Tag: Backpacking
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THE FATHER/SON ADVENTURE DRAWS TO A CLOSE
DAY 26. Tbilisi International Airport. There is nothing more important in my life than my wife and son. And nothing more valuable to me than having quality time with Padma and Joseph. Padma and I have had 24 years of quality time together but having quality time with Joseph has been elusive. It isn’t easy being a father. For 20 years Joseph has probably only known me as the mean old ogre who is always yelling at him to get out of bed, finish his homework or take out the rubbish.…
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THE TREK TO USHGULI
Joseph, Hans and I embarked on a five-day trek from Mestia to Ushguli. The trek winds through Georgia’s stunning Svaneti region, revealing snow-capped peaks, medieval stone towers and remote mountain villages. Each day we discovered breathtaking alpine views, lush valleys, and rich cultural encounters, culminating in Ushguli, Europe’s highest inhabited village and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Within the first hour of our trek we met school teachers, Matt and Alba, who walked at our same pace and joined us for the entire journey. Day 1: Mestia to Chvabiani Distance: About…
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THE JOURNEY TO THE RUSSIAN BORDER
Joseph and I traveled to Georgia from 7 July to 1 August 2017 for a father/son adventure featuring some trekking in the Svaneti region in the Caucasus and exploring Tbilisi, Kazbegi and Batumi. This is Part 2. The journey to the Russian border DAY 5. Tbilisi to Kazbegi. Mike introduces a guest to the ‘Mike and Joe Go to Georgia’ show. If you could only hear Khakha in our crappy audio you would hear about fascinating city of Mtskheta and the sixth century (we got it wrong in the video) Jvari…
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CLIMB THAT GODDAMN MOUNTAIN
‘Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.’ Jack Kerouac There’s one thing I learned early on while working in a mountainous national park in the Pacific Northwest: never let a little cloud cover deter you from climbing a mountain. I had a few days off from my job as a ranger in the summer of 1980 at North Cascades National Park and drove over to neighbouring Mt Baker National Forest to climb up to the…
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ALONE AT NITINAT
‘I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.’ Henry David Thoreau, Walden ‘I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.’ Henry David Thoreau If someone were to ask me what was my favourite trek ever, I wouldn’t miss a beat in replying it was my six-day trek along the West Coast Trail…
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ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS
‘Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.’ Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire In the summer of 1980, I had the best job ever. I was a park ranger at North Cascades National Park in Washington. Part of my job was ‘trail patrol’ and for one day a week…
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TWO ASCENTS OF CHIRRIPO
At 3,280 metres Cerro Chirripó is Costa Rica’s highest peak, the second highest in Central America and the 37th highest in the world. The peak is the centrepiece of the 50,000 hectare Chirripó National Park which was established in 1975. I climbed Chirripó twice –alone in January 1982 and with a couple of mates in March 1983. It’s not a technical climb but does involve an ascent of 2500 metres in elevation and when carrying a full backpack can be quite exhausting. The hike alone is quite spectacular as you pass…
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THE EXPLORATION OF LA AMISTAD
In 1982, the Costa Rican government created the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve which covers a massive area in southern Costa Rica along the Talamanca mountain range. At the time, the biosphere was relatively unknown to scientists – very few had ventured into the depths of the Talamanca. The Costa Rican National Park Service hired wildlands consultant, Jim Barborak, to assist his national counterparts in conducting a biological, anthropological and geological inventory of the biosphere. There weren’t any photographs from the depths of the park, so I joined the research teams as…
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HANS AND THE SELVA LACANDONA
Yesterday was an exciting day as I became reacquainted with an old travel companion. Thirty two years ago I was trying to sort out some train schedules at the Ciudad Juarez station in northern Mexico as I wanted to travel to the southernmost state of Chiapas. I was 23 and had a couple of months to kill before I was to head off to the Peace Corps and was hungry for some adventure. I had a book called Backpacking in Mexico and Central America. I chose to do the longest and…
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