Tour leading in Peru and Bolivia

Before I begin the latest update, I would like to share a few random thoughts and observations from the past few months.

On my second trip this year, I had a number of passengers who had visited Vietnam recently. In my previous experience, whenever anyone said something along the lines of "Back when I was in Vietnam..." it meant that they were a veteran and fought over there. It was strange to hear people beginning stories with those words and continuing on to mention tourism activities. But, it is good to hear pleasurable tales of this Southeast Asian country.

My favorite word in Spanish is 'Hablaba'. It means something along the lines of 'I used to talk'. How can you not like a language with a word like 'Hablaba'?

So far, after a few solo lessons in Japanese, my favorite Japanese word is 'Tokidoki'. It means 'sometimes'.

I have always known that Japanese would be hard to learn, but now I have a slightly better appreciation of just how difficult it will be. In an English language newspaper, there are about 50 symbols you need to know to read it. In Japanese, the official number for a newspaper is 1946, spread out over three different alphabets and one picture writing system. The picture writing system is similar to the Chinese writing and contains over 10,000 distinct pictures. A high school graduate is expected to be able to read and write over 3,000 of them.

As I continue to visit Inca sites, I am more and more impressed with their water control systems. They were masters of water. They built terraces with intricate subterranean aqueducts on mountain sides to control erosion and grow crops. In the religious areas, they built long series of ritual baths and were able to control the speed that the water flowed at. In one place, Ollantaytambo, they annually diverted a river. They brought big stones down the mountain side. Then they closed off one branch of the huge Urubamba river and put the stones on an island. Then they closed the other side of the river and brought the stones up the opposite side of the valley. Pretty impressive.

After I was mugged in Lima in February I became a little nervous. I became reluctant to walk alone in the poor areas on the edges of towns. I also stopped carrying more than US$100 on me when I walked around town. I did not like the feeling of having to take precautions, like a taxi, when I took out several hundred dollars from the bank and had to go back to the hotel to pay them. Luckily, after a few months, this fear is fading back to its normal level and I can comfortably walk around town with US$500 in my pocket again without being nervous. Life is so much more fun when you are not worried.

On the 23nd of March, I left Lima with seven new passengers. We visited Pisco and went to the Ballestas Islands to see the sea lions and penguins and birds. Then we went to the oasis of Huacachina for some sand boarding on the way to Nazca. From there it was on to Arequipa, the Colca Canyon, and Cuzco. Up until this point the trip was fraught with delays.

On the first day of travel, we arrived to Pisco early and had to wait on the side of the road for 15 minutes until our ride to town got there. The next day, I hired a private bus to take us to Nasca. When the mini-van arrived, the front left tire had a bit of an odd looking bulge in it. We spent twenty minutes looking for some air to put in the tire, never found any, gave up and started the drive south through the desert. After lunch in the oasis, we continued south. In the hills near the town of Rio Grande, a passing bus pointed out to us the fact that the front right tire was flat.
We pulled over and tried to get the spare. The spare tire was in a cage underneath the back of the van. The cage was stuck solid and we could not open it at first. Eventually, with one of my passengers leatherman tool we got the cage open and took out the spare. Twenty minutes later the new tire was on, and it was a bit flat. We discovered another spare tire under the van in the cage, but it was stuck. After twenty minutes of fiddling with it, we got it out. It looked like a tire from a golf cart. We put it on the van and headed off. The tire was too small and rubbed the rim. It did not turn, it just made an awful sound. At this point our driver took the flat spare and hitched into the nearby town to fill it with air.

When he got back, we put on the spare with air and headed off. The tire rubbed something and made and awful sound. We slowly drove to the next town. After an hour, which I spent talking with the local kids, the driver had the original tire fixed and we were on our way. We arrived in Nazca about three hours late and nobody was impressed.

From Nazca we waited for a very late night bus to Arequipa. When we finally left it was nearly one in the morning. About sunrise, the engine broke and we sat on the side of the road for a while. Then we drove for a few hours before parking on the side of the road for another hour. Eventually, we continued on, at a snail's pace. We arrived in Arequipa about five hours late.

The next day we were promised that we would not have any vehicle problems. We left Arequipa on the way to the Colca Canyon. At the edge of town a taxi cut us off and two policemen hopped out. They told us to drive back to their checkpoint before hopping in a bus going the other direction. When we got back to the place where they stand on the side of the road and flag down cars we found out that they had waved at us to stop, but our driver had not seen them. After thirty minutes and a small bribe we were on our way again.

A few days later we flew to Cuzco and went rafting. The difficult class V section was finally open and we opted for that. We made it through all of the rapids. At the last one we tried to park the raft in the wave and surf. Something did not work as planned, the raft flipped and we all had a nice short swim.

The next day we toured the Sacred Valley and spent the night in Ollantaytambo. From there we started the Inca Trail. At the end of the first day of hiking, I had time for a very enjoyable extra hike up a side valley with some of my passengers. We saw a great children's game between villages. Three little boys were walking in a line. The one in the back would try to sneak up and touch the one in front of him. The one in front would turn around very quickly and try to spit on the one behind. They looked like they were enjoying their sport greatly, but none of us chose to join in.

On the second day of the hike there was a lot of rain. While everyone else ate lunch and napped, I followed a waterfall up to a river and further on to a big lake. I had an excellent four hour side hike that afternoon. Two days later we made it to Machu Picchu. While they did the tour, I strolled up the nearby Machu Picchu mountain.

Back in Cuzco we had a free day before busing over to Puno. The bus to Puno left almost an hour late, because they had to put on new tires. After a few more delays we arrived in Juliaca for our normal 15 minute stop. After one minute, they told us all to get back on the bus and we left.

We drove around the bus station and entered it from the back side. There was a band, a large crowd, men in suits, police and TV reporters waiting for us there. I first visited the Juliaca bus station in 1999 and it looks exactly the same now as it did then. It still looks unfinished. But, they had decided that this day was the official grand-opening and we were the first bus to arrive on this celebratory day. We got off the bus, got our pictures taken and answered a few questions put to us by the reporters. Then we got back onto the bus. The bus started pulling out. The police whistled at us to stop and indicated that we were going out the in gate. The bus driver had to exit the proper gate, drive around the bus station again and out to the highway. We were on our way again.

From Puno we visited the floating reed islands of Uros and then spent the night on Amantani. I had a nice exploratory hike of the island. The next day, after a visit to Taquile Island, we went back to Puno and then on to Bolivia. At the border I got to argue with the guard about my Singaporian passengers visa and passport. Eventually, for only about fifty dollars, she was allowed in and we were on our way to La Paz.

In La Paz, Bolivia, we said goodbye and I had a great couple of hikes in the nearby mountains.
On the 12th of April, I met my new group and we started the same trip I had just finished, but going in the opposite direction. I also met Benjamin, my trainee. He joined us on the trip and besides leading the tour, I trained him on how to be a GAP tour leader.

We crossed into Peru and went to Puno. We visited the islands and then went back to Puno. We were supposed to take a day bus to Cuzco, but a strike had closed the road. We explored Puno for the day and took a night bus instead. An hour into the ride, in Juliaca, we saw burning tires and rocks in the road. A man ran down the aisle of the bus yelling at us to turn off the TV and lights and to shut the curtains on the windows. Out the front window, I could see a bunch of men standing around in the intersection while some police watched them. After an hour or so, they all left and we continued on to Cuzco.

We had a free day in Cuzco, did the Sacred Valley tour and started the Inca Trail. That afternoon I had time to go further up the valley I first explored in March. The second day I explored another pass and nearby valley. The third day I had time to check out an extra little peak in the area. On the fourth day, while they toured the Machu Picchu ruins, I hiked an hour down to the river and an hour up the Putu Kussey mountain on the other side. This was a very scary climb. Some sections of the trail were tall and vertical cliffs. There were wet and slippery wooden ladders bolted to the wall. The climb up was a bit challenging, but rewarding.

The day after the Inca Trail, four of us went rafting. We flipped at the beginning of the biggest set of rapids. I fell out and knocked one of my passengers into the water with me. He lost both of his shoes and bruised his shoulder pretty bad before being quickly rescued. Then I floated near Ben for a while. He lost his shoe and was eventually rescued by another raft. Before the raft could save me, I went under the water and we lost sight of each other. It was very dark and peaceful under the water while I was waiting to pop back up and struggle for a quick breath before being sucked back under.

Then I was being washed downstream next to another one of my passengers. He grabbed onto the back of the rescue kayak, washed around a big rock and was deposited on the shore by the kayaker, minus one shoe and with a bruised thigh and scraped toes. Before the big rock, which I really wanted to avoid, I managed to swim to an eddy and pulled myself ashore with both shoes and only a scraped shin.

Eventually, the kayak came to rescue us. This involved us holding on while he pulled us into the rapids. A raft quickly caught up to us, and without too much more punishment, we were pulled in. Him first, naturally. I was still enjoying the swim.

Ben and I did manage to fall in one more time near the end, but we were quickly rescued and it was uneventful.

We flew from Cuzco to Arequipa and enjoyed a free day there. Then we went on to the Colca Canyon. It is a great place, but we are always rushed there with only two days. I rearranged the trip and we spent three days up there. On our full day in the Canyon, we hiked down to the river. We had lunch and did a bit of swimming before hiking back to the top.

After returning to Arequipa, we took the regularly scheduled night bus to Nasca, flew over the lines and toured the area and went on up to the oasis for some sandboarding. Two days later we were in Lima and had our farewell dinner.

I spent a few free days with my friends Luis and Karem. Then I took a bus to the mountains for a quick get away before my final trip with GAP. Four hours from Lima, at sea level, I was crossing over a pass in the Andes at 4818 meters (somewhere around 15,000 feet). I continued on the bus past Junin and got off in Carhaumayo. The next day I did a nice 12 or so mile walk up the valley and over the small pass at the end. I took a bus to Morococha, the nearest small town to the 4818 meter pass called Ticlio. Morococha has no hotels, but I met a woman, whose son took me to see his uncle who directed us to another uncle's house. I rented a most disgusting and dirty room for the night in this high altitude mining town. The bathroom was the alley behind the house. I ate in a small cafeteria and helped three young students with their English.

The next day, I took a bus up to the pass and had a pleasant five hour hike up in the mountains. I saw a bit of snow and also saw five vicunas. My previous day's hike was fun, but not challenging. This day, at over 5,000 meters, I was having fun. At one point in my explorations, I had to make my way down a cliff. Looking back at it, I could not figure out how I had done it.

That afternoon I went back to Lima and spent a day or two there before my current trip started.
On the 10th of May, I left Lima with my eight new passengers and my new trainee, Stephane. We visited Pisco and the oasis before getting to Nazca. After a long delay due to fog, they did their flights over the lines and we left for Arequipa. Normally we take a night bus, but we had to leave earlier than normal to avoid the nationwide strike on the 14th of May.

We arrived in Arequipa late last night. Today is a free day for everyone. The strike is pretty interesting. People are protesting the government in general and privatization in particular. There are broken bottles and rocks in the streets and lots of people marching with signs and chants. The riot police are well positioned, but all has been quiet so far.

Ecuador, working in Peru and Bolivia and a visit to Florida

I know, I know, it has been a long time since I have updated these pages. But, I can assure you, it has not been for lack of anything to say.

I spent the last two weeks of November and first two weeks of December continuing my Spanish Language studies in Cuenca. I finally advanced enough to learn something called the Subjunctive. We do not have anything like it in English and I found it difficult. Maria Elena, my teacher worked with me and I at least understand the concept now. I hold my cousin Nancy personally responsible for all of my difficulties. She has studied lots of French and should be aware of this difficult form of verb conjugation. She did not warn me at all.

In the middle of November I had planned to go to the nearby National Park of Cajas for a weekend camping trip. Unfortunately, the Ecuadorian government had other plans. They banned the sale of alcohol at noon on Saturday and declared martial law on Sunday until 5:00 pm. Only census workers were allowed out on Sunday. The census workers were high school students. They went door to door through-out the country and asked a series of questions about the people in each house. Even tourists and students were included in the count. When it was my turn to sit with the census taker, my whole Ecuadorian family gathered around to watch the show. They were especially amused when I came to the question of my race. I had to choose between Indian, black, mixed, and several others. I replied that I was 100% gringo and the census taker seemed to find a place on her form for that.

The day before the census I did manage a trip out to Cajas for a day hike. It was its usual gray day, but I had a good time. The next weekend I headed out with my tent and camping equipment. I took a bus to one side of the park and spent three days walking to the other side. It was a little cold, but I had a great time. When I packed up on Monday morning to head back to town, my tent was still covered with frost. Mario was impressed when I got home and unrolled my tent. We shook it out over the balcony and watched it snow down below. For my last weekend in Cuenca, I led a guided tour to the park. Several of the Spanish teachers and students at my school asked me to take them to the park and lead them on a hike. I had discovered a fairly easy four hour walk that was mostly down hill and took them for a nice walk. Even though it rained alot, we had fun.

The 4th of December was a school day, but I enjoyed it anyway. I spent the morning of my 30th birthday studying Spanish in my room. My family made a nice lunch for me and even got a cake. Then I went to class for the afternoon. I told my teacher that I was now older and she should begin to use the formal Usted form and not the informal tu form when addressing me. She complied. That night dad called and I had a nice chat on the phone with dad, Elizabeth and Emily.
My six weeks of classes ended in the middle of December and I started north immediately. I visited Riobamba and looked at the pretty mountains in the middle of Ecuador. I had planned to come back and climb them, but first I headed for Quito, the capital. I had wanted to get a job leading tours down here eventually, so I swung by the Quito office of GAP Adventures, a Canadian company that does tours in Latin America. On Monday, the 17th of December, I had an interview, in Spanish mind you. On the 18th I signed a six month contract and on the 19th I flew to Lima, Peru to start working.

I spent a few days in the Lima office learning the ropes and then set off on my self-training trip. My first trip started on the 28th of December in La Paz, Bolivia. I took five days to get there and visited Pisco, Nasca, Arequipa and Puno along the way. I stopped in those cities to meet the local operators and check out the hotels. It was nice to be able to show up in a town, say who I am , and have people offer me free hotel rooms and meals again.

GAP is a bit different than Trek America. It is much easier. We take public buses, so I do not have to drive. We stay in hotels and eat in restaurants, so we do not have to camp or cook every night. We have local guides every where we go, so I do not have to be the person who is knowledgeable about everything and know all of the answers. It is enjoyable and I will have fun for the entire six months.

For my first trip I only had three passengers, three young people from Sydney, Australia. The first day of the trip I took them up to the hills and we had a nice hike. The second day we had lunch in Copacabana and went on to Puno, Peru.

On the 31st, we visited the man-made floating islands of Uros. They are made of reeds and if you stand in one place too long, you will sink. We spent the night on Amanatni Island and danced around the bonfire to welcome in the new year. On Amantani, the group splits up into pairs and we are each adopted by a local family. We get to hang out in their dark kitchen, watch the guinea pigs run around and see our food being cooked over a fire. They do not eat much meat on the island, so or meals are generally eggs, potatoes and rice, with some quinoa soup.

On the 1st we visited the nearby island of Taquile before returning to Puno. Then we had a day long bus ride to Cuzco and went river rafting the next day. Then we took a tour of the Sacred Valley and visited the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Pisaq and Ollantaytambo before starting the four day Inca Trail. After we got to camp the first night, they collapsed and I went on a quick two hour hike up the mountainside. The next day we went up to the 13,000 foot pass and they rested while I took a quick one hour side hike up the mountainside. The second day is very long and I did not have time for an evening hike in the rain. The third day we went to Winaywinay and checked out those impressive ruins. The fourth day we had our tour of Machu Picchu and returned to Cuzco to have a free day.

From Cuzco, we flew to Arequipa and took a two day tour of the Colca Canyon. We soaked in the hot springs of Chivay and looked for condors in the valley. After a free day in Arequipa, we took an over night bus to Nasca in time to fly over the lines and tour the cemetery, gold extraction plant and pottery factory before lounging by the pool all afternoon. The next day we went to one of my favorite places in all of Peru for lunch, Huacachina. This is the desert oasis that I spent some time at in 1999 and 2000. We rented sand boards and played on the big dunes. Then we came to Lima and that was the end of my first three week tour for GAP.

I had a few days off between trips and decided to go for a walk one day. I walked south along the beach and rounded a rocky point. From this final beach the road turned inland and a dirt road continued along the coast. I was amazed that after only one hour of walking from the office, I had found a quiet place in a city of eight million. I passed the last few people along the coast, a couple of fishermen, and enjoyed another thirty minutes of feeling like I was in the middle of nowhere. Then I found out that those last two fisherman had trouble making ends meet and were also thieves. They came up from behind me and held a sharp piece of glass to my neck. They made me sit down and searched me for money. They found my wallet and were very excited indeed to find over US$200, which is more than a month's normal wages. One of them told the other to count it, but that seemed like a ridiculous request to me and the other guy, since they already had the money and did not need to waste time with me around. Then they searched me for a cell phone and seemed a bit disappointed that I did not have one. Maybe they felt a little bad about taking so much, so they explained to me that they were hungry and needed the money to eat. I guess they are better robbers than fishermen because when they walked away they had a lot more money than fish. They did not leave me with even a cent, so I had to walk the hour and a half back to the office. Luckily, GAP is a very understanding company and I was able to put the whole loss on my expense accounts.

The next day I started the same three week trip, back to La Paz. Except, in February, the regular Inca trail is closed for cleaning and raining, so we did an easier trail, called the Ecological Trail, that parallels the river and has no high passes, which all ten of my passengers were perfectly happy with. On the second day, one of my passengers, a 63 year old grandmother, fell about twenty feet off a cliff. She crashed through trees for the first 15 feet or so and then dropped straight down the last six feet or so. A moment after she landed on her backside, a rock bigger than her head landed squarely on her chest. I raced down there to look for the body, but she was perfectly (almost) fine. She had a large but shallow cut on her arm and a bruised ankle. She also had trouble breathing. We took the hour walk to camp slowly and then I accompanied her and her husband to town to visit the doctor. Amazingly, nothing was broken and she was able to continue the trip, although a bit more slowly for the first few days.

When we visited Amantani Island I had a great conversation in Spanish with our local grandmother in the kitchen. The next day I discovered that, like most old people and kids under six, she did not speak Spanish, only Quechua. Oh well.

We were supposed to drive to La Paz on the 13th of February, but the Bolivian workers were on strike and blocking the highways. So, instead, we left the Festival of the Virgen of Candelaria in Puno and took a night bus back to Cuzco. The next morning we flew to La Paz and ended our trip.

On the 15th of February I flew back to Florida. On the 20th of February I had an interview at the Japanese Consulate in Miami to teach English in Japan as part of the JET Programme. I had to wear a jacket and tie for the first time since 1989. I think the interview went well and I hope to hear back from them any week now.

After a good two week visit with all of my Florida family, I flew back to Lima. I handed out all of mom's homemade brownies and zucchini breads and then met my new group of eight for a two week trip. We flew to Puno and visited the islands of Lake Titicaca before going to Cuzco. We hiked the regular Inca Trail and got very wet. It is still rainy season. I had time for some nice side hikes on days one and two while every one rested. On the last day of the Inca Trail we got up at 4:00am and went to see the sunrise over the ruins, but the rain did not let up and we got cold and wet instead. We went back to Cuzco that evening for fruit and chocolate fondue. After a brief visit to the bar, I went back to the hotel and slept until 5:00am.

At around 5:00am I heard a knock on my door. I opened it and Carol, one of my passengers, told me that her friend Craig had been kidnapped and she had been robbed. I followed her down to reception to try to get the whole story. She did not remember anything after leaving the club and before waking up in her bed. By then, Craig and her money and credit cards were gone. She went up to her room while I found out who had brought her home and when they had left. Then she came down nearly hysterical because the bathroom door was locked and Craig was still missing. I went up and opened the door to the empty bedroom, then I went to the club and found Craig watching sunrise over the plaza. I convinced him to stagger home and demonstrate that he was okay to Carol. Then I spent an hour going around town to find the numbers to call to cancel the credit cards. Eventually, Carol cancelled the cards. Later she decided that maybe she had spent all of her money on drinks. Also, later, she found her credit cards in her shoe.
The next day we went to the airport, and after many hours of delay, flew to Puerto Maldonado, in the jungle of the Amazon Basin of Peru. We took a boat up the very muddy and swollen Tambobata River to our lodge, Posada Amazonas. Our rooms were in a very well constructed bamboo building, with one entire side of the room open to the jungle. Also, there was no electricity and the room doors were only curtains. We did have private bathrooms, but no hot water in the shower. The beds had mosquito nets to protect us as we slept. It was a beautiful place.

The next day we woke up before sunrise and went on a boat trip to see the abundant bird life and some river otters. Then we went for a swim in the river before lunch and a nap. Before dinner, we visited a natural medicine clinic and learned about each tree in the garden and which diseases it could treat.

Last Sunday, we our flight was again greatly delayed, but we eventually took off. We landed for a thirty minute layover in Cuzco. Unfortunately, rumor has it, that a person who was already very sick before he got on the plane, died after we had landed in Cuzco. It took several hours of waiting in the airport until the police were done and the body was removed from the plane before we could carry on with our flight.

We eventually made it back to Lima and had our farewell dinner. Now I am spending the week getting ready for my next trip and visiting my friend, Luis. Tomorrow, I begin my three week trip to La Paz.

My first two weeks in Cuenca, Ecuador

Hello from my new home town, Cuenca, Ecuador. I have been having a good time here and learning a lot. For the past two weeks, I have been taking four hours of Spanish lessons every day. My Spanish teacher, Maria Elena, also has a weekly gathering of students to go to a museum or have dinner together and practice Spanish. The Spanish Schools all charge five to seven dollars per hour for lessons. Maria Elena teaches at a school, but I take my classes at her house for only $3.50 per hour.

Maria Elena also helped me to find a family to live with. I live about thirty minutes, walking, from the center of town. Downstairs, lives Olga and her two younger children; Diego (22) and Maria Eugenia (27) and the dog, Otto (3). I live upstairs with Olga's older daughter Sylvania (28) and her husband Mario (29). Sylvania is pregnant and expecting her first baby (0) on my birthday, in early December.

They are a fun family to live with, except Sylvania works too hard. She works five hours per day at a school as a secretary and also makes all of the meals and cleans and does laundry. She does a very good job on my clothes, especially considering she washes them by hand. For some reason, she will not let me help much in the kitchen either. Once, when she was not looking, I cleared my own plate and washed it, but usually she stops me before I even stand up from the table. Maybe after the baby comes, I will be able to help out more. Not that they expect me to help out much. I could get a decent apartment for $100 per month in town and I am paying them $270 for the month, and that includes meals and laundry. I have my own room and bathroom and TV.

In the poor neighborhoods of Cuenca, people use dogs for night time security. In the middle and upper class areas, they use guards. Every few blocks there is a small shack on the sidewalk, that if fixed up, would make a good chicken coop. The night time guard is based out of the shack and walks around the neighborhood all night, guarding. The obvious problem with this system, is how do people know that the guard is guarding and not sleeping or drinking? They have reached a very interesting solution. In front of every house, each time he passes on his rounds, the guard whistles very, very loudly to let everyone know he is working. Usually, he does this only between two in the morning and five. Each house pays two or three dollars per month to the guard. In the days leading up to the 1st and 15th he works harder, to earn the money. The first week or so, it is mostly quiet. By the second week, he is waking me up about once per hour. In the days leading up to payday, he might pass by the house five times in an hour. I am considering giving him $30 and telling him to take the month off. As I told my new family, the thieves make less noise.

My Spanish lessons are going well. I am learning a lot from my family and a lot from my teacher. I am happy with my progress, even though I still can not speak too fast. I learned a bunch more verb conjugations and it takes for ever for me to sort through them in my head before I try speaking. I read "The Little Prince" in Spanish and am now working my way through "Robinson Crusoe".

On my first weekend with my family we played volleyball on Saturday. On Sunday we woke up early and went to mass at the church. In the afternoon we went up to the nearby National Park of El Cajas. We went to a well stocked lake and caught a bunch of trout.

This past weekend I headed up to Cajas on my own for a day of hiking. I left the house at six in the morning. I got a lot of bad information about buses, but finally left the city at eight. The ride up to the top of the park was short, and by nine I was hiking. I started well above tree line and hiked up a ridge, to a bit over 10,000 feet. Cajas has over 275 named lakes and is popular for fishing. I hiked for many hours, over mountains and around lakes. Around 3:30 in the afternoon I met some fishermen. Like every one else in Ecuador, they asked if I was cold because I was wearing shorts. I wasn't. They told me that I could continue down the valley and get to the highway in about an hour. I started down and soon reached the cloud forest. The going got very slow and my arms and legs got very scratched. I did see a deer though. After two hours I made it down the steep mountain side of trees to the valley floor. Another hour or so brought me to the highway. The sun sets a little after six in the afternoon, so it was good and dark by the time I got to the highway. I was about 12 miles from Cuenca. I had planned to take a bus back, but they do not stop for anyone after dark. They are afraid of being robbed. So, I walked about five or six miles to the edge of town and caught a taxi home. All in all, I walked about 18 miles, for ten hours and got all scratched up. Obviously, it was a great day. I can not wait to go back next weekend and camp out.

Yesterday we went to another town, with a nice church for mass. After that we took a driving tour of the area and they showed me the sights.

Cuenca is a bit bigger than I first thought. Every estimate of population I see is a bit bigger than the previous one. Now, I think the city has about 600,000 people. There are some nice hot springs nearby and the city is surrounded by mountains. The biggest problem, for me, is air pollution in the city center. They have a lot of old buses and they still use leaded gasoline. A river bisects the town and I enjoy walking along it. They have made a bunch of nice parks out of the river and have lots of playgrounds. They have fun toys in the playgrounds that you do not see in the U.S. anymore. They have flying foxes and see-saws.

Soccer is very popular in Ecuador. Two weeks ago, Ecuador qualified for its first ever trip to the World Cup, which will be held in Japan and Korea next year. The day after the game was pretty much a national holiday. They have several hours per day of soccer news on the TV. The newscasters are reading Japanese phrase books on the air, to prepare. The commercials show Ecuadorian people putting their fingers to their eyes and pulling on them to make slanty Asian eyes. The whole country is very excited.

People seem fairly politically active here. Last week a bunch of young men marched to protest the price of electricity. They threw rocks and the police tanks launched some sort of gas. There is also a lot of political graffiti in the city. Some of it is anti-CIA and anti-U.S. war in Afganistan. Apparently, the capital city of Quito is famous for its graffiti and has museums for it.

I am enjoying my studying down here and learning a lot of Spanish and a lot about Ecuador.
Ooh, this is exciting. I think this week's riot just started outside. This week it is against the high price of buses, which cost about 13 cents each trip. A bunch of people just ran by covering their mouths and noses. I guess the police are shooting tear gas in the center. I think I can smell it a little in here, but it not as strongly as in Denver last June. The Internet cafe where I am at has closed the metal front door so I can not tell what is going on anymore. Luckily the protests are generally short-lived and don't really get out of hand. It seems to be a pleasant diversion for the young men.

....I just had to change Internet cafes. The police let off two tear gas canisters right outside the last one and we had to go to the back room and light a small fire. Once the air cleared, I decided to try another Internet cafe off of the weekly riot route.

This all reminds me of something I realized last week. I think one of the things I like about third world countries is the fact that not everything always works the way it is supposed to. Because of this, I am always learning something new, and I like to learn new things. For example, if I want to take a hot shower, I may not be able to because there is no electricity. Or maybe there is no water, or maybe the hot water maker is not working, or who knows why. The point is, there are always reasons why things don't work that I could never imagine on my own. So, I end up learning something every day.

Colorado, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Massachussets, Peru and into Ecuador

Well, look at that. Another few months have gone by.

At the end of August, I left Dolores, Colorado and headed back up to Telluride. I spent the week working for the Telluride Film Festival. On Monday night I worked in the office and on Tuesday I painted objects, and parts of me, black. The rest of the week I had the best job ever. I handed out free goodie bags to the staff of the Festival. People came into my office and I gave them lots of nice stuff. They were very appreciative and it was a lot of fun.

Susie came back out to work at the festival and John came up to watch movies. All told, I saw about 18 movies that week. For two days straight I saw five movies a day, boy was my bottom sore. On the Sunday of that Labor Day Festival, I served ice cream in the park and then went and watched some more movies. I saw a lot of really excellent movies, a few I did not understand and some I did understand but did not appreciate.

After a day of hiking to get some blood flow back to our legs, Susie and I went back to Denver. I spent a few hours with my friend Wendy and then went back to Colorado Springs with Karla. We did a nice hike and hung out. Then Karla went back to school and I spent the day at REI, the outdoor equipment store.

On the 11th of September I left Colorado Springs to go back to Florida. An hour into the flight the pilot announced that, for security reasons, we had to land. We landed in Amarillo, Texas and were told about the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. All the planes were grounded and I spent a few days in Amarillo with lots of other stranded people. We made the local news a lot and mostly sat around and talked. American Airlines was nice enough to put us up at the Holiday Inn and buy us our meals.

On the 13th, I flew on to Dallas. The four other passengers and I all got to sit in First Class for the 44 minute flight. I guess it was back to business as usual for the airlines. They lost my luggage and one other guys. My flight back to Florida was delayed for several hours because they could not find a flight crew willing to join us. Eventually they did and I got back to Florida in the wee hours of the 14th.

I spent a few weeks visiting family and then went up to New Jersey to do the same. I saw Uncle Jim. He gets upset if I do not mention him specifically by name. I also hung out in New York with Milo and saw him perform a puppet show, which is his job. Then I went up to Boston and Connecticut to visit family there. I ate out a bunch with my dad and played with my sister. I also put a bunch of pictures on to my picture pages. You should check out the new pictures. The format is my best effort ever at making my web page fancy in any way, shape, or form.
After a three weeks up there, I flew back to Florida for another week and a half of family visits. I also had a chance to mail off an application to work in Japan.

On the morning of the 26th of October, I flew to Costa Rica and spent the day wandering around the capital, San Jose. In the evening I flew down to Lima, Peru. I spent the weekend with my friends Karem and Luis. I had a lot of fun with them for the weekend and then headed north. On the 29th, I took a bus to Trujillo and enjoyed the scenic desert coast of Peru. On the 30th, I took a few different buses up to Tumbes, Peru and spent the night there. Yesterday, I crossed into Ecuador and bussed up here to Cuenca.

Cuenca has over 200,000 inhabitants and is a little bigger than I prefer. But, it seems like a nice town otherwise. There are a lot of plazas and the surrounding hills look pretty close for some walking around. I have spent today looking for a family to live with and a teacher to study under. I plan to spend six weeks here studying Spanish. Spending that long in one place may prove challenging, but I think I can do it. I hope to start lessons on Monday.

The currency of Ecuador is the Dolar. One Dolar is equal to one US Dollar. In fact they do not even produce there own bills, they just use American money. They do have their own coins, but use American ones as well. So, I am in the middle of Latin America, spending dollars as the local currency. It is very easy to convert one Dollar into one Dolar. You just remove one of the "l"s from the American money and you have Ecuadorian money. The only problem with the system, as is common thorough out the world, is the fact that torn bills are either not accepted or not worth as much as the face value. I am already stuck with a five dollar bill that is missing a corner. I will probably be stuck with it until I return to the US in February.

Two months with Susie, hiking Utah canyons and Colorado mountains

It has been an exciting summer. I have been very busy and had a lot of fun. In fact I have been so busy that I have not had time to update my web page for quite some time. I apologize, in advance, it this update gets too long.

Way back on the 13th of June, Susie and I left Denver. We headed south towards my favorite place in the U.S., Great Sand Dunes National Park. We got to the park and camped in the campground. It was a cold and rainy day, so wearing hats, rain pants and Goretex jackets, we headed onto the sand dunes for an introductory stroll. We took our sandals and socks off to cross the stream. It was a unique experience to walk on the cold hard sand in full rain gear and bare feet. Of course, our feet were soon frozen from the cold wind and rain.

That night it snowed. When I woke up early the next morning, the dunes were covered with snow. I had been hoping to someday see the dunes like this, and here was my chance. Susie was still on her city sleep schedule, so I had time for a two hour walk to watch the snow melt on the sand before she woke up.

After breakfast we got our backcountry camping permit from the visitor center and headed out onto the trail. We walked the same way I went last year with Karla and Daniel. Only this year, we continued on around to the far side of the dunes and then turned into the dunes to camp for the night. We went to a stream for water and to eat dinner and then had a hard time finding the tent in the dark.

The next morning, I went for another long stroll on the dunes before Susie woke up. After breakfast, we played on the sand some more and then packed up. We headed straight across the dunes, back to the car. Crossing the dunes through the middle was another thing I had been hoping to do for many years.

After our first backpacking trip of the summer, we headed west to visit my friends John and Cathy and their family near Cortez, Colorado. We visited with them for the weekend and then continued our journey west.

We ended up at the Grand Gulch Primitive Area of Southeastern Utah and set off on a three day hike. We hiked down Kane Gulch and spent the night at the bottom of a deep an fairly wide canyon. On day two of this walk along the dry river bed, we missed all of the natural springs we were looking for. We sat out the hot afternoon in the shade of the huge red canyon walls. After a fruitless search for non-muddy water we continued down the canyon to the place where Bullet Canyon joined the main canyon. We camped there and filtered water from a nice and not to buggy pool of water. The next day we hiked up the new canyon and back to the road. This area is famous for Anazasi ruins and we were not disappointed. We saw many 800 year old cliff dwellings.

This hike followed a deep canyon through red rock cliffs, but had no running water and very few natural springs, none of which we were able to locate. We decide that all future desert backpacking trips would be along rivers so that water would never be a problem again.
After a night in the national forest near Natural Bridges National Monument, we checked out the natural bridges and went for a swim in Lake Powell. Then we drove into the Dark Canyon Primitive Area and set out on a five day camping trip. On the 21st of June, we hiked down a very steep canyon wall. Susie ended up with a handful of cactus thorns and not for the last time this summer, the tweezers on my pocket knife came in handy. We found a beautiful spot at the bottom of the canyon, right on the river, with a nice swimming hole only yards from our tent. We expected good weather, so we did not even bring the rain fly for the tent down with us.

On the second day, a squirrel ate a hole in my tent, trying to get to the food. We hung the food from a tree and headed off down the canyon. We followed the river for a few miles, stopping occasionally to jump in and cool off, until it disappeared in the mud. Shortly after that, we came to the Colorado River, although technically, they call it Lake Powell even though it still has a current. When we got there, we were greeted by a group of people on a huge, commercial, motorized raft. Floating on the river looked like fun, so we blew up our $2.00, Wal-Mart inflatable air mattresses and joined the fun. We floated around on the river for a while and then hiked back to camp to find that the squirrel had gotten to some of our food.

On the third day of this trip, we hiked upstream from our camp. Progress was slow, because we made a lot of swimming stops. We walked a few miles that day and returned to camp, to find that the squirrel had figured out a way to get a little bit more of our hanging food.

Susie took a reading and swimming rest day the next day and I put on my boots (after days of only sandals) and hiked six miles up the river to where another stream joined the one I was following. I looked at the nice waterfall and then went back down to camp. On our final day in the Dark Canyon, we headed downstream again. On our previous trip in this direction, we took a trail along the cliff side, above the river. Today I wanted to follow the river bottom through the slightly more narrow sections. This was a lot of fun because it involved jumping off cliffs into deep pools and some rock climbing around boulders. We returned to camp to discover that the squirrel had outsmarted us again. That evening we hiked back up to the car.

We had read about a canyon section called the "Black Hole". It is very narrow and very deep. It is also filled with water and very cold. To do this two mile hike/swim you need a very hot day with no rain in the forecast. Unfortunately, the next day was rainy and chilly. We did not want to get hypothermia or caught in a flash flood, so we decided to skip the Black Hole. See, when it comes to adventurous outdoor activities, I can use good judgement and common sense. We drove back to Colorado and visited my friend John again.

Susie had to go back to Denver for her friends wedding, so I stayed in Cortez. John's parents flew out from North Carolina and we all drove up to Grand Junction to watch John graduate from his three year residency program. He has now finished his nine years of medical training and is a full fledged doctor.

John graduated on the 29th of June, and on the next day the two of us set out on a four day backpacking trip. We hiked up a steep mountainside and camped at about 11,000 feet. We saw a herd of about 40 elk and also heard some coyotes howl. The next day we had to cross two high passes. It was a cold and wet day and we got pelted by the hail. We found an old mining cabin in the mountains and moved in there. The next day was clear and sunny, so we hiked over a ridge and down to a lake. There was a pipeline leading from this lake up to our cabin. We followed it back. At one point John found a little knob on the top of the pipe. He stepped on it and water, under great pressure, shot out and soaked me. It was pretty funny. There were some sections of very steep snow along our chosen route. I figured out that we could climb them by pretending our fingers were ice axes and our boots were crampons. It was fun going straight up the snow banks.

On the 3rd of July, we hiked down to Telluride and went back to John's house, after a brief visit with my cousin Susan at her office in town. The next day, Susie and I were both eager to get back on the road. We drove back into Utah and visited Goosenecks State Park. We admired the deep entrenched meander of the San Juan River and then went to Mexican Hat to visit our friends at the Cowboy Camp. We drove down to the cowboy camp, and to our surprise, it was deserted. Nobody was home, but after a little while, three locals came floating by in their little inflatable kayaks. I hoped in a kayak and Susie took the one remaining functioning air mattress and we floated down the San Juan River, through the one big rapid and on into town. We went up to the trailer park and just missed Slim, but did get to visit with Cody.

That night was a beautiful full moon and we took a great walk up a canyon and out onto the desert. The next morning Betty and Rusty came down to say "Hi" and then we went and visited them at their trailer for a little while before pushing on. We cut through Arizona, shopped in Page and ended up at the campground owned by our friend Easton in southern Utah.

Easton's, like the Cowboy Camp, is known as a party place for Trek America groups. We were surprised to find a second popular tour spot devoid of tourists. After a quiet night, we were ready for our next backpacking trip. In the middle of the afternoon, we started our six day hike into the Pariah Canyon - Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area. We followed the river bottom down into the Pariah Canyon. Soon it got pretty deep and narrow. Some sections were only about ten feet wide, but most of it was much wider. We found a nice safe place to camp, high above any potential flash floods, and stopped for the night. It was a beautiful warm night and I enjoyed listening to the echo of the flapping wings of the ravens as they flew by.

The second day of our Pariah Canyon hike was a bit rainy. We continued downstream found a fresh water spring or two and camped on another high spot. Along the way, we stopped to hike up a side canyon. This one was amazing, because after hiking to the top of the short canyon, we climbed over a high point and came down to the main canyon through a different side canyon. Essentially, we had just hiked along the bottom of a deep circular canyon. For some reason, hiking in a circle at the bottom of a canyon appeals to me.

During this hike, I sank a little bit into the mud and then fell over and had to crawl out on my hands and knees. I guess Susie knew I would be okay, because instead of giving me a hand, she laughed and took pictures.

From our second camp, we did a day hike downstream. We found a side canyon and hiked up that to look at an arch. On the way back to camp we were caught in a strong wind and got sand blasted. On the morning of our fourth day down there, we hiked back towards our first night's camp. Just before we got there, we found a wide, open cave in the red cliffs to sleep in. We put the tent up under the overhanging rock and pretended we were ancient Indians on our own personal Anazasi ledge. Also, we played checkers.

The next day was a lazy day and in the late afternoon we moved camp a mile upstream. We walked up the Pariah River, and at the confluence, started up Buckskin Gulch. We set up camp and then went for a stroll. We both enjoyed an after dinner stroll, especially when the weather was warm and the twilight was long.

We hiked up the narrow Buckskin Gulch and made a lot of stops to climb around on the interestingly shaped walls. About a mile from camp, we came to a chokestone, a huge boulder blocking the canyon. I managed to climb up the rock. Susie had some difficulty getting started on the climb, so I came around to help her from the bottom. I walked around the boulder, at the top, until I came to a hole behind it. I squeezed through the hole and ended up below the boulder. From there I could walk out from underneath it and back around to where Susie was still trying to get started on the climb. A few seconds after I got there, she managed to get onto the boulder and climbed to the top.

Once she made it up, she disappeared behind the rock, on her way back down. Then, I heard the sounds of something falling and of something breaking. I shouted up to ask if she was okay and was answered by a low moan. I asked again if she was alright and her response was again a low moan. I raced under the boulder and up the hole and around the bend to discover her lying upside down in a different hole. Only her butt and legs were hanging out. She started to repeat "Get me out of here." She was wedged in, upside down and could not move. I looked down the hole and figured out that the breaking sound was some wood she had hit when she slipped and fell.

When I peered into the hole, I could see blood pouring out of her head and down onto the rocks below. I pulled her out and the blood stopped running up her head and started down her body instead. She had a good sized cut on her head, but we were able to stop the bleeding with my t-shirt and some pressure. After a very brief rest, we went back to camp and I got to play doctor, or at least nurse. We cleaned the wound, put some anti-biotic ointment on it and then wrapped her head in an ace bandage. We also cleaned the rest of the blood off of her and counted up the few other scrapes and bruises she had on the rest of her body. Don't worry, we got some good pictures and I hope to have them on the web site in a month or two. Oh yeah, and by the way, she is also fine.

So, after an exciting evening, we went to sleep and then planned to hike out Buckskin Gulch the next day. We started up and quickly came to the deepest, narrowest part of the day. Susie waded through the water and I took her picture. Then I started for the thigh deep pools for my picture. Before I got very far, a six inch wall of muddy water came around the bend. It was too small to call a flash flood, so we called it a flash stream instead. We did not know if a bigger wall was going to follow it, but we did know that it would make the rest of Buckskin Gulch very muddy and difficult.

We walked back down stream to the Confluence and turned up the Pariah Canyon. We were able to out walk the flash stream with no problem. From the Confluence, we waited a few minutes as the sound of the rising river approached and watched the Buckskin Gulch flash stream pour into the Pariah Canyon. We took some pictures and hiked the ten miles or so back to Easton's.
I was a bit concerned about Susie's wound, and convinced her to have it looked at. We went to the hospital in Kanab and she was told that it was only an abrasion and did not need stitches. That night her boyfriend, John, came out to join us for a little while.

The next day we went to the Wave. The Wave is a very delicate and beautiful section of rocks on the Coyote Butte. Only 14 people per day are allowed to hike out there, so we were lucky to get tickets. We had a great time running around the formations. After this, we wanted to go visit Antelope Canyon. Antelope Canyon is famous for its deep and narrow canyon beauty. But, for the second time this summer, we decided not to visit this canyon because it was raining and we were concerned about the flash flood potential. We drove over to Zion National Park instead.
The weather was not good enough for a canyon hike, so we hiked up the canyon side to Observation Point. The next day was clearer, so we did the Subway. The Subway is another narrow canyon with water. Some sections are filled with deep pools of water and we had to swim. Also, one section was difficult and required the use of a rope to get down. It was a great day hike and we even saw a big rattlesnake on the way out.

The next day, John left to start his drive to Alaska, and Susie and I started our overnight hike through the Zion Narrows. Much of this hike was actually in the water. We walked down the long side canyon and camped along the Zion River. After a good night sleep, we continued down the river. We took a little side trip to explore up Orderville Canyon and then returned to the Zion River. We soon came to the deepest water of the trip. It was about mid-chest level. After finishing this walk, and having a nice dinner, we drove northeast to the Bryce Canyon area. One of the more interesting aspects of this walk was the fact that we were passing through a very popular and environmentally sensitive area. This meant that we could not leave any waste behind, even solid human waste. When we got our permit for the hike, each of us also received, courtesy of the National Park Service, a Rest Stop 2. The Rest Stop 2 is a safe and convenient way of carrying your poop around. This was a first for me.

After a cold night in the mountains, we headed into the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument. We had a five day trip into Coyote Gulch planned. We started down the ever deepening canyon and soon came to the beginning of the stream we were to follow. Susie tried to walk down the middle of the small stream and quickly found some quicksand. She sank down to her thighs. She was able to free one leg, but the quicksand would not give up the other one. I hopped in and helped dig her out. That was exciting. That night we found a big rock ledge to camp.

After another full day hike, we found a triangle of rock protruding over a small drop off. It was the perfect place to camp and I went down to one of the two waterfalls for a splash around. We set off on a day hike from camp on the third day. We went to the bottom of Coyote Gulch and up the Escalante River. There was some great mud just up from the confluence and we had an awesome mud fight. Then we explored up Stephan's Canyon a little bit before returning to camp.

The next morning we hiked up the side of the canyon for a view from the top, before returning to our first nights camping place. That night, several nights after a similar thing happened on the East Coast of the U.S., we witnessed a very bright meteor. We were outside, reading books just after sunset. I looked up and saw my shadow surrounded by a very bright, white light. I turned around in time to see the very bright object streaking across the sky and leaving a trail. It quickly disappeared and we watched the smoke trail disintegrate in the wind.

We got an early start on the final day of this walk and finished before lunch. We had time to explore three small canyons nearby. We hiked up Spooky Canyon first. It was very narrow and we had to walk sideways. Then we followed this section of Coyote Gulch downstream a ways and then went up Brimstone Canyon.

At the entrance to Brimstone, we had to cross a short. thigh deep pool of stagnant water. Then, in the following dry section we found two dead birds, a dead bat and a a dead baby mouse. I guess a recent flash flood had caught a few unsuspecting animals. Brimstone Canyon kept getting narrower and deeper and darker. Soon we were in water again and it kept getting deeper. By the time the water was neck deep, I was very cold. We continued on, even though I saw a few cow pies floating in the water next to me. I did not want to get my face in the dark and smelly water, but it is very hard to tread water in a canyon that is less than one foot wide, especially when the sides are very muddy and impossible to gain any purchase upon. It did not take us long to decide to turn around. By the time we got out, we were very muddy and smelly also. I would love to go back there with a wet suit and a light. Or better yet, in March, when it is dry and you can walk all the way back into it, until it gets too narrow to continue.

The next stop on our trifecta of afternoon canyons was Peekaboo Canyon. This one is unique. It contains a series of drop-offs into muddy pools. Each of the first three or four drop-offs is topped by an arch. The view, looking through the series of arches is like looking into a rock tunnel.
Brimstone, Spooky and Peekaboo are three very enjoyable, but muddy, short canyon walks. After dinner in the town of Escalante, we went to a campground with showers. The next day we relaxed in town for a while and then drove up to Boulder Mountain, Utah.

We spent a cool night in the hills and then hiked to Boulder Top the next day. On the way down we met a ship captain and he got us thinking about joining the Merchant Marines. We spent another night on the side of Boulder Mountain and then continued northwest to Capital Reef National Park. We hiked up Burro Canyon. This one had some nice narrow sections as well as some good branching sections. The sky turned grey and we came back out. We drove up to the San Rafael Swell and camped there.

We had hoped to do some really narrow canyons in this area that involved swimming. Perhaps even another shot at the Black Hole. But, again, rain threatened and we changed our plans. We went into Goblin State Park and looked at the unique rock formations there. Then we drove east to Moab, Utah.

We spent a night in Canyonlands National Park and then took a day hike in the Needles section. We hiked through Cresler Park and played in the Joint area. The Joint Trail is a series of narrow vertical cracks in a checkerboard pattern. We followed all of them. Susie is skinnier than I am and was able to make it further into a few of them, but for the most part, we were both able to squeeze through the narrow cracks and come out the other side. It was a great day.
We decided to cool off a bit and headed up into the La Sal Mountains for our next four day backpacking trip. Near the trailhead some people had set up a beautiful arch for a wedding. When no one was around, we posed for some pictures and then, with some difficulty on the loose rocks, climbed up to over 12,700 feet, the highest point in the La Sal's. Next, we dropped down into a valley via a very long and enjoyable scree slope. The next day we hiked around a big mountain and over a pass to a campground. Another day of hiking brought us further along in our loop of the La Sal's. On the 31st of July, we walked back down to the car and drove to Telluride.

Along with my cousins Susan, Allen, Liana and Bailey we visited with cousin Carol and my dad. We spent a few days there and did some hiking and visiting. On the 3rd of August, we went over to El Jebel, which is near Carbondale, which is near Aspen, Colorado and visited with Susie's friend Chris. The next day the three of us hiked from Aspen to Gothic and then got a ride down to Crested Butte. We spent the night at the youth hostel and the next day Susie and I started the hike back, along a different trail.

We camped near a high mountain lake on the 5th. The next afternoon was rainey and we had an excellent hike over Coopper Pass and down to Conundrum Hot Springs. These natural springs are nine miles from the nearest road and just below tree line in the mountains. They were beautiful. We soaked in the hot water all evening. The next day we spent about seven hours sitting in the hot water. In the afternoon, we watched a nearby lightning storm from the warmth of the pool and even enjoyed a brief hail storm from our watery home for the afternoon.

After another morning of soaking we hiked back down to Aspen and visited Chris in El Jebel.
Next, we moved on down to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and did a day hike down to the bottom of that. We had time for one more backpacking trip. On the morning of the 11th of August, we headed into the Elk Creek Wilderness Area. After about a mile or two, we realized that there were no big mountains around and too many cows. We turned around, went back to the car, drove to Silverton, bought a map of the Weminuche Wilderness Area and started hiking from Purgatory, Colorado.

We only made it a mile or so down to the river that day. The next day we hiked down Cascade Creek and up the Animas River. On the third day we followed the Needle River up to Chicago Basin and camped there. The fourth day, like most of the previous days, was rainey. We did not let that deter us and ended up climbing to the top of Mt. Windom, one of a few mountains over 14,000 feet in the area. We were the only ones in the area, but did not get any views because the summit was deep in a cloud. It cleared up that afternoon and we got some good views on our way down.

The next day we hiked back down to Cascade Creek and camped near the scenic railroad tracks. Last Thursday, we hiked back to the car and Susie returned to Denver to begin planning her winter trip to Nepal, India and New Zealand.

I am now visiting John and Cathy in their new home in Dolores, Colorado.

And, by the way, for those of you who are following along at home, Susie is very good at math and has added up our total hiking miles for the summer. Counting our nine backpacking trips, our evening strolls and our day hikes, she figures we have walked 313 miles since we left Denver in mid-June. Without her, this summer, I have done three more backpacking trips and a few more day hikes, so my own personal total is somewhere close to 400 miles walked since I got to Colorado on the 11th of May. My new boots, which are barely a year old, look well worn.
Susie has written her own series of emails about our summer of fun. If you want the read her version of the events you can click here for the first three installments or here for second three installments.

A month in Denver, Colorado Springs and hiking between the two

On the 11th of May I flew to Colorado Springs, Colorado to visit Karla and Daniel. Karla had a week off from school and work so we went mountain biking and hiking. She also introduced me to the sport of rock climbing. We went out a few times and I learned a lot. It was fun. After a week with them, Karla drove me out into the Pike National Forest and dropped me off.

I hiked into the Lost Creek Wilderness and stayed for five days. On the second day it rained a lot, so I did not get any good views. On the third day it snowed. I barely got my tent up before the whole world turned white. That night, as I lay in my tent, I could hear the bears sniffing at my tent, trying to eat my food. Luckily, after only a few minutes I realized that the sound was just snow gathering on the roof of the tent, and sliding off. On the morning of the fourth day, the sky was clear and blue. It was amazing to wake up in the middle of the forest, far from anyone, and see everything covered in white. It was incredibly quiet.

I eventually made it up to Bailey, Colorado. A nice man from Montreal stopped to give me a ride to Denver. On the way he had to do some surveying and I got to help. He let me walk down the street with the little orange clicky wheel and count how many feet from one manhole cover to the next. Then he brought me to Susie's house in Denver.

I spent a few days in Denver meeting many of Susie's friends, visiting Red Rocks and relaxing. Then I went back down to Karla's for the Memorial Day Weekend. On Saturday, we went to John Martin Reservoir to do some jet skiing. I had never done that before and it was a lot of fun. I only fell off once and only cut my knee a little bit. We also did a bit more rock climbing that weekend. Also, my cousin Bailey came to town and we had a good afternoon visit.

Then I passed the next week alphabetizing Daniel's Science Fiction book collection, and reading some of them as well. At the end of the week, Karla and Daniel and I drove up to Fort Collins to get some of Karla's things. On Sunday, they drove me to a new section of the Lost Creek Wilderness, and dropped me off again. I hiked all day Sunday and Monday and ended up camping in a large valley at 11,000 feet. On Tuesday, I read a book all morning and then packed up for a day hike. I climbed a 12, 450 foot peak and then wandered around above tree line and climbed a few shorter mountains. I ended up at the head of the valley and had an amazing view. To the north, west and south were high mountains stretching off into the distance. More than 180 degrees of the sky were filled with impressive snow covered peaks. On my way back down the valley, I saw a bunch of deer.

Last Wednesday, I hiked out of the wilderness and a nice man named Tom drove me to my friend Wendy's house in Denver. The next day we went on a hike and then I went back to Susie's place. On Friday, Susie had a going away party and her car broke, so we could not leave. On Saturday we went downtown and watched the local Professional Hockey team, the Avalanche, win the championship. The game was interesting and it was fun to watch it with a rowdy crowd. Then the fun started.

Denver has a reputation for rioting after one of their sports teams wins a national championship. So, naturally, everyone went out into the street to look for the riot after the game ended. Susie, her boyfriend John and I walked until we saw a big gathering of people at an intersection. We could not see the center of the crowd, but could make out the tops of police in riot gear and on horseback. With that many police ready to squash a riot we knew it was only a matter of time until they felt the crowd of onlookers was a wild unruly mob and needed dispersing. Sure enough, the police let loose with some tear gas and we all ran away.

That proved so exciting to the people, that most quickly returned for the second round. The three of us found a nice place to stand, above the sidewalk, and waited for the police to feel threatened again. They decided to chase the people down the street away from us and shot their tear gas in that direction. Some of it wafted back towards us. It had a pleasant lemon-lime smell. We were not in the thick of it, but the discomfort in our throats and eyes eventually made us back off. We strolled off for some fresh air and did a little coughing and nose-running along the way.

It looked like the police did a pretty good job of saturating the area, so we moved down the main street in search of some more fun. We found one recently maced guy yelling at some more police. Then we saw a few people attack the unarmed newspaper machines. Moving on, we encountered five or six young people lighting a small fire with newspapers and then posing for a picture behind it before running off. By this time, it seemed that most people had gone home or found a bar.

We began looking for the bar with our friends, and encountered a TV news reporter. She stopped us for an interview. She asked me if I had expected to get tear gassed when I left the house that day. I told her 밳es, I had?and she seemed to like that. I explained what I knew of Denver's reputation to riot. She asked Susie what she thought of people punching motorists and breaking car windows, but we did not see any of that. John conducted his entire interview with a can of beer in his hand. I don't think any of us actually made it onto TV.

We finally found a bar to play pool in and stayed until about one a.m. When we headed for home the police were still out in force, but pretty relaxed. The street cleaners were already working hard and I don't think there was any sign of the fun the next morning.

On Sunday we went for a small hike up near Boulder and watched John play hockey. Yesterday, Susie and I finally got her car to the repair shop and then went up to Boulder to spend the afternoon with an old friend. Today the car is being worked on and hopefully we will be able to head out and start backpacking tomorrow.

One and a half Yucatan trips, the drive to LA, and visits to Portland, Boston, and Ft. Lauderdale

Well, it has been a while, but I will try not to forget anything.

After my last update, on the 17th of March, I took my group to the Misol Ha waterfall. I had fun jumping through the waterfall and then took a few of them into the cave for a swim in the dark. On the 18th, we drove back to the Yucatan and spent the night in Bacalar at the nice hotel on the lagoon with the diving board. The next day, we went up to Tulum Town and spent the afternoon at the Xel-Ha marine park.

On the 20th, most of the group took the tour of the Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve, while the rest of us hung out on the beach on in town. We moved up to Playa del Carmen that night. The next day a few went on the Cavern Snorkel Tour, and the rest of us hung out on Xcacel beach. We visited the Tulum ruins that afternoon before returning to Playa del Carmen. On the final day of the trip we relaxed in town until the afternoon and then went back up to Cancun.

This was another very fun group. They enjoyed all of our stops and got along with each other very well. They have already planned a reunion for this summer in London.

After the trip ended I had two days to relax in Cancun. I saw a movie or two and played on the Internet.

I met my new group on the evening of the 24th, ten women and one guy from Japan who did not speak too much English. The next day we went to Chichen Itza and then moved onto Merida for the night, after a swim in Cenote Ik-Kil.

On Monday morning, most of us went to the Celestun Flamingo Reserve and took a boat trip to see the birds. There was an impressive number of pink flamingos that day. We also stopped for a swim and then had lunch on the beach before going back to Merida. The next day we went to the ruins of Uxmal and then camped. This was my first night of camping with a group since the middle of February. That night we went to see the Sound and Light Show at the Ruins of Uxmal. We were 15 minutes late and the show started a half an hour before I thought it was supposed to. A few of them saw one light for less than a second, the rest saw nothing and the show was over. Oops. We went to the town of Santa Elana as a consolation price and checked out the view from the church on the hill.

On the 28th, we drove all the way to Palenque. The next day they visited the ruins and then we went to the Misol Ha waterfall. I had my usual fun there and then we went on up to Rancho Esmeralda near Ocosingo in the state of Chiapas. I had made advance reservations, so two days before we arrived, they fired up the brick oven and we had pizza for dinner. It was great. Before dinner, we watched the neighboring farmers burn away the grass and brush in preparation for planting corn. The fire was huge and we went right down next to it. I never knew that slash and burn agriculture could be so pretty.

The next day my passengers went to the ruins of Tonina and rode horses. I sat in a hammock and did not do too much of anything. On the final day of March, we went to San Cristobal. It was a Saturday night, so we went out for some fun on the town. On Sunday, they all went on the Indian village tour with Mercedes.

We got a decent start the next day and went to one of my favorite places, Agua Azul. We got there in time for a late lunch. I ate quickly and then went for a swim. After camp was set up, I took a bunch of them on my now famous waterfall hike. We followed the series of waterfalls downstream for a ways, climbed up another series of high waterfalls, worked our way back down to the main area, dove across the big current and then I added a really great ending to the hike. I led them through the main pool to the big waterfall. We all crammed into a small cave behind the waterfall and stayed there until we got cold. Then we came out and surprised all of the people taking pictures of the place. After a bit more swimming we were back at camp. It was another truly great hike, even if it was only two hours. All of them had at least one cut or bruise on their bodies when we were finished. I was proud of how battered they looked.

They all rested and I did the whole hike again. I was alone so I could go faster. I did most of it in about thirty minutes. Then I explored a new section upriver. It had looked to dangerous when they were with me, but on my own it turned out to not be too bad. I went upstream along the edge for a while and then the river got too big. I made my way across the main section and hiked down the path back to camp. After dinner a few of us went for our moonlight swim. Jumping off the waterfalls is still alot of fun in the dark. A few of us went skinny dipping and we swam and jumped into the water for quite a while.

The next morning I was up before sunrise and swam and played in the waterfalls for about an hour. Then we had our longest driving day of the trip. We drove all the way to Bacalar. My favorite place to camp there was closed, so we had to go somewhere else. A mile down the road was a nice place to camp, also on the water, so we went there. I fell asleep early after my big night in the water and the big day of driving.

From Bacalar, we headed north to Xpu-Ha 7, our beach camp. We spent the next few days relaxing on the beach. We went into Playa del Carmen one night for some dinner and dancing. We also went to the Tulum ruins and spent another day at Xel-Ha, snorkeling. This group was happy swinging in their hammocks on the beach, so that is what we mostly did. A few other Trek groups were there, so we got to visit.

On the 7th of April, we left one passenger on the beach and the rest of us headed back to Cancun to say goodbye. We had a final night dinner and then I made my way back to the hotel. I wanted to get a good night sleep, because I was beginning my eight day drive back to LA the next morning. Before I got to sleep, a few passengers knocked on my door. There was an urgent message for the passenger we left on the beach from her mother. I figured I would see her the next day on my way south, so I tried to go back to sleep. About thirty minutes later (1:00 am) I got a call from the Australian Consulate. He finally convinced me that it was a real emergency. Gabi and Conny, my two passengers from Austria, joined me for the hour drive down to the beach. We got down there and I picked up Lina and drove her to a phone. She called home and received some tragic news. I drove everyone up to the airport in Cancun to get Lina a flight and then we went back to the hotel for a few hours to talk. A bit after sunrise, we went back to the airport and dropped off Lina. It had been a long tough night, especially for Lina. I wish there had been more I could have done to help her.

I dropped Gabi and Conny off at a nice resort in Playa del Carmen and then went down to Tulum to meet Kak (Kathy) and her dog Fleas (RayBan). Kak wanted to drive Fleas back to the US in her truck, but wanted company to be a little safer. We left Tulum and drove about an hour south to Felipe Carrillo Puerto. By this time it was after noon and I had not had a wink of sleep the night before. I had been up about 30 hours at this point and was tired. I crawled into the back of my van and slept for an hour. After that I was amazingly refreshed and we drove on another few hundred miles to Escarcega.

On the 9th, we drove. All day. We made it up the Gulf of Mexico Coast and camped near the beach. It was Easter Week and all of the campgrounds were crowded with Mexicans with tents and small TV's. Places where I have never seen another person at any other time of the year were packed. The other thing we noticed was hundreds of Toyota pick-up trucks, pulling a second Toyota pick-up truck. People from Belize come up to the US and buy used cars and then drive them home to sell. Assuming they are choosing vehicles that they expect to last once they get them home, it was a very strong endorsement for the longevity of Toyota trucks.

The next day we made it most of the way back to the US, and crossed into Brownsville, Texas before lunch on the 11th. The van got a minor searching at the border, but nothing too exciting. I had to get a new gas filter. The van was only four months old at this point, but one tank of bad gas in Escarcega had sucked all of the pep out of the engine. We continued on to Laredo, Texas and spent the night near a lake. We drove all day (the 12th) through Texas. We passed the McDonald Observatory and Guadalupe State Park. We were trying to get to a campground near El Paso, but when we got there it was closed. That was a shame because it was right near some nice rocks to play on. So, we opted for a hotel room in town instead.

The next day Kak was headed off to Utah, and I was eager to return to Mexico. I crossed back in and drove west. At lunch time I crossed the border again at Douglas, Arizona. The border guard could not figure out why I chose to drive through Mexico to get from El Paso to Douglas, both in the US. I explained that the road was straighter and faster in Mexico. Surprisingly, he did not even shunt me aside for a secondary searching. He let me go. Then, as soon as I got past the inspection area, a soldier directed me to a big parking lot. They have a truck with a big boom off of the side of it that X-rays an entire vehicle and looks for drugs. They waved their magic wand over the van and then I was on my way. I drank water from a water fountain, put my toilet paper into the toilet (instead of a garbage can) and got a Blizzard (ice cream) from Dairy Queen. After accomplishing the three big things I look forward to upon my return to the US, I crossed back into Mexico.

I had some extra time before Monday and wanted to see some new areas. That, and the fact that I like Mexico, account for my desire to spend extra time down there on my drive north. I went to Puerto Penasco on the extreme northern tip of the Gulf of California, just south of Arizona. It was full of retired Americans wintering in their RV's. I was further north than I had been all winter and the twilight was amazing. Instead of the sun setting and it getting dark, as happens in the tropics, the sky turned a beautiful blue and slowly darkened for hours.

The next morning, I got an early start and headed north to Pinacate National Park. This park has only one big dirt road traversing it, so it does not attract too many people. I found a secluded side road to camp on. I went for an afternoon hike once I got there. I hiked through the dry, hot desert for about an hour, looking for some shade. I eventually found a big piece of lava and sat down beneath it for lunch and a nap. Once it cooled off a bit I continued up the volcano and made it to the top at about five pm. I had a great view of the surrounding desert, the Gulf of California and the dozens of volcanic cones in the area. On my way back to the van, I found a lava tube. I climbed down into it and took out my flashlight. The tunnel in the lava was pretty big and I explored it for about twenty minutes. Then I climbed back out and continued my walk. I barely brushed against one of the millions of cactuses and a whole section of it came off and embedded itself into my leg.

About twenty spines went into my leg, and the spines were still attached to a ball of spines in waiting. I tried to pull the whole bundle off, but it was too firmly attached. I tried to cut the thorns off, and the ball of spines rolled down my leg, so I had to cut even more thorns off. Next I had to pull the spikes out one by one. But first, I had to cut all the hair off of my leg near the spines, so I could get a good grip on just the spines. It was amazing how deeply some of them had gone into my leg, under the barest pressure. I eventually removed all of the foreign objects from my leg and got back to the van a bit after sunset. I watched the long twilight and then took out my star chart to learn a few new stars.

On Sunday, the 15th, I drove to Mexicali and crossed back into the US. I got my most thorough search yet on the US side of the border. But, as usual, they found nothing and I was soon on my way. I made it to LA that evening. I spent the next three days working in the office, mostly goofing off and occasionally cleaning my equipment or the van. I was so slow that I did not finish in the allotted three days and had to go in and finish up on the morning of the 19th.

Then I flew up to Portland to visit Michele. She worked on Friday and I took a long walk around the city. The next day we drove up to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and started a backpacking trip. There was still snow above 3000 feet (1000 meters), so we chose a trail up a long low valley. With our late start, we only got about four miles into the walk that first day. This was my first backpacking trip where I took the bear precautions seriously. We had rented bear canisters. We put all of our food in these hard plastic tubes and set them on the ground far from our tent. When we ate, they made excellent stools to sit on, like giant film canisters.

The next day we moved camp about eight miles further in and set up near the river. It was a beautiful valley and we had a pleasant time hiking. On the 23rd, we left the tent and all of our gear behind hiked a further eight miles up the valley to see what we could see. Then we went back to the camp. On the final day we walked all the way back to the car and drove back to Portland. There were a lot of clouds, but not too much rain. Between the clouds and the thick cover of trees, this was my first hike (ever ?) where I did not wear my hat once. The Olympic Peninsula is a rain forest and all the fallen trees were covered in moss and all the ground outside of the trail was spongy. We passed dozens of small waterfalls splashing over moss covered stones. It was a very enjoyable four days in the woods.

On the final day of my visit we went to the Columbia River Gorge and looked at a lot of impressive waterfalls.

Then I flew to Boston, but had a one hour lay over in Denver. I could see the mountains, they were still covered with snow, so I was glad I was not hiking there yet. I spent a few days in Boston visiting family and relaxing. Then I flew down here to Florida. I have spent the past week visiting my family and doing my chores around the house. My brand new Arc'teryx Bora 80 backpack (from Canada) arrived today and I can not wait to get to Colorado and try it out.
Oh yeah, I have one additional reflection on my time in Mexico. Imagine what would happen to your driving if you could drive on near-highway quality roads with very little traffic. If the roads were long and straight and not patrolled by police. If everyone drove as fast as possible and it was impossible to get a speeding ticket. And, if you did get a ticket you could get out of it with a five or ten dollar bribe and you could put the bribe down on your company expense report and let someone else pay it. It took some getting used to, but luckily I re-adapted to US standards before anything bad happened.