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