(Preface: a note on how to read this. Anytime you see something italicized it should be read as an oxymoron... You might have to read it twice... see how many you get...) Now then, I know everyone nowadays seems to communicate through facebook, but all my contact info is still here in my email account. So instead, you get a personalized mass email. Just a quick update on what I'm doing and then I'll get to the point of the email. I'm still moving around a bunch, but this is my 4th year in Colorado. I'm almost free from work again and will be planning plenty of trips, so I may be in your neck of the woods anytime this summer. Between snowboarding 3-4 times a week, managing a ski shop, running a small business, and traveling the world having some serious fun, I still somehow have time during my working vacation to edit all my pictures and video into what is hopefully terribly good entertainment. All videos were recorded live and then edited either by me or my friend Mike Moore.  Last time I mailed out a dvd of my exploits to some of you. This time, I'll use that recently new internet invention, streaming video. The quality had to be reduced for streaming, so if you want an original copy, please email me back So, here is a brief description and link(and the length in case you're too busy): Nepalorado 2008 46min - True story, Mike and I went to Nepal for two months(May/june 2008). My favorite... Trippin in the Southwest 2006  2hr 25min - Roadtrip down to Mexico, second best video, but a bit long. I'd recommend some popcorn before you tackle this one... Utah Canyons 2007 26min - Yet another roadtrip out west, but a shorter distance. It's my least favorite, but they're all good in my unbiased opinion. Breckenridge Gaper Day 2006 12min - Our one day to be a tourist... they're clearly misunderstood... New England 2007 15min - Julie and I spend lots of time in a Ford Focus...our new used car we took just for this trip... I hope you enjoy watching what was more than enjoyable to make. Please feel free to forward these links if you see anyone you know in the videos that might enjoy them. Take care and live it up... -- Ben Hansen "The oxymoron thing was a tribute to George Carlin.... miss you man...."

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¡Todo sobre la Liga Mexicana de fútbol!
Estadisticas, resultados, calendario, fotos y más:
http://espanol.sports.yahoo.com/

.: BenHansen :: 8:04 PM [+] 0 comments

¿Quién necesidades duermen? --- El jue 19-feb-09, robert hansen <bobbalouie@hotmail.com> escribió: De: robert hansen <bobbalouie@hotmail.com> Asunto: FW: Exceptional Photos A: "Ben Hansen" <snowblizz@yahoo.com>, "LARRY E. GRANT" <cvrealty@msn.com>, "Inga Wilkerson" <inga_wilkerson@hotmail.com> Fecha: jueves, 19 febrero, 2009, 11:32 pm From: pamelajhansen@comcast.net To: audrey.serafini@gmail.com; hansen.cynthia1@gmail.com; dianedefranco@comcast.net; dwightdolby@ewol.com; jserafini@gmail.com; MJMoreau@aol.com; russell@htva.net; pathansen@juno.com; bobbalouie@hotmail.com; tominnov@bellsouth.net; CathyDS@aol.com; mg326@comcast.net; reepicheep_the_valiant@yahoo.com Subject: FW: Exceptional Photos Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:00:35 -0500     From: Jeuley Ortengren [mailto:jeuleyo@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:53 AM To: Annie Ortengren; Beth Soycher; Bridget Plank; Darlyne Jackson; Diana Evans; Dottie Cunningham; Jeff Ortengren; Jewel Bryll; Judy Monette; Linda Newton; Mia McDermott; Mike Ortengren; Pam Mahoney; Pam Hansen; Patti Williams; Rita Law; Sheryl Pierson Subject: Exceptional Photos           These are just more than exceptional – they are sensational!  Enjoy! Life is mostly froth and bubble; Two things stand like stone. Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in your own.         See how Windows Mobile brings your life together—at home, work, or on the go. See Now

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>¡Sé el Bello 51 de People en Español!
¡Es tu oportunidad de Brillar! br>Sube tus fotos ya http://www.51bello.com/

.: BenHansen :: 9:42 AM [+] 0 comments

We had 15 days left before our flight back to the states, so we took all of the advice from travellers who had already been around the area. The Indian Himalayas and Langtang area of Nepal were high on our list, but we couldn't decide where to go. The monsoons were coming and changing flights plus getting an Indian visa is more complicated than quantum physics. So, we left it to the flip of a coin.... Nepal beat India.

But I couldn't make this too easy on myself, so I had a buffet of strange meat while there was no power in the city(which means no oven, but you can always cook with fire). Round 3 of stomach problems (The Kathmandu Quickstep, Delhi Belly, Montezuma's Revenge), this time with vomiting included. We either could take the long bus up and hike back to Kathmandu, or the short bus up to hike up to the mountains and ride the bus back. Mike graciously suggested the short bus first, and it would allow us to hike in the lowlands sooner so we might be able to miss the monsoons.

It was only 10km away, but the bus took 2 hours. I got the last seat in the back of the bus, next to a window(there were already stains down the side of the bus, so others had the same problem and thought the same thing). The only problem was the seats in the back were too small. I had my head out the window, but it was too small as well, so every big bump caused my head to bash into the side. I was airborn once a good 6-12 inches off the seat. We stopped to pick up more passengers and I couldn't take it any longer. I climbed out the window and onto the roof. The rest of the passengers thought this was hilarious, but the door guy yelled at me that I had to come back in. Apparently, only within the city limits is it taboo to be on top of the bus, once you are outside the city limits... no holds barred....

It didn't matter because we were stuck in traffic for 30 minutes because two buses couldn't get around each other and everyone piled in behind them to block the road. Watching guys stare at the buses with cigarettes to help them think was enough time for me to gain the strength to stand back in the bus(I had lost my seat and the bus was too full to get back to the back).

We had started late that day because it was supposed to be an easy day. It was 3pm by the time we arrived at the start of the trek, but I was so weak from vomiting I was walking at half my normal speed. There were no lodges once we got into the Shivapuri National Wildlife Watershed, which was only 30 minutes into the trek, so we had to keep going. My weakness got worse and I was literally pulling myself up with my hiking stick because my legs were jelly. There wasn't anything Mike could do but wait for me. It was sunset and we still hadn't crossed the pass that would allow us down to the next town we knew had a lodge. With our headlamps on(not on our heads because the bugs went straight for your eyes) we crossed the pass in the mist of fog and looked at our map. It showed we would leave the watershed and we figured there would be a gate or checkpost. We saw one, but no sign and barbed wire across the trail. Must be to keep the wildlife in and non paying
guest out, right?

Next came a pit... with bamboo spikes at the bottom. Yes, sharp pointy sticks in a hole in the ground the size of a bus. We expected poisoned darts and a huge rolling boulder next, e.g. Indiana Jones. But we walked around it and just saw more barbed wire across the trail and then heard some guy singing in the night. By this time we had guessed what this was, an army base. We were a little hesitant to alert our presence to a possible drunk and armed soldier late at night. But, he yelled out(in perfect english no less) that we needed to go back and down the other trail. We stumbled into town and the owner of a lodge was waiting up for us like we were expected.

We met two Swedes that informed us the Ganja La pass we intended to do was snowbound and impassable in certain areas unless you had climbing equipment. It was lower than the other passes we had done, but we kept hearing that a guide was needed and it couldn't be done in one day as we had hoped to do. So, now we couldn't do a circuit and would have to do an out and back hike. We first had to cross the Laurabina La at 4610m in the Gosainkund area where there was a Hindu holy lake.

We had a good laugh with our lodge owner when I shared my chocolate spead with him. He then told us the story of one of his male workers who found some unused tampons in a room and walked all around town asking what they were. Nepalis are very modest and no one would tell him until a few trekkers informed him of their purpose. All the light mood was good as I was now recovered from my sickness and wanted to get my strength back. We were a little disoriented from coming in during the night, but we were pointed in the right way and had long hike down and back up the next valley. On clear days we could have seen both the Annapurna and Everest ranges on either side of us. We did get a very nice sunset and views of what we thought might have been Everest.

Several cloudy and rainy days of hiking got us over the pass and to the Gosainkund lake. We could have pushed on, but we were hoping it would clear for some views... It didn't. We did get our 15 minute view, when suddenly the clouds will part and you have to run out to take pictures. Then the clouds come back in quickly and the views are gone. Even though this lake was a little warmer, and holier apparently, we skipped out on the skinny dipping. Our shortest day of the trip, a one hour trek down, was done in the rain and then we had to wait out the rest of the day in the dining room, drying out our clothes and playing endless games of cards and chess. Only when we couldn't hike for long hours did we realize there wasn't much to do in these lodges. Normally we just come in right at dinner time and eat and then crash into bed from exhaustion.

We now were in the Langtang Valley, but we had to lose nearly 2000m of elevation just so we could climb back up again. We made the trek up quickly in two days since we were still acclimatized from the pass. We acquired a trekking partner, a 12 year old kid who wanted us to eat at his lodge. The lodge was closed and he had to run off and find his sister to open it up. After a while she came and cooked us an awful meal of fried noodles(it's hard to mess up noodles, but it's been done twice to us now on this trip). To be fair, it's not the best season for growing any food up this high, and the harvests don't come in till the fall. So, there is no cheese or fruit and very few vegetables. Only the staples of rice, potatoes and whatever can be hauled up by the porters.

The sister said she had a lodge at the final town of Kyanjin Gompa, but it was closed so she would hike with us to open it up. It was raining and she hiked up the whole way with us and guilt tripped us into staying at her lodge. It was cheaper than the others, free actually since it is low season and the rooms are given away in order for the trekkers to stay and buy food. To our surprise, we were cooked probably the best Dal Bhat(the staple Nepali Meal), which included fresh morelle mushrooms and a spicier curry/dal sauce.

It would rain around 5am, but we had to be out and trekking by 6am in order to hit our cloudless window from 8-10am. First we walked all the way up valley to Gangchenpo and the border area. We were stopped by a washed out bridge, but managed to climb up the side of the glacier to see the pleasant meadows filled with horses and yaks below. Mike twisted an ankle in a stream crossing but soldiered on. We even had time to come back to visit the gompa and take a tour of the cheese factory, which would receive the yak milk in the next week to start making more cheese.

Our final day in the high country was our last chance to see some of the high peaks at a viewpoint above the town called Kyanjin Ri. The trail split early and we went different ways thinking we could get more pictures from different areas. Mike hiked to a set of prayer flags on the Langtang Valley side and I hiked to a saddle which was closer to the Langtang Glacier. We both made it to our areas by 9am, but the clouds came up within 5 minutes. It's amazing how fast they form and fly up the sides of the valley. We never met each other on the mountain and had to wander back on separate paths to Kyanjin gompa. Mike met a guy wanting a watch, but I had a watch I could easily part with. Mike thought I was behind him so he told the guy to look for me. I was probably 2 km away, on the other side of a range when i bumped into a guy looking for his yaks. He asked the time and I could tell he wanted the watch. I'm sure it wasn't the same guy, but I wouldn't doubt
the ability of a nepali to haul ass and find me just so he could have a watch.

We spent two days getting down the valley to the "road" at Syrabu Besi. We would take the 6-10 hour bus ride back to Kathmandu the next morning. The large difference in possible times is due to road conditions changing for landslides. We wandered around town and I jumped into a soccer match playing near a school. The game ended after 30 min when the ball(mostly deflated but still roundish) was kicked off the side and down into the river. One of the kids took this opportunity to show me his home and ask for sponsorship to help with his schooling. After living on the cheap and realizing the Langtang area had been cheaper than the other trekking areas, I reassessed my finances and decided I could part with $100 US. I asked him what this would get him. This amount would pay for his school supplies, admission(there is no free education system in Nepal), and boarding in Kathmandu for 3 months. Many times I have spent more than that on a night out or for a full
tank of gas. It's always humbling to know what money can get you in different parts of the world...

--
And now... it seems that all my good stories are bus stories... If I ever wrote a book, I would have to specialize on third world bus rides...

The 14 Hour Bus Ride From Syrabu Besi to Kathmandu:

The bus was a normal size bus this time, but the road was the mini version and dirt for over half the way back. We bought tickets with seats, but lucky us, our seats were in the back row. I wasn't going to squeeze in, so I jumped on the roof. This way I could look after our bags that were stored up there. We made it 5 minutes out of town and the bus got bogged down in the mud on a steep uphill. A few people got off to throw clay and rocks under the tires, but the bus just spun closer to the edge of the 100 meter dropoff. When he was within 3 feet of the edge, this prompted everyone to get off the bus and walk down the road so the less weight would help him up the steep slope. After 15 minutes the bus made it back on, and we all jumped back on.

I scraped my knuckle in the process and dipped into my medical bag for antiseptic and a band-aid. The rest of the Nepalis noticed this and I became the impromptu doctor of the bus, handing out what few things I had left. I was offered a small plum-like fruit in appreciation. It took two hours to get to the next town. We were all told to get off the top of the bus because the army checkpost was coming up. We had to show our national park receipts, the tourists at least, and then we were back on the top of the bus. 5 minutes down the road, mike yells up to me to ask if I have his passport. In the confusion, I thought the army guard had put his passport back his backpack, but I didn't check and I just gave the backpack back to mike. So, we stopped the whole bus and a motorcycle stopped to turn around and drive mike back. Our bus kept going, thinking that Mike would catch up on the motorcycle since the bus was so slow. He didn't need to as we were stopped in
the road by another bus with a broken axle. The other bus managed to stop right in the middle, blocked both directions. Our bus was scavenged for parts in order to get the broken down bus moving again. An hour later, the bus was fixed, but another bus had gotten stuck trying to pull off the side. Oh well, we didn't stop to help, as the other bus was empty.

With all the delays, we didn't make it to our scheduled lunchtime restaurant stop until 2pm. Dal Bhat was made in mass quantities and plopped down in front of you before you even sat down at the table. The sun was out now and baking the top of the bus, but I had lost my seat to the many newcomers now standing in the aisles. So, I had to stay on the top, but was entertained as we had 4 buses racing, NASCAR style, with everyone on top of the bus yelling and cheering on like spectators. Our driver was the most timid and we ended up last, plus with our lack of parts, we seemed to have a real hard time turning left. On the switchbacks we could make the right hand turns fine, but on the left hand turns we had to make three point turns, backing up precariously close to the edge.

We finally made it to Trisuli Bazaar by 5pm, but the driver thought this was the best time to work on the bus and try to fix the no-left-turn problem. This gave us enough time to wait for the rains to build up and start pouring down. We waited for close to 2 hours and it was dusk by the time the rain really started to come down. I had tried to find a seat next to the driver, but everytime he shifted into second gear, he'd smash me in the back. One french guy stayed on top through the downpours, and everyone kept trying to look up to see if he was still there.

Then came the river crossings. Two times we had to keep up speed and plow through standing water that had overflowed the water channels from the heavy rain. But on the third one we were stopped by other buses. After waiting for 30 minutes, it was decided that we would walk across the mud that had blocked the road to a bus on the other side, it would turn around, and the other bus' occupants would do the same to our bus. Did I mention it was pouring rain... So, now we have a bus full of soaked people and Mike and I were tired of squeezing into the back, so we just appropriated new seats since it was a new bus. This all sounds fine in text, but how do you turn around a 30 foot bus when the road isn't 30 feet wide? Our driver was going to try... We backed up about 20 meters, passing or forcing cars to move out of our way, when he stopped and went forward again.

It was then that we noticed buses come from the other direction. Wait, wasn't that our old empty bus going past us? Yup, the mudslide had been cleared and the road was open again. So, back out into the rain to switch back to our original bus. A few more hours were still needed to get into Kathmandu. We finally arrived at 9pm, 14 hours after we started, all to get 100km or 60 miles. We ended up sharing a taxi with the french couple we stole the seats on the bus from, but within 30 seconds the taxi got a puncture in the tire... Our driver was determined to keep our fare, so he managed to change the tire in under 5 minutes in the pouring rain. After such a long hard journey, we settled on a hotel called, "Hotel Easy"...

--

Killing 4 days in Kathmandu isn't hard if you like temples and shopping, but I'd already done that the previous 2 times we'd been here and there was little left to do. We bought our last few items and decided to visit our last temple, Pashupatinath. It was a Hindu temple and we walked through town for an hour to save some cash and see some different areas of town. We passed the circus tent blasting religious music into the air and then passed a few signs that said "Hindu Only". I thought Muslims were the exclusion religion, but it looks like Hindus want to join the club. We were then requested to buy tickets, but only tourists had to purchase them. Hindus were free, so I boldly claimed, "I am Hindu" and walked past the ticket counter. Mike followed and we had about 5 minutes before the "tourist police" came and asked us for our tickets. We played dumb, I stuck to my hindu story, and then just talked circles around them in hopes they would get bored of
us. They finally did, and we just walked away to continue our browsing. This was all over a $3.50 US ticket, but how about I charge all non-americans for reading this email. I'm not a big fan of exclusion...

Then the circus really began. Hindu's perform their cremations on a funeral pyre by the river. The hospital in next to the temple where the body is wrapped and cleansed in the river. It is then taken to one of the pyres lining the river. The ones closer to the temple cost more than the ones farther away. The body is then set upon a stack of wood and set alight. It was a slow burning fire and a little unnerving to realize the smoke we were breathing in used to be a human being. The ashes were then swept into the river to flow down and meet with the holy Ganges river. This was all conveyed to us by a small boy wanted to practice his english and show off his knowledge.

We watched all this from the other side of the river, on steps that overlooked the whole process. Along with us were other tourists, nepalis, and vendors(selling newspapers, cotton candy and Sardu's who want money for smearing a bindi on your forehead). It was morbid for me to watch the cremation process, but I understand the grieving process for the family. I don't understand the spectacle of it all.

We enjoyed our time in Nepal immensely, and regretted having to go home, but 27 hours of airplanes later... and we're back in america with it's $4 gallon of gas...

Our three trips to Annapurna, Khumbu, and Langtang consisted of 43 days of trekking, for a distance of 522km/324 miles, with an elevation gain of 20,300m/66,600 feet, and with a profound respect for the resourcefulness and strength of the Nepali People. The culture shock is slowly starting to sink in of having to re-adapt to my own culture and I already wish I was back travelling again.

"When Bush took office, gas cost $1.46" - Bumper sticker seen while driving back from the airport

______________________________________________
Enviado desde Correo Yahoo! La bandeja de entrada más inteligente.

.: BenHansen :: 7:10 PM [+] 0 comments

Ooopppp!!!! :(

 

Seems I pressed the 'reply all' button by mistake on that last email to Ben. Apologies :P

 

Nige

 

.: BenHansen :: 11:04 PM [+] 0 comments

Ben,

 

Nice to see you are back on the road again (where you belong you think?). Now I get to lots of good travel reading again, good to see. Actually, I am about to set of on a mini RTW trip (well almost RTW), taking in western Oz, singapore, malaysia, thailand, UAE, Ireland, london, spain, new york, Austin, belize (all in about 6 weeks!),and Brazil (where I will be hanging out for 6 months or so)... its been 7 years or so since we met in Bristol (if my memory serves me), so it is long overdue for me to get the cobwebs of my pack! Let me know if you are anywhere around these parts in July/August so I can buy you a beer.

 

Maybe even write a wee email or two myself.

 

Cheers

Kiwi Nige

2008/6/2 Ben Hansen <snowblizz@yahoo.com>:

After a night in Kathmandu(trust me it's not relaxing, it's just a bed with the cacophony of chickens, dogs, and every motorized horn possible keeping the air filled with noise), we were off on our flight to Lukla and hike in the Khumbu-Mt Everest region. Again, no taking off shoes, but I did have to give my big wooden stick for checked baggage. They guy next

.: BenHansen :: 11:00 PM [+] 0 comments

After a night in Kathmandu(trust me it's not relaxing, it's just a bed with the cacophony of chickens, dogs, and every motorized horn possible keeping the air filled with noise), we were off on our flight to Lukla and hike in the Khumbu-Mt Everest region. Again, no taking off shoes, but I did have to give my big wooden stick for checked baggage. They guy next to me had a wooden stick 2 feet shorter... his made it to carry on... size not functionality...

Our delightful aircraft was a 20 person fixed wing propeller plane. Not pressurized, no cockpit door(no sleeping on the job for these pilots, the flight is only 45 minutes long) and a flight attendant who passes out boiled sweets and cotton swabs for the noise of the engines. Landing on close to a 30 degree pitch in Lukla makes it a quick and abrupt landing. The flights are only in the morning when the good weather allows, so we were off to Everest at 7am for a quick start.

Mike had picked up a stomach bug in Pokhara and was still feeling the affects. We were starting at 2700 meters, so no need to climb up through the jungle this time. Many more yaks and the porters had the ingenious idea to use their hiking sticks, shaped like T's, as a prop under their wicker basket backpacks. After 2 days we made it to the Sherpa capital village called Namche Bazaar. Mike was in full on sick mode now and I sought out a pharmacy. After diagnosing him as having either giardia or bacterial intestinal problems, we drugged him up with Hydrochloric acid and giardia treatments, but it would take 2 days too take effect. While waiting for him to get better, I caught a head cold, which lovingly moved into my chest to develop bronchitis. Hacking up blood and bright green phlegm while trying to take a picture of a mountain seems foolish, but I guess that's what I did.

After ridiculing the woman who was puking on the Thorong-La pass in my last email, it would seem foolish for us to continue, but neither of our symptoms were for altitude sickness, so we could continue, just not under the most ideal conditions.

We were told of a few mountain passes that would allow a circuit route instead of the straight up path to base camp and back, so we headed up to Gokyo lakes(six of them along the glacier). We passed Macheremo where Reinhold Messner supposedly saw a yeti and one attacked some yaks. The local lodge owner we talked to was there in '74 when it supposedly happened, but he laughed it off when we asked about it. Clouds were constantly coming in by early afternoon, so most of our days consisted of us waking at 4am to see if the weather was clear. We climbed up twice for views of Everest and Cho Oyu. Cho Oyu Base Camp was deserted because of the the Chinese blockage of peaks over 6000m, but the whole area is a beautiful convergence of glaciers coming off the high peaks. Everest is probably the least photogenic mountain around, but it is the biggest, so it pulls the asian tourists with plenty of cameras. We had a group of 4 guys in the buff except american flag
thongs taking pictures to lighten the mood.

Our pass was called Cho La, and was the same height as Thorang-La, 5420m. We followed some porters in the fog until we saw a wall of snow and scree. They kept going up, in their fake chinese sneakers and light jackets, so we followed. On a map we saw, this section is called "slippery trail" because the sun never hits here and the snow accumulates. It was indeed slippery, but we made it over alright. By this time we had picked up another German trekker, Markus, who was travelling at our same pace(fast, even though I was still sick). He had been through India and was a better bargainer, so we just let him fight it out with the lodge owners and food vendors and we'd slip in expecting the same price.

Gorak Shep is the high village before Everest Base Camp, and we climbed up for another closer view of Sagaramatha, as the Nepalis call it. We could see base camp perched on the glacier and it's a 2 hour hike up to it. After reading climbing books, I had a picture of trash and oxygen bottles everywhere, but camp was exceptionally clean. They have recently had cleaning campaigns, so base camp is rather tidy for being perched on a grinding glacier. I've heard the higher camps are still messy, but most people won't see those.

We had heard there was a bakery tent, and found it to have quite possibly the best apple pie I have ever tasted. How these guys manage to bake at such high altitude is amazing. I saw the guy trying to knead frozen dough with a butcher knife. A group of Austrians came in and Markus translated their conversation for us. They had made the summit a few days earlier, and the one guy seemed pretty happy about it. But, they had "left" one of their members up on the mountain. Euphemism for "the guy died and we didn't have the energy to bring him down" They said they were on top without gloves because it was "warm", but obviously one of the expedition members didn't make it. It made me think how much I like climbing but that I don't need a silly statistic if one of my friends has to die in the process. Many of these sherpas climb 10 or more times to the summit and make endless trips caching up for the camps, but it's just a job for them. There is an overwhelming
feeling of "at your own risk" around camp, as people have more to be worried about than being nice to trekkers who wander through.

There was another pass to the Makalu peak area that was less used that we wanted to try. First we had to climb down to Lobuche, which turned out to be the coldest and most miserable lodge of our trip. The Everest Marathon was on the 29th of May, and they were using this area for the runners to acclimatize. Our tiny lodge turning into the medical tent and everyone with problems came into the dining hall for medications while we were trying to eat.

The next morning was too foggy to see across the glacier we had to cross, and we lost the path, so we just dead reckoned and aimed for a point on the other side. Markus stayed low and ended up in the moraine lake, while Mike and I attacked the loose sand/scree hills. We all made it across to see the clouds clear and give us great views of the whole Khumbu Valley. This pass was just as steep, but no snow. Little bouts of sunshine showed us some glacial lakes on the other side of the pass. After 10 days of no showers(they cost money for hot water, and our frugality prevented us from showering, unless a nearby stream allowed a hobo washing), we thought a dip in the lake would be refreshing.

Normally, Mike is the cold water specialist, but I had the enthusiasm today. Mike also proposed that a quick dip would cure my cold... the theory failed... After sounding confident, Mike decided against jumping in, but Markus and I got in and shamed Mike into joining us. Needless to say, none of us lasted more than 10 seconds in the water before gasping for air from the shock of the cold.

We had heard of a trekking mountain we wanted to climb, but only recently learned that Island Peak needed a permit to climb. The statistical 6000m or 20,000 ft mountain is sought after by amature climbers on their way up to the 8000m ranges. Instead we climbed to the base camp and saw the huge lake that had formed in the moraine.

It was now only down back to Namche and back up to a village where a huge Buddhist festival, Mani Rimdu had just ended. Our way through Tengboche saw a huge tent pitched for a speech by one of Sir Edmund Hillary's grandsons. We instead sat in the temple "puja" where the monks chant their mantras and prayers in harmonic chaos. It lasted over 2 hours, and was quite an extrodinary audio/trance feeling. A monk came over and accused mike of filming, but still pictures are allowed without a flash. While he politely explained his camera was only taking pictures, a film crew was walking around filming the whole thing. We had overheard the cameraman "donate" $100 in order to be allowed to film. Filler for whatever else he was filming must have been worth it, at least compared to our honest interest in what the monks were doing.

Thami was up the valley on the way to the old Tibetan trade route over the Nangpa-La pass. It was closed until recently, but opened up on the Nepali side until the pass with Tibet still being closed to foreigners. The village was recovering from the festival and we seemed to be the only ones in town. After shorting ourselves on meals to save money, we ordered 27 different meals to appease our hunger. The "didi" or woman of the house was a jovial lady with a slightly psycotically happy husband(this guy would laugh at anything, quite often). We found a dead moth in the sugar bowl and he started laughing and picked it up to show the rest of the family and laugh some more.

On our way down to Namche on May 29th, Tenzing-Hillary Everest Day, we caught the finish line of the marathon. Best time was 3 hours 53 minutes, and most of these guys had severe limps from the bashing of their knees from running down from Gorak Shep to Namche the full 26 miles. We even loaned our hiking sticks to a few of the runners to hobble down to the main part of town to their hotels or restaurants for the celebrations and music concert later that night.

Instead, we had a marathon 10 hour day down to Lukla to catch our flight, the same dinky ride off the cliff at Lukla. They use every inch of the runway and you get a pretty good g-force feeling as it banks up to gain altitude over the cliffs.

Upon entering Kathmandu again, everything seemed eerily quiet. We quickly learned, as there were few radios in the lodges we stayed at, that the monarchy had been disolved by the new government. The king has been given 15 days to leave the royal palace so they can turn it into a museum. The king was not widely like or the prince even less after the strange murders of the previous king in 2001. So, most people here are happy for him to go and are eager to see what the new republic of Nepal can provide. The prince is already gone, but the kind is supposedly taking astrologers' advice as to when the perfect time to leave is.

Since Tibet is closed and the monsoons haven't hit yet, the country is still seeing plenty of foreigners lingering around. So, there are still plenty of people around while we hang out in Kathmandu. The hilarious attempt at a sex trade here is under the guise of 'shower dances'. The seedy night clubs with dancing on stages with stripper poles all advertise this additional option. Curiosity got the best of us and we popped into the Red Lips Dance Bar. We managed to ward off the waiter who kept trying to get us to buy the triple overpriced drinks and one of the dancers who sat down to get to know us. The local Nepali men danced on the stage more than the girls did(whose faces looked miserable, they just didn't want to dance). A fight broke out at the strategic time to allow us to escape without having to pay for our research trip. I never figured out the exact details of a shower dance, but we did see the shower nozzle above the stripper bar, so I'll leave
it to everyones imagination.

Our hotel has a view of the palace and is only a 5 minute walk to the gates. If all goes well with our plans to visit the Indian Himalayas, we won't be here when he leaves. I've never been evicted from an apartment, but it's hard to imagine what being evicted from a palace would be like....

We finished the trek quickly again: 16 days, roughly 100 miles, 2 passes at 5400m, and some of the most dramatic mountain scenery I've ever seen.

I'll leave you with a quote about the awe of nature, which I find confirmed while travelling throught these magical places(I'd also add looking upon the Himalaya in his list):

--
"What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone tool in one's hand, standing before the immense chasm of space and time that is the Grand Canyon, or listening to a scientist who gazed upon the face of the universe's creation and did not blink? That is deep and sacred science." - Michael Shermer

¿Quién necesidades duermen?

______________________________________________
Enviado desde Correo Yahoo! La bandeja de entrada más inteligente.

.: BenHansen :: 8:58 AM [+] 0 comments

Our first season of the bar guides was a success in Breckenridge. Mike, Jon and I plan to extend our services to 2 or 3 new locations for the 2007/2008 season. A possible year round flyer for locations that require it is in the works. Our website, Last Call Bar Guides is up and running. We are looking to streamline the flyer so that it is more easily updated and less work for the printing process.

I would like to thank all of you that have helped me and my new company to have a successful first year. I'm no millionaire yet, but this process has taught me so much and left me to believe that I could rely on this business for my livelyhood someday. I still have that urge to pack up and travel. It's funny that a wife, kids, or morgage didn't tie me down like I thought it would... it was business instead.

Labels: Bar Guides

.: BenHansen :: 12:49 PM [+] 0 comments

Being in the ski industry, working on Christmas is a given. It's understood that these people are on vacation and you need to work. I've gotten used to it, and they get Christmas... I get all summer. I like the deal. Plus I don't buy into the whole commercialization deal either. This will be the second year that I ski on christmas day.

.: BenHansen :: 7:14 PM [+] 0 comments

I try to pride myself in my work, but my boss seems not to think so.

So, actually a clarification, he's not my boss... just the old manager here in Breckenridge. He didn't like the way I dealt with the shop, so he fired me. Sucks, but I had a week off to ski and look for other work. After a week, my actual boss calls me and says that he had no right to fire me and would I reconsider coming back to work.

Long story short, I'm back and should not have to deal with him anymore. So, the shop is mine again and I have some tough work ahead as the busy season is approaching.

.: BenHansen :: 7:10 PM [+] 0 comments

So, my laptop died, more specifically it was the hard drive. I have yet to recover the data I'd been working on for 3 months off the hard drive. One of those things in life no one wants to go throught, but I should get through it.

I think a few years ago, I would have taken this a lot harder. I've learned not to live through my possesions, it was just stuff. That has helped me to not get too bitter about having to recover and redo work I've already spent too much time on already.

So, Summer in Colorado is great. Going to do some more camping before the snows come. Try the Maroon Bells hike, and hitch-hike to St. Louis for a wedding. That's the plan...

trying something here at the end... see if it works

.: BenHansen :: 11:58 AM [+] 0 comments

So, my laptop died, more specifically it was the hard drive. I have yet to recover the data I'd been working on for 3 months off the hard drive. One of those things in life no one wants to go throught, but I should get through it.

I think a few years ago, I would have taken this a lot harder. I've learned not to live through my possesions, it was just stuff. That has helped me to not get too bitter about having to recover and redo work I've already spent too much time on already.

So, Summer in Colorado is great. Going to do some more camping before the snows come. Try the Maroon Bells hike, and hitch-hike to St. Louis for a wedding. That's the plan...

trying something here at the end... see if it works

.: BenHansen :: 11:58 AM [+] 0 comments

So, I have quite a few picture galleries floating
around the internet and most of the photos are just
snapshots of where I've been.

Now I've tried to start a professional gallery where
people can buy prints, small or large, of my more
artistic photographs.

The address is :
http://benhansen.deviantart.com/store/

I'll be updating this website fairly often and
offering more prints for sale.

The best way for me to advertise if through word of
mouth. I don't expect to sell much, but every little
bit helps. There is no obligation for you to buy, but
if you think someone else might, please forward this
email to all your friends and have them take a look. I
would very much appreciate it.

If you have any questions or comments about the
website, please email me back at: snowblizz@yahoo.com

Enjoy

______________________________________________
LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
http://es.voice.yahoo.com

.: BenHansen :: 1:47 PM [+] 1 comments

So, Mike has put together a nice little video of our
year in Colorado. One little section, the funniest in
my opinion, is of Gaper Day.

Now, describing to a non-local what a gaper(GAY-per)
is is similar to a fraternaty telling everyone about
their secret handshake. Once everyone knows, those who
used to hold this knowledge lose thier specialness.
The story of the Gaper is not a state secret, so I
doubt it will lose any of its uniqeness by me telling
you about it.

No offense... but if anyone comes to visit, even close
friends, they are gapers until they get the style of
life here. It's just the way it is here.

There are a few explanations as to the origins of the
term. The two most likely candidates are when someone
gets a sunburn in between their hat and goggles, hence
the sunburn gap. Or it's just all the tourist who are
blown away by the beauty of this place, look up, gape,
gawk, and just get in the way of other people trying
to get about their business.

All the locals have to put up with bending over to
meet the tourists needs in seach of the almighty
dollar. Our only recourse it to ridicule those people
behind their backs and call them 'gapers'.

Now, it's not a term of endearment, but it's not a
racial slur either. We could slash their tires or spit
in their food, but instead we just talk behind their
backs and we get one release at the end of ski season:
Gaper Day... April 1st. It's near the end of the
season, so alot of people like to let loose. There is
no offical organization to set this off, just
tradition.

We lovingly mock the people who provide our livelihood
by dressing as they do... in the most gawdy, tacky,
ridiculous gear that you could imagine. It wouldn't be
possible if people didn't actually wear this stuff and
think it looks good.

You can view all the gaperishness here:

Large Version ~50meg:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1931546864572795941

Small Version ~23meg:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5369263763362946719

If you have high-speed internet, it shouldn't be a
problem to download. Enjoy, and I hope you get a laugh
out of it, because it was a blast to make. If you
really enjoyed it, please forward those links to your
friends, lighten their mood, and pass on the craziness
for others to enjoy.

----

Though men now possess the power to dominate and
exploit every corner of the natural world, nothing in
that fact implies that they have the right or the need
to do so - Edward Abbey

______________________________________________
LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
http://es.voice.yahoo.com

.: BenHansen :: 7:31 PM [+] 0 comments

So, friends and I celebrated the 230th birthday of
American existance here in Colorado. How? Here's how:

Goto Denver: Think ChuckeCheese, Bush Gardens, and
food worse than Taco Bell... and you get CASA BONITA!!
http://www.casabonitadenver.com/

If you've seen the south park episode, you'll know
what I mean. You can download it here if you have a
few internet skillz.
http://rapidshare.de/files/9313983/711_-_Casa_Bonita.rar

So, it's basically a 8 year old's dream birthday
party, but we made the best of the horrible food and
roamed around the place, pretending we were 8 year
olds again.

Then to Red Rocks Amphitheater, my first time, to see
String Cheese Incident. They're a jam band, but I was
very impressed with Keller Williams and the whole
setup of the venue. Two giant red rock formations on
either side to create a natural amphitheater...
http://www.redrocksonline.com/

Then on 3rd of July I took the Subaru(the only
passenger car to make it up) to 4th of July Bowl. It's
a 13,000 foot peak, whuch is only drivable in the
summer when the ski slopes have melted and the dirt
road becomes visable.

So, we camped up right below the only skiable slope
left in the area, found a ski jump in the dark, cooked
some smores, and had a campfiring good time.

Then, bright eyed and hungover in the morning was the
hike up to the peak to ski during the 4th. Yes, I made
two runs in July. I'm ready for next season, and I
didn't realize how much I missed snowboarding. There
is a flag at the top, along with a few golf irons to
hit pebbles off the top. I dressed in my most
patriotic outfit I had.

Parades and fireworks were waiting back down in town
proper.

Let's just say it took until now to recover and write
this email...

Pictures attached, and It should only be a few more
days until I get the rest of my best pictures up for
you guys to peruse over at my gallery site.

Happy 4th of July...


My cousin forwarded me a mass email, which are usually
highly political, but that's ok, since mine are as
well. Anyway, I enjoyed this one, so I thought I'd
pass it on, since it's a independence theme
------------------
>>

THE 4TH OF JULY

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who
signed the
Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,
and tortured
before
they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
another had two
sons
captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or
hardships of the
Revolutionary
War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their
sacred
honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were
merchants, nine were
farmers and large plantation owners; men of means,
well educated, but
they
signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full
well that the
penalty
would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and
trader, saw his ships
swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his
home and
properties to
pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he
was forced to move
his
family almost constantly. He served in the Congress
without pay, and
his
family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken
from him, and
poverty
was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery,
Hall, Clymer,
Walton,
Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted
that the British
General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for
his headquarters.
He
quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.
The home was
destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed
his
wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she
was dying. Their 13
children fled for their lives. His fields and his
gristmill were laid
to
waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and
caves, returning
home to
find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted,
but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July
holiday and
silently
thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the
price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

I hope you will show your support by sending this to
as many people as
you
can, please. It's time we get the word out that
patriotism is NOT a
sin, and
the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics,
and baseball
games .

.: BenHansen :: 10:39 PM [+] 0 comments

Ok, it took me a lot longer than I wanted, but I've
finally uploaded some snapshots of our trip. I'm still
working on the nicer ones at my pay site, which I
should have ready in the next week or so.

Here they are, and there are a bunch, so I hope
everyone has the time to see them. I may upload a
slideshow type file soon as well...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/senecar/sets/72157594179843854/

Enjoy

______________________________________________
LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
http://es.voice.yahoo.com

.: BenHansen :: 7:44 PM [+] 0 comments

This is ben writing again, just so you know:

So I paid all that extra insurance for mexico, but I
get a flat tire on our way to Vegas. We drove on a
dirt road through this Joshua Tree forest to try to
get to Grand Canyon West. Turns out there is mainly
helicoptor tours there and no lookout or hiking area.
So, On my way back I was going pretty fast and I
narrowly passed a tow truck out to pick up another
stranded car. I stopped twice thinking something was
wrong with the tire, but I couldn't find anything. As
soon as I hit paved road again, I noticed the bumping
in my front tire. I stopped and found a 2 inch screw
puncturing my tire. The air was releasing really
slowly, but I pulled it out and the tire went flat. My
friend John had suggested I carry Fix-a-flat with my
in Mexico, and I still had it.... Worthless product. I
followed the directions and the entire can didn't even
fill up the tire, and the top broke off.

So, time to put the spare on. Just as I'm unloading
all the junk in our trunk in order to get to the
spare, the tow truck that I passed stops to help. We
got everything fixed, but I had to drive at 40mph
until I got the tire plugged.

We drove over the Hoover Dam, which might be the last
time we ever do. They are building a huge bridge to
bypass the old road that goes directly over the dam,
to fight terrorism I assume. We stopped at Boulder
Beach on Lake Mead, a familiar spot we hit up 2 years
on the other road trip. And a familiar course of
events followed: too much beer, tequila and sun
ensued. We then drove to a nearby casino for $2
BJ's.......$2 black jack games, not what you're
thinking. Vegas was not kind to me, I was up $80 to
start but left $150 in the hole and I think Mike came
out even.

While driving into Vegas we stopped to get our tire
plugged at Discount Tire Co. I'd reccomend them, as
they fixed my tire for free. I'm not sure why, but I
didn't argue.

Our entire trip, we did not pay for a single night of
accomodation except for one night of camping at
Boulder Beach and two nights at the HoJo in Vegas.
Mike's manager from Breckenridge was supposed to hook
us up at the Hard Rock Casino, but he flaked out on
us. However, 42 out of 45 nights being free ain't too
bad.

We went to see Ciraue du Soleil again. This show was
Ka, and we assumed it was the fire show. There are
water, beatles, risque, and puppet type shows. Well,
it didn't have much fire, but it impressed us just as
well. Back to Freemont Street, but they weren't
showing the light show on the television ceiling.
Vegas is Vegas, if you've been here, then you know
what I mean. I'm glad we did it at the end of our
trip.

Valley of Fire State Park is just outside of Vegas and
was the only state park I remember paying for besides
Goblin Valley. It was well worth it as it has an
abundance of arches and wierd rock formations.
However, we decided to visit the park in the middle of
the day when temperatures reached 110 degrees F. Lake
Mead was in sight, but by the time we got out of the
park, we just wanted to make it up to Great Basin NP.
We made it about halfway when the sun set and se
stopped by this bridge and train tunnel. There was
just enough room to drive through the tunnel besides
the tracks, so I drove through thinking there might be
a campsite on the other side. There wasn't and I had
to drive back. We found another spot and 30 minutes
later the train finally did come through.

Great Basin is nothing like Vegas and the desert
climate. We climbed up to 10,000 ft and hiked to a
bristlecone pine forest through the snow. 110 degress
one day, and snow the next... a little bit shocking to
the system. Mike still didn't have any shoes and had
to hike through the snow in sandals. Bristlecone Pine
Trees are the longest living know plants, some living
for 5,000 years. The park is known for it's
bristlecone groves and we saw some nicley mangled
looking trees. We managed to come back down the
mountain just in time for a cave tour, Lehman Caves.
Not quite as spectacular as Carlesbad, but the caverns
are know for their shield formations.

Our last day was spent on the long haul driving back
to Breckenridge. We stopped in Moab again to drop what
we borrowed from Derek and Cindy. Didn't eat the 50
wings each at the brewery, but got down a respectable
20-25. We stopped in Arches to do the Delicate Arch
hike. It's quite nice when no on is around. On our way
out of the park, a dust storm hit and we had to drive
through sand and pebbles being pelted against my car.
Tumbleweeds were flying past and I was glad we were in
the car instead of being caught outside.

Again, no trouble from police, no speeding tickets...
that is until I get back to Breckenridge. There is a
part of Highway 9 we call 'the gauntlet'. Police stake
out this area trying to nab drunk drivers. They will
pull you over for any reason in order to assess your
sobriety. I had a short in my headlights so that
everytime I hit a pothole, my right light goes on or
off. Well, it was off when I passed Officer Dunworth.
I held my tounge, and got off with a warning. I feel
safer already.

So, we're both back in Breckenridge for a while. We
wanted to ski when we got back in June, but the last
ski resort had just closed. Plenty to do around here,
just now we don't have to sleep outside all the time.

Stats:

6500 miles roundtrip

482 dollars in gas, roughly 30mpg

45 days on the road

Places visited:

Cochise national forest
Saguaro national park
Mt Lemmon national forest
Coronado national forest
Organ Pipe cactus national monument
Prescott national forest
Tonto national forest
Tonto national monument
Sunset Crater Volcano national monument
Meteor Crator
Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument
Grand Canyon national park
Valley of Fires state park
Lake Mead national rec area
Tuzigoot national monument
Slide Rock state park
Montezuma Castle national monument
Montezuma Well national monument
Arches national park
Canyonlands national park
Capitol Reef national park
Goblin Valley state park
Fishlake national forest
Navajo reservation
Walnut Canyon national monument
Oak Creek Canyon national forest
arcosanti hippie commune

mexico-
Parque del Barranca del Cobre
Parque Basasaechi
Cumbres de Majalca national park

______________________________________________
LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
http://es.voice.yahoo.com

.: BenHansen :: 9:14 AM [+] 0 comments

Back into the USofA

So across the Mexico / US border and we've finally
made it back to the land of accurate road signs and
fattening - sized portions of food. YEah! We miss
the Mexican food already.

First stop - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - a
20 minute drive from the border. There's a loop dirt
road - closed. Okay then, we'll try the visitor
center. The nice ranger ladies advise us that the
eastern portion of the park is well open but that loop
road near the border is not - due to the current
"situation" w/ everything that is going on w/ illegals
in the US. President Bush - 1 / Mexicans - 0./
American tourists - negative 1. Even the paved roads
we hit up in the park had border patrol on them. We
head north after a nice hike and trip thru the park
and head to Why, Arizona. WHY? a simple name for a
town. But bound to get some jokes. Well there's the
Why Not Gift Shop - hahaha so clever! East of Why we
head back towards Tuscon, stopping for some $3+ a
gallon gas on the way of course. At the gas station
were 2 border patrol SUV's and a huge greyhound type
bus - but instead of Greyhound on the side it reads
"Department of Homeland Security". I was talking to
my friend Jon on the phone at the time and was telling
him about all this and he said we should go up to the
bus and ask for a T-shirt! We definitely should've.
$3.20 a gallon? That's the cost of a gallon of gas
these days!? No son - that's the cost....of freedom!
Oh - i never thought of it that way before. $3.20 a
gallon - that IS the cost of freedom!

On the way to Tuscon we came across a search
helicopter hovering over us and the highway, making
circles wherever it spotted illegals. We saw a border
patrol van w/ 4 illegals sitting on the side of the
road and then one dude running about 10 miles up, just
jogging, he knew he was caught. The helicopter made
its circles and took off - then a humvee zooms past us
and catches up to the guy. Ever see the movie - "A
Day w/out a Mexican" where they act like Mexicans
don't exist ?? It's pretty good - and pretty much
documents the fact that half of our country would not
operate. Very true.

Back in Tuscon, now hanging w/ Eric, his girl Evin,
and our old friend Nate. Go to
http://www.denenmusic.com to check out his stuff - a
good friend and saver of lives in lightning storms, he
was playing in Tuscon that night on his southwest
roadtrip of his own. We went to the Nimbus brewing
co. to hear him play and sample some delicious micro
brew.

We said our goodbyes, bombed it back to Phoenix,
snagged the laptop and headed north thru Prescott and
actually drove thru the dark for a change just to make
it up north to Supai so that we could head out early.

Havasu Canyon
----------------------------------------

Why head out early?? Because we had the greatest hike
/ camp / outdoory thing you can ever do in your life
ahead of us for the 4 next days. We had heard the
stories, seen a photo or two in passing - but nothing,
i mean nothing will prepare you for the beauty you can
find just a few short hours drive from Phoenix,
Flagstaff or Vegas. We're talking about Havasu Falls
and the Havasupai Reservation. We had been saving
this for an end of trip thing and it worked out
insanely well.

So if you come out here - rent a car, fly into one of
your destination cities i listed above, and pack up
some camping gear. Drive to Supai on a 68 mile road
towards the Grand Canyon and park at the parking lot.
You better get there early because you have a 10 mile
hike ahead of you - and out in these parts w/ the
heat, you don't want to start any later than 8am. So
we started at 9am. We hike down into a western
section of the Grand Canyon. Beautiful as any section
of this enourmous slice in the Earth's crust. Hike
past all the tourists clambering their way back up
from a long memorial day weekend. The parking lot was
packed to the brim. Luckily we were hiking down that
Monday of the Memorial Day holiday - the day all the
others were coming out. It's dusty, hot, you got
horses going by carrying gear, coolers, you name it.
Helicopters roar overhead, making back and forth runs
from the parking lot to the reservation 10 miles away.
Some people hike out w/ packs, some put them on the
mules. It's $75 per mule for 4 packs. I think the
helicopter transport is like $150 per person. What
would Abbey do? Say screw all of that and hike down.
This is the outdoors, not Disneyland. It sucks that
there are so many people out and that we have all this
going on around us, but once camp is set up it more
than makes up for the sideshow. As you hike down thru
this canyon it gets narrower and narrower until it
fans out into the reservation. That's where cataract
creek comes flowing in and you have this oasis in the
desert.

All the places we've been we've never seen such clear
enticing water in our lives. The reservation and
anything that borders the creek on the 2 mile jaunt to
the campground is dotted in greens of cottonwood trees
that create the utmost tranquility. We press on
through the sand and heat - pay our money at the
campground reservation area and hike down to the
campground. There are 4 main waterfalls in the
canyon, all w/in 4 or 5 miles of each other. The
first is Navajo, then Havasu, then Mooney, then
Beaver. We see the top of Navajo thru the trees
before the campground but press on to get the 30 lbs.
or so off our backs. We then come up to a rockface
that all of a sudden drops a few hundred feet - over
the side, roaring into an aqua blue pool below which
is Havasu falls. The sheer beauty of it makes you
want to weep - and we're just completely blown away.
We've been alot of places all over this world and seen
more than your fare share of intense and magnificent
waterfalls(Hanging lake in colorado and Erawan Falls
in Thailand have similar aqua blue waters from the
travertine in the water that creates the pools and
damns) - but this place has all of them beat -
combined - hands down.

Giddy w/ what we know in our heads will be our
playground for the next 4 days we find a campspot
quick. We want it to be a good, tranquil spot, but
we're tired from the hike. We find a decent one near
the crystal clear creek and set up our stuff and head
back to the falls for a swim. The water is cold - but
we don't care one bit. It's heaven on earth at the
bottom of this towering falls. The surrounding
cottonwoods and grassy areas and beaches make for the
most enchanting oasis on earth. We can die happy.

Ben's tired and goes back to camp. I press on towards
Navajo falls, cutting through the trees and find a
secluded oasis that most people pass up for the bigger
falls. The swimming here is just as good, and the
waterfall is still a little slice of visual heaven.

We make an easy day of relaxing near the creek and 2
first falls, knowing full well the next 2 days we will
see Mooney and Beaver and explore further downcanyon.

The next day we do just that. But first we are woken
up by church groups and obnoxious pre-teen boys and
girls making a commotion near our peaceful site.
There should be a code of ethics when you're in the
woods. Don't disturb your neighbors after the
sunlight is extinguished - and give them adequate rest
- lets say 9am before getting obnoxiously loud. We
prefer to gently awake by the sounds of rushing creek
water entering our dreams and maybe the smell of a
neighbors breakfast grumbling our bellies so that our
eyes open slowly.

A man meets us at our tent when we get up. Tells us
that a group of 67 - yes, 67 people are all moving
w/in 20 yards of us and he hopes we dont mind. We
grin and make small talk "oh no, that's fine, sure,
yeah, we don't mind" then on the side "Ben - we're
moving, pack the tent up" Within 10 minutes we have
our tent and bags packed again and walking downcanyon
- "the site is yours now mister" "are you sure" yeah
- it'll give your group more "space".

We walk another mile past everyone's campsite until we
reach the boundary, then find seclusion near the
river, noone will come down this far - and we throw
the tent there. no groups, no people - our site. And
what's this??? 1 minute walk from our site and we
come to another rock face w/ another sheer drop.
We've found the top of Mooney Falls!

After this whole debacle with the moving sites we
started out later than we wanted to. Our intention -
walking the 14 miles roundtrip down the canyon, taking
in Mooney and Beaver falls as well as walking all the
way to the colorado river and the bottom of the Grand
Canyon.

One of the indian kids about our age comes up to our
tent to check our camping permit. We ask him about
the hike down - he tells us he usually starts at 5am
as it takes all day. Oops! It's now 10:30 or so.
Late start - but we'll see how it goes. We head down,
take some photos of the top of beautiful Mooney falls,
almost identical to Havasu falls but as if the colors
are backwards. The canyon is different and the water
is more greenish. It's like the same but opposite.
Anyways - the trail down - i can't even describe, just
go there and do it. You will see. Basically it
involves crawling through dynamite blasted tunnels and
ladders wet from waterfall mist and clambering down
soaken muddy rock. It's the craziest thing. But once
you reach the bottom, it's once again heaven. Mooney
became our falls - Havasu was for the rest of the
campground, this one was ours. So great, and less
crowded. Downcanyon we go - trudging through the
water is the best thing on earth - its crystal clear
and there is beauty and small waterfalls around every
corner. The travertine terraces that make every
corner look like a chinese garden of picturesque
tranquility. Small fish are everywhere and the sand
down there is salmon colored. A feast for the eyes.

We soon find a small grotto and are pretty hot at
midday at this point. Ben says, "I think I gotta get
in for a swim." I'm with him. But on - what is
this??!? Hell yes! It's a rope swing!!! I try it
out first. Tarzan in the desert - deep splash and
easy swim out. Can this get any better?? Ben grabs
it, does a huge looping swing and a backflip off of
the end. Screw the hike down, let's stay here!
Forever! We try - but the hike is still in the back
of our minds. Okay, later i say - we have ALL day
tomorrow for a lazy day, none of this 14mile hiking -
we're coming back! agreed.

So we hike on down and across the creek again. By the
time we would eventually reach the colorado river in
the bottom of the grand canyon we would cross the
creek 11 times. The sound of lizards scurrying away
from the path through dried leaves sounds oddly
similar to a rattle snake. We were bombing it through
the high brush and couldn't see our feet, but we had
to make up time. We hike through wild fields of
grapevines (not yet in season) and across the creek
again and again, we come across some more swimming
holes with rock jumping and more enticing moments we
hit up to get out of the heat. At one point we have
to climb up a rock face using a rope because it's so
steep. (on the way back, we instead decided to use
the rope to lower our pack and then cliff-jumped into
a swimming hole below in order to return safely). We
pass by Beaver falls - a gorgeous spot but we need to
make time down to the river and its far down below, so
we skip it and press on. Eventually we reach the
confluence w/ the Colorado River and reach the bottom
of the Grand Canyon one last time - coming around full
circle in this trip and taking a dip in that fresh
water we did in the easternmost section of this great
chasm.

We hike it back and make it back out of the canyon and
up the ladders and waterfall tunnels and back to
campsite before dinner. Hiking this much sure makes
dinner all that much better after a long day.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our last full day down in the canyon was probably the
most enjoyable of the whole trip. It wasn't strange or
adrenaline filled, just relaxing and tranquil. We
climbed down the jungle gym of tunnels and ladders of
Mooney Falls again and hiked to a side canyon we
called Fern Canyon. It was a short hike because it
choked off to an 80 ft climb up slickrock. There were
ferns and it reminded us of Ireland, minus the
leprechauns.

Then and easy stroll back down through the pools to
the rope swing. When we had last left the rope swing,
it was an old rope with knots and a stick tied to the
bottom, but no someone had left springy rope with a
rubber loop to hold onto. I must have jumped 12-15
times, while ben was content to be the cameraman and
document my swings. After wondering back up through
the canyon, we noticed some steel ladders leading up
to what we assume were cliff dwellings. We could never
actually find the bottom of the ladders, and I don't
think the Indians wanted the tourists climbing up
there.

The Mesquite Trees were in blossom and they smell just
like honeysuckles. Coming from a hot desert to a
tropical jungle is such a mindtrip, but we sucked in
every scent, sight, and sound there was in that place.
I wandered off back up to Havasu falls while ben made
dinner and suddenly people started showing up. One of
the scout leaders had about 100 kids in a little
amphatheater telling stories, and there were plenty
more running around the upper camp. I quickly returned
to end a relaxing day with a meal, a game of Rummi,
and finish a few chapters in my book.

We hike it out, after 9am again, cuz it's too easy to
sleep in and stay forever. It's so hot at noon by the
time we finally get back to the car that we are happy
to pay $2 for a soda from the rasta indian living in
the RV in the parking lot.

We continue on to Vegas....

______________________________________________
LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
http://es.voice.yahoo.com

.: BenHansen :: 5:56 PM [+] 0 comments

These next 2 emails, just so you know, Mike is
writing. It's been a long trip and its alot to sum
up, so he is going to take over for parts 3 and 4 - I
will summarize the end of the trip w/ the 5th part...
it may take a while to read as well, there's a lot to
go over...

MEXICO

So we pick up our insurance and get to the border -
park the car, go inside, and deal with visa details -
and from here, basically, is where our use of the
english language goes out the friggin window! From now
until the day before we return back to the US we only
find 1 or 2 people in all of Mexico that we run across
that speak any resemblance to English. Now I took 4
years of Spanish in high school - made AP spanish in
fact - Ben took French - but between the 2 of us we
had no idea what the hell was happening from the
start. The visa agent asks us, "how long you here
for?" we say "2 weeks" he says "ok 6 months" we say
"OK". Then its 50 cents, then $21, then $51 - whatever
it is, we pay it and get the hell out of there. Border
towns are scary, we ask at a gas station "tienes
mapas??" and get "no adfkladlfjdfkjldasfkjl" something
i cannot process - so basically there are no good maps
of Mexico. We have an old US atlas that has Mexico but
alot is missing, so we just go on that - and blind
faith. Even the main highways, there are no signs, so
you just feel it out. "That way is east - go that way"
then all of a sudden, or 30 minutes later "Look,
Mexico highway 2 - we're going the right way !!!" and
on we go....

So rolling hills and desert just like AZ we head
southeast towards Chihuahua city, the capital, w/
intentions on hitting up a national park along the
way. We drive and drive and drive, 1 inch on our map
scale for Mexico is like 75 miles, whereas all the
states we've been in 1 inch = 30 or 40 miles at most.
Long days of driving, then all of a sudden I ask -
"Que es este agua Benjamin???" Ben replies, "No se'
senor". What is the water that i see hitting our
windshield and hood, washing off all that Utah /
Arizona backroad dirt we had successfully piled up
inches thick on all sides of the car creating a nice
two-tone shade??? Que Milagro!!! este es la lluvia!!!
the rain - i think that is the word - that water that
falls out of the sky that i've heard so much about but
havent seen since we both moved from Denver to
Breckenridge. Since Dec. 2005 we hadn't spent a day w/
rain yet - all of a sudden the Subaru was engulfed in
rain for a whole 5-10 minutes as we sped east into the
dark clouds and lightning.

yes. Lightning! Mike's favorite kind of weather! not
really - the scar on my left arm starts twitching like
it senses the kinetic energy. There are storms on all
sides of us but so far off it presents no significant
danger. So we see the crazy catholic statue off the
side of the road and up a hill (Mexico is dotted with
these things all over) and head up for a photo. At the
top we take in the looming weather in the distance,
set up the tripod, and get some shots of storms clouds
rubbing up against each other and giving off that
all-powerful force. Purple and bright, sometimes
orange. Scary stuff.

We finally find a spot before dark to pull of and camp
- just as the clouds let up enough to show up a
magnificent orage glow of sunset straight out of the
florescent part of the crayola crayon set. Morning
comes, we head south to Cumbres de Majalca National
Park - we still dont know what that means, for some
reason we never got it translated. Probably because it
wasnt much of a national park - it was as if they set
it up to be one, set up a pay booth at the beginning,
set up signs and picnic spots, then noone came
probably because noone in Mexico cares about that crap
or has better things to deal w/ - like the garbage.

Let me just go on a rant to say that i've been in 3rd
world countries and never seen so much garbage
everywhere in my life than i've seen in Mexico.
Period. End of rant.

So we pull up to find a pay booth, we get out our
cash, and find a broken window and noone there. We
drive past. Up and into this canyon and out the other
side of the park where theres a crazy village w/ some
weird rocks. Then, we drive back and thru, stop to
picnic w/ not a soul in sight. And drive out. We drive
to ciudad Chihahuaha and find it it to be a sprawling
mess that we cant make much out of. We find a pretty
church, stroll around the block to what Ben thought
was another church, but find out it is a huge prison -
and get the mess out of there. But not w/out some
cheap Tecate.

Tecate, Sol, Modelo, Bohemia, all good beer, cheap
mexican beer. But good beer. But dont try to buy the
big 22oz bottles, because little 13 year old girls
running businesses cant communicate w/ you enough to
let you know why you cannot buy it. We just owned up
to the fact that we could only buy cans. Later we find
that its the whole deposit bottle thing and she can
tell we dont live in her town, are just passing thru,
and will not return the bottles, therefore we will
have to pay more for deposit on the bottle and lose
out on the money. I guess you're expected to buy cans
and just pitch the empty can on the side of the road
like the rest of the garbage. Only kidding, we dispose
of everything properly. Anyways, we find a campspot
after some great mexican food and sleep at about 7000
ft. above sea level 30 min outside of the town of
Creel, which will be our departure point for the main
reason we came to Mexico.

My goal of this trip was to see the parts of Utah I
missed before on roadtrip 2004 and hit up the area
south of the Grand Canyon in AZ because before I had
only seen the north rim. Ben added Mexico to this trip
due to his passion for being a vagabond in 3rd world
countries - a mysterious passion but not all too alien
to the both of us. I wised up to this addition to the
trip when we researched pictures of a small speck on
our incomplete atlas map called Barranca del Cobre or
"Copper Canyon". Not too many Mexicans make websites,
the ones that are out there on Copper were made by
American tourists and most weren't updated. But the
photos we could find blew us away. A canyon 4 times
the size of the Grand Canyon in scale and depth, in
the middle of nowhere in Mexico.

Creel is the hub. We roll up - see a sign outside a
tour place that says Lonely Planet recommended their
tour office and pop inside to find the only english
speaking person we'll find in Mexico our entire trip.
Yolanda.

Yolanda is quite the character. We roll into her shop
to find out she and her husband run it and she's
originally from Oklahoma, but pretty much a gypsy
since then. She's got books, maps and info on the
canyon and alot of advice on where to go but is very
strange about everything. We ask about hikes. She
recommends either the 6 day extremely strenuous hike
or the 3 day easy hike (the only 2 she's been on in
the canyon we presume). You have to take these hikes
w/ a native indian guide (not a Sioux, not a Navajo)
but a Tarahumara indian native to the canyon. He wont
speak any english but he will guide you she says. We
rule out the 6 day on the fact that we're feeling lazy
and I don't have good hiking shoes anymore and plus we
just dont have the time. The 3 day is to some hot
springs - and my vision of me, Ben, and some naked
native indian sitting in a hot spring in the searing
heat was not what i had in mind. So we got some info
and left - or tried....

All of a sudden this old lady walks in, Ronnie. The
walls of the shop are lined w/ little knickknacks and
wooden carvings and such, which Yolonda seems to be
selling for her. Ronnie starts ranting to Yolanda,
then asks about rent $$ - then starts to get
beligerent when Yolanda tries to blow her off. The
conversation escalates until Yolanda is saying
"alright Ronnie, do I need to call the cops again?"
They keep going back and forth and back and forth, Ben
and i sitting there throwing glances over and wanting
to get out before a catfight begins when finally
Yolanda gets her to leave against her will, and slams
the door. With a tear in her eye she watches her out
the window and tells us how she's the crazy lady of
the town and yada yada yada, all of a sudden Ronnie is
outside the window and Yolanda is freaking about not
locking the back door. She then tells me to get down
as Ben is peering out the window laughing and walks up
behind me and grabs my t-shirt and pulls me to the
ground - completely serious that she didnt want crazy
lady to see anyone was still in the shop. Ben complies
and joins Yolanda and I in cowering underneath a
bookshelf. So, we are now being holed up in this
lady's shop until crazy Ronnie gets a ride into town
w/ some Mexican dude. We get our info and get out of
there.

So basically we decide to skip the hikes and just
venture out on our own, because there are roads, paved
and unpaved into the hearts of the 4 canyons. So a
full day of driving yielded us a drive from 7500 feet
all the way on dirt roads to 1000 ft and brought us to
the bottom of Batopilas canyon and into the heart of
an awe inspiring area where we had basically driven a
6000 ft. decent into the bottom (think having a road
that will drive you to the bottom of the Grand Canyon,
only more dramatic) and then through to these towns of
a few hundred people. Ben and I end up in the town of
Batopilas w/ an hour to kill before dark and
sweltering heat and nothing to drink but our water
which has been heated from the sun of the long day's
drive. We want some beer, and some food. We dont care
where. We pull through, much of the amazement to
everyone in town that's probably never seen a subaru
before, only trucks...finally decide on a place that
says "se vende comida" and stop in. Knock on the door
and a little girl in her pajamas stares back at us.
Then Ben steps on the balcony and says, "Si' comida?
donde es madre o padre?" Finally mom, in her pajamas
as well, comes in and tells us to sit at her kitchen
table. Her dark kitchen is a strange experience to be
in but comforting nonetheless. We plead that we just
wanted food and beer and she opens the refrigerator to
reveal two 12-packs of Tecate and rips us 2 off of the
plastic rings. Sweet bliss! 4 seconds later we ask
"Senora?? Uno mas ?" Si, of course, we can drink as
much as we please, it's a restaurant! we call it
"grandma's house" because that's what it felt like. We
didn't know what we'd be eating, but we were happy,
and even more when we received one of the best mexican
dishes i've eaten to this day, polished off w/ a few
more Tecates, paid her $10 US a piece and went on to
camp by the river in the bottom of this 7500 ft.
canyon. Our first choice was thwarted by the stench of
a dead cow rotting in the bushes and a trucker and his
family trying to bathe in the river. We moved on and
once again were woken up by braying donkeys.

Out of Batopilas Canyon and onto Sinforosa Canyon
where after a long drive we roll up to...nothing, a
small village, w/ a ranch. We're confused until a man
walks over, we ask him where this canyon (the size of
the grand canyon) is and he points to the gate, says
its 15 pesos (just under $1.50) per person to get in -
no problems there and we drive thru the gate and thru
this man's backyard and onto a huge friggin gash in
the earth. Beautiful lookout, lots of little lookout
towers and Mexican families pic-nic-ing. I spot a
bridge down below, a hiking bridge, we drive down a
huge embankment w/ many switchbacks to get to it to
find a pretty tranquil spot w/ a sweet suspension
bridge (how much do you trust Mexican reinforced
steel??). Well we did - but getting the car back up
and out of the canyon, quite the ordeal in 1st gear,
Ben handbraking and revving up to 5-6000rpm and
releasing the brake to inch forward several several
times- but we made it. Back towards Creel but not
before seeing a sign for hot springs - or we assume.
So 6 miles on backroads turns out to be an hours worth
of driving, and right before we're about to give up,
around the bend in the mountain appears a village. A
man appears at the gate where we have to park our car
and tells us its another $2 or so per person for the
hot springs - we decide to check it out and find 4
full size swimming polls of different levels of
elevation and temperature all in this picturesque
valley. A nice dip to end a long day. Then camping
amongst the donkeys, cows and whatever else what
outside of our tent that night munching on loud crisp
pine-coney type things.

On to Creel and then south the other way, down to
Divisadero, to the main tourist trainstop. See, when
most tourists come to Copper Canyon they fly in to Los
Mochis and get the train through this area to see a
view or 2 of the canyon, take some photos and move on,
back to Los Mochis or on to Chihahuaha. So we arrive
at what is typically known as "Copper Canyon" but is
actually the convergence of 3 of the main
canyons(Oteros, Urique, and Cobre) and the view was
quite simply amazing. There is a train stop there, a
very nice hotel, lots of people trying to get you to
buy their tourist crap and ladies screaming at us to
buy their mexican pita instead of the other lady's. We
get a pita from the only lady who didnt scream and
walk into the lodge. No one is there, but its
gorgeous. It has a bar that has huge windows that look
out into the canyon with hummingbird feeders all
around the windows. A few $2 beers later we decide to
go out to the car and pack up our stuff. Yolanda back
in Creel said the best part to ride the train was from
Divisadero (where we presently are and drove to) down
to Temoris. So we take her (crazy) advice and make
this plan. But Ben and i being so frugal while
travelling decide not to pay for a place to stay (we
havent yet up until this point) and we're going to
take daypacks w/ our stuff to sleep (mats, bags, etc.)
and some water (and tequila) and just show up in town
and probably hang out and sleep outside of town by the
river.

So we pack our stuff up, while the town children watch
and giggle and ooh and aah in amazement when we do
simple things like open our cooler to get food out or
turn a light on in the car, etc. They particularly
liked the indiana jones whip Ben bought in Juarez.
I'm thinking - this car is getting stolen or broken in
to for sure. Those little kids are gonna tell their
big brothers all the cool stuff they saw in our car...
The train takes off and we're headed south. There is
apparently no food or drink allowed on the train but
there's a burrito guy roaming the isles selling his
homemade food along w/ tomales. Ben busts out his
bottle of Agave tequila and we swig the thing clean -
all the while the train is loaded w/ armed guards w/
AK-47s just so noone hijacks the train, i guess. I
think their real job was to harrass any cute single
women they found instead of protect the train. Finally
after many a stop we end up in Temoris where almost
everyone gets off, so we do as well. When we get off
we say to ourselves "where the hell are we??" and
watch everyone reboard onto pickups or buses and
drives off, leaving the 2 of us, 2 gringos, in this
bumf*ck little trainstop town in the middle of
nowhere.....

... let the madness set in.

We have a good laugh about it to ourselves, figuring
we're up for a long night. I secretly curse Yolanda
and her advice under my breath and we venture off thru
town, 2 little dirt streets and walk into chickens,
dogs, trash, and some natives. Then we see a little
shop, ask about food, and the guy says "cerveza??"
and points. We turn around and painted on this white
building is our favorite word - Tecate. We run up like
school children on the last day of school - some woman
sees us and walks up, opens a fridge bin and reveals
100s of Tecate beers - at $1 a piece!! we'll take 5 we
say - and how long are you open?? another 2 hours???
great! we'll be back! and we stroll off to the river
w/ our beer and smiles. WE sit at the river, take off
our packs, crack open some beer and enjoy the scenery,
away from town, but only about 200 yards away. Now
what do we do??? drink here until night comes, find a
spot away from the rocks and throw down our mats?? not
unlike any other night on this trip... we drink and
talk and keep making jaunts back into the village to
get more beer and then that weird wet clear liquid
from the sky comes back and finds us for the second
time in 6 months.... and now its raining, lightly,
heavier, then cats and dogs! uh, what do we do. well?
have a laugh, and then grab the tarp Ben so cleverly
brought and try to string it up(the rain is blowing
mostly horizontally rather than downwards) - this part
we have on video because our tarp job was oh so
humorous, but it managed to keep us somewhat dry and
keep us in the mood to finish the beer. The rain
eventually passed over as always and we headed into
town for more beer. By this time we're starving and
we stop back in the shop. Comida?? Si!?! We sit down
for another meal that we have no idea what we're
getting because the shopkeeper woman and her son have
taken to us and decided to cook us a meal. The
highlight of this meal was the little red pepper balls
you add to your tortilla wrap. The lady says only use
one, so Ben throws 7 on there, just for a laugh.
They're not hot unless you directly bit one and the
contents will explode into a fireball in your mouth. I
walk out to the river to take photos of the sunset
over the canyon walls - sunsets are always best after
a good rain, they only get really colorful if theres a
lot of moisture in the air. Now the lady and her son
(Rosa and Mario) and this crazy guy (Tito) who pointed
us to the beer are all around chatting with us. The
son is our age and thinks we're pretty funny - then
pulls his car around and shows off his suburban w/ his
modified extra bass sound system and blasts crazy
mexican music so loud you could have heard it back in
the states. So i eat, drunkenly, another great home
cooked meal while absurdly loud Mexican music blasts 3
feet from my ears. Meanwhile the crazy guy sitting at
the table next to us, Tito, has taken to us and we're
trying to talk to him about what's up w/ this town.
When we got in, i failed to mention, we heard gunshots
going off, somewhere in town, like there was a firing
range. Tito asked if we wanted to shoot guns - i told
him, what do we shoot?? All of this got jumbled in the
Eng / Span. translation and i kept making them laugh
by telling them that i'd like to shoot a cat (i'm a
dog lover). So i would say, "Me gusta perros, pero no
me gusta gatos" (i like dogs, but not cats) and then
told him i wanted to shoot a cat (not really). That
would get a good laugh. Then i would make a motion
like a machine gun and make the gunfire noise. ak- ak
- ak. Gato!

Great meal, increasing drunkeness, and increasingly
drunken Tito all ended up in absurdity and we were all
wasted having a laugh at the fact that we call couldnt
understand each other. We just wanted to pay the lady
for the meal but she kept saying not to worry about it
until tomorrow. Then Tito offered for us to sleep at
his place. Ben sets up our beds on a concrete floor,
not noticing until morning that there are prison bars
on the windows. But Ben drags me to Tito's and we
couldnt care less, we need sleep, badly, its been fun,
but we need sleep. So we sleep.... for two hours -
tops...

At precisely 4am by my watch - i'm woken up by the
sound of dogs barking all over the village. Barking
loudly and crazily, all at the sound of each other,
causing such a disturbance that i can't sleep. Then
when all the dogs finally shut up - a final dog comes
out near our place and starts up - now he is just
barking, by himself, out into the night. The barking
is so loud that its echoing off the canyon walls in
the distance and returning and he thinks there is
another dog out there - so this dog barks and barks
and barks for a straight hour, right outside our place
until i just cant take it. Now i've turned my desire
to shoot cats onto this lone dog and in my hungover
sleep can only think about a muzzle and throwing this
dog in the river so that i can get some sleep.
Finally, Tito wakes up, stumbles around his place -
at this point i just want him to shoot the dog, but he
doesnt. Instead - he's up for the morning - and
decides to blast mexican pop songs as loud as his
stereo (the only thing he owns in his place) will go.
So now, the loudest mexican pop music i've ever heard
is penetrating through every wall and all i can say is
"you've got to be _____ing kidding me". Then Tito
stumbles in, flips on the light and has 2 Tecates in
his hand and says something about "bailando" which
means "dancing" and i'm like Wha!? NO! Ben!!! get your
ass up and dance so this crazy fool will leave us
alone!!! Get up now! Dance so he will turn off this
music! So Ben gets up and drinks and dances with Tito
and Juan (his other drinking buddy). Little old ladies
cover their ears as they walk past on the street, but
nothing seems out of the ordinary for them. Mario
doesn't want to be outdone, so he pulls out his
suburban and rocks the entire house. Had to be well
over 100 decibles. The bass is so loud, i thought it
would shatter the windows. Tito wants to drive us
around in his truck to see the old town, but Ben
manages to avoid being driven off a steep cliff by
going back into our room and trying to sleep. With
more beer in his hand, Tito tries to wake us up again,
but he finally gives up and drives off to work or
whatever it is that he does. I nearly make a shoe
trade with a Caballero who had made flip flops out of
old tires and some rope, but decides to keep mine
instead. Ben says he would have made the trade except
they didn't fit his feet. What brand of sandal is
that? Nike, Chaco, Birkenstock... nah, Goodyear.

We decide to go for a hike to the mountain pass to get
over our hangovers and kill time before the train
comes. So we go for it, hit the pass, and hike up into
.... Temoris Viejo or old Temoris - which is
apparently the big lively town Yolanda talked about
and turned out to be quite nice. She failed to mention
the town over the mtn. pass...and the other town - but
we found it, in enough time to get back by train, find
our car in one piece, and find out way out of the
canyon area and back towards the highway.

The next morning we headed for one last national park,
Basaseachi. We hoped to find a Cascada here, a
beautiful waterfall we saw in pictures....but
apparently there's no water until after august when
all the storms come through for monsoon season which
is high season for this place. It was a beautiful
canyon but no waterfall. So - west, through many a
mountain and on towards the coast.

San Carlos, Mexico - touristy, but peaceful. We found
some great scenery, some gnarly rock formations
towering over the coastal waters, and a tranquil
beach. We set up our stuff and then Ben goes for
beer. He comes back and tells me he's found a better
beach - i tell him thats great news, because i walked
along the beach and was stunned to find some dead fish
skeletons and a huge beached seal that had been
decaying in the heat. Yum.

So beer and onto the new beach - yes! paradise found!
White sands, free camping on the beach, clean water,
and town not far away for fresh supply of cerveza.
We've got everything we need. So much so that we
decided to stay for not 1, not 2, but 3 nights and 4
days before leaving. While here our daily life
consisted of going into town twice a day to replenish
beer and ice supplies (best thing about Mexico, free
ice w/ beer purchase), consume way too much, get way
too much sun, cook out at the car, play our music,
play some cards, throw the frisbee, chat w/ our
mexican neighbors Dachy and Roche(most of the words we
didn't know we used the dust caked rear window as a
blackboard to write on) and cause havoc only our own
health. And so it was, day after day we loved our
spot and would go back any day. When the time came to
leave we did not want to but continued north past
Hermosillo, and on to Rocky Point a.k.a. Puerto
Penasco a.k.a. gringo tourist hell- we were not
amused. We basically stopped in town, decided there
were too many americans and too many people that spoke
english for a change - so we slipped outside of town
and hung out w/ the locals and watched some mexican
kids play soccer just outside a travelling circus. A
nights sleep and out thru the border in the morning -
only to get glanced at and have the border patrolman
say - you guys are good, go ahead. Way too easy. Our
running joke was that whenever we got stopped at a
military checkpoint, we were asked what was in the
car, but never what was in the carry case on top of
the car. Instead of camping gear, we imagined a little
mexican hiding up there. Sure enough, we could have
smuggled one of them in.

So, no need for the mexican car insurance, no flat
tires on the numerous dirt roads, no montezuma's
revenge from the water, and no unfriendly people. For
all the trouble we're going through to keep mexicans
out of our country, I reckon more americans should see
what we saw. We'd go back anytime, and I hope there
isn't a giant wall blocking our way...

Next up: Havasupai Reservation...

------------------------------------------------------------

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.: BenHansen :: 3:23 PM [+] 0 comments

So, last we left you with this little adventure we
were just coming into Phoenix, AZ to drop this
electronic contraption of a laptop off at Ben's
cousins' house. Mike, being a little worried about
safety of belongings and of personal health in Mexico
wanted at least our photographs to survive this trip -
as a last reminder of a happy time while we rot away
in a Mexican prison - or whatever might come in the
near future.

So on the way to Mexico we are hot and sweaty - as you
do in the southwest in mid May, and desperate to jump
in a body of water, any water, a puddle would do. We
look on the map - there are rivers that feed to and
fro from a big lake called Lake Pleasant. Sounds
nice! Pleasant in fact! But we're dying...the
Phoenecian sun is unbearable and anything w/in 100
miles of this sprawling capital city seems to just
bake, including us. We drive and drive and find every
body of water on our map to be bone dry. So finally
we go for this massive lake. A little tip for anyone
trying to get into state parks: they don't charge
admission fees after sunset. So Mike and I camped out
with some rednecks hooting and hollering in their
anchored boats in a little bay behind our campsite.
But that wasn't too bothersome. What was strange was
the donkeys. Yes, this state park had wild donkeys
wandering around, and they make for an interesting
alarm clock. Along with coyotes and ducks, the donkeys
woke us up at sunrise (5am).

On our way out of Phoenix, we were introduced to
Ceragem("Did you Ceragem today?" goes the slogan).
It's basically a mechanical massage bed with jade
rollers and heat. There are demo centers in strip
malls all over the country. They say they don't push
you to pay per session, just buy a bed after you see
the benefits. We were the only people there under 60,
and they play an infomercial(partially in a Korean pop
song) for 40 minutes while the rollers work your back
and front. Then, you have the option to sit on a
smaller roller, which the lady said was good for your
prostate. That's marketing speak for: stick this hot
thing up your butt. All very interesting, but I don't
think I'll be buying a bed anytime soon. Look it up
though - http://www.ceragem.com/ - there is bound to
be a free center near you. Don't be thrown off if you
feel like you're walking in on a Scientology seminar.
The heated prostate ball is well worth a free visit!

Ok, east of Phoenix is the Superstition Wilderness.
There is a National Monument there but we got there
too late, and were told about some other ruins. It was
a 20 mile trip down a pretty tough dirt road. I
couldn't make the last 1.5 miles, so we set off on our
hike. There were no trail markings, just a description
we got from the internet. So, after a lot of
scrambling and route finding, I turn back to ask mike
if he sees the ruins. He looks at me and says they're
right above you. Sure enough, they were hidden in an
overhang right above us. When I turned back around and
looked down, I saw something rather unique. I had
found a 500 year old Salado Indian pottery piece. We
examined the rest of the ruins and Mike found one as
well, along with corn cobs, metates(stone used for
grinding grains). No arrowheads, but a secluded and
little known area. Our hike back down was pretty
tough. The trail was loose scree and Mike was still in
his sandals after losing his shoe in the Escalante
River and had to go pretty slow. Mike ended up losing
his balance down many a scree slope, pitching over
rocks and cactus. I wandered ahead and found out
later that he was picking cactus needles out of his
hands and legs. He finally found a stick in an attempt
to brace himself on the descent downwards, and ended
up falling really bad even with the stick - basically
it looked like a grizzly bear and a wolverine had
their way with his legs by the time we reached Tuscon
- a bloody scabby mess. Then we head to Tucson to
visit our old college friend Eric.

Eric is an avid climber and brought us up to Mt.
Lemmon outside of Tucson to do some climbing. Mike and
I both climbed up 5.7 and 5.8 pitches. In difficulty
terms, they were pretty intermediate and we were
top-roped with eric taking the lead and cleaning. Fun,
but I know I'd have to practice a whole lot more to
get any better at equipment climbing. Tuscon nightlife
is pretty wild. We listened to a band, that was
playing out of a short school bus. There was no room
insided except for the musicians so you had to either
dance on top of the bus or out in the street.

Saguaro National Park is on both sides of the park,
but they closed the eastern section to repave the
road. We still saw some sweet succulants and desert
habitat. We somehow lucked out at the fact that
Saguaros in May near Tuscon are blooming their flowers
this time of year which happens to be the Arizona
state flower.

We quickly drove through Tombstone, walked the main
street, and got the hell outta dodge... er, well got
the hell outta tombstone. You have to pay to see the
O.K. Corral, and I've seen enough cheezy re-enactments
of the shootout.

Then off to Cochise Stronghold for our last day before
entering Mexico. The Cochise Stronghold is an area SE
of Tuscon heading towards the US / MEX border which is
flat desert all around and then thousand foot granite
and limestone towering rocks jutting out of the earth.
We found a tiny Javalina skull(like a wild boar),
named it Cochise, and it became the protector of the
car while we headed towards Mexico.

So, camped out at Chochise, we wake up and get to the
US / MEx border town of Douglas where Mexican car
insurance is needed. Just in case you didnt know -
when you drive to Mexico your US insurance that some
insurance company has charged you out the ass for
(especially if you speed) is no longer valid when
entering this third world country. Makes perfect
sense. So you are required to purchase extra insurance
for the time you spend in their country (North
America) unless you dont mind walking out and finding
that your car is sitting on bricks with everything
stolen out of 4 broken windows. On a side note -
nothing extra is required to enter our country, North
America, and to go across the border into the north -
that crazy place called Canada.

next up - Mexico !!

---------------------------------------------------------------

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.: BenHansen :: 1:54 PM [+] 0 comments

Ski season is over... it actually ended April 18th for
me, but Breckenridge stayed open util April 23rd.

I tried to write an email before i left on this trip,
but things got pretty crazy and i never got around to
it. Instead, here are mike's words about the end of
season:

------------------------------------------------------

WeLL - it's shoulder season here in Breck - Mud
Season, vacation time for most of us seasonal
employees. Ben's ski shop is closed - my hotel is
open, but i'm out bitches...gone to the great
southwest for 6 weeks. We leave - tomorrow.

This past week has been epic - well, more than epic.
If you can think of a better word for something that
transcends epicness of a vast scale i would like to
get some feedback because Ben and i have been
searching for the right word.

Parties, bonfires, kegs and riding at A-basin in 60
degree weather, knee or waist deep powder days,
bikinis in the snow, dressing up in ridiculous attire
more times than i ever did as a child, insanely
incredible live music ventures back to Denver,
Boulder, etc., and more random moments than you can
shake a stick at all have summed up one of the
craziest winters i never could have imagined.


Tomorrow night we should be in Moab, then alot of Utah
hiking - slot canyons and what have you - then onto
the Grand Canyon where we will attempt to reach the
bottom and see it for all its glory - then alot of
desert hiking in Arizona working our way down to
Sedona and then Tucson - then onto Mexico where we
will hope to not be ambushed and killed. Back up and
around to Havasu Falls, Vegas and loop it back home.
Very very hot weather awaits, entirely not what we're
used to. Our internal thermometers were reset this
winter - skiing in -20degree at the base / -40 degree
at the top - that was the coldest day i experienced -
made all the rest of the days at 0 - 5 degree seem
normal and 20 degrees plus was warm, damn warm,
t-shirt weather.... 90 degrees in the shade in
Arizona is going to feel like a convection oven. I
hope to come back brown.

Hopefully i am going to make it back to VA for my
nephews 4th birthday on the weekend of the 10th of
June - i hope to see some of you, if not, there are
some weddings in the near future for some friends who
fell into that trap (only kidding). If you can, meet
up w/ us in vegas near the 1st of june - if not - come
out to Breck in the summer and camp out w/ the black
bears and ben and i.

-------------------------------------------------------

Here are mine again:

So begins the crazyiness and absolute joy of freedom
again. Mike and I have decided to take a month long
trip down through utah, arizona, mexico, back to
vegas, and home again in coloroado.

We have grand plans of making a dvd or something of a
slide show for the winter season, and most likely what
will become of this spring trip. I've just bought an
800 dollar digital camera, and mike has a pretty good
camcorder, so theres plenty of electronics filling our
car. The subaru is going to make this journey instead
of mikes larger and roomier honda element. But, fair
is fair, since we took his car last time, and it is
jut the two of us this time. The subaru has faired
nicely so far.

So far, we've partied hard the last few days of the
ski season, having a keg on the 'beach' at A-basin,
throwing a house warming party at the end of the
season... go figure, and then skiing the last skiable
day at breck and then heading off for moab, ut to see
our old college friend, Derek. He lives just outside
of moab in a yurt he and his wife built. they showed
us around moab, to the moab brewery which does 15 cent
wings(mike plans to eat 50 on our way back through),
and then the long drive back to his place. They don't
like to advertise where they live, and we were on of
the first to visit the new land. It's an amazing
place, something that i would not think that two
people could manage on their own. But Derek and cindy
are more than resourceful enough. I helped fix a
generator, learned to slackrope walk(think tightrope
walking), came up with design ideas for making the
yurt more energy efficient, played outside darts and
washers, and tried some mountain biking around the
property. Everything starts out as crazy ideas, but
they manage to make things work. While I'm on the trip
and have internet access, i'm looking into how to make
juniper gin. They have loads of juniper trees around,
and it is possible to make gin out of their berries.

So, after we sobered up, we heading south through many
a slot canyon. Canyonlands and Capitol Reef(the
northern cathedral valley) where we saw the Temple of
the Moon and Sun right as the sun was setting. We hit
a state park as well, goblin valley, and saw the
hoodoos and little wild horse canyon, a 9 mile loop
through some nice wide slot canyons. We hiked the
escalante river to see Phipps Arch. There were three
river crossings and mike dropped his shoe on the last
one. The current was fast, at least faster than i
could run after the shoe. so he hike out of the trail
with just one shoe. Then to lower calf creek falls,
where we took a very very cold shower.

Then down to Hole in the Rock road in Escalante/Grand
Staircase national monument. We squeezed through
peekaboo and spooky slot canyons, which i had done
last august. we tried a different route, and tried to
get another slot canyon in that day, but it required
some technical climbing and it was damn hot. Instead,
we drove on to Broken Bow Arch, which is huge. The
cottonwood trees were just releasing their seeds, so
it looked like snow in the canyon.

The next day was a day trip down and out of Coyote
Gulch. I had attempted this one as well last august,
but couldn't find the one way down. Instead, this time
we did the trail in reverse and went down what was
called 'crack in the wall', hiked upstream, and
climbed out a 45 degree slope up. It was absolutely
beautiful, pictographs, 3 arches, gorgeous scenery
everywhere. Then the long walk back to the car in open
desert and full sun for 2 miles.

Then to Buckskin Gulch and 'the wave'. The water pools
in buckskin were so cold that after getting through
them, we just kept walking down the canyon hoping to
find a way out so we didn;t have to come back through.
no luck as it was getting late and we had to get out
of the canyon before dark. The wave requires a lottery
to get a permit, which we didn;t want to wait for, so
we just gps'ed the location and drove on down the road
and dead reckoned it. my coordinates weren't quite
right, so we found 'the wave 2'. not as good as the
overly photographed one, but the canyon down to the
touristy section was nice.

Finally into Arizona, we drove through Page, and this
was our first real experience with civilization the
whole trip. After finding that it was too late to pay
for antelope canyon, which is run by the navajo tribe,
we went to waterholes canyon. It's accessed right off
a bridge, and a car had fallen into the ravine and
gotten lodged there. So, to get into the canyon, you
now have to climb down this car. The canyon got too
steep and we headed back to antelope. The indians had
all gone home, so we poached the canyon and did our
own tour of the lower section.

the next day we paid for the upper section, but it had
lost its awe appeal since we'd seen so many already.
But we had the Grand Canyon waiting for us. We did the
touristy things in the late afternoon and talked to
the ranger about a loop hike. I had wanted to do a
similar hike that my mom and dad did back in 1975.
However, it was booked up and overcrowded. Instead we
did the Tanner-Escalanted-New Hance loop. 30 miles of
absolute splendor. We camped on beaches everynight for
3 nights right by the colorado river. Saw two
rattlesnakes. Well over 10000 feet in elevation
gain/loss during the hike. It was so tough carrying
all that weight since we had mostly been dayhiking,
but the destination each day was more than worth it.
On our hike out we me a nice couple that was from
flagstaff. they told us of a nice brewery to visit,
and the girl ended up missing her bus, so we all hung
out. We were going to stay with her at a hostel next
to the brewery, but frugality overcame us, since we
haven't paid for a place to say yet in two weeks, and
we drove out to meteor crator and camped just outside.

If you've seen the movie starman, the end scene is
shot here and i visited here with my parents when i
was a child. It just looks like another mountain, but
to think how it was made is pretty awsome.

Sedona, Az must be where all the people from Vail go
when winter is over. There are huge houses here and
you have to pay to park at all the trailheads. We saw
three arches in one day, and did 8 miles of hiking all
in 3 different hikes.

Visited Montezuma's well and castle, both very
interesting old indian cliff dwellings. Right next to
the area is Arcosanti. This hippie commune tried to
develop there, but they are still trying to get the
funding going and merge urban architecture into
nature. The word of the day is arcology = architecture
+ ecology.

Sagaruo cactus are starting to pop up all around now
that we are near Phoenix. Going to camp in what we
hope is a lake filled with water. The river feeding it
was completely dry, and it's pretty hot here already
in May. Plus, I need a shower

We're making good time, and all we have left to do is
vist my cousin in phoenix, our friend in tuscon, and
then drive on down to mexico... more updates and
hopefully pictures to come....

ben.

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.: BenHansen :: 8:44 AM [+] 0 comments