Colca Canyon, Peru
Bright and early, we set off on a two-day excursion into the mountains. Located about 100 miles from Arequipa, Colca Canyon is one of the deepest in the world, about twice as deep as the Grand Canyon! The Cotahuasi Canyon nearby is said to be the deepest in the world, and is only a little deeper. Alpaca, vicuña, […]
Pucón
In Pucon we had definitely arrived in another tourist-centric town, but a lovely one. Its lakeside setting with black sand beach and the backdrop of Villarrica Volcano is gorgeous, and there are tons of outdoor activities and adventures, relaxing thermal pools nearby and a heady mix of restaurants and bars for after a long day […]
Lake Gutierrez
Saturday at the Lake. Everyone was there. Some brave souls took a dip in the icy late spring water. We shared a pizza and beer at a little cafe, and wished we were staying this far out from the city where it was so quite and peaceful. Later in the day we hiked to the […]
Tierra del Fuego
We spent Thanksgiving hiking in Tierra del Fuego National Park. The route took us along the coast and then through a mixture of Patagonic and High Andes forest. The “lenga” covers mountain slopes. The most eye-catching were guindo trees most of which had large nodules with an interesting fungus growing out of them. They were like bunches of orange-colored […]
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
From a base in Ohakune (carrot capital of NZ, and a huge ski and snoboarding center in winter), we did an amazing 19.4k walk called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, in Tongariro National Park. The full trek is multi-day, but this full-day hike was plenty for us, with some steep terrain heading up and an even […]
Diamond Lake, Beer and Puzzling
The Diamond Lake Track near Wanaka leads past it’s namesake body of water, then up to the summit of Rocky Hill. The views from the top were fantastic and gave us a great idea of how the glaciers had carved out this amazing landscape. We were a bit parched when we got back down the […]
Scottsdale Hike
Our final week of the tour in Phoenix was hectic, but we made time for a hike in McDowell Mountain Park, in the lower Verde River basin near Scottsdale. It’s a pretty big area, and elevations in the park are up to 3000 feet at the base of the McDowell mountains. It’s possible to see […]