Ruth: I haven’t been able to text with Gordon too much lately, but occasionally these fabulous pictures come through. Behind every great man is a woman uploading pictures to his blog. They are in Manang for two nights before they head up over their highest pass on the circuit. Hopefully there will be an updated blog coming soon.
From our guesthouse in Upper Pisang we have an unobstructed view of Annapurna II, which is almost 8,000 metres high. It was stunningly beautiful in the glorious weather we enjoyed today.We have climbed 1,400 metres in the past two days to bring us to our current elevation of 3,300 metres. Only 2,100 metres more to the Thorung La.We have been walking mostly on the road ...
We had a beautiful and varied 5 hour trek today. The walk was entirely on a trail. This is our definite preference, but it does mean that the walking is more challenging. There were several steep climbs on well constructed stone stairways that had our legs burning. The walking times do not adequately reflect the effort expended on some legs, as the climbs take a ...
Today we started and ended on lengthy trail sections, with some road walking during the middle of the day. Everyone was feeling stronger so we increased our walking time to 4 1/2 hours. We finished the day at Chamje, which is located in a canyon above the roaring Marsyangdi River. The scale of the landscape is astounding: you practically fall over backwards if you try ...
Gordon: Today we walked a short three hour stage as we develop our “trail legs”. We passed a series of villages set in terraces of rice paddies and backed by impressively large and steep hillsides. It was a beautiful walk in ideal weather.It is the last day of Diwali and groups of women and children continue to exact tolls from passing travellers. They hold a ...
Gordon: We arrived in Kathmandu three days ago, after two flights totalling 17 hours in the air. We spent the first day in Kathmandu dealing with the administrative tasks of getting our trekking permits, cell phone plans, and sufficient local currency for three weeks of trekking. On the second day my nephew Matthew and I visited Durbar Square, the UNESCO listed former royal palace. Despite ...
I finished my AT hike at Erwin, Tennessee, 343 trail miles (550 kms) from Springer Mountain. This is a little less than one-sixth of the entire trail. Was it a good experience? Would I do it again? The answer to both of these questions is yes.The AT is a very challenging walk. On the Gaspé last summer we met a 60ish woman who had hiked ...
Early in the day yesterday I encountered a herd of five whitetail deer. They were about 50 metres away. In the quiet of the open woodland four of them raised their enormous white tails and ran away. Because they were moving west the tails were illuminated by the morning sun like a collection of white flags. The only sound was the crunch of their hooves ...
Ruth: Gord is camped on the top of Bald Mountain tonight so here is a bed time story about the Hermit of Bald mountain, a man named David Grier. Now our best friend and house mate is a Don Grier who is the descendant of an unbroken line of David Griers. A man who after long stints alone at our cabin has been known to ...
I met Tim at Walnut Mountain Shelter the night before I arrived at Hot Springs, N.C. He was out on a lengthy day hike and paused for a smoke and a drink. Tim thru hiked the AT a few years ago and tries to get back on the trail whenever he can. He invited me to join him for a beer at the tavern in ...