Category: hiking

in Monument Valley

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travel3 Comments

Gorgeous.

I’d been to Monument Valley before. But the Valley itself was closed for the (very cool) Red Bull Air Race: Photo by Timothy K. Hamilton

This time I did the only independent hike allowed in the Park, the Wildcat Trail (3.2mi). I had low expectations, but it turned out to be superb. I felt like a Mormon trailblazer.

At dusk I tried finding a mountain bike trail just outside the Park. That was a FAIL.

It’s amazing how all this flat desert is mostly impassable.

… moseying off in the general direction of the Grand Canyon.

freezing in Utah

On By Rick McIn hiking, travel3 Comments

Kelley Durbin told me …

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving.” — Lao Tzu

LauTzy is right.

That’s why I’m holed up in a “camping cabin” at The Thousand Lakes RV Park, Torrey, Utah. Instead of being huddled up in my tent. (As I was the night before.)

Forecast tonight is for 29° F, 60% chance of precipitation (rain or snow). Actually it was the howling wind that finally drove me indoors.

Hmm. … May is considered the best hiking month here.

Tomorrow hiking Navajo Knobs. And driving on to the Muley Twist Canyon tomorrow night. Wish me luck.

… now, where did I pack my snowshoes?

DOH – bumbling through Nevada

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travel2 Comments

I rushed out of the fantasy world of Vegas to search out the best hikes in Southern Nevada for my hiking site.

Of the first 4 I tried to hike this weekend, something went wrong on ALL.

1) snowed in …
2) access road now “NO trespassing”
3) needed an odometer to find the unmarked parking lot. (My Honda has a broken odometer.)
4) part way down the remote 30mi washboard access road I realized I had left behind my oil cap. Merde!

Still, I’m loving driving around the sunny S.W. equipped with a mountain bike!

Here I’m being challenged by a desert tortoise.

driving Mojave National Reserve

tortoise - driving Mojave National Reserve

I carefully, slowly lifted him well off the highway in the direction I thought he was trying to go. … Unfortunately he seemed to be walking the yellow line when I found him.

sacred lakes of Gokyo

On By Rick McIn hiking, travel2 Comments

Revered by Hindu and Buddhist are a series of high altitude lakes. Very tranquil.

Late November they are freezing, groaning and moaning like some distressed beast.

To visit each I walked up the glacier towards my old friend Cho Oyu, the friendliest 8000+m peak. Eleven years ago we did the same thing, walking towards Cho Oyu from the Tibet side.

It was dark by the time I got back to Gokyo Resort. Mine was the finest room in the last village before Tibet. Expensive at $3. But I’m worth it.

Flying back to Kathmandu tomorrow. My 17 day trek ended.

From Starbucks, Lukla, Nepal.

no apple pie at base camp

On By Rick McIn hiking2 Comments

In the Spring Mt. Everest Base Camp is “party central”.

But I found it almost empty, a bleak, unwelcoming place. Not even the famed mobile bakery was operating.

On the bright side, the weather was surreal. To take off sunglasses was to risk instant snowblindness.

A snow storm “blew itself out” leaving perfect cold, clear skies. The high peaks including Everest did not even have spin drift. That almost never happens.

I’ve resumed my 3 Passes itinerary. Will cross Kongma La tomorrow, hopefully fully acclimatized to altitude.

I’ve about 8 more days in the Everest region. Will depart Nov. 30th for Bangladesh where I’m teaching a gymnastics course starting Dec. 1st.

Trust you are well.

photos of the “best view of Mt Everest”

Everest – change of plans

On By Rick McIn hiking2 Comments

Poor sleep last night.

At first light I saw white stuff piled up on the Yaks. An early snowfall, not all that unusual in November.

I’ll switch to the standard Everest Base Camp route. Assuming nothing else goes wrong, should get there in the next 3 days. MIGHT backtrack on the high pass I missed.

Today headed for Dughla 4620m.