I am a fighter. I am strong.
I have the courage and strength
to climb many mountains beyond.
All photos taken along the Annapurna Trek in Nepal. November 2010.
Category: Trekking/Hiking
My Top Five Wild Hikes
I just finished reading Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” a dark, raw and fiercely humorous book on how one woman finds herself during a three-month long trek through the wild Pacific Crest Trail. The book is powerful, emotional, honest and inspiring, and Strayed uses her brilliant memoir to take a hard look at self-discovery, heeling and change.
Of course when times are tough, we can’t always pick up our bags and leave town. Yet, I often find that there is no better way to escape and reflect upon life than to go on a hike, and the more remote and wild, the better. I have been fortunate to have done many wonderful adventurous hikes over the years. Although every hike I’ve done has been special and has brought me to a new place, there are a select few that have truly inspired me and are unforgettable.
Here is a list of the top five wild hikes that are bound to get your mind thinking.
A Sea of Ice: Iceland’s Myrdalsjökull Glacier
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Sir Winston Churchill
Perhaps one of my most memorable adventure travel experiences thus far has been my hike across a real live sea of ice. There is nothing quite like strapping on a pair of crampons and moving at a snail’s pace straight into unimaginable winds and icy cold rain across one of the world’s most beautiful and magical glaciers. Sure I’ve done plenty of amazing hikes around the world ranging to such far off places as Peru, Patagonia, The French Alps and Nepal. Yet nothing was quite like walking across a wide, moving sea of ice.
First steps onto the massive Myrdalsjökull Glacier. Unfortunately there was no way possible to show the enormity of it all. This is just the beginning.
In honor of my wanderlust Dad
Hiking the Annapurna Trek, Nepal. 2010.
You taught me to bike, to run, ski and hike
You taught me to dream and to seek the unseen
You taught me to care, to wonder and dare
You taught me to love, to fight but not shove
You taught me to inspire and fulfill my desires
But best of all, you taught me to be me and live life happily.
Here’s to you, Dad!
Hiking the Tour de Vanoise, France. 2012
Skiing in Taos New Mexico. 2012
I look back at the last ten years and all the places we’ve been together…Argentina, Australia, Peru, China, Iceland, France, Nepal, India, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. I am forever changed and grateful.
Happy Father’s Day Dad, with Love! Looking forward to our next big hike!
Related posts: Around the world and back with Dad
Inspiration
“It is impossible to live without failing at something – unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default”. – J.K. Rowling
This week has been a bit hairy so I thought I’d post some of my favorite photos of mountains I’ve hiked as they always calm my soul. Photos above from France, Nepal and Guatemala. This fall, I will be adding Bolivia to my list of great hikes.
Stay tuned…
“Race Me To The Pole” Expedition: One Man’s Journey to the North Pole for Charity
Sometimes you get one of those emails in your inbox that make you smile and burst with enthusiasm. Last week, I received just that kind of exciting email from a woman named Hannah who reads my blog, and asked if I would be interested in sharing her friend Gavin’s story. Without hesitation, I instantly agreed as Gavin’s adventure to the North Pole rates right up there with the kind of amazing travel and giving back philosophy that prompted me to start blogging in the first place.
I asked Hannah to put together a brief write-up and send me more details on Gavin’s trip which I edited below. I can already tell that this is going to be an amazing journey that I’m betting some of you will love to follow along. I know I will be!
The last hike
It has taken me awhile to complete my series of posts on hiking in Vanoise National Park, France. Although I’ve been busy writing about other stuff, sometimes it is hard to say goodbye to a lovely travel experience. I only have two posts left on this fantastic trip I took three months ago and only one post in particular in the mountains!
So here are views leaving the magnificent Alps and returning to civilization. When I look back overt all 800+ photos I took during this trip, I realize that my heart still remains in the mountains and I’ll be back….
Au revoir les Alps!
The Surroundings of a Patagonian Outpost
“I climbed a path and from the top looked up-stream towards Chile. I could see the river, glinting and sliding through the bone-white cliffs with strips of emerald cultivation either side. Away from the cliffs was the desert. There was no sound but the wind, whirring through thorns and whistling through dead grass, and no other sign of life but a hawk, and a black beetle easing over white stones.” – Bruce Chatwin, “In Patagonia”
Getting to the end of the world takes a very long time. After multiple flights starting due north in Minneapolis, I found myself arriving at literally the end of the world in El Calafate, Argentina. From 44.9 degrees north to 49.3 degrees south, it would take another three and a half hour bus ride to reach El Chalten, a tiny Patagonian outpost that marks the setting off point for Los Glaciares National Park.
Time to return to civilization
This post is a continuation of my series on hiking the Tour de Vanoise in France. This post follows the post “Our Last Night in the Alps at Refuge Peclet-Polset”. To read it, click here.
As I always like to say “All good things come to an end”. Today would be our last hike in Vanoise National Park in the French Alps. It had been a glorious hike with lots of spectacular views and over 800 sensational photos to prove it. Yet, I was really ready to get back to civilization and get a good night’s sleep!
Our last refuge. I should have known it was going to be trouble.
A Picnic Lunch in Paradise
Author’s note: This post is a continuation on my travel series hiking the Tour de la Vanoise. Somehow or another I had started this post and forgot to finish it! How dare it! This post should have occurred the afternoon before we arrived at our last refuge, Refuge Peclet-Polset, and should have been placed after my post titled “Into the Mystic”.
Have you ever been in a place that felt like it was out of a fairytale? A place that brought back memories of being a child lost inside some fictitious fantasy land? Well that is how I felt when I climbed over the low-lying hill and descended upon our picnic place for the afternoon.
As I walked over this hill….
This is what I saw….
Our last night in the Alps at Refuge Peclet-Polset
We reached our last refuge for the trip, the Refuge Peclet-Polset around mid-afternoon. It was another stellar day awash in brilliant sunlight and perfect temperatures. We had heard from our guide Mark that this refuge was relatively new and “modern” as the old one had burned down. By the looks of it, modern meant ugly. It was poorly designed and felt like a shoe box inside with paper-thin walls, no ambiance or quaintness like the other, older refuges and many people. As we entered the refuge to get our bed assignments I thought to myself “Here we go again. Another night of no sleep”.
So what did we do? Celebrate and have a good time!
Our group having an apres-hike beer at our refuge.
A steep descent to our final Alpine refuge
After reaching the highest point of our trek at Col de Chaviere and a stunning view of Mount Blanc nestled in the clouds, it was time to head down. Unfortunately it was a long, steep descent through a path of rocky glacier moraine. But at least there were plenty of beautiful views to keep me and my camera busy.
Amazingly enough, at the very top of the Col I found these beautiful wildflowers and could hardly believe that they grew in such a place. The top of the Col was surrounded in rock and normally quite windy. Yet life not only survived, it thrived.
