Golden Altai

Altai Mountains, Siberia, Russia. October 2010.

Snow Hiking

Bucegi National Park, Romania. December 2010.

A Mental Exercise

Towers Reflected

Sunrise at Torres del Paine, Chile.

The Blue Mosque

Istanbul, Turkey. October 2010.

Unreal

Vertical Panorama of the moon, sunset, and a massive glacier.

Mt. Tranador, Argentina. January 2010.

Gold

Altai Mountains, Siberia, Russia. October 2010.

Awe-struck

Continental Ice Shelf, Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile. 

At the Edge

Caucasus Mountain, Russia. September 2010.

Distant High

Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru. May 2010.

Balanced

Quilotoa Lake, Ecuador. April 2010.

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Lake Baikal, Russia. September 2010.

She Moves

Arequipa, Peru. May 2010.

Icicles and the Andes

One last adventure in the Andes with our friend Carlos, near Santiago, Chile. June 2010.

Siberian Cities

Overlooking an old wooden church in Tomsk

In September, we traveled from Lake Baikal to Moscow on the TranSiberian Railroad, with a detour to the Altai Mountains. Here are my impressions of the Siberian cities that we explored on our journey:

New Publication in Backpacking Light Magazine

News of the Day:

Kristin and I are very excited to announce our second publication in Backpacking Light Magazine. It is such an honor for us. The article, Valley Hopping in the Cordillera Huayhuash, details an arduous seven-day high-altitude trek in Northern Peru that we accomplished in May 2010. We have several articles in the pipeline to be published by Backpacking Light Magazine this year. If you want to read our articles, you will save money with the year subscription, over the pay-per-article basis.

On other news, I'll continue publishing the Year In Review Daily Photo, as well as back-blogging from our last adventures in Russia (Siberian Cities, Altai Mountains, Moscow), Istanbul, and about our current break in Bulgaria. 

Lastly, it is snowing today and it feels like Christmas!! Next Monday, we are renting a car for 2-3 weeks to drive around Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Our friend Beth, from the States, is joining us for this road trip. 

We're still hanging out in the empty, remote village of Kosharitsa in Bulgaria. We are 7km from the Black Sea, and near the UNESCO World Heritage City of Nesebar. Keep checking back with me for more stories and photos of our three months in Bulgaria. 

The Mighty Altai

Altai Mountains, Russia.  October 2010.

Shasta Silhouettes

Mount Shasta, California, USA. July 2010. silouettes 

My First Lightening Shot

St. Petersburg, Russia. August 2010.

Three Lives

I stood still while Kristin kept hiking. I stitched together these shots afterwards to make one huge photo with three Kristins. Thanks Todd for the help!

Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru. May 2010.

Tatoo Photo Competition

I entered a few photo competitions in the last month. One of them is being hosted by Tatoo, a South American outdoor gear company.  One of my photos is published on their gallery page. I haven't won anything, but it's kinda neat seeing the photo up there.

To see the photo, go to their competition gallery, then scroll down to "FOTO 45" in the Trekking category.  It is a self-timed picture that I took at sunrise of Fitz Roy, in Los Glaciares National Park.

Paine Grande

Paine Grande. Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. 

Caribbean Fishermen

Cartagena, Colombia. March 2010.

Andean Flower

Happy Birthday Mom!

Machu Pichu, Peru. May 2010.

Floating Restaurants

Istanbul, Turkey. October 2010.

Lake Baikal

The list of superlatives for Lake Baikal is as long as the lake itself, (636km). Baikal is the deepest, oldest and second largest lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's fresh water and is home to nearly 1200 endemic organisms, including the world's only freshwater seal, the Nerpa.

Do all of these unique qualities make Lake Baikal one of the world's best hiking places?

Hold On

Neva River, St. Petersburg, Russia. August 2010.

Summer Bloom

Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, USA. June 2010.

Night Rain

Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua.

Walking Home

Passing through a village at the end of a hike near Huaraz.

Cordillera Blanca, Peru. May 2010.

Running to the Sun

Still catching my breath from this run.

Kosharitsa, Bulgaria. November 2010

I will publish a new photo every day for the month of December, to celebrate this year of traveling around the world.

*   *   *   *   *

6 Months Ago: 6093 meter summit of Mt. Chachani, Peru 

1 Year Ago: Fitz Roy, Los Glaciares, Argentina

Olympic Corruption

Where do you think the most expensive road in the world is located? And how much did it cost to build, per kilometer?

Would you believe that Russia has spent $145 million per kilometer to build a road from Sochi to Krasnaya Polyana? That is $145,000 per meter. So, you could buy a house in California or a few meters of asphalt. How is that even possible?

The Fish Spa

On a hike in Rio de Janeiro last February, we happened upon a pond with these tiny fish that nibbled at our feet. It tickled and was an odd sight. Later that day, we researched the fish online and discovered that they were feasting on our dead skin. Yummy.

Two Movies of Elbrus

To watch these in HD, or to see other videos from our journey, please visit my YouTube site.

To see all of our photos from the Caucasus Mountains, check out my Picasa Photos.

*   *   *   *   *

6 Months Ago: Machu Pichu, Peru

1 Year Ago: Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Where Were We . . .

One year ago, Kristin and I were in Los Glaciares National Park. The park is world renown for the impending spires of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.

We camped in the park for nine glorious days. We resupplied our food and fuel in the town of El Chalten, only an hour's hike from our basecamp.

I distinctly remember hiking out on Thanksgiving Day last year so that we could email our family. We played Rummikub while warming up inside a friendly restaurant. Kristin and I shared a large pizza and a glass of Malbec. The weather during the prior week had been sunny but extremely windy and cold. We were very grateful for the cozy respite.

I'm thankful for our current comfortable and warm living situation in Bulgaria. (Thanks Mark and Marie for making this possible!)

However, it's not as scenic here as where we were last year. So I've included a few photos from Los Glaciares. These were taken just prior to when we hiked back to town for Thanksgiving.

I do look back at the photos with awe. I can't believe we were there!

Wishing I could fly.

*   *   *   *   *

6 Months Ago: Cusco, Peru

1 Year Ago: Fitz Roy, Argentina

Thanksgiving Again

As Kristin and I enjoy our Thanksgiving together in Bulgaria, we are thinking of you - our friends and family throughout the world.

If there is one thing I am most thankful for, it is all that I have learned from Kristin this year. An important lesson she taught me was that all relationships take time and energy, regardless of how strong the bond. Relationships don't maintain themselves.

So, tonight I will raise my wine glass to my wonderful wife and to my renewed relationship with an old best friend.

*   *   *   *   *

6 Months Ago: Cusco, Peru

1 Year Ago: Fitz Roy, Argentina

Our Russian Holiday in Sochi

(This is a recap of our travels in Russia from early September)

After our two "exciting" backpacking trips in the Caucasus Mountains (see posts 1 and 2), we knew that it was time to hit the road again. Or tracks, as is often the case in Russia. Train tracks.

Our overnight train from Mineral Waters to Sochi was not the most pleasant - we took the platz kart wagon, which was the cheapest and most crowded. Our bunk beds were next to the door that led to the bathroom and the smoking room. Perfect.

Small Pleasures in Big Mountains

Enjoy this selection of miniature natural wonders from our treks in the Caucasus Mountains, Southern Russia.

Elbrus - Tallest Mountain in Europe

The most famous story in Everest history should be the first ascent, by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

You may be more familiar, though, with the events of May 1996. That was when a storm came down on several climbing teams, stranding them in a whiteout that left 8 dead. It was easily the worst day on Everest. You have likely heard about this fatal day because of Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air.

 

In this book, Krakeuar describes the lead guide of another company as reckless for not using bottled oxygen, among other things. That lead guide, however, was the only person to go back into the storm, rescuing two climbers, and led the only commercial group that didn't lose any clients. 

That lead guide was Anatoli Boukreev. He wrote The Climb in response to Krakauer's version of the Everest tragedy. Prior to that Everest season, Boukreev had already established himself as the most accomplished Russian mountaineer. He won Soviet climbing competitions on Mt. Elbrus by running up the solid snow in sprinting cleats. You know, those thin little shoes that have small spikes on the sole and are designed for track sprinting events? Most climbers would be in waterproof, double-insulated boots with a steel shank in the sole. Boukreev redefined hard-core.
I have been dreaming about Elbrus ever since I read that book in college.

And now I can finally say "Here I am."

Backpacking and Bribes

(This is a recap of our travel in Russia in late August)

Our first trip in to the Caucasus Mountains was a mild hike over Epchik pass. We could have done this in two days, but the transportation alone took 4 hours each way. We turned it into a three-day trek and enjoyed the down time.

Now, it seems like I am getting into the habit of starting a blog by writing a horror story from our travels in Russia. I wish I could tell you that this blog will be different, but it's not. This trip had three exciting stories.

(Don't Drink the) Mineral Waters

(This is a recap of our travels in Russia, dated August 19)

Our arrival in Mineral Waters remains to be the beginning of one of the worst travel experiences I have suffered anywhere in the world. And this was just a forewarning of a few more unpleasant situations in our near future.

Unfortunately, I don't know if I can do this story justice . . .

After spending the night in the Moscow Airport during our layover between Murmansk and Mineral Waters, we finally arrived at our terminus on a beautiful sunny morning. We took three steps into the airport and a police officer pulled us over and demanded to see our passports.