Our Trip to Lummi Island

Last week my wife and I spent two days on Lummi Island near the San Juan Islands in Washington State. While technically not one of the San Juans, Lummi is right there among them and equally as beautiful.

Anyway, the way you get there is to drive to Bellingham and take a small ferry across a short stretch of water. In fact, here's the ferry...

Whatcom County Ferry to Lummi Island. (C) Marc Osborn

We alighted on the island mid-day and decided we would hike up one of the bigger hills before checking into our hotel, the Willow's Inn. After a short drive, we hit the Baker Preserve Trail for a steep 1.6 mile ascent through the forest up to an eye popping overview point.

Here are a couple shots I took at the top...

View from Lummi Island at the top of the Baker Preserve Trail. (C) Marc Osborn

View from Lummi Island at the top of the Baker Preserve Trail. (C) Marc Osborn

After we arrived back at the bottom, we headed to one of the only two restaurants on the island - The Beach Store Cafe. Here, we sat on the front porch and enjoyed some cold beer on this hot afternoon.

After a while, we moved on to check into the Willow's Inn. This place does not have a single lodge or building. Rather, they have a number of nice properties around the island. We ended up staying in a the Barnes Room at their Reefnetter property. Out the front we had a view of the Puget Sound, surrounding islands, the small marina and a number of fishing platforms just off the coast. Out the back, our view was of a nature preserve. Check it out...

View out the back of our room on Lummi Island. (C) Marc Osborn

After freshening up, we went back to the Willow's Inn dining building for a first class tasting menu and wine pairing. Wow. We knew this place had a reputation as one of the best restaurants in the state, if not the country. It delivered. Not cheap, but a treat! Among my favorites were the bay-caught salmon, steamed local muscle and blueberry desert.

We finished our trip with a spectacular breakfast back at the Willow's Inn dining facility and then a nice seven mile loop around the island on our bikes. Throw in a stop for lunch in Bellingham at the Boundary Bay Brewpub, and...well...THAT was a great two days.



NOTE: Copyright for all photos in this post is owned by Marc Osborn. No use of any of these images for any purpose is permitted without prior written permission from Marc Osborn.

Exploring Peru - Trekking in the Andes Mountains I

I hope you enjoyed the kickoff post to my "Exploring Peru" series that will recap our recent trip. You can check out that post HERE if you haven't seen it and want to catch up.

Also, I've posted a new round of pictures that correspond to this new post in the "Peru" set on my Flickr Photostream. See them HERE for more visuals from this and earlier portions of the trip.

And now, picking up where my last post left off, on to...

TREKKING IN THE ANDES MOUNTAINS - PART I
My initial thought was to do one big post retelling all of our hiking adventures, but then I thought that might be way too long as we did and saw quite a bit. I mean, I know you're interested, but I'm not going to make you read through one massive post. So, I'll divide it up a bit...probably three parts. Today, we'll look at our trip to our first trail head and Day 1 of trekking.

Hitting the Road
Awaking in Cusco on the second day of our trip, the group had a delightful breakfast at the hotel and then loaded up into two vehicles for a drive through the Peruvian countryside and to the first trail head. REI Adventures advised that each of us "pack light" for the hiking portion of the tour as donkeys would be carrying our bags for a great deal of the journey. I scaled back my pack and left a lot of stuff in Cusco for when we returned. Diane took a different approach, which was to bring her whole bag. We kind of laughed about it, and I said to her, "I want to shake the hoof of the donkey that carries that bag on our hikes."

Typical scene on the side of the road

In any case, off we went. Driving up out of the city, our guide Miguel informed us that the street we were taking was also the route that the Spanish took in the opposite directly when they arrived in Cusco the very first time. Soon we were in the countryside and whizzing past fields, farms, huts and brick-built villages. It was along these roads that you could see how much of Peru lived their daily existence - buying produce on the side of the road, waiting for a bus, walking to a job and more.

Some in our group had not brought bandannas for the hike, and we stopped in a town along the way to so they could pick some up. Miguel assured us that we'd want them on certain portions of the trek where it was dusty. Back on the road, our vehicles wound up and down hillsides, cresting passes and circumnavigating ridge lines...ever deeper into the Peruvian wilds. As the green and brown valleys came and went, towns gave way to villages, villages gave way to clusters of two or three huts. Suddenly we rolled up and stopped at a valley site that featured Inca ruins, a spot called Tarawasi.


Tarawasi Ruins

Inca Tarawasi Ruins

In a valley, near a river and strategically placed on an Inca trade route radiating out from Cusco, one could easily see why the Incas decided to build a temple and other structures here. Similar in construction to what we saw in Cusco at the Temple of the Sun, the ancient structure featured tightly fit stones and alcoves. Because it was an important location to the Incas, the Spanish of course built their own structure here when they arrived in force. That building was also still standing. Interestingly, here the Spanish did not build a church or chapel over the top of the Inca structure. Rather, they built their building alongside near by. In any case, the two structures offer a stark contrast of the two cultures and styles.

Another important thing Tarawasi included was a restroom. Yes, the family living right next to the ruins had a restroom that we could use. Remember, we're drinking, drinking, drinking water continuously to avoid altitude sickness...and this creates a pretty much continuous need to, well, pee.

Relieved and educated, we jumped back in our vehicles and continued onward.

Mollepata

Mollepata market

About an hour later we disembarked out of our transports and alighted in the town of Mollepata where we learned a little bit about how Peruvian artisans color their wool yarn to create the hats, scarfs, sweaters and sock they are so well known for. Turns out that most the colors come from various plant leaves, bean innards, molds and other natural compounds. Next we walked through the town square where there was some sort of festival or town market happening.

We popped in the front of a little shop and then quickly out its back door into a quiet courtyard where we had a snack and some hot coca tea. That's not chocolate tea people, we're talking "coca" - as in the same leaf that cocaine is made from. To my mild disappointment the tea did not have a "cocaine affect," but it is supposed to be good for avoiding altitude sickness. It tasted OK too. More on the importance of the coca leaf to Peruvian culture in a future post in this series. For now, suffice it to say it was a pleasant and very mild stimulant (like any tea really) addition to the round of snacks we were having.

"Cuy" in Mollepata

We humans weren't the only beings in the courtyard either. Right behind our tables stood a hutch with, mmm, I'd say about 30 cute little guinea pigs ("cuy" to the Peruvians). Now, the shop owner didn't have these as pets. No, they were future meals for him and his family. You only needed to look at the rather explicit poster on the wall showing the steps of a sanitary butchering of a "cuy" and you knew that these little critters were on borrowed time.

At this point we changed into hiking gear, slathered on sun screen and slapped on our hats as we were finally near our first hike. After about 20 min. of driving outside of the village, we got out, geared up and hit our first trail.

First Hike, First Lodge
Today's hike was billed as a "4 mile warm up," but the group consensus was that it was more like "a 7 mile challenge." No joke, even one of the guides said it was actually seven miles. And, for the first part it was all up, steep. That's challenging for people still acclimating. But I'm not complaining. The views were spectacular as we ascended up through meadows to the first ridge, then we hiked along that ridge going up sometimes, down others as we paced our way toward our first lodge destination.

First valley of our first hike

Perhaps the highlight of the hike was the lunch stop. Situated at a bend in the trail, this vantage point offered views of where we had came from, but - enticingly - where we were going...with the main feature being our first view of both the Humantay and the towering Salkantay peaks. Yep, from where we sat on the hillside munching our lunch, we could see the simply stunning peak and ponder its beauty, its history and, well, just how tall it is.

First hike, nearing our final destination

Speaking of the history of the mountain, the Andes range was formed by two great tectonic plates running into each other and the land being shoved up...way, way up. So, similar to the Rocky Mountains in the U.S., there are not any volcanoes. Also, the Incas worshiped the mountains given their obvious immensity and proximity to what people thought of as "heaven" or "the spirit world." This practice endures today among the indigenous people of the Peruvian highlands.

Anyway, we packed ourselves up after lunch and moved out toward the lodge - eventually arriving at Salkantay Lodge about 4 p.m.. With sweeping and spectacular views of the mountain, llamas plodding around the grounds, a warm and welcoming interior, private rooms and a hot tub...the lodge was a welcome oasis. We would spend two nights here as further acclimation before heading up to Salkantay Pass.

Our arrival at Salkantay Lodge

The next two days would bring hikes up to Humantay Lake and then the big push to the tall Salkantay Pass at 15,000 feet - subjects I will cover in my next post. But for this evening, we rested, ate well and called it a happy night. Slipping into our bed, contented with a tough day of hiking and views, we drifted off in the absolute darkness only possible when you are literally out in the middle of nowhere.

Check back in a week for my next post!





NOTE: All pictures included in this post were taken by Marc Osborn and are not permitted for any use by any part without prior written permission from Marc Osborn.

Romania: On The Trail of Dracula - The Real Dracula's Castle, Back to Bucharest

The morning feast in Tilisca equaled the previous evening's dinner in terms of size and taste. Elina outdid herself with a huge morning spread - locally produced cheese, sausage, meats, eggs, bread...the works. Perhaps the highlight were the diversity of home made jams.

Anyway, we left Tilisca on this - our last full day in Romania - with the goal of finding and hiking to the actual "Castle Dracula." Yes, it does exist. I'm talking about the castle fortification built by Vlad Dracula (aka Vlad Tepes...aka Vlad the Impaler) in the 1400s. Straddling the boarder of Transylvania and Walachia, the castle is where Vlad retreated if or when he needed maximum protection. Remember, Vlad was primarily holding court and impaling people in and around Targoviste. But, no self respecting ruler and ruthless dictator can go without a castle high on a craggy peak. Right?

As we drove through the countryside, valleys and passes on our way to the castle and the hike we'd need to do to get there, two things went through my mind. First, it's looking awful rainy and cloudy out here...I sure hope when we get there the weather is good and the castle isn't socked in with fog. And, then I reviewed in my mind some of the stories I'd read about this castle.

First, while the castle pre-dated Vlad and was used after his death, he is credited with fortifying it and turning it into a more substantial fortress. To do this, the legend goes he force marched a large group of local nobility from the Targoviste area who he as angry at all the way into the countryside and to the location of the castle...then made those nobles build and fortify the structure as slaves. So long and hard was the work, and so unwilling was Vlad to have mercy on them, that he basically worked many of them to death...clothes falling off of them as they labored. And naturally, Vlad tortured and killed many people up there and in surrounding areas by many means - including his preferred method of impaling people on a long wooden spike. (Left: View of Dracula's castle from the valley floor.)

Also, one story goes that during one of the many battles against the Ottomans that Vlad Tepes became famous for - and is still revered for today in Romania - his wife learned that he had been killed. It is said that reports of Vlad's death were a planned ruse enacted by the Ottomans to potentially defeat him amid confusion by Vlad's troops. In despair over her husband's death, the wife threw herself off the castle battlements and to her death in the deep cavern below. Vlad - not being dead - defeated the Ottomans (again) and then found out about his wife's death.  Legend has it that the Ottoman fake-out then became one of the key events that made him up his game in terms of being the entirely ruthless and dangerous impaler that the world came to know. True story? Who knows. Maybe. Probably. But not certain. A good story none the less.

Third, I'd heard that the castle is one of the most haunted places on earth. Given all that happened there, even taking out dubious horror stories, I could see how this might be the case.

Today, the castle is called Poenari Castle and we eventually got to the base of the hill it resides on about mid-day. Lucky for us, the skies opened up and the temperatures rose so that by the time we saddled up for our hike it was sunny and pleasant. Score! Andrei parked the truck at a nearby restaurant and we walked over from there to the trail head. Andrei said that we ought to plan on about an hour to get to the top. Um...well, not quite. Yes, it was steep. But, walking up through the shade of the forrest, we were able to make good time and did the entire assent in 20 minutes. (Right: We reach the top of the hike to the castle.)

Once there, we walked around inside the ruins and marveled at the view. There is a serious drop off on each side of the castle and you could see how it would be pretty easy to defend against attackers. You could also see how Vlad's wife would have easily died by flinging herself off the battlements and into the gorge below.

While we encountered nothing that would indicate a haunting, it was a bit spooky to think about the stuff that happened here under Vlad Tepes' rule. Check out some of these pictures. You can see more on my Flickr Photostream HERE. (Left and below: Shots of and from Poenari Castle.)

 

          

The castle is not huge, so we did not need all afternoon to look around. We poked around the battlements, looked at the walls, went into what remained of one or two rooms and imaged what had happened there over the centuries. All in all, we were might impressed that we had found and hiked to the actual Castle Dracula - the real castle of the real Dracula.

 From our perch we could also see back down to where we parked and the restaurant. After we were satisfied we'd seen the castle completely, we started back down the hill with lunch on our minds. Arriving back down at the red-roofed building we sat down for a delicious lunch of local sausages, polenta and cold beer - after all, we had earned it! Feeling pretty full, Andrei noted that this restaurant had donuts on the menu...like what we had in Brasov. Well, we couldn't pass that up. We agreed that it was unlikely that they could possibly be as good as the Brasov donuts, but that we needed to try.

After lunch, we took one more look up at Dracula's castle and then departed toward Bucharest for our last night in Romania. The drive took about three house from the rural zone of the castle all the way into the center of Bucharest. Arriving in the late afternoon, we rested up and then went out for one last fling on the town. Walking in the nice evening weather, we crossed a number of wide boulevards and went through a few neighborhoods to ultimately reach that same restaurant/bar zone we had seen a week earlier on our first night in Romania. (Left: View from our walk on our last night in Bucharest.)

Crowded and bustling with people out for a good time, we walked one of the narrow streets and selected a good looking restaurant to sit down at. Virtually all these places had outdoor seating and virtually all patrons sat outside...all the better to see the "street parade" of people going by. The place we settled on served middle eastern food - good middle eastern food. So, with Andrei we sat and nibbled on appetizers - remember, we had that big lunch of sausages and donuts - and of course Romanian beer. In fact, on this last night in the country I think we found our favorite beer - Ciuc Unfiltered. Wow. Really good.

After a while, a kid walked up to our table with a box that contained three birds on a perch, along with a little container of what appeared to be folds of paper. Talking to Andrei, it turned out that the kid was - for a price - offering to have one of his birds chose the fortune of one of us. Too good to pass up. Diane volunteered. The bird eyed Diane, slowly turned around and carefully picked out a slip of paper from among the many available and placed the paper in Diane's hand. The bird had sized her up and selected her fortune. Andrei read it out in English...something about good health and winning the lottery and providing a set of numbers sure to win. We agreed that Andrei could have the numbers, but that if he won we were coming back to Romania on his dime.

All of this proved to be a great way to end our trip - fun times with Andrei soaking up yet another element of Romanian culture.

In the meantime, we finished our Romania experience the next morning. It was a simple get up, eat breakfast and go to the airport. Oh, with one exception. We left door to the room's balcony open during the night because it was hot in there and there appeared to be no air conditioning. We awoke not in a hotel room, but a swarm of mosquitoes. What! We hustled our packing and got out of there as quick as we could. But, we were bit up.

Thus ended our trip to Romania. What an experience. So much seen, so much learned - much more than just Dracula. 'll have some broad observations about Romania on my very last post about our trip once I've reported on the Italy portion. So, check back for that.

After a quick breakfast downstairs at the hotel, Andrei dropped us off at the airport where we said our goodbyes and began our journey to the second part of our trip - Italy.

Excursion to Egypt - Sinai & the Red Sea

This is the fourth installment of my series called Excursion to Egypt.  You can read about our experiences in Cario HERE, about Aswan and cruising the Nile HERE and about our visit to Luxor HERE.

"Impressive" is one word to describe that first portion of our trip. Another word is "tiring." We knew this was likely going to be the case, so with a little foresight we built in a "vacation from our vacation" on the back end of our two weeks. Yep. We went to the beach. And what a beach!

Here's what we did...

Sinai Peninsula Paradise

Flying from the middle of hot and dusty Egypt in Luxor, we took a short 1 hour flight over to Sharm el-Sheik. Oh, it's just about as hot as Luxor, but its situated nicely right on the Red Sea at the southern point of the Sinai Peninsula. "Sharm" as it is called, is a resort city dotted with hotels, resorts, restaurants, etc. It also has one of the largest and most spectacular coral reefs in the world right there in front of it.

Checking into the beautiful Hyatt Regency Resort just north of the main town, we knew we had found what we were looking for - a luxurious crash pad to rest from our busy sightseeing schedule. The property features white terraced buildings, lush gardens, excellent restaurants, pools, scuba/snorkel gear, sandy beaches with thatched umbrella shade "palapas," and that reef right out from the beach.

The place was so great that we knew we wouldn't be leaving much and would rather just laze away a few days right there. And that's exactly what we did. A typical day for us here would start with a beautiful mid-morning breakfast overlooking the turquoise ocean from a shady terrace restaurant, perhaps a quick swim or turn down the hidden water slide, then parking ourselves for the day down at the beach. Settled in there, only two things disturbed our rest, read and nap schedule: lunch and snorkeling.

The restaurant at the beach featured fresh seafood and sandwiches - of which we tried pretty much every one over the week we were there. The staff came to recognize us quickly - both because of our week long tenure, but also because were one of the only U.S. citizens at the entire resort. I'd guess that about 80% of the guests here were Russian. Yep, apparently Sharm is their "Mexico" or "Bahamas." Pretty close to their homeland, but oh so much warmer, sunnier and cheaper. Also to note, there were strictly two types of Russians we saw here - first, families just like you'd see anywhere in the world at the seaside and second, pairings of overweight Russian men - young and older - with skinny young Russian girls. Hmmm. More on that in another post.

As for snorkeling, what can I say? We've been in Hawaii and in Mexico, and sure, we've seen some coral and fish. Not bad. But this place! Wow! They call these reefs coral "gardens," and I can see why. Just under the water is a whole world of green, blue, yellow, purple and orange coral of all shapes and sizes. And, yes, there are loads of colorful exotic fish to see too. Quite simply, this was the best snorkeling we'd ever done.

Peeking Outside Paradise

We ventured off the Hyatt property two times while in Sharm. One of them was to go for a look at the old market in Sharm el-Sheik town itself and an Italian dinner nearby. The bazaar in the older part of Sharm is filled with small shops selling pretty much anything tourists might want, so it's not really the type of market that locals would be shopping at for everyday items. The buildings here are older, and unlike many such markets the streets are actually wide. We strolled around, stopped into a few places, bought some small items and generally had an OK time.

Also, in the back of my mind, I knew that this was the place where not too many years ago a terrorist bomb killed tourists. So, you know that this is extremely unlikely to happen again, but still you wonder. Obviously it didn't and we caught a taxi to the Italian restaurant we'd read good things about.

Arriving there, we saw that the restaurant sat perched on a bluff of land overlooking the Red Sea. We'd read that this place, El Fanar, was notable because the Italian chef had fresh ingredients flown in from Italy 3-4 times a week. Apparently, there are enough Italian tourists who come to Sharm that the town boasts some very good Italian places.

So, we were pretty stoked to eat here. As we walked in at about 7:30 p.m. we noticed a couple things right away: 1) a nice, well appointed and big space, and 2) absolutely nobody else was there. Nope. Not a sole except a waiter, a bartender and a chef. For all we'd read about this joint, this was pretty surprising. We even wondered if they were really open. We asked, and they waiter said certainly they were.

So, we took our table and thought, "what the Hell, we're here lets eat." I figured maybe that we were just unfashionably early as Italians (like many/most Europeans) tend to start dinner much later than we Americans. But no, nobody showed up the entire 90 minutes we were there.

The saving grace here was that the food was really good. Both Diane and I had pasta dishes, and I have to say that they were delightful - savory, pasta cooked just right. We also quickly consumed the best bruchetta we'd ever tasted. In the end, we exited just as we had arrived...the only customers in the whole building. Oh well. As one of the guys hailed a taxi for us, we asked him why the restaurant was empty that night and he offered that it was "change over day" and that all the Italian tourists had left earlier that day and more would be coming tomorrow. Who knows if that's true, but our strange - but enjoyable - dinner was memorable.

Camels, Moses and A Monastery
The other occasion we left the friendly confines of the Hyatt compound was for a hike up Mt. Sinai. But this wasn't just any old hike. No. This was a nighttime climb up a sacred mountain in the middle of the desert for a sunrise crescendo at the summit. Oh, and camels.

To lay it out for you, this hike entailed us being picked up at the Hyatt at 10:30 p.m. by our guides, a long drive through the middle of the Sinai desert arriving a the base of Mt. Sinai just before 2 a.m., a camel ride two-thirds the way up the mountain by starlight and a hike up the rest of the way to see the sun rise at the 7,500 foot high summit, and then a full hike all the way back down to the base where the ancient St. Catherine's Monastery awaited for a visit. And then the return drive back to our hotel.

All of this sounded exciting, fun and both Diane and I were looking forward to it. But before I get to all that, we did not do the hike without some trepidation. Ultimately we did not encounter any trouble and had a lovely time, but in the moment we did ponder some concerns.

For example, as the time drew closer for us to be picked up for the nighttime drive through the Sinai desert to the base of Mt. Sinai, I began to consider that we'd be driving through desolate areas with people we didn't know in an place that had in the not too distant past seen acts of violence against tourists...only to get out and climb up into even more desolate hills and mountains where who knows what type of operatives lived. We'd even been told that it was only in the western desert and the rugged hills of the Sinai where any organized extremists or militants actually existed in Egypt. This caused both Diane and me to pause and wonder just what we may be getting into. And to top it off, as we rested in our hotel room waiting for our guides to pick us up, we tuned into CNN and saw a story about an American couple who had just been kidnapped in Yemen. In any case, by the time our guides arrived I had dispensed with the "terrorist" worry as so extremely unlikely that it wasn't, in fact, worth worrying about. And of course I was right.

However, at this point it dawned on me that the all too real danger for this jaunt was, in fact, a car accident. Yes, as you may have read in my first post about our Egypt trip, car accidents are very common in Egypt and as our small tour bus ventured out into the roads of the nighttime Sinai peninsula, I realized that the most serious threat to our safety was getting in a accident on these open and vacant roads. All it would take is one sleepy or wild driver and - boom! - big trouble. Obviously, we didn't have any problems, and by the time we were actually on the road and on our way to Mt. Sinai, I just "let it go" and tried to get some sleep before we arrived.

We rolled into the little town near St. Catherine's Monastery about 1:45 a.m. and met up with a couple of our friends we'd met on the earlier part of our trip. After a hot cup of coffee at a little coffee shop we all headed out with out guides to get the monastery and the camels that we would ride up most of the mountain.

As we walked together closer to the base of the mountain, we strode through a valley and right by the ancient monastery. Lit by the moonlight, the mountains were magnificent as the moonbeams shone off their ridges to give us an otherworldly view. It is also at this point that I abolished any lingering doubts about being "out on a mountain all alone." For indeed, there were hundreds of other tourists making the ascent this morning too. Most were walking up the hiking trail rather than riding up on the camel trail, so luckily we did  not have to share the trail with most of them. But, it was clear to me that no funny business would happen with all those people around.

Our group met up with a number of Bedouin tribesmen who were the keepers of the camels we would ride up the mountain. According to our guide, it is the law that all tours up the peak need to be done with a local Bedouin as a way for them to have work in the tourism industry. So, under the starlight we loaded up on our camels - each of us riding our own.

From there, we began an ascent like no other we've done before - unlike our hike in China in 2008 and unlike our annual hikes in the Cascades back home.

Clopping their hooves on the trail, our camels negotiated the twists and turns up the mountain in the dead of night as we each sat back and marveled at the spectacular display of stars above us. The Milky Way, occasional shooting stars and, well, more brilliant points of light in the night sky than we'd ever seen before were conveniently laid out over our heads to enjoy. Because we were on camels, we had the luxury of focusing on the sights above and around us rather than carefully picking our way up the side of the mountain in the dark with hundreds of tourists.

Along the way up there were a few places where you could stop for a snack, soda or tea. We chose not to dismount and kept pushing onward.

One thing about riding camels - or at least if you're not used to riding one - is that it really stretches your legs at the point where they meet your torso. Your legs are draped over each side of the beast, but there are no stirrups to put your feet. This became pretty uncomfortable at times, but you just have to ignore that and appreciate where you are and what you're doing. This is what we did.

By about 4:30 a.m. we reached a rally point high up on the mountain and dismounted our camels to join the rest of the masses making the final climb to the top. Here is where we realized that most of the other hiker tourists were Russians. And wow, those Russians don't much care for, oh, little things like dressing for an aggressive 7,500 ft. hike. Seriously, for every one we saw who was semi-equipped for a hike we saw 2 or 3 dressed like they were out for a night at the dance club or perhaps the beach. Really. We're talking about girls in tight shorts, heels and flimsy tops...guys in flip flops and beach shorts...and just about everything in between. Amazing. Oh well.

After a short while we picked our way up the steep and narrow stone steps to the top of Mt. Sinai. The first hints of light were appearing. Before the sun burst over the horizon and rose above the peaks around us, Diane and I quickly ventured to the very top to see a couple sites that are mentioned in the Bible. Now, neither of us are religious types, but on the other hand - whether you believe in the Bible or you do not - it is surely true that this is the spot that is referenced in the text where Moses received the 10 Commandments from God. And for that, there is a small chapel up on the mountainside, along with a small hole where Moses is supposed to have "holed up" for many days before receiving the Commandments. We saw that. Then we went to go see the sunrise.

After sunrise and taking in the view, we started our hike down the mountain and back to the Monastery. On our way down, the full extent and beauty of the surrounding mountains impressed. Arriving at the bottom, we toured the St. Catherine's Monastery - a Greek Orthodox outpost dating back 1,000 years and built over the spot where the men who wrote the Bible said Moses saw "the burning bush." In fact, it is said that the bush still exists in the confines of the Monastery. Below is a picture I took of it:

Getting pretty dang tired at this point, we had breakfast at a local spot and then loaded up on our bus again for the ride back to the Hyatt in Sharm.

The ride through the desert - this time in daylight - revealed a very desolate, very rugged and in that way beautiful topography. After some rest I simply looked out the window and watched it all go by with a very rare camel, rest stop or guard post visible once and a while.

Eventually we arrived back at our Hyatt oasis around 1 p.m. We immediately cleaned up, got a bite to eat and hit the beach for a nap and relaxation knowing we'd just completed a unique and memorable adventure. Now completed, we concentrated on getting the most out of the hotel over the next day before we had to leave.


NOTE: All pictures featured in this article were taken by me, Marc Osborn. They are copy written in my name and are not authorized for any use by anyone without written permission directly from me.

Mt. Rainier Hike

This past Sunday, Diane, my brother in law Matt and I took a hike in Mt. Rainier National Park.

Under sunny skies and 80 degree weather, we headed up the five mile Rampart Ridge loop trail from the Longmire base. The hike starts off with 2 miles of pretty steep incline through the forest up to the ridge line. Once there, the trail flattens out for about a mile, and on this section you can get some great views of Mt. Rainier.

Here are some pictures I took during the hike.

After a leisurely lunch with a view of the mountain, we headed back down the 2 mile stretch back to Longmire.

All told, the hike took about 2.5 hours which included time for lunch.

Take A Hike!

Well, the Olympics are over, summer is starting to turn into fall and football season is coming. 

So, what to do?  Hike! 

Diane, me, our friend Sean and our other friend Marcus hiked the Comet Falls trail in the Mt. Rainier National Park last Saturday and what a great payoff.

The hike has everything: a sunny brilliant day (the "warmth of the sun" as The Beach Boys sang), with a 5,800 foot gain from the parking lot it's a good workout, we had good conversation with friends on the way up, you see massive waterfalls, you see mountain meadows full of wildflowers and a picnic lunch at the top with the penultimate vista of Mt. Rainier (see Picture of the Week above right). 

The trail was well maintained and enough shade to sun ratio that you never felt like you were going to get burned. Plus, there were a number of amazing wood bridge crossings over rapids thundering through narrow shoots and caverns. 

Anyway, for all the goings on during the Games in Beijing, for all the fun that can be had watching sports or for that matter just meeting up with friends in the city - none of those things can really match the extravaganza of a few hours in the mountains on a nice day.

My advice? Take A Hike!