"This is the best part of the trip,...this is the trip...the best part, I really like"

273) Valley of Fire II (the moons)

2011-12-30T11:26:00.003+09:00

There have been some really great photo opportunities of the moon lately. Above is the crescent moon in the western sky just after sunset. Directly below is of the full moon in the eastern sky just before sunset, and the third shot is of the lunar eclipse in the eastern sky at sunrise.

There is a really great mountain right out my backdoor that I love to photograph. Above is during a full moon that lit up the mountain beautifully. I have an angle looking west towards it, so it often gets interesting colors during sunset on cloudy days.

I woke up early on a day off to find low hovering clouds that seemed more suited for the pacific northwest. A very interesting thing to see out here in the desert.

I have been seeing a lot of big horn sheep lately, but haven't been able to get too many photos. Some things are nice to just sit back and enjoy.

272) Valley of Fire

2011-12-07T11:19:00.001+09:00

Here is a collection of photos of Valley of Fire from the past month and half or so.

271) Mojave National Preserve

2011-11-23T06:51:00.001+09:00

I got off work early and decided to take off to Mojave National Preserve as quick as I could. I was lucky enough to arrive on a night that produced some good winds and rain. When I got up before sunrise I could see that it was still cloudy and damp- I was hoping this would be ideal for dynamic lighting for photos, and it was.

I started off early towards Kelso Dunes. Never having been there before and still dark, I could only make out silhouettes and outlines of major formations. I assumed I was looking at the outline of a large distant mountain line, but it was in fact the dunes. The trek up the largest dune gets steep... not quite vertical, steep. Progress going up is marked in inches, but going down lets you take strides 20 feet in length.

The beauty of the winds and rain from the night before is that they washed away any marking of people having been there before. I was the only one on the dunes the entire time I was there that morning, and only saw two other people pulling up as I was driving out. In the shot above if you look closely, you can see trail I made going up and back down the tallest dune. You may be able to tell how steep it is.

The Preserve features a fantastic Joshua Tree forest. I really love these forests, they are unlike anything else I have seen, and they only naturally occur in the Mojave Desert. There is something about their spacing, the fact that hardly nothing else their size grows with them and just how interesting they look that captivates me. You still know you are on Earth, but it seems more like the earth through Dr. Seuss' eyes.

This last shot was the most costly of the day for me. While trying to find a better angle I accidental squatted down on a large Prickly Pear cactus. The big thorns, although painful, are not the real problem when this happens. It is the hundreds of smaller thorns, almost hair like, that are the worst. The thorns detach when they are adequately stuck in something, and then it is up to whatever they are stuck in to remove them. I could pluck the big thorns out of my butt right through my pants, but it was the smaller ones that proved to be very difficult to get out. I don't think there was anybody else up there, but if there was they must have been in for a great comedy show- me, pants down, trying to pluck thorns out of my ass in a awkward and contorted position.

270) Just Another Day in Zion

2011-11-10T14:20:00.000+09:00

Hoping that some fall colors would still be in the lower elevations of Zion, I went back. Once again I was not disappointed- chilly weather, not many hikers on the trail and beautiful colors.

I took the trail that leads to the Zion Subway, which was a cool day hike up a beautiful canyon. The trail follows the Left Fork of North Creek, and just before entering the Subway there is a point where nearly the entire river flows through a deep crack not much wider than a leaf (pictured above).

These aren't the best photos to illustrate why it is called the subway, but maybe you get the idea. This area of the canyon really looks like it was made for a train- it's pretty amazing the way different types of stone in different circumstances erode and what they form. This is a post from a few years back to Antelope Canyon not too far away in Page, AZ.

269) Death Valley

2011-11-02T10:09:00.000+09:00

I have been interested in visiting Death Valley for quite some time. The appeal to most, I imagine, is just how stark and desolate it is. In a place like this the earth is raw and at some of its most inhospitable, and there are fantastic extremes. The photo above is taken at -282 feet while the peak in the background is at 11,049 feet.

The hazy area on the horizon is from blowing sand suspended in the air.

The highest campground in the park is around 8,000 feet, and I had a pretty good feeling it would be cold up there in late October. So I loaded up with three blankets, two sleeping bags and cold weather jackets (since I was car camping). I ended up using all of it slept like a baby under a clear sky. Around midnight a fierce wind picked up, which was a little problematic because I prefer to sleep with either no tent or just the bug fly- this way I can fall asleep watching the stars. The downside is when the winds come, you feel them. I decided to get up at 4am to ensure I would enjoy a sunrise and get some photos (I knew it would take a while to get down the rough road). It is always really horrible crawling out of a toasty sleeping bag and into freezing temperatures (it had started snowing a little bit). By the time I got down to Badwater (where the above photos are taken) it was shorts and t-shirt weather again, even before the sun came up.

268) The Road West

2011-10-28T12:37:00.000+09:00

Two of the highlights of my drive from Florida to Nevada were Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. The two parks are very close to each other, although they are in different states. Carlsbad is in New Mexico and Guadalupe is in Texas, and offers the highest elevation in the state. Although the parks are close to each other they are completely different.

Caves are one of those very few places that technology has helped us (me, anyway) appreciated a pristine wilderness better. If not for the artificial lighting there is just no way to be able to grasp the beauty and enormity of the inner depths of this cave system. That being said, it would have been really nice if they had commissioned someone like Ansel Adams to set up the lighting in the cave. It is very frustrating to photograph. For more thoughts and photos of mine from caves, check out this post from Laos. I took one of my favorite images there- it is a self portrait in the grand opening of a cave that features a giant golden Buddha.

What I found really interesting about these two parks is they are (in a very real sense) night and day difference from each other, yet so close and part of the same geologic forces. The ancient reef that was thrust upwards to create the Guadalupe mountains is also what allowed the caves to form. The caves work in complete silence and unthinkably long periods of time to build new stone and formations that sit alone in absolute darkness, completely unappreciated (until we came along and lit them up) and unlike anything most of us have imagined. While the Guadalupe mountains thrust upward in full view over the Chihuahuan Desert, full of life and beckoning to be noticed and appreciated, with a very long history of human use.

I hiked up a few miles to a wonderful campsite with a grand view. I was the only person in the backcountry of the park that night, and it was unreal. The full moon began to rise in the east just after the sun set. And then the moon began to set in the west just as the sun was rising. It was a fantastic site to see (twice).

267) Zion

2011-10-24T10:35:00.006+09:00

I woke up out of the blue at 4am on my birthday. That was the sign I needed. Off to Zion.

I arrived at the park early. There was frost on the ground and it was chilly, but perfect for a good hike. The colors were so fantastic I felt like I was walking through a painting at times. Yellows, reds, greens and sage mixed with light bouncing off the canyon walls, it couldn't have been more perfect.

I really try not to take my sense of smell for granted. A good whiff of a particular scent can take me right back to an experience in my past. The smell of rancid urine, for example, takes me right back the streets of New Dehli where the piss flowed through the gutters like a golden river. Fortunately I was in store for a much more pleasant experience in Zion. The smells of sage, decomposing leaves, a desert river (maybe something like sweet willow) and alpine pine sap in the hot sun all mixed together to create something fantastic. In certain areas they would all hit at the same time, I can only assume that is what heaven smells like.

I turned a corner and stopped in my tracks when I saw a bright red maple leaf on the ground. I had been waiting to see some maples in full color. One thing I really missed while being in Florida was the beautiful foliage in fall.

This is my self portrait- me turning 28.

266) The Grand Canyon

2011-10-16T12:05:00.007+09:00

Dad and I had about the best weather anyone could ask for in the Grand Canyon. It was warm but not hot, there were plenty of clouds in the sky and most impressively on multiple occasions the sky broke open and let out some beautiful and frightening desert rains. We were fortunate enough to have just finished hikes or just gotten into the car or hotel every time storms came through. There is nothing like being in a mile deep canyon when lighting strikes close- it could wake someone out of a coma.

Above is a long exposure shot of the canyon being lit by a full moon. Below is a shot a few minutes after sunset with some storms in the area.

Switchbacks are the name of the game on trails in the Grand Canyon.

We were lucky enough to have gotten a cabin at Phantom Ranch with virtually no notice. We awoke to find the crystal clear Bright Angel Creek red as blood because of storms during the night.

265) Hikers of the Grand Canyon

2011-09-13T13:33:00.002+09:00

The Grand Canyon has the most diverse group of hikers in the world. If not the most diverse then certainly one of the most. There is every type of hiker imaginable there. While on the trail I couldn’t help but be drawn in by all these different types of people, and that is saying a lot considering how stunning the scenery is every step of the way.

Lets start with my dad, because he is pictured above. He is in the category of “getting older but still able to do a strenuous two-day hike with no prior preparation” (this lack of preparation was due to how extremely last minute this trip was). He didn’t walk away from it unaffected though, in fact he would be in the category of hiker that is very entertaining to watch try to stand up out of a chair, walk down a set of stairs or do anything else that makes them use the muscles that they just made horrendously sore. And for good reason, 7 or 10 miles of straight down hill or up hill has its affects.

Another entertaining one to watch is the comically unprepared. One guy on our bus had on a pair of jeans, work boots and sweat shirt. As for supplies he carried a 12 once bottle of water and small bag of nuts. I saw another guy walking up the trail (and doing well) wearing jeans and a fleece jacket, and he carried two shoulder bags, and he was sweating profusely. Logic would have had the jacket off of most people, especially considering the 80 degree heat and strenuous hiking.

There is of course the “fashion hiker”, and this one comes in both male and female models. I saw one guy wearing skin-tight jeans, a nice vest, a fedora and a pair of leather dress shoes. I saw more than one girl wearing what I imagine they thought was a cute outfit (one piece dress) with matching shoes or sandals, and make up and hair done nice. I would have loved to see them at the end of what I would imagine was a short hike.

There were plenty of “speed hikers” that for one reason or another race through the trail as fast as they can. Some of them were clearly training for something, others were part of some kind of race and others were doing it to try to impress others on the trail.

A related category is the “cocky young twenty-something hiker”. I overheard some of these hikers bragging that they were not going to take the advice of the ranger who told them not to try to go down and back in one day. They were very hyper and loud the first time we saw them, but were much different the second. When we saw them at the bottom they were just heading back to make the hike out, and they looked horrible and avoided eye contact. Their former hyper fast pace turned into a painful looking stagger.

One of the worst to be anywhere around is the “loud hiker”. These folks take full advantage of being able to use their outside voices. To make it worse their conversation is usually very unappealing. Most of it consists of them giving others their “hiking resume” and trying to convince others they know more or did more. They will strain to work in some ridiculous fact about themselves that has no relevance to anything.

There is the “humble hiker” that is clearly injured but will not use it is an excuse for going slow. They will tell you they are just very slow hikers with no shame or explanation, and then you can watch them limp away with a knee or ankle injury but still wearing a smile on their face.

There is also the “perfect hiker”. This hiker has no set pace category, but is always smiling or looking amazed, has wonderful trail etiquette (in passing or pulling off the trail) and is a pleasure to talk to you. You know they love life and have nothing at all to complain about.

And of course there must be the “horrible hiker”. There are a variety of things that can make a hiker horrible. One of them is littering, I have no idea how someone could be in a place like that and leave trash on the ground. That will always baffle me. Another is the guy that is in serous need of recognition. We had one guy who made sure to stop close to us to loudly point out to his hiking partner where they started from. When that didn’t trigger a response from us he said a little bit louder that they started from there today (as if his partner didn’t know that). Still not getting any response he repeated it. Finally disappointed he hiked on. We saw him again further up the trail making similar conversation right next to other hikers. And then the grand finale came from this guy. He passed a sign that said “no dogs” and exclaimed that he was dogging it. He said that loud enough for me to hear down the trail a little way, and did it as he was passing, in good stride, a group of people who were clearly struggling. When this guy met his friends waiting for him at the top he made sure to let them know he could have done it faster if it had not been for one thing or another.

There are many other types of hikers, such as the Korean tour bus group or the European backpacker, but I think I have covered the most entertaining.

264) More Lightning

2011-07-26T12:43:00.005+09:00

There was a fantastic lightning storm over the Marquesas this evening. I was working at the pie shop when I noticed the entire sky was lighting up from the not too distant storm. So when I finished work, I rushed over to the park with my tripod and camera, hoping to capture something. The strange orange glow in the first picture is due to the many orange lights on the navy mole pier and long exposure.

Unfortunately none of these shots will be able to be blown up very large at all. The age of my camera really shows when it comes to the ISO and taking long exposure shots. I had to apply a noise reduction and smoothing filter just to manage the grain for these small sizes (and it still doesn't look good).

263) Moonrise

2011-07-17T11:41:00.006+09:00

Last night after work I was caught by surprise when I saw the moon rising over the eastern horizon. It almost looked like the sunrise, being so large and orange. I decided that I would try to capture it on camera the next evening. So I brought my camera to work today, and waited around for the moonrise.

My first orchid of the season is blooming. This is the same one pictured on here from around a year ago- a gift from my neighbor when I first moved down here (I started working at the fort a year ago on the 14th of July).

262) Scorpions and Things

2011-06-22T08:48:00.002+09:00

Several months ago my younger brother Ryan came down to visit. For the first few days he slept on a mattress on the floor. That changed after a large scorpion went right by his face. The other night I got up for a midnight pee and found the second scorpion I have seen down here. Actually, I have seen a number of Tailless Whip Scorpions in the bowels of the fort, and although they make my skin crawl, it's just not the same as seeing those little tanks with claws and tail always ready to strike.

261) A Trip To Oregon (and WA)

2011-05-31T00:10:00.010+09:00

The other week I got almost as far away from Key West (now home) as I could get (in the contiguous US). I have a number of friends, some of which I haven't seen in way too many years, living in WA and OR.

This first group of photos is from the Japanese Gardens in Portland. I have never seen such a beautifully manicured garden anywhere.

One evening after Gabe finished work we drove out to the coast to a state park called Ecola. I almost forgot how beautiful the coastal northwest is. It was a very refreshing and stark contrast to what I have grown accustom to here in FL.

I was also fortunate enough to take a trip up to Olympic National Forest and visit the place that used to consistently come to me in dreams. I worked two summers in Olympic while in college, and hadn't been back for something like 7 years. It was almost eerie to just find myself there again, a place I had dreamed about and spent days walking through years ago. I was also happy to find I could still recall the names of almost all the plants there.

I spent a couple nights in Olympia on Eric's boat and we went up to Seattle to meet up with Paul and Ian. When I got back to Portland, Gabe had the idea to head east towards Painted HIlls National Monument. We camped in Ochoco National Forest, and then took the Columbia River Gorge back. Both the drives out and back were stunning. It was so nice to see the changes in landscape after about a year and half in Florida, mostly far south Florida.

260) Sunset Photos

2011-05-01T22:24:00.006+09:00

These are some recent photos from the park at sunset. As summer is approaching the clouds get more interesting, so maybe we will be seeing some more posts on here...

259) Riding Out the Storm

2010-09-05T23:14:00.003+09:00

Once before I found myself riding out a severe storm in my tent. That was on my first solo backpacking trip in Utah's Canyonlands National Park. Once the first freight train of wind almost breaks the poles on the tent, you know you are in trouble and it is just about too late to do anything about it.

Last night I camped on the beach. It was beautiful when I set up and went to bed, but I prepared the stakes for my rain fly just in case it did rain. I did not, however, go through the process of securing my tent in the case of severe weather. I knew there were storms well to the south of me, which I figured were moving west. What I didn't know was that there were storms brewing to the east of me, moving strait towards me.

Around 1am I thought I felt a few light drops of rain so I put on the rain fly, sacrificing the perfect breeze I had. I quickly fell back to sleep, and it barely sprinkled. At about 3am a gust of rain came through tested the strength of my tent poles. By the time that initial blast ended the rain and lightening were in full strength right above me. There is almost no time to make a decision to stay or bail out after that wind has hit. I probably could have just bolted to my car, but my tent and sleeping pad would have almost surely been somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico a few minutes later.

So I decided to ride it out in the tent, hoping the stakes on the rain fly held (just by chance the angle of the wind to the tent were ideal. The point when I began to second guess that decision was when a flash of lightning was proceeded so closely by thunder they were indistinguishable, and I felt a concussion (if that is even possible). After that happened once more about 15 or 20 minutes later I knew I was going to have to get out of there as soon as the next "lull" came. I put that in quotations because I just mean there was no lightening directly over me- I could hear it just to the west and east, which to me meant I had a small window of opportunity to take down my tent and not get struck while holding the aluminum poles. It turned out I was right, and by the time I started running to my car the lightening was back on me.

I rode it out for an hour, and by that time a lot of the roads in Key West were completely flooded. When I got home I checked out the radar and saw a lot of red.

258) A Good Night For Photos

2010-08-04T02:25:00.004+09:00

Last night had a great sunset followed by a lightning storm a few miles off.

257) After a Long Pause

2010-08-03T04:13:00.005+09:00

It has been a pretty long pause since I have posted anything. I try to keep this page photo driven, and I guess I just wasn't taking too many photos. The lack of home internet has certainly played a role in lapse, as well.

But since the last post there have been plenty of things going on. I moved to Key West and started a new job as an official park ranger for the Florida Park Service. So far so good. Key west is a pretty good place to find yourself living and working. Although I live a few miles out of Key West proper, I will still call it Key West.

The first three pictures are from around my area, I do a lot of kayaking to try to find interesting areas otherwise not accessible. The photo below is of an orchid my neighbor gave me, it just so happens she is an orchid breeder/gardener.

I have probably the best case living scenario- I share a house with three other guys. I have my own deck that is right over the water, and there are large decks that go all the way to the roof level, everything faces west, so every evening is a great view of the sunset over the water.

Above is my bedroom, and below are a few from the the decks. It is pretty nice to have the view out of my bedroom window look like a painting.

256) The Past Month (or so)

2010-05-27T00:03:00.006+09:00

This is a mix of photos from the past month or so. The first ones are from a trip to the keys with my parents, and the second group is from Bradenton on the west coast with my friend Susan. The keys photos end with the butterfly and the Bradenton photos begin with the sunset.

255) From the Everglades

2010-04-07T22:56:00.004+09:00

It was between the Keys and the Glades- circumstances (spring break) drove us to the Everglades, which turned out to be fantastic. We later found out one of the bridges in the keys was blocked off in both directions delaying traffic for hours, this just confirmed our decision not to have gone down.

The picture just above is of a hiking trail through Big Cypress.

With the most perfect weather I have ever felt my friend Susan and I went kayaking on a beautiful canoe trail that I have done once before. It leads through mangrove tunnels and out into the classic everglades type ecosystem. On our way back we were confronted by a huge gator (12 feet long?) that swam to within a few feet of us then just watched us go by. It was the kind of thing you hope for before you are out there, then when it actually happens you are about to crap your kayak.

254) Music in Miami

2010-03-29T07:19:00.004+09:00

The Winter Music Conference just rolled through Miami. It is basically a huge electronic music event that took over South Beach for a week. Some of the best DJ's in the world were here, and too many parties to choose from.

I was fortunate enough to get a press pass to a pool party that featured number ten ranked DJ Sander Van Doorn as a surprise guest.

The whole concept of the conference and everything was really cool. It was also nice to be able to get the free passes and meet some big names in the music scene and experience things like that. But overall I think I am starting to get away from this kind of scene- just not what it used to be to me.

Having said that, I was still happy to get down and take some pictures. This was one of the things I have been looking forward to doing since I got to Miami, and even before.

253) Everglades

2010-03-10T08:33:00.006+09:00

I haven't had a lot of time off lately, or been taking many pictures. This is a conglomerate of shots from the past month or so, mostly from the Everglades area, that is to say south Florida.

There are a lot of great places to enjoy natural south Florida away from the cities and chaos. I have been getting into Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve Fakahatchee Strand State Park and the Corkscrew Sanctuary (a place I visited as a child with my family). Fakahatchee, Big Cypress and Everglades N.P. are huge and have limitless exploration possibilities, and Corkscrew is probably the best and most pristine chunk of old growth cypress habitat you can find.

Since these trips have taken place over the last month, I will just lay out some of the highlights and not really get into any big stories or details about the trips.

After the first trip to the Everglades I quickly made the decision I will not go back without a kayak or canoe. A lot of the hiking trails were flooded or really muddy, and they have a huge serious of canoe trails. So on the most recent trip I brought a kayak, and found a fantastic canoe trail. Hardly anyone was on it, and it is much more of a thrill to see gators from a kayak at water level than from on land. Probably the best part about it was the mangrove tunnel the trail goes through. It was pretty literally a tunnel formed by red mangrove, barely passible at points because it was so tight, but beautiful.

At the southern most tip of the national park is a camp ground that overlooks the many islands that lead down to the keys. I imagine on a normal day its' nearly one-hundred sites would be full, but my friend and I happened on it during one of the many unseasonably cold days and had the place nearly to ourselves. There is nothing like watching the sun rise over the ocean from your tent.

One of my favorite things about the everglades area is the sounds. There are many places you get yourself where you are completely disconnected from the outside world- and the sounds of the swamps, marshes and forests take me further away in my mind. There is chorus upon chorus of insects and birds. Corkscrew featured the haunting sounds of owls. On a few of the trails I never saw another person, which is an added bonus when you want to just escape. It is a nice change of pace that I need from time to time.

A separate little sad note from my park is about a manatee. This cold spell we have been having this winter is more than just the Florida people being wimps... it has taken it's tole on the wildlife that is not adapted to handle it. There was a dead manatee spotted in one of the water ways of my park about two weeks ago. I got in a kayak, looped a rope around its' tail and started towing it out (which was not at all easy, the thing was pretty big). Then we brought in a boat with a motor and towed it to our launch where a biologist came in with a trailer and a body bag. It was interesting to see it so up close, but sad to hear that they have already seen nearly the same amount of dead manatees in 2010 as they have in all of 2009. The only good thing about the cold is it is also and probably on a larger scale killing non-native animal species that have been an on going problem especially in the everglades.

252) Wekiwa Springs State Park

2010-01-31T02:40:00.005+09:00

This past week I spent in Wekiwa Springs S.P. up in central Florida for training. The entire experience was really nice, it's always nice to have a little change of pace every once and a while.

This park was different from mine in many respects, which was nice to be in for a week. There was a lot of spanish moss and oak trees that gave it a very different feel. Being much larger also gave it a nice feel- not being able to see any buildings was a nice change of pace.

Every day except for the last I got up early and headed down to the lake right near our cabins to take pictures and enjoy the morning alone. Every day I did I was treated with a beautiful fog hanging over the lake, and lots of birds. Despite my efforts I was unable to capture any real nice pictures of birds, but I am not really disappointed, There are some things that are better enjoyed by just watching and not trying to capture anything.

251) A Few From Florida

2010-01-16T06:30:00.003+09:00

I officially started working on the 4th, so I just finished my second week. Unfortunately being busy and bad weather has inhibited me from shooting much lately, but the last few days I have picked up my camera again and started taking some shots.

I had one very unique and great experience due to the unusually cold weather. Because many of the Florida animals cannot handle cold weather, a lot died just recently. Some of the endangered and priority animals received special attention in the form of being re-located to warmer regions of the state. So on Wednesday of this week myself and a few other people from my park drove up to a coastal park to release some sea turtles that were trucked down from the north. The first one out was a giant 300+ pound Loggerhead. A unique experience to say the least.

These last two pictures are from my park.

250) Favorite Photos of 2009

2010-01-08T06:20:00.021+09:00

Unlike my last "favorites of" blog for 2008, this one will just have my favorite shots of the year, not necessarily one per month. Under each photo is a little bit about why I like it and where it was taken.

2009 was an interesting year for me, to say the least. It has taken me to five different countries and a full range of different living conditions. I've gone from the extremes of five star hotels, cuban cigars and Rolls Royce's to secluded mountain homes to weeks at a time in tents and the wilderness to being lost in the jungle over night to some of the worst hotels I have ever seen to opposites sides of a continent to working 16 hour days to being unemployed to seeing many extremes. I've been in cities that have electricity for only three hours a day and I've also been in some of the most modern cities in the world. This year has had a full range of things to offer- but mostly it was all good things- an amazing ride through what life has to offer- it was to me what experience is all about.

These shots are in a rough chronological order, starting first with film from south east Asia and ending with the most recent shot taken from Joshua Tree, California.

Two business men walking in a temple in downtown Hanoi, after lunch.

Parents bathing their baby, street front in rural Laos.

Taken from a boat in rural Vietnam.

Young woman over-looking a large valley in rural Laos.

Woman walking through a doorway in a temple in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Crossing a shallow river in Laos.

Dog poking his head out of the fence in Laos.

THAILAND

Boy and a dog at the coast before dawn.

Girl running across a bridge in some of the most interesting light I had seen all year.

A man riding his moto with his dog in the front.

LAOS

One of the most stunning landscapes I saw all year.

Boats in the river, northern Laos.

The caves of Laos were fantastic to explore.

The interesting thing about these caves is there were no guidelines or restrictions- just enter and do what you please.

Fishing boat on the Mekong River at dusk.

VIETNAM

Man bringing in his bike at night.

Rural river with the most beautiful karst landscape I have ever seen.

A boy at the docks of the river boats.

Karst near the sea and a floating fishing village.

A woman rowing her boat on a foggy afternoon.

A woman riding her bike in Hanoi near a partially destroyed wall.

WISCONSIN

A lake a dawn with mist hanging just on the surface.

COLORADO

Sunrise in the Great Sand Dunes.

Spring waters over flow the rivers in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Climber rappelling in Buena Vista.

Rafting down the Arkansas River.

Will enjoying the views in the northern part of RMNP.

Sunrise in the front range of the Rockies.

A lucky catch of Noah jumping off a ledge at dusk.

The sunrise reflection on mountains and snow high in the rockies.

Sillhouettes of trees at sunset.

NEW MEXICO

The ancient Pueblo Bonitos many doorways in Chaco Canyon.

Fajada Butte at sunset in Chaco Canyon.

CALIFORNIA

Bouldering in Joshua Tree NP in the late afternoon with sillhouettes of Joshua Trees in the background.

249) Joshua Tree II

2009-12-24T13:12:00.004+09:00

After work was finished at the camp Mei, Diana, Tony and I headed back to Joshua Tree for four more days before my flight back to Denver. The weather was a little rough, but overall it was another great trip to the Josh.

It seems like the night sky is always wonderful while in the desert- the nights we were there were certainly no exception. In fact the sky exceeded normal conditions, as it happens we were there during a meteor shower. Certainly a highlight of the trip, all the nights we were there we saw lots of shooting stars, some really spectacular. Every once and a while you would hear a few people gasp as there eyes caught an exceptional streak across the sky.

The only down side to this trip was the weather. Sometime during the middle of the nights the weather turned on us. High winds, rain or sleet and freezing temperatures. So I was forced to sleep in the tent those nights. Normally I love falling asleep trying to keep my eyes open looking at the stars, but these nights I would have been forced to face the extremes and run back to the tent anyways, so I decided to start there.

Overall it was a great way to end my first trip to California. Tony and Mei certainly helped create some great memories for me- I am sure I will not be able to think of Joshua Tree without also thinking of them.

248) Cali

2009-12-20T12:09:00.004+09:00

I have been wanting to go to California for many years, but the way things go it didn't happen until just recently. The basis of my going there was for a job with the YMCA of Metro L.A. I was part of an outdoor science school at a camp near Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino's.

My brief two weeks in California did not leave me disappointed, and as of now keeps me trying to figure out how to move back long term. I say that now, but perhaps the job in Miami I have starting at the beginning of the new year will change my mind. But what I love about California is the diversity. The population is extremely diverse, not only in ethnicity, but also culture and interest niches. Equally as impressive to me is the diversity of the land. In one day you could be laying in the sun at the beach, hiking on a snowy mountain top, rock climbing in the desert, or walking through temperate rain forest. The landscape is epic. Now I understand why so many great photographers love Cali.

Unfortunately I did not take many pictures from around camp- I was literally working from when I got up to when I went to sleep a lot of the time I was at camp. Almost the entire first week I took all my meals standing or walking around, not having the time to sit. Getting a program on it's feet is not an easy task, but it is also extremely rewarding to be part of.

The whole experience was kind of a non-stop blur. We condensed a weeks worth of training into two days, worked a week, partied in LA, climbed in Joshua Tree, went back for the second week of work, went back to Joshua Tree to climb, party and hang out. Then before I knew it I am back WI.

One of the best things about the camp experience were the people that were pulled together for the two week gig. It's hard to imagine what kind of people might be willing and able to work for just two weeks like that- but the crew of people there were amazing for the most part. Ages ranging from 20 to 50, with all different backgrounds, experiences and stories. It was pretty cool to see that all play out.

247) Joshua Tree

2009-12-16T10:15:00.008+09:00

I spent the past two weeks in California working at a YMCA camp- but that is for another post. This post is about the first weekend we spent in Joshua Tree National Park.

Joshua Tree is a climbing mecca for L.A. residents. Our first weekend off Tony, Mei and I went down to L.A. first for a party, and then spent the rest of the weekend in Joshua Tree. It is a desert park filled with very interesting granite formations and of course the Joshua Trees, which are not actually trees but in the Yucca family.

The trees seem to get more interesting and bizzar every time you see them. It is a weird landscape that will be flat for huge expanses with only these Joshua Trees filling the void, appearing to be equally spaced. Enlarge the photos above and below to see the climbers.

It is even more weird to drive through the park at night when your headlights are the only source of light- somehow the plants just seem to pop out of nowhere and you feel like you are driving on another planet.

Be sure to take a closer look at some of these photos in order to see the people subjects in them- some are small and hard to see from the regular view (in order to enlarge just click on the photo).

246) National Geographic Video

2009-11-19T05:43:00.003+09:00

I just came upon this video, and thought it was great. You may have to sit through a commercial in the beginning, but push through it- the video is rad.

Another quick note, notice in the opening shots he is wearing Outdoor Research gear- easily some of the best outerwear you can buy.

245) Here and There

2009-11-09T11:52:00.003+09:00

These first two shots I took this morning. Nick and I were planning a hike for today, but he cancelled unexpectedly early this morning. Having already left the house when I got word of this, I decided to take a walk around an area I have been interested in since I got here. I was heading back to my car just as the sun broke over the mountains and saw this tree from within its shadow, the light making it glow (above picture).

These next two are from the Chicago Lakes area, the first from along that trail. The second is Echo Lake, which is right on the road and acts as an access point the the trail and as a picnic area.

This last shot is from off the porch during the first snow storm of this season.

244) Two Weeks in Apache Kid (the second hitch)

2009-10-26T04:10:00.006+09:00

The Apache Kid Wilderness is in Cibola National Forest, located on the western side of New Mexico about halfway down the state. The reason we were there was because a few years ago wildfire raged through the area leaving a lot of standing dead. After a while those dead trees started to fall, completely covering the trail, rendering it nearly if not totally inaccessible to hikers. So our job was to clear the Apache Kid trail- the namesake of the wilderness.

We were to join up with another crew that had been there for weeks. There wasn't a lot of work needing to be done to finish the project, and it went fast with two crews. It was basically all cutting and chopping and moving trees. Because the work that was in need of finishing was way up the trail, we had to go back country, meaning we set up a base camp a few miles into the wilderness and worked from there. Nearly all of my crew, including myself, really enjoyed being back country. It is a very different and interesting way to live- the only break from the elements is what you get in your tent.

My crew seemed to be a bit less prepared than the other crew. I noticed a lot of the other crew brought up wet-wipes and cleaned themselves that way. I was assuming we could wash in a river, which turned out not to be possible. But no matter what you bring, about two weeks in the back country will make you look like a mess.

The great thing for our crew was that we stumbled into that area at a perfect time. All of the aspens and oak trees were in peak color, making for some beautiful hiking. After the forest burned a few years ago, the first trees to come back were aspens, by now a few years old. They were low enough to allow for some nice views, but old enough to bring great colors.

243) Days Off

2009-10-15T06:49:00.007+09:00

In between each hitch there are a few days off. I tried to go out and catch some of the fall colors I saw in near perfection the day I was driving in (about two weeks previous to these pictures being taken).

On the way in I went by the Uncompahgre National Forest and decided I must go back there. For the most part I think I missed the bulk of the fall colors, and heard everyone may have- due to an unusually wet summer and fall.

Overall it was beautiful, but just not as photogenic as it could have been, or supposedly has been in the past.

242) Two Weeks in Chaco Canyon (the first hitch)

2009-10-03T00:59:00.010+09:00

My first hitch with SCC was two weeks in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Our main objective was to tear out an old trail, and lay a new one in Pueblo Del Arroyo (an ancient great house built around 1075).

The hitch started off pretty exciting. The first night there I went to check out some ruins and heard elk bugling in the distance. A few minutes later a huge and nasty looking storm blew in (refer to pictures). By the time it got to us it had lost most if its power and was basically strong winds blowing a lot of sand. It only lasted a few minutes and then was gone.

The second day in Chaco brought on a challenging and unique experience. A hiker had let her dog off its leash, and it chased a lizard over the edge of a cliff some 30-40 feet high. The hiker apparently checked on the dog, heard it yelp a few times and then go silent. I am pretty sure that is when they lost hope, but they informed the chief ranger (our project sponsor) about it. That actually happened the first day I was there, and he couldn’t go try to get the dog because of the storm that was blowing in. So he had to wait for the next morning. Sometime that next afternoon (my second day) we got a radio call asking for some help from my crew. So two other guys and I went to meet with some other rangers to head out to the dog. It was in a very difficult place to reach, so we had to take some back roads, and when they stopped hike in with the gear. After dropping down canyons and back up, we finally found the head ranger (Don) and the dog. The dog was still alive, and very thirsty, but with no visible injuries (just a little bit of blood), but not looking too great. So eventually we strapped it to a backpack, and then strapped the backpack and dog to a body board and started carrying it out. It was defenately a hard process, and we had to take it down one really tough cliff area, but we succeeded. They later took the dog to the vet, and informed the owners about the whole situation. So they came to the vet, heard about the bill, and said they could not afford that. So one of the vets promptly said he would pay for the surgery if he could keep the dog. The only problems the dog had after falling somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 feet on to bare rock was a sprained paw, cracked pelvis and some bruises.

By my great luck, the third day in Chaco was the Fall Equinox. For those of you who know nothing about Chaco Canyon, there is good evidence to show that every building and structure is lined up with both the solar and lunar cycles (and ancient rock carvings also indicate this). So during the Fall Equinox the sun rises right at a notch in a distant cliff that is framed by two windows in one of the ancient buildings (refer to picture). So that is what we went to see on the third morning in Chaco

The rest of the trip was filled with star gazing, beautiful sunsets, some horrible winds, looking at ruins, wildlife sightings, cold crisp nights, long hard work days, interesting conversations with archeologists, coyotes howling, elk bugling, and eerie silence.

Astronomy and archeology are two huge things at Chaco. The visitor center has a huge telescope and evening programs that allow people to check out the stars, moon, Jupiter, certain nebulas and etc. We also met a volunteer who had a huge telescope and would let us look through it when ever there was no evening program.

We also had the privalage of meeting and talking with some archeologist who were uncovering an ancient site near our camp. It is turning out to be much older than they had originally though, possible dating back to the 400’s.

All in all, spending two weeks where most people just spend a day or two was a fantastic and rewarding experience. It looks like the next hitch will be further south in New Mexico, but higher up and colder. I am looking forward to being backcountry.

.

241) The Island

2009-09-17T06:33:00.003+09:00

Will's grandfather has a lot of property in rural Wisconsin, which includes an island. When we were in high school we used to go up there drive around a John Deere Gator or VW Thing, go fishing, shoot cans or old car parts, and then go camping on the island. It was a really great place to explore and have fun. The land has it all, lake front, fields, marsh, woods, etc.

I hadn't been up there for years, and just found out that Will's grandfather is trying to sell the land. So Will has been spending some time up there recently, and since I just got back to WI, we decided to head out there (before I head out of WI again).

So a couple of us headed out there on Labor Day weekend, and had a really great time. It was nice to be back up there, especially with the knowledge that I might not be able to get up there many or any more times. Kind of luckily, I left all my camping equipment in CO, so I had to sleep on the ground, which left me cold and uncomfortable enough to wake up before the sun rose. This was lucky because it was a beautiful sunrise and I got to take some pictures and just enjoy the scene.

240) Evergreen

2009-09-02T11:19:00.003+09:00

These are some shots from around the house I was living at in Evergreen.

239) Sand Dunes Film

2009-08-25T11:45:00.005+09:00

Shots from a color film roll (Agfa Vista 100) with my Contax G1. I took about 3 rolls of black and white film, but it is harder than one might think (and more expensive) to get b+w film processed these days.

238) Silhouettes Project

2009-08-23T00:34:00.004+09:00

One of the skill tracts at the camp was fine arts. I co-taught fine arts the last week of camp, and came up with some photography projects, my favorite project being silhouettes.

237) The Great Sand Dunes

2009-08-18T03:51:00.008+09:00

I was debating on how much to say about this place. The main reason being I was there on a weekend with Evan, and the main visitor center had maybe 20 cars in the parking lot, and we only saw one tent while we were out there (not including the camp ground). I didn't and don't want to spread the word about the place and be part of the cause in making it into another over populated park. But then I came to the conclusion that only a handful of people read this blog, and they would probably have heard about it from me anyways, so I will just go ahead and say what I want to about it on here.

Great Sand Dunes National Park has become my favorite place, maybe in the world. For starters we got in for free on a Friday, and didn't even have to pay for a permit to camp on the dunes. The only trace of people we saw while on the dunes was one tent in the distance, but no people. Tracks get swept away by the wind in a matter of hours, and in many places there is no sign of life at all.

It was hard to imagine this place actually existed, and in our country, no less. The dunes seem like they fit more into a novel or movie than real life. Everything about the dunes is like that; the way the wind blows to a deafening roar coating everything we had with sand and almost knocking us down to the absolute silence of the place. The way the light reflects off the sand in the very early morning and just before the sun goes down looks more like special effects from a movie than anything real. The dunes themselves seem larger than life, they instill a sense of awe as you approach. And the night sky was unlike anything I had ever seen before with raw beauty.

Raw beauty is probably the best way I can describe this park. It seems like life is stripped down to it's most basic here. You have wind shaping the land in a very obvious sense. And then you have heat and cold playing against each other in the day and night. It seems like there is no protection from any of these elements when you are there. I think the fact that you cannot escape this environment helps you appreciate what it really is all the more.

236) End of the Summer

2009-08-13T11:17:00.005+09:00

Camp finished the other day, overall it was a great job. Some of the things I am thinking about right now that I miss are just the everyday simple things of camp. Waking up every morning in a cabin in the mountains or outside in some campground. Hiking or biking or kayaking or climbing on out-trips. Watching the moon rise over mountains and the stars at night. Taking pictures nearly everyday. Being with new people and the kids. And being all alone in a beautiful place.

Above are pictures of kayaking down the Arkansas, near Salida.

Rafting down Browns Canyon on the Arkansas.

Just some assorted pictures of people around camp during various activities.

235) Mountain Biking

2009-07-26T07:52:00.004+09:00

These first two pictures are unrelated to the topic of mountain biking, but I wanted to get them up. The rest of the shots are from a recent mountain biking trip we took.

Overall the trip was great, it was nice to get out and ride through some beautiful country. Many parts of the road we took were lined with thick aspen forests, which were stunning.

The three day two night trip also produced some of the most interesting sunsets I have seen. Falling mist or rain up in the sky caught the last light of the sun and produced a really gorgeous peach/orange glow.

234) Backpacking and Rock Climbing

2009-07-13T00:08:00.004+09:00

I will keep the stories at a minimum at the moment because I do not have much time. These are pictures from a backpacking and rock climbing trip from the previous two weeks.

We went rock climbing near Buena Vista, which as the name implies, was beautiful.

Next was backpacking near the continental divide, which provided both stunning views and cool experiences.

233) Camp Life

2009-07-02T00:53:00.003+09:00

I have been at camp for a few weeks now. Kids arrived just this past Sunday, and so far so good. The first two weeks or so were training for staff, which seemed to have gone well. So now it is a lot of activities and teaching and patients (along with some nice trips and fun).

232) More Mountains

2009-06-24T03:32:00.002+09:00

Just a few more shots from Rocky Mountain National Park.

231) Rocky Mountain Water

2009-06-22T10:19:00.003+09:00

After the backpacking with Will, I stayed at my friend Caitlin's house for a couple of days. She lives right in Estes Park, just a few minutes away from Rocky Mountain National Park, so I was able to do some nice day hikes.

On the weekend Evan and Chris came out to Caitlin's house and then I headed to Evergreen to spend a few nights with Chris before heading up to camp. It has been really nice to see people I have not been able to see for a few years! Last night I was able to meet up with Ian and spend the night at his house and hang out with him and his wife.

These last three shots break the theme of this post, but I just wanted to get them in while I could.

230) Backing in Rocky Mountain National Park

2009-06-13T04:05:00.003+09:00

Will and I took a nice 5 day 4 night trip into the northern end of Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a really beautiful, but also a little bit harsh. The late Spring weather of the rockies slammed us with hail, snow, freezing rain, regular rain, high winds, lightning, fog and just about anything else in between.

The highlight of the trip may have been on the last few miles out on our last day. Will spotted a moose just off the side of the trail (we had seen two others a day before) and we waited quietly to see what it would do. It ended up walking up to the trail, pausing at the edge of it and looking at us, then just moving on and fading into the forest on the other side of the trail. It was a pretty cool site.

229) Lao/Thai B+W Film

2009-05-27T07:29:00.006+09:00

These were taken in Laos and Thailand with Rollei Retro 400 film on my Contax G1.

Above and below: this is the man that let me sleep at his camp when I was lost in the jungle. In the top picture you can see him tapping out bee larva from a section of honey comb, that was the protein for both dinner and breakfast. Northern Thailand.

Above and below: around Laung Prabang, Laos.

The next four pictures below are from Maung Khoua, Laos. This was a very interesting town with very limited electricity. The first picture (directly below) is of a baby getting a bath. I watched as the father heated water in a stove and then poured it into the big tub where they washed the baby.

The three pictures below are from Nong Khieo, Laos. It is a small northern city, a few hours south of Maung Khoua, and almost as primitive in respect to things like electricity.

These last pictures are from Vang Vieng, Laos. Vang Vieng was a great place where Ed, Andrew and I spent most of our time exploring caves and walking around, enjoying the scenery.

228) The Desert Cries

2009-05-22T09:13:00.003+09:00

Over the last two or three years the author Craig Childs has become a constant staple in my leisure reading. Anyone interested in the desert, nature or adventure might really consider picking up one of his books. The most recent book of his that I read is called The Desert Cries. In this book there is a chapter about a flash flood that killed 11 people in Antelope Canyon. The four photos here are from that canyon and the quotes are from the chapter about Antelope Canyon in Childs book The Desert Cries.

"In the desert, the two primary elements are stone and water. Stone comes in abundance, exposed by weathering and a lack of vegetation. It is a canvas. Water crosses this stone with such rarity and ferocity that it tells all of its secrets in the shapes left behind. Antelope Canyon's interior is the pure expression of both."

"Would this be the perfect place to die? It would be a swift and difficult death, I know that. Even ghosts are scoured clean from this place. I try to shake the thought from my head, because I remember that children were left behind, their parents killed here where I am standing."

"Even the ancient cross-bedding of the sandstone, the gentle lines left from the rock's origin, are swirled into the shapes. They look like the warp and weft of a loomed textile."

"Sweeping in and out of each other, the rock walls look more like fabric than stone. The canyon slides around itself, a hall of mirrors."

227) Nice Days

2009-05-20T09:35:00.002+09:00

The weather has been very nice, today in particular was beautiful. Sun is shining, flowers are blooming, grass is green, all in all a pretty nice time to be stuck at home with no car.

226) Around the House

2009-05-13T14:09:00.004+09:00

I've been home for a couple weeks now. I have been doing a lot of nothing, with a side of looking for jobs and some direction in my life. I am pretty limited by not being able to drive, and not having any friends in the immediate area. But it's not too bad, and I have been able to get to Chicago to visit people there.

In the mean time it is kinda nice living the lounge life. The weather is good, so that means campfires and sitting in the hot tub, and it is nice to be back home in spring. It has been about three years since I have been in WI in warm weather.

225) Odds and Ends

2009-04-24T23:03:00.003+09:00

I got home a few days ago. The last few days in Seoul were spent at Nam's studio, eating very well, sleeping on the couch and trying to take care of last minute things.

These are just some odds and ends of pictures didn't make it up on other posts.

224) The Last Days

2009-04-21T20:06:00.006+09:00

There are some days when I want to be with friends and family and all I have is myself. There are other days when all I want is to be alone and I find myself surrounded by people, or locked into conversations or other such things.

Two days before my trip in SE Asia was to end I met the perfect combination of my want to be alone and secluded and stunning surroundings. I rented a kayak all day and headed out to the southern part of Halong Bay for the best day of my trip.

The bay is dotted with small steep islands that are full of wonderful cliffs, stunted forests and birds. To make the scene better, some of the islands have small strips of beach and/or hidden coves. I was free to explore all of this alone and at my leisure, hardly coming in contact with people save the occasional fishing boat or junk going by at a distance.

I spent some of my time paddling around between the islands, some time relaxing or walking around on the beaches, and some time just sitting in my kayak in the middle of an indescribably beautiful cove just looking at the scene in front of me, and listening to birds.

When I got back to the town the sun was setting and I treated myself to the best cigar I had (a Fuente OpusX) and some Baily’s and a fantastic fish dinner. To end the night I got a massage that was excellent.

The next day I rented a bike and headed to Cat Ba National Park and did a little hiking and site seeing there, and then continued around the island on my bike. I met three other people and we had a nice dinner of sand crab (think of a mix between a military helmet and a prehistoric sea creature) and some good conversation.

The following day I left the island and headed back to Hanoi and caught my flight back to Seoul. It is always crazy how suddenly and unexpectedly a trip can end, especially when you have no idea what day it is most of the time. I love travel.

223) Cat Ba Island

2009-04-12T22:00:00.007+09:00

Cat Ba Island is a wonderful place. I spent the day just walking around on the beach and on the trails that connect the separate beaches and climbing on the limestone to get some nice vantage points.

In general the people on Cat Ba are not as nice as the others I have encountered in Vietnam. As a matter of fact, I was even called a "cheapskate" today because I refused to buy some pearls. Of course there are some really great people here too, and those are the ones I will continue to give my business to. The picture below is from the balcony of my $5 a night hotel room.

Overall there is nothing worth complaining about. I am in an absolutely gorgeous place and eating wonderful food and smoking the last of my cigars (and I always save the best for last!)

222) Ninh Binh (The Karst)

2009-04-10T19:32:00.007+09:00

Ninh Binh is an area in northern Vietnam, south east of Hanoi. The city itself is nothing special, but just outside of it are some truly amazing scenes. The two main attractions are the Tam Coc Caves and Bich Dong Pagoda (seems like they are pronounced in the most juvenile way possible…)

To get to the Tam Coc caves you must hire a small boat and an old granny will row you on a river surrounded by rice patties and surreal karst scenes. You also go through three caves or grottoes that the river cuts through.

I went as early as possible in the morning and there was a mist hanging in the morning air (which I was hoping for) and a little drizzle at one point. It was really nice to get back away from the city and hear the sounds of nature.

Ninh Binh is a small city but it produces enough sound pollution to make Chicago sound like a nature sanctuary in comparison. I have never heard car horns so loud or frequent in my life- it almost sounds like a citywide practical joke at points- but a joke that is not at all funny.

Bich Dong Pagoda was nice, although I didn’t take any pictures there. The scenery on the way there and back was what struck me the most.

The only real problem with both places is typical of what happens in a less developed country in tourist attractions: people hassling you for money.

221) Myths

2009-04-09T21:48:00.003+09:00

Putting some myths to rest...

Myth one: budget guesthouses always have respectable pillows. Myth two: a twenty-four hour bus ride out of Laos is a nice experience. And finally (and more seriously) myth three: people in northern Vietnam are smug.

So, myth one… Ed, Andrew and I shared a three-person budget room our first night in Vientiane. After inspecting the flat out dirty room I began to wonder what lay under the pillowcase and sheets. To my awful surprise I found what is pictured above (the book is a reference of the color white). Needless to say we did not use the pillows or have a good night sleep.

Myth two is in regards to the bus ride from Vientiane to Hanoi. At least I was prepared for the hours and the fact that it was not a sleeper bus. When we all got on the bus someone said “This is about a 12 hour trip, right?” Poor bastard was 12 brutal hours off. A few other people were expecting to have boarded a sleeper bus, which would have been a real treat (a sleeper has actual beds instead of seats). Like I said, at least I was prepared for some of the initial circumstances, but I was not ready for the bus to be fully packed with people (and with bags of corn and tractor tires lining the aisles). And to top it off I am pretty sure the bus was a retired Korean city bus- not bad for a 4 or 5 hour trip, but not at all good for a 24 hour ride.

And myth three: I have heard a lot of negative things about the people in northern Vietnam from a lot of people. So far my experience has been very good overall. I had one very weird experience on my second day in Hanoi, but other than that the people have been average to great. The kids have especially been fantastic. On the train from Hanoi to Ninbinh (a great train with wooden seats that seem more fit for a park than a train and costing about $1.50) a little girl took an interest in me and sat with me for about an hour. Communication was minimal but I shared my ipod with her and she snuggled up next to me.

220) Caves and Rope Swings

2009-04-03T15:32:00.005+09:00

If I could sum up Vientiang in a few words, they would be: caves, rope swings, drugs and alcohol. My experience was limited to the caves and rope swings. The caves and rope swings were plenty enough on their own- and the injuries seem to occur when mixing in the alcohol (or mushrooms). The other odd (but main) attraction was Friend’s and Family Guy cafes. They just played non-stop episodes of the shows and they always had people in them- presumably stoners that just lay there (the seats are designed for lounging) from open to close. (Above photo: a storm brewing on the walk back from the caves)

The caves were incredible. I cannot think of many places in this day and age that will just allow any body to pay about one dollar for an entrance fee, and then just leave you on your own to explore a cave. For safety and my own personal comfort I went with people while exploring the caves- seems a bit risky to do it on your own.

One of the best caves was one you had to swim in. It wasn’t huge, but it went back a couple hundred meters into complete blackness, so we needed headlamps. The water looked like it was pulled out of the Caribbean and the inside was stunning. Large slabs of limestone split the cave in certain areas and in some places the bottom just dropped strait down to darkness- it was a very surreal feeling.

The other cave that is great is called Poukham Cave. Near the entrance and lit up by natural light is a golden reclining Buddha. The caverns in this cave were huge and beautiful, with lots of great formations. We wiggled through a wormhole in this cave only to find the other side declined in a funnel-like way into a black pit. This is scary when you go face first!

Poukham Cave also had a great “lagoon” that again had water that should have been in the Caribbean. There was a big tree that leant over the water and jumping was set up from two of the main branches, there is also a small rope swing that was fun.

One of the other main attractions of Vangvieng is tubing down the Nam Sang River. Along the side of the river are plenty of bars and most of the bars have their own rope swings one has a diving board and one has a giant slide.

The swings seem to get progressively bigger as you go down the river- the climax being the last swing. It was probably about 30 feet high, and could launch you about thirty feet above the river if you let go at the right time. It was a great thrill to do, and fun to watch people as they landed painfully on the water, or tried doing flips and landed on their face.

The tubing and river scene really seemed to make everybody kids again (but instead of getting wild on candy it was alcohol). This last picture is me with the owner of one of the bars, aparently he is saving up money to go to college.

219) Vangvieng (Enjoying the Views)

2009-04-01T21:57:00.003+09:00

I got into Vangvieng a few days ago. It is a beautiful place- wonderful karst views and a great river to float down. The crowd this place attracts is interesting to say the least. Lots of people taking mushrooms and smoking weed, but despite that it is a great place to be.

The first day in Andrew and I hiked up a haystack hill that was full of jagged limestone and its own little cave. It was a nice little hike (and just outside of town through some rice paddies) with some really great views.

We only planned to stay three nights, but we have really enjoyed this place so we stayed an extra day, and tonight will be the last night. The main attractions to Vangvieng seem to be tubing down a river that is full of bars and rope swings, going to caves and swimming in unbelievably beautiful swimming holes- we were lucky enough to do all of them.

218) Last Days in Luang Prabang

2009-03-30T15:42:00.005+09:00

I have been traveling with an American named Andrew from the last few days. We met when he joined my bus heading to Luang Prabang halfway through the trip- he and one other guy were standing on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere when we picked them up.

We split a room for our time in Luang Prabang and wandered around there, and now we are in Vangvieng.

Everyday I was in Luang Prabang I went down to the Mekong River and took pictures of the sunset. It is easy to find a secluded spot and just watch the sun go down and fishermen cast out some nets in hopes of a few more fish before heading home.

I heard about something called “snake whiskey” which is apparently some local lao lao (rice whiskey) with a cobra in the jar. Obviously that intrigued me, so Andrew and I had to go check out what the deal was.

It turned out to be run by an old man who when we first came upon him was looking like he was passed out in his hammock, but jumped to his feet when we woke him up and was very nice. I was expecting to see one or maybe two snakes in a whiskey bottle… that expectation was way off.

First off the jar he kept the concoction in was huge, and it was jammed with snakes, lizards, turtles, scorpions, centipedes and apparently anything else that haunts or fascinates a 10-year-old child. He even had one special jar with two rats in it… I wasn’t feeling that brave. The kicker is he apparently puts them all in there live and then stores it for three years before serving. Needless to say it was a bit of a rush and it went down hot!

217) Into Laos

2009-03-26T09:29:00.009+09:00

The first few days in Laos did not start well at all. I made the huge mistake of not changing my Korean money in Thailand, and had to cross back to Thailand to change all my money the day after I got into Laos. Every bank in Thailand will exchange Korean won and apparently not one single bank in Laos will. Not only was that frustrating but it cost me some money that I have no room to be wasting on a something stupid like two visas.

The town of Ban Huay Sai was not thrilling, and having to spend an extra day there was not what I wanted to do, but had to anyways. There didn’t seem like much to do or see there so I was happy to get out.

After Ban Huay Sai I took a bus to Laung Namtha and transferred to Maung Sai on the same day. I got into Maung Sai at night and just found a place to spend the night, which was nice after a full day on busses. The country side we passed along the way was striking and beautiful and sad. The condition some people are living in is a huge reality check. Little villages full of naked kids, people washing themselves literally three feet from the road, pot belly pigs, chickens, trash and tiny little bamboo huts are all along the road, popping up every few miles or so.

I left early in the morning from Maung Sai to Nong Khieo. On the same bus was a Japanese guy named Tacomi and an Irish guy named Ed. We ended up staying at the same place in Nong Khieo and hung out there.

Nong Khieo is a beautiful little town with great scenery. There are great karst formations all around the town and the Nam Ou river flows through it separating the town in two halves. While there we went on a nice walk to some caves where the villagers hid when they were being bombed during the Vietnam war. Pretty interesting to see, and unimaginable to think about living in those caves while bombing raids were happening.

From Nong Khieo I headed six hours further up the Nam Ou to Maung Khoua. The boat ride up was beautiful, and a little wet (as the river has some rapids). It’s pretty impressive that the drivers can nagotiate the river with a long thin wooden boat like they do. Some areas look like you would need a raft to get through, but there were boats (and bamboo rafts) all along the river doing just fine. We passed a few villages, a lot of boys fishing and playing in the water and some water buffalo lounging on the banks.

Maung Khoua is an interesting little town. This town is also separated into two parts by rivers, but this time it is by a tributary to the Nam Ou. There is a big steal foot bridge that spans across the tributary river connecting the two sides. This town has some kind of different character than the others I have been to. They are in the process of getting a concrete road, and they only have electricity after 6pm. At night the town is dimly lit by the one or two lights hanging outside peoples homes. The businesses and other buildings are black leaving big dark gaps in areas of town. People seem understandably glued to the TVs at 6:00. The buildings are a lot more interesting and impoverished, but the people seem happy.

The first night I stayed in an absolute dump of a guesthouse and then decided to spend a little more for a great upgrade. The upgraded place is a little out of the town and situated about 100 feet on up on the bank of the tributary river, and it has a great view. It is nice to treat yourself to a nice room every once and while- it really helps out moral (and its only a few dollars more).

Now I am back in civilization in Laung Prabang. So far it is a pretty cool city.

216) An Overnighter

2009-03-18T21:02:00.004+09:00

A few days ago I left Pai and headed to Thaton. The details on how to get to Thaton were a little sketchy, but a guy at the bus station assured me what he suggested was the cheapest route.

Basically I was supposed to take a bus back down to Chiang Rai, but get off at about the half way point. Then I had to find the next bus stop and catch another bus headed up northeast to Thaton. Sounds a little bit difficult, but I got to Thaton. The only thing that didn’t work out easily was that the bus stopped before Thaton, leaving me to figure out how to get there on my own. It turned out I just needed to hop in the back of a truck (there are covered trucks that take certain routes- similar to a bus) and the truck went strait to Thaton.

Thaton did not have many people around. It is situated on the Burma/Thai border right were the Maekok River comes into Thailand. I found a cheap guesthouse and mostly just hiked to some of the beautiful Buddhist temples and shrines in the mountains surrounding the town.

While there I saw a flyer for a guesthouse situated in a mountain tribe village. They offered a pick up service from town (Chiang Rai), or it was possible to reach via a 3km hike from some hot springs. There is a boat that will go from Thaton to Chiang Rai, or if you choose you can get off at the hot springs. The boat ride was supposed to be beautiful, so I decided to get off at the hot springs and hike the 3km to the guesthouse. The flyer says “Easy to get to…Hard to leave”. When I got off the boat it seemed it would be that case as there was a big building that said “Visitor Center” and the hot springs were actually a national park. I envisioned getting simple directions from the visitor center and having a nice hike up to the village and then eat lunch and etc. As it turns out I was largely mistaken.

The first huge mistake I made was accidentally leaving my water where I got off the boat. I found the visitor center to be abandoned and then went to ask some workers directions to the village only to find they don’t speak any English- although I was pointed in a vague direction (this would become an all too familiar point I learned not to trust and really despise). So I went in the vague direction and after a few minutes decided to find another person to ask. So I headed back and asked a lady who was working the gate, she again pointed me in a vague direction and indicated the road would be dirt. I found the dirt road and started walking it and kept going only to find I wandered about 2km past the turn off for the village.

So I went back to the turn off I was supposed to have taken- this went pretty much strait up hill. I eventually saw a boy herding some water buffalo and I asked him about a guest house- he gestured to keep going up. Finally I wondered into a village, thinking this might be the one with a guesthouse I started to ask around. Mostly I was just stared at or ignored- not the reaction I was looking for. Finally someone told me to keep going up- this is where both the dirt road and village stopped and a path kept going.

On the path met a couple people going the opposite way (back to the village) carrying giant baskets of leaves. Only one person acknowledged me, and it was as simple as this: he glanced at me, chuckled once and kept walking. At this point I started to become both worried and frustrated with this situation and the people I was seeing- but overall still hopeful of reaching the guesthouse.

Finally I ran into another person who gave me some more directions in the form of a vague gesture up another mountain. At this point there was a very clear decision to be made. It was in the afternoon and I had not eaten or had anything to drink since breakfast, I was sure if I turned back now I could get back to the park entrance before dark, although I do not know what I would do there or if it would be open. Or I could keep on going in hopes of finding the village that everyone I encountered told me was up this mountain or that. And I had already contacted the guesthouse and reserved a room for that night.

I decided to keep going, sure that I would find it soon, and looking forward to some food and water and a comfortable bed to sleep in. After a few more hours of hiking and backtracking and not seeing anyone for a couple hours I started to get pretty worried. I also started to note places I could get back to incase I needed to spend the night in the jungle. There were a few places that had previously hosted campfires and probably people for a night, and I knew I could get back to them in the dark if need be.

Eventually I found myself in some sort of orchard, and then came upon a woman bathing in a small creek- and then I could see a man nearby. This was a little bit alarming, but the woman showed no shame and the man smiled at me. So I went over and tried to see if they knew where the village was and he gestured back- this was the first time in knew I gone too far, and was pointed back. So in the fading daylight I headed back and searched out all of the various paths until I became sure there was no way I was going to find this place before night came- and I was not going to hike through the Thai jungle at night.

I went back to the man and woman who had a tent near the orchard getting there just as it became dark. I must have looked horrible after hiking all day- I was completely drenched in sweat and exhausted after hiking all day up and down mountains in the heat with no food or water. The woman gestured I could sleep with them, and the man brought out a pillow and some blankets. So I bathed in the creek and then organized my stuff.

Their camp (house) was very simple, just a tent under a tin roof, a motorcycle (I don’t know what they were doing with the motorcycle or how it got there) and a fire and some supplies. I saw the man (Ahlow) had a bag of tobacco and some rolling papers, so I pulled out some cigars and offered him one of my best. So before dinner Ahlow and I smoked a cigar and his wife prepared the meal.

The woman also hacked up a big piece of bamboo and made me a cup, and then they brewed some tea in a larger tube of bamboo. Dinner that night consisted of a large pot of rice, some kind of potato stew and a bowl of bee larva. Being extremely hungry I was not a discriminate eater and took what they gave me, and it was actually pretty good.

I didn’t really sleep well that night- under a blanket and tin roof in the middle of the jungle with what looked like an approach of a big storm. Lightning was all over all night, but it only rained a little bit. The next morning Ahlow pulled out a carefully packaged bag and tenderly opened up. It turned out to be the biggest bag of weed I have ever seen, and he indicated it made breakfast better and he rolled up a fat one.

We ate the same thing we had for dinner the night before- and I watched as he got the larva out of the honeycomb. It was pretty interesting, they must have gotten a whole beehive and sliced it up into flat sections. Then they roasted the flat sections over the fire killing the bees and opening their individual honeycombs. Then they knock them out of the little honeycombs and put them into a banana leaf and roast them on some coals.

After breakfast Ahlow offered to take me to the guesthouse personally, and I made sure he took me right to the person in charge, not willing to take anymore chances wondering around. Before he left I slipped Ahlow some money- I knew he wanted it and more importantly needed it. He and his wife both looked pretty malnourished and obviously lived very basic lives, so I was happy to do it.

Finally at the guesthouse I took a long shower and ate a huge banana pancake before taking a nap on the nice soft mattress I have been longing for.

215) Thailand 6 (Pai country-side)

2009-03-15T22:42:00.003+09:00

I rented a bike today and headed to another waterfall I heard about that was supposed to be pretty good. On the way to the waterfall I met two other guys on bikes as well heading to the same place.

They are both a little older and traveling solo as well. One is from Switzerland and the other Canada. We stayed together the rest of the day and had dinner together back in town.

It was nice to get on a bike and cruse the country side. The road to the water fall was all up hill, which meant we were hot by the time we got there- luckily the water was cool and nice to jump in. It was full of local kids sliding down the rocks and jumping and playing in the water.

Needless to say the ride back was great as it was all down hill- hardly had to peddle at all!

(my hut ^)

214) Thailand 5 (Pai)

2009-03-14T20:27:00.003+09:00

Pai is a city (town) in the far north of Thailand near the border of Burma (Myanmar). I got in yesterday afternoon via mini-bus from Chiang Mai. It was only a few hours ride, and much of it beautiful.

Pai is a very relaxed little town and it has a great countryside feel and appeal to it. When I got off the bus I was just standing there looking around and a guy asked me if I was looking for nice cheap place to stay. Of course the answer was yes, and he gave me directions to the place he was just leaving. (Pictured above are the huts I am staying at, and below are the bridges that cross the river)

The place is called Twin Hut, it’s a little out of the town, you have to cross the Pai River over a bamboo bridge and walk a little bit. All of the huts are bamboo and very simple. They have a balcony with a hammock, one light inside and one outside and a mattress with blankets and pillows and a mosquito net. At night you can hear frogs and crickets and at day you can hear the birds singing.

I took a walk/hike today to a waterfall. I think I got to where the falls should have been (because the trail stopped after that) but it was not very impressive. I went a little further and found some nice rapids, but didn’t take too many pictures. It was nice to be out in the forest. On one occasion the sound of the cicadas was nearly deafening. Another time I heard was sound like light rain on the ground, but was actually a lot of spiders, that looked similar to daddy long legs. The sound was them running through the leaves as I approached.