We spent ‘The Fourth’ visiting our friends who live on the Peninsula at Newport Beach, California, and as always, took Gwenn and Mitch, our rescued French and American brittanys along. Rather than leave them back at the house when it was time to kayak, we decided to let them come along just to see how […]

This post is a continuation of Arriving in Kathmandu, Nepal, April 2010. Going trekking Few experiences in our lives compare to spending two days trying to fly out of the Kathmandu domestic air terminal. Our destination was Tumlingtar, east of Kathmandu and south of Mt Everest, but weather conditions both days were hot and humid, […]

Jeanne, our friend Craig and I made our second attempt on Mt Whitney’s (4421 m. 14,505 ft.) Mountaineer’s Route on June 13th and 14th, 2011.  The highest peak in the lower forty eight states, Mt. Whitney is typically accomplished as a very long hike of 22 miles from the Whitney Portal (2,250 m., 8,360 ft.) trailhead.  […]

Flying We arrive having slept somewhere between four and seven hours of the eleven hour flight. The challenge isn’t just going to sleep, but deciding how many movies to catch and in what order. More often than not, we end up seeing the same thirty minutes of the same movie several times, leaving us with […]

Change of plans Most people go to Hawaii to relax on a beach, but that would be too easy for us.  Not enough adventure.  Even on our wedding day in May, 2009, we managed to squeeze in a hike on the island of Maui (after the ceremony).  Unfortunately, this trip was the second time we […]

Just because we were on an island paradise didn’t mean we wanted to sit still.  We look for adventure everywhere we go and locals are often a great source of inspiration.  Within hours of our arrival we’d met Jason and Fermin at the Royal Hawaiian.  When we explained that we love to hike, climb and […]

Given an extra day on a business trip to Atlanta, what better to do as an unplanned adventure than to hike north from the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.  The 3,508 km (2,180 mile) trail officially starts at Springer Mountain, GA, but there is a great day hike that takes you up to that […]

There are few events like it in the world…a month of cycling races around one of the acknowledged most-beautiful countries in the World.  Even without the racing, it is a gorgeous month-long history lesson. Getting specific…why do we like it so much? Here are four very good reasons: Participation The common man participates, even the […]

Getting ready for our trek in Nepal meant having some great practice hikes in the local Los Angeles area. We chose Ice House Canyon, just south of Mount Baldy, only an hour from Pasadena.  Ice House Canyon is a very popular hike in this area, but is typically a late Spring or Fall hike, when […]

There are two pleasures in life that can’t be beaten…1) finding money in your pocket, and, 2) realizing you have a three-day weekend at the last minute.  Just before the July 4th weekend, we experienced the second and made a quick decision to spend the weekend in Cottonwood Lakes and climbing the New Army Pass.  […]