Category Archives: Travel

Las Vegas – 2020

Short road trip to Las Vegas, Nevada for a few days. Lots of walking around through the city and a little trip atop the Eiffel Tower πŸ™‚

Oregon Coast Trail 2016

One last photo gallery (I’m catching up on things). This time from 2016 along the Oregon Coast Trail.
I was feeling pretty good and I made it a point of crossing the state of Oregon in 14 days. Since there are small towns along the way, food wasn’t a problem and I didn’t have to carry more than one day of food at a time. As for water, there are thousands of streams / rivers everywhere so that wasn’t a problem either. Weather was mostly good except for one day of rain. Not too bad.

Tasmania 2011

After New Zealand I spent about two months in Australia around Feb / March 2011.
Sydney, Melbourne, (quick trip to Tasmania) and finally Perth on the other side of the country. It was a lot of fun.

Australians are very proud of their backpacking trails. They enjoy reminding foreigners that there are “hundreds of things that can kill you”. It’s mostly BS if you ask me.
The South Coast Trail / Port Davey Track is however the craziest hike I’ve ever done…by far. It took about fourteen days to complete. I took a day off (in a green, half dome shelter) in the middle of it. I had a feeling a storm was coming. I was right. It rained non stop for 36 hours straight. When I came out the next day there was a foot of water absolutely everywhere around. A boardwalk that was supposed to be a foot above the ground was actually one foot under water. I hiked a few hours with water up to my knees.
Mud was also a problem. Turns out, it’s VERY difficult to get your leg out of the mud when you sink two feet into it. I crossed rivers by walking on dead trees that fell across. To this day I don’t know how I didn’t die πŸ™‚

There’s something to be said about hiking along the south shore of Tasmania, looking south, knowing that there’s no more land…until Antarctica. One day maybe.

New Zealand 2011

Hiking the “Te Araroa” took about five months so I had one month left on my visa to see a few landmarks that were not necessarily on the trail.
I traveled to The Catlins and did some kayaking in the Milford Sounds. There’s a lot to see in New Zealand and clearly I will have to go back at some point.

Funny story; after kayaking for a full day my body stopped generating heat. I was freezing no matter what. I was staying in a hostel in the evening and I ended up going to bed with two heavy blankets & sheets, plus my sleeping bag and all my clothes on. I was still freezing. It took several hours for my body to restart…To this day I have no idea what the problem was. It wasn’t Hypothermia (I had that twice on the Colorado Trail, trust me, I know…) but it’s one of the strangest things that happened to me on a trail.

I did lose a good part of my hearing (right side) for almost two days after a tiny branch went straight through my ear along the Te Araroa. My ear “popped” eventually and everything was fine. I also broke my arm there so I had to hike for six weeks using my camera bag as a “sling”. Luckily it fixed itself. In 2007 I lost all feelings in my right leg while backpacking late in the evening. Feelings came back. I think my backpack was putting too much pressure on some nerves. Who knows. Shit happens and people complain way too much if you ask me. Anyway…

Stewart Island, NZ

After hiking the Te Araroa throughout the two main islands of New Zealand I decided to continue hiking. I flew to Oban, Stewart Island in one of these tiny propeller plane and did the “South West Circuit” track. It’s supposed to be a ten / eleven day trek but I was in good shape and decided toΒ go thru two huts per day instead of one. It was a completely useless challenge since I wasn’t even using the hut system but it was fun to do…

Te Araroa – 2010

In mid 2010 I decided to take a year off work. My visa situation was a mess (what’s new?) and one of my options was to leave the US for at least a year, come back and re-apply for a new visa. The US economy wasn’t going anywhere and my logic at the time was that I would be better off leaving my job, wait a year, and get a better paying job which meant the sabbatical would pay for itself. It worked perfectly. I got $10,000.00 more per year which happens to be what I spend while backpacking abroad. In the words of Hannibal; “I love it when a plan comes together”.

The plan was to spend six months hiking the entire length of New Zealand (about 2000 miles) along the “Te Araroa” Trail, then three months in Australia and Tasmania after which I would maybe spend some time somewhere in South Asia.

There’s a lot to say about this trail. In many ways it was a “compressed and intense” version of life. So many encounters (both good and bad) and so many adventures…I have many stories. I’ll write them down some day. In the meantime, a short series of photos will have to do.

Reflection Canyon, Utah

3/3 – Reflection CanyonΒ is alsoΒ located in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

The idea for the weekend was to do a night photoshoot of the milky way in one of the most remote and darkest place in Utah…during a new moon. The weather was supposed to be mostly sunny. It wasn’t.Β It turned to rain and snow storm overnight while I was camping 7 miles away from the car…after a 75 mile dirt road πŸ™‚

Oh well,Β I took photos of the snow instead. Better luck next time. Truth is; two feet of snow and I would have been cast away for days with no means of communication.Β I was quite lucky in that regard.

I spent part of the night pounding on the ceiling of the tent so the snow would not accumulate. I feared there would be more snow but it wasn’t too bad. Just crazy slippery and obviously no trail to be found most of the way…

This area of Utah is amazing. Honestly the entire state is just phenomenal.

Escalante, Utah

2/3 – Peek-a-Boo & Spooky Slot Canyon

I’ve never done a slot canyon so I thought I’d try.
I was a bit surprised πŸ™‚ Much narrower than expected plus some climbing on two locations. I was carrying a backpack with $8000 worth of camera gear and a tripod. Oops. Everything went fine though. These slots were 12 inch wide at time. A bit tricky to navigate.

These two canyons are located along The Hole In The Rock road in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

Castle Valley, Utah

1/3 –Β Castle Valley and Capitol Reef, Utah

Clearly, a three day weekend is way, way too short for a trip to southern Utah but for now that’s all I have. This should have been a five day tripΒ at least.

The first shot is a view of Castle Valley, Utah seen from the Dome Plateau. I got there via a fairly rough 4×4 road but that was unecessary. The highlands Road is an easy dirt road that goes to the same place. Live and learn.

Note before Mount Rainier

April, 27th 2019

I was in Leadville, Colorado earlier today. No hike this time but I spent the night and part of the day in that area for altitude acclimation. I saw that old forgotten poem by Walt Whitman in a coffee house…

“Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.”

Via Ferrata

I survived!!! πŸ™‚
The Via Ferrata of Telluride is super fun. I’ll redo it without hesitation.
A gorgeous day in Telluride, Colorado

Flanders & Adrian; climbing partners for this little challenge

Some climbers on the wall

More climbers

Flanders leading the way

One of the technical passage.

View from below; climbers (top / center) onΒ the Via Ferrata

Astrophotography

Capitol Reef, Utah is actually a desert (it receives barely 7 inch of rain per year) and has very little light pollution.Β Β Great place for night photography.Β Not the best time of the year though; apparently May-September is better for some reason.

Also it was -11c degree at nightΒ so I was freezingΒ my butt. Did two sessions; one betweenΒ 9pm-10pm and the other between 1am-2am.

Corona Arch, Utah

February 18th, 2018

Corona Arch is right outside Moab, Utah but itΒ is NOT located in Arches National Park.

A bit too crowded for my taste and way too windy on that day to bother with my nicer camera.

Capitol Reef, Utah

February 16th-17th, 2018
Short road trip to Capitol Reef, Utah with the Jeep and my brand new tires πŸ™‚

Drove along the Cathedral Valley Road up to the Temple of the Moon and Temple of the Sun. Then I retracedΒ  a few miles and cross over to the Hartnet Rd (a bit rough but lots of fun) to check out both Lower & Upper Cathedral Valley overlook. Finally I exited the area via the north back to I70…

Mission San Jose, Texas

Extended weekend around San Antonio, Texas. Visited the Mission San Jose…

San Antonio, TX

San Antonio, Corpus Christi, San Padre Island
The Alamo, Mission San Jose, USS Lexington. Government Canyon State Park