Just a reminder for residents of the U.S., National Trails Day is this Saturday, June 4th and everyone is encouraged to get out and hike, bike, run, paddle, or climb your favorite route. There will also be a number of trail maintenance events around the country, giving us all the opportunity to help build and restore trails in our own communities.
This is the 19th annual National Trails Day, which is sponsored by the American Hiking Society. The event is designed to help encourage Americans to live a more healthy lifestyle and appreciate their wild, green spaces as well.
This year, there are more than 2000 events scheduled to take place on NTD. To discover one close to where you live, click here, scroll down the page, and use the interactive map to see what is happening in your state. With that many official events going on, there is bound to be something that you can participate in.
Not that any of us need an excuse to get out on a trail!
The Adventure Blog
Hey Folks! Wanted to start the day off with a note that I’m back from Chile’s Atacama Desert and will be getting back to regular updates later today. I had a fantastic time there, and will be sharing plenty of stories and photos very soon. Suffice as to say, it is one of the most diverse, and beautiful, places I’ve ever visited, and quite the outdoor playground for adventure lovers. I know that Patagonia gets most of the love in terms of Chile’s wonderful places, but if you’re looking for another destination for your next escape, you could do a whole lot worse than the Atacama.
Climber in particular will love the region, as there are a ton of peaks that ring the desert, most of which are in excess of 5000 meters (16,404 ft). The area is encircled by volcanoes, some of which are still active, and there are multiple routes to challenge beginners and experienced mountaineers alike. Considering the desert floor is situated at about 2438 meters (8000 ft), if you like altitude, the Atacama will give you plenty of that.
It wasn’t just about the stunning snow capped mountains though. While there, I explored twisting, narrow canyons, carved out of the desert by eons of winds and water. I visited an active geyser basin and watched the sun come up, illuminating the valley in unbelievable ways, and then had my breath taken away again by the sun setting over the salt flats that cover a large part of the area. The light does amazing things in both of those places, especially when combined with the rich desert colors that have been enhanced by the volcanic activity that has shaped the Atacama over the centuries.
In short, the Atacama is an adventure travelers dream and a place that I highly recommend visiting. It is one of Chile’s best kept secrets, but offers striking beauty that is certainly on par with what you’ll find in Patagonia as well.
More to come on this topic in the days ahead, but the photo below gives you an idea of what the place is like. It is of the sunset over the salt flats. You can check out more of my photos in my Picasa gallery found here. I’ll be adding more photos to the gallery throughout the day, so hopefully you’ll get a nice glimpse of what I found on my travels there. Hope you enjoy!
The Adventure Blog
As promised, I drew the final two winners for my Ditch The Deet contest that I’ve been running over the past few weeks, and I’ll be sending prize packages out to Ian Stevens of Naperville, IL. and Steven Smith of Midland, TX ASAP. Congrats to both Ian and Steven. Hopefully the swag will come in handy for battling off the bugs in the summer months ahead.
Thanks to everyone for entering the contest over the past month, and as always, thanks for reading the blog. Keep checking in regularly, as I hope to have more gear giveaways in the days ahead. It is always fun to share cool prizes with my readers, and there are some more opportunities to do just that right around the corner.
The Adventure Blog
As predicted last week, the weather window on Everest this past weekend was a good one, an many climbers went up to the summit. There are some indications that as many as 100 people stood on top on Friday and a similar number may have gone up on Saturday as well. One of the first to top out on Saturday was Alan Arnette, whose expedition we’ve been following closely for the entire season.
As regular readers of this blog know, Alan has been climbing Everest as the third leg of his 7 Summits for Alzheimer’s campaign. Alan’s mom was afflicted with that horrible disease for eight years, and since her passing, he has dedicated his life to helping educate the public about it, while also raising funds for the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. Everest was the biggest hurdle to him reaching his goal, and the mountain had thwarted his efforts on three occasions in the past. So with all of that backstory and challenge, it was with a lot of emotion that he sent this audio dispatch from the summit a few days ago. He has also posted an excellent report of his climb that makes for a great read as well. You can find that report by clicking here.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Alan personally. I know exactly what this means to him and it is a gigantic step towards knocking off the Seven Summits and more importantly achieving his goals for spreading the word about Alzheimer’s as well. Listening to his dispatch from the summit brought a tear to my eyes on Friday night when I heard it, along with a swell of happiness for my friend. It has been a struggle, but on the fourth attempt, he finally stood on top of the world. Well done Alan!
On the North Side of the mountain, the climbers finally got the break they were looking for as well, and many took advantage of it by going up over the weekend too. Alan reported that there were three climbers from the North on the summit when he arrived, and they were apparently part of the 7 Summits Club team, who were amongst the first to top out. Expect a regular string of summits on the Tibetan side of the mountain this week, as it appears that many of the teams are in place to make bids on Thursday or Friday. Amongst them are Ueli Steck and Don Bowie, who are in Advanced Base Camp and are weighing their options on when to make their move.
Back on the South Side, it appears that Edurne Pasban and her team have backed off their summit bid, at least for now. She was hoping to make the summit without the use of oxygen, but the team abandoned their attempt in Camp 4 when two of the Sherpas developed respiratory issues and the winds picked up again on Saturday. They hope to have another go of it later this week.
I’m sure we’ll have more news from the mountain all week as reports come in about the climbs. The window is now coming to rapid close, as June is looming. I expect Base Camp on both sides of the mountain to be empty in another week and a half. But for now, there is still plenty of excitement in the Himalaya.
The Adventure Blog
As I mentioned in my earlier post, it was another busy weekend on the world’s tallest mountain. By some accounts, there could have been upwards in the neighborhood of 200 summits, although we’ll have to wait for the dust to settle before we know for sure. One summit, and more importantly, one descent, is worth nothing however, as Babu Sunuwar and Lakpa Tshering Sherpa flew a tandem paraglider off the top of the mountain, and had what must have been one amazing ride.
Many mountaineers will tell you that while the climb to the summit is a grueling slog, the descent can be just as challenging. On the way down you’re exhausted from so many hours at altitude, and the adrenaline rush has long since worn off. But Babu and Lakpa avoided all of that by launching their paraglider from the summit, and gliding back down the Khumbu Valley in style.
The pair didn’t descend back to Everest Base Camp however. Instead, they kept on flying, covering more than 20km (12.4 miles) in total, before landing in Namche Bazaar. That means they not only eliminated the tough descent back to EBC, they also took away a couple of days on the trail trekking back down the valley as well. I’m sure there are plenty of other exhausted climbers who would love to have been able to take this express flight as well.
I’m hoping that one of the two men on the glider remembered to bring a helmet cam for what has to be some amazing footage of their descent. Gliding above the highest mountains in the world, then slowly making a descent over the course of 20km, must have been amazing. Having made the trek just from Base Camp back to Namche myself, and covering that ground in two days, I can appreciate this method of travel. While their friends are still packing up and preparing to head down the Khumbu, Babu and Lakpa are kicking it in a Namche teahouse, enjoying good food, and shooting pool in the local billiards parlor. (I don’t even want to think about how they got those pool tables up there!)
This is a very cool story, and hopefully we’ll at least get some more photos in the days ahead.
The Adventure Blog
