Tag: Mountain Man
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In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods*
Why climb a mountain? Short answer (from George Mallory): “Because it is there.” Longer response (from Reinhold Messner): “Most people are not interested in personal experience. The concept that one can willingly tax one’s physical and mental resources out of a pure joy of living: that one can become obsessed with a hunger to experience…
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Mount Whitney
[slideshow_deploy id=’428′] California constantly amazes with its diversity of landscape! One wild ramble took me from Badwater, Death Valley -282 feet; the lowest point in the United States – then just a few miles away I began climbing up to the highest point in the mainland U.S.: Mt. Whitney,+ 14, 495 feet! It was mid-October…
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Mount Shasta
[slideshow_deploy id=’423′] Mt. Shasta, 14,162 feet, in Northern California is situated in the largest zone of volcanoes in the world, the Pacific Ring of Fire. 75% of the world’s volcanoes lay along this ring, which stretches from Alaska to South America, circles the Pacific Ocean heading north through Japan and back over to Alaska.…
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Pico de Orizaba
[slideshow_deploy id=’415′] 18,700 foot Orizaba is the highest peak in Mexico and the third highest in North America (after Denali and Mount Logan). Its Aztec name is Citlaltepetl, meaning “Star Mountain” – possibly because its snowy cap acted as a beacon seen from miles away at night. An excerpt from my book: Angeles Crest:…
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Kachina Peaks
[slideshow_deploy id=’408′] Atop Humphrey’s Peak — Flagstaff, Arizona, the views are dazzling! Air loses 1/30th of its density with each 900 feet of altitude gained. At 12,643 feet we looked through air not just humidity free, but it had lost nearly half of its weight in oxygen and carbon dioxide. We gazed into the…
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Table Mountain
[slideshow_deploy id=’394′] One of the most recognizable mountains in the world, with its massive flattop looming over Cape Town, South Africa. For centuries Table Mountain has been a guiding landmark to mariners rounding the tip of Africa, the confluence of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Summit is 3,563 feet and first recorded ascent was…
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Mount Kilimanjaro
[slideshow_deploy id=’385′] Excerpt from my magazine article, “Red Dirt, Sweet Smoke and Kilimanjaro in The Moonlight”: “. . . At High Camp, during the rest of the day, we keep staring up at that steep, unrelenting Western Breach – an immense, exposed wall looming above you and weighing down continuously on your chest. We…
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Machu Piccu
[slideshow_deploy id=’377′] Blown away by the beauty of Peru! As far as High Adventure and Deep Native Culture, I put it right up there with Alaska and Africa!! Flew into Lima and then up to Cusco — quite an altitude jump from sea level up to 11,000 feet. Then took the most beautiful train…
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Mt. Rainier
[slideshow_deploy id=’366′] Looming above Seattle, Washington . . . Mt. Rainier at 14, 410 feet and with 27 glaciers is an arctic island in the temperate zone. Went for a week long Winter Expedition Seminar conducted by Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. to hone my skills for upcoming big mountain climbs. Under the expert leadership and…
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Le mont fleuri
[slideshow_deploy id=’357′] When talking with fellow travel writers invariably “The Most Beautiful Island in The World” comes up for discussion. Bora Bora (of soaring green peak and perfect coral-ring reef) is the snap-reaction-favorite, but then a glazed look melts jaded faces and “THE SEYCHELLES!” is stated with reverential awe — ascending not only to…