Tag Archives: Hike

Weekly Photo Challenge: Delicate

This weeks photo challenge is Delicate….I have a few versions of what this means to me – enjoy!

See the Word Press Weekly Photo Challenge – Delicate site for more beauties!!!

Hummingbirds are one of the most delicate birds on earth….I was incredibly lucky the day I captured this little guy (or gal) in Palm Springs, CA. There are 17 species of Hummingbirds…who knew?

Ever found yourself in a delicate situation? This image was taken on the top of Half Dome in Yosemite, CA. The rock pile looks a little delicate to me….certainly felt that way when I was sitting on top of it!

Even though we humans are relatively large creatures, sometimes we find ourselves feeling delicate when our surroundings are larger than life! This is the hubby near Vogelsang Peak, Yosemite, CA.

Winter Trekking in Nepal….The Preparation Begins

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I have 35 ish days to go before I make the 24+ hour journey to Nepal for a 2.5 week trek to the Everest Base Camp (~18,000) with REI Adventures. Sleeping in a tent for 15 days is going to be cold-as-hell and will test my mental toughness on a daily basis (I am confident there will be a few tears). I have a -20 degree sleeping bag, a fleece liner and a whole slew of hand, foot, and body warmers to keep me warm and toasty. I understand from the REI trip lead, there are 11 other crazy souls taking on this trek in the dead of winter. My hubby Greg is sitting this one out, so I will have a tent all to myself! I will miss my very own personal sherpa on this trip :-(.

For the first time in my history of planning a trek like this, there is a little bit of stress boiling up inside. Mostly because I feel pitifully out of shape. I have about 35 days to get it together. I don’t know about you, but feeling forced to work out is not my idea of fun. Running shoes will be glued to my body while working in Houston during the week and weekends in Colorado will be spent trudging up steep hiking trails to acclimate to higher altitudes – Rain, snow or shine. If it sounds like I am behind in my training, I am – hence the stress. A 2 week bout with the flu has not helped this situation.

Thankfully, I am a gear hound and with the exception of snow goggles, I have it covered. I will, however, continue to test different layering options as I complete my winter training in the Colorado mountains. For instance, this past weekend in Vail, CO, I was painfully reminded I need an additional layer of warmth on my legs just in case the wind decides to kick up to 20 – 25 MPH and create a white-out situation. I have not been that cold in a LONG time. My face was also in incredible pain from the exposure – it literally looked and felt like a cherry popsicle.

On a positive note – not only will I fulfill a bucket list item by having an up close and personal view of Mt. Everest, I will be flying the new United Airlines Dreamliner 787 from Tokyo to San Francisco – VERY excited about that. So much, that I plan on writing a separate blog post on the Dreamliner itself!

Wish me luck while I prepare for this once in a lifetime adventure! It will be amazing and one I look forward to sharing with you in the coming months!

Riffelalp Resort … A Splurge Worth Every Swiss Franc

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Okay, as much as we Life Busers enjoy our backpacking, car-camping, huts, yurts, Toyota Tunder flatbeds, etc. … sometimes we need a splurge. After having spent several nights in very average, nondescript Swiss and German hotels on this trip, Todd and I figured Zermatt was the place to embrace the splurge mentality. We jumped in with both feet and booked 3 nights at the Riffelalp Resort in Zermatt. Technically, it’s not in Zermatt proper, it’s actually about 2000 feet up the valley sidewall from Zermatt. The hotel is only accessible via either the Gornergratbahn or a well-marked footpath leading from Zermatt up to the Riffelalp. Just a word of caution, the footpath route is very scenic but does take about an hour uphill (obviously less time going down into town.) Riffelalp Resort [slideshow]

Let me just say that the location of this hotel and the superior service and luxury of this hotel will make you never, ever want to leave!!! It will make you want to mortgage everything you have to stay another night. Upon your arrival at the train station, you are met by one of those little golf cart buggies where they will take your luggage and give you tickets for the Gornergratbahn ride up to the hotel. The hotel provides free tickets for each guest for both your arrival and departure train rides.

We were in room #203 with the most spectacular views of the Matterhorn. The photo of the Matterhorn with the summit bathed in an orange glow was taken from our room at sunrise. The linens were the crispest, most amazing linens and the duvet cover was as puffy as it gets. The size of the room was very generous. The service was of the highest European quality! The breakfast buffet was another place I could have stayed all day. It was the typical Swiss breakfast where the buffet goes on forever with wonderful muesli, Swiss cheeses. creamy butter, breads, yogurts, fresh fruit, and traditional local meats.

The view of the Matterhorn from the pool is perhaps one of the best hotel pool views in the world!! The pool itself is like a giant hot tub with a series of jets, vibrations, and waves that ripple throughout the pool.

The proximity of the Riffelalp to the Gornergrat hiking system is also unbeatable. Out the hotel door and you can be hiking immediately. If you choose to ride the Gornergratbahn up and hike down the bahn is only around the corner. The trail running was breathtaking. In fact, the hotel is the endpoint for the Zermatt Trail Marathon which I hope to be doing in 2013. They were setting up for the race the day we arrived.

There is nothing upon which the Riffelalp does not deliver spectacularly. So please, if you find yourself in Zermatt, do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a stay at the Riffelalp Resort. You will find it very hard to return to reality. Hey, sometimes the Life Bus needs to park itself in Valet parking!!

Please note there are a few caveats about taking the Gornergratbahn to and from the Riffelalp. Here ya’ go:

The bahn is very easy to catch in town and is a scenic ride up to the hotel. From the place where the bahn drops you off to the hotel is about a 5 minute walk on a nice pathway. There is a caveat here that is very important to note. The ride on the bahn costs approximately $20 per person each way from the hotel to town. Todd and I thought we would just cruise up and down between the town and the hotel. We definitely got a wake up call when we walked down into town and then went to ride the bahn back up. It was $40 for the two of us to get back up to the hotel. Needless to say, we didn’t cruise down into town again. Instead, we enjoyed all of the hiking being in such close proximity to the hotel. You can ride the bahn from the hotel to the top of the Gornergratbahn and back down as well. These prices vary depending on the distance you are riding. Check the website for pricing, stops, times, etc. Gornergratbahn

Fall Color and Cathedral Lake, Aspen, CO

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[slideshow]

Fall in Colorado is hands-down my favorite time of the year. The air is crisp, aspen leaves are changing and it is the start of sweater and boot season. There is nothing better than driving up to the mountains in mid to late September to witness the colorful change of the season. My favorite place to go is Aspen, CO one of the most stunning mountain towns in Colorado.

My preference is to find a great hiking trail and soak it all in on foot. One of the best fall hikes in the area is Cathedral Lake. It is a difficult 6.4 round-trip hike as noted in the link, but the views are pretty gorgeous all the way up to the emerald green lake. Once you get to the lake, views of the ragged edges of the surrounding majestic peaks are abundant. The trek down, provides amazing views of the aspen covered valley below. If the lake doesn’t interest you, the first mile or so will take you through a rather large aspen grove where the photo opportunities are endless.

The drive to the trailhead takes you through the pristine Castle Creek Valley which, by itself, is well worth it. The gently winding road is lined with aspen grove after aspen grove. If you decide the hike is too much, you MUST do the drive at a minimum. An added bonus: You will pass by the ghost town of Ashcroft which was once home to 2,000 silver miners back in the day (specifically 1883). It is a pretty well preserved historical site if you are into such things.

Key tips: Start out early in the morning to find good parking and if you do so, wear warm layers as it will be cold up there. Be prepared for a potentially warm decent. Bring plenty of food and water – it is a strenuous hike so you might as well be hydrated and well fed. Consider kicking back at the lake with a picnic and a good book. Enjoy!

Zermatt – A Bucket List Must!!

The Best Darn Trail Runner Out There … La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0

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Let me preface this gear review by saying that I am by no means an expert trail runner. I am, however, an avid and obsessed trail runner who tries to run as often and as many trails as I possibly can. When my job took me to Wyoming, I would frequently find myself the only person around for miles period, let alone the only person on the trail. This, of course, would routinely freak my husband and my mother out.

I am also someone who has tried numerous trail shoes and could never find one that truly fit my narrowish, mildly pronating feet well until …. I met the La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0.

This shoe has revolutionized my trail running. This trail runner meets and exceeds all of my expectations. Many of the trails I run are loose, technical trails. This shoe has had great traction in every terrain in which I have found myself … including wet and slippery. The shoe is extremely light weight and comfortable. It feels almost weightless yet is rugged enough to protect and support my feet. Running with this shoe is the first time my feet haven’t hurt after long periods of time running on trails. There is a great toe bumper that has protected my tootsies many times. La Sportiva

I have to admit that, at first, I was very skeptical of the integrated lacing system. I thought I would forever be losing the laces under the material and not be able to fish them out easily. Quite the contrary, this system may be my favorite feature of them all. Instead of losing my laces all the time, this has been the easiest, quickest lacing system I have ever encountered. With other shoes, I was constantly having to stop my run to retie my shoes. With the Crosslite system, I never have to retie them. As an added bonus, you can tuck the laces under the upper material so you don’t have the loops catching on branches and other pointy things which could potentially cause some nasty spills. The Crosslite is also quite impressive in its ability to dry quickly after getting soaked. I have run through streams and snow and the shoe always dried immediately and without causing blisters.

So, the next time you find yourself on a trail you have discovered while on the Life Bus, I hope you will be giving these trail runners a test run!!

As I said in the beginning, I am not an elite trail runner … but these shoes make me feel like I am.

The Perfect Honeymoon – Hiking the Aspen Four Pass Loop

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[slideshow]If you’re looking for a honeymoon idea, let me suggest the Aspen Four Pass Loop as an option. Of course, you should throw in your dear friend and her husband and a sister-in-law to boot. Fellow Life Busers Pam and Greg and Cinda joined us for this adventure. What honeymoon is complete without a sister-in-law in the tent with you? All joking aside, hiking the Aspen Four Pass Loop with this crew was the icing on a perfect mountain-cabin wedding the weekend before.

Much has been written about this 26 mile stunning hiking loop with very good reason so I won’t bore you with all of the logistical details. That information can be found on numerous other websites. What I want to share are some reasons why this hike merits honeymoon and / or bucket list status. See 50 Places to Hike Before you Die by Chris Santella.

Our plans were to hike this loop over Labor Day and to spend 3 nights doing so. I know, I know it can be done by ultra-runners in a day but we wanted the opportunity to soak in all of the scenery and solitude. I would highly recommend the Labor Day timeframe. We had beautiful weather with a proverbial afternoon shower here and there. In true Colorado style, the storms left as soon as they came. You do have to time your hiking with these showers as there are vast expanses of exposed, treeless basins where you don’t want to be when it’s storming.

So, what did I love about this trip? Where should I begin. If you like to challenge yourself and work on your fitness, this route will do it for you. You cross four passes that will definitely get your ticker pumping and lungs burning. They are all higher than 12,000 feet with steep ascents and descents out of the wetland meadows below. In fact, except for the beginning and the very end, the loop never descends below 10,000 feet.

I love exercise as much as the next person but that wouldn’t be enough for this trip to merit the bucket list ranking if it didn’t have stunning scenery to complement the physical challenge. From the very start of the trek, you are treated with iconic imagery starting with the Maroon Bells and Crater Lake. Don’t be deterred by the number of people visiting this landmark. Once you head out towards West Maroon Pass you quickly leave people behind and, once you go up and over this first pass, the crowd thins out to almost nothing …. if not nothing. In fact, once we got over West Maroon until we descended Buckskin (the final pass), we saw only 2 other people the entire time. This route routinely gets rated one of the most scenic routes in Colorado for a reason. The views of the Maroon Bells and the rest of the Elk Mountains are breath-taking. The route takes you all the way around the Bells and Elk Mountains for virtually a 360 degree view of the rugged peaks. After each pass you descend into beautiful, lush, green wetland basins with excellent camping locations. The rugged beauty of Snowmass Lake was an unexpected jewel of this hike.

Another unexpected treat was the greeting we got from a family of mountain goats as we reached the top of Buckskin Pass. We were privileged enough to see these guys, even the baby, successfully navigate a steep snowfield.

The effort this trek requires is so worth every step. It is heart-warming to know that there is still such peace, solitude, and unspoiled beauty out there if you just go beyond the beaten path.

Yes, I think our marriage is stronger for having shared such a great honeymoon adventure with loved ones.

Lauterbrunnen: A Magical, Majestic Swiss Valley

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When the Life Bus took Todd and me to Switzerland, there was one place we had to see above all others – Lauterbrunnen. There aren’t enough adjectives to fully explain the beauty of this Swiss jewel. Lauterbrunnen, in the Bernese Oberland, is situated in one of the most beautiful glacial valleys in the world. This valley boasts more than 70 waterfalls, the most famous, Staubbach Falls, plunges more than 300 meters to the valley below. The valley itself is only about 1 kilometer wide and all around has imposing, granite walls rising straight out of the valley floor, at heights of thousands of feet. The valley floor is dotted with picturesque farms and their grazing cows, sheep, and goats. Many of these farms sell their own homemade dairy products. Running through the center of the valley is the glacially fed Weisse Luetschine river. The green of Lauterbrunnen valley is some of the most intense green you will ever see. [slideshow]

There is so much to do in this area. Todd and I enjoyed a beautiful run on a gravel footpath that runs most of the length of the valley. This gravel path hugs the river for quite a ways. It is a relatively short run but probably one of the most scenic I have ever done. The tiny, serene hamlet of Stechelberg lies at the end of the road in Lauterbrunnen valley. From here, you can access many hiking trails of all levels. The Swiss have hiking down to a fine art and have great trail signage. Look for the yellow and red plastic trail signs that are frequent and well placed. For those seeking even more adventure, there are via ferrata options in this area. BASE-jumping is also huge here. While we were on our run, we would hear the sounds of parachutes unfurling. Looking up we could see people in brightly-colored squirrel suits descending into the valley. Of course, Lauterbrunnen is also the gateway to some of the best known excursion destinations in the Jungfrau region. A railway links Lauterbrunnen with Wengen, perched high above Lauterbrunnen, and the Kleinen Scheidegg, the station where you change trains for the ride to the UNESCO Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region.

Todd and I ate outside at the Hotel Restaurant Stechelberg in the shadow of the Jungfrau. We had great typical Swiss food and great service. Hotel Restaurant Stechelberg We did not stay at the Alpenhof B&B in Stechelberg but it looked like a great, simple, peaceful place to try next time. From Stechelberg, you can also catch the cable car ride up to one of the area’s biggest attractions, the Schillthorn.

You definitely go to Lautrbrunnen for the scenery, not the lodging. We stayed at the Hotel Staubbach primarily for its proximity to the Staubbach falls and views of the valley. On that note it did not disappoint. We had a front-facing room with great views of the falls and some surrounding mountains. Do not expect any type of luxury, however from this hotel. It was basic and no-frills. We pretty much knew this going in and, therefore, weren’t unhappy with it. Given the Lauterbrunnen location, however, who wants to stay in their rooms anyway? Hotel Staubbach

Mohawk Lakes, Breckenridge, CO

Bears and the Gore Creek Trail, Vail, Colorado

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