Park, which allowed Christina and Ron time to catch up.

For a brief while though, it seemed that Ron and Christina would lose their edge since their taxi driver was acting like he might, to use Ron's word, croak. Now, that would have made for some interesting TV. Even more than Jen accusing Nate of shoving her. There was a repeat of that footage, and from what I could tell it was more of a nudge, as in a "Get in already, we're in a hurry and I'm excited because we might win a million dollars" kind of nudge.

Nick and Don were also beginning to narrow the gap between the two teams in the lead and them because of their ability to get along. Nick, who by this time was carrying his grandfather's bag as well as his own, never blamed his grandfather for their lag time which is probably why they rarely court disaster. Even though Don wasn't thrilled with their "Sense of Touch" Road Block task of getting small robots to play soccer at the Shimojima Building, he didn't let that get in his way of letting Nick show him what to do. This was a pretty nifty way to work in Japanese gadget smarts.

The task involved using some sort of cell phone gadget to get the robots to move. It seemed to me these two were pretty good at this task, although I couldn't tell how long it took them to get the robots to score the two required goals. For a guy who is going to be 70 soon, Don exhibits probably the traveling behaviors that lead to success. He will admit when something is out of his realm, but will try it anyway, and eventually succeeds.

TK & Rachel, who seemed to breeze through all the tasks even though they were all done after dark, were determined to enjoy themselves whether they ended up in last place or not. They did, and they were rewarded. When they stepped onto the mat at Tempozan Park, Phil told them this was not an elimination leg. Yipee. So for one more week, we've found out that it does pay to be nice.

As for Ron & Christina who came in first, they each get an environmentally friendly electric car for their efforts. I wonder if Christina will sell it or use it to tootle about when she goes back home. Neither of them seemed that thrilled with their prize, but they are thrilled to come in first, something Christina attributes to Ron not being negative towards her all day which helped her to concentrate.

I wonder if TK & Rachel ever get miffed at each other? I hope they get more air time next week.

*Shots of the teams are from the Amazing Race Web site.

 

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Filed under: Climbing, Hiking, North America, United States

Taking advantage of some gorgeous Arizona weather, yesterday I took a walk up Scottsdale's Camelback Mountain, so named because of its distinctive two-hump shape. The hike began easily enough, with some railroad-tie steps and a rocky path that sloped gently uphill. After being lulled into a false sense of security, I turned a corner to find a steep rock face with a railing sticking out of it (see photo.) After negotiating my way up the rock face, I plodded along for another hour or two until I reached the top, where I was rewarded with an impressive view of the surrounding city. The beautiful red-rock and desert scenery is outstanding-- everything most people imagine when they think of the American Southwest.

Because I'm far from an exercise fiend, I thought the hike was somewhat challenging, and I assumed other people would find it a little difficult as well. That is, until I saw six-year-old kids on the summit, accompanied by their elderly grandparents. Apparently, I need to sign up at a gym.

Okay, I'll admit it. The mountain is hardly a mammoth. At 2,704 ft., Colorado natives would probably label Camelback, perhaps accurately, as a glorified hill. But for someone who grew up far removed from mountains, this was a towering peak. And for someone who continues to live far removed from consistent exercise, the hike was a challenge, but one well worth the effort, particularly the very fun jog down.

While performing a modest bit of research before yesterday's trek, I found one website that offered this very telling piece of advice regarding Camelback: "It's best to get an early start if you want to find a parking space."

Of course, unlike bars, restaurants, and parties, mountains are not enhanced by more people. Still, in an effort to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, hundreds of tourists and Phoenix-area residents flock to the mountain every day, and even though it is hardly a Fortress of Solitude, Camelback does provide weary city-dwellers with a much-needed refuge from office deadlines and honking horns.

For visitor information, give this site a whirl.

 

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