Geobulletin alpha

Running Out of Ground - Trekking to the Roof of Africa on Mt. Kilimanjaro - Part 5 - Down From the Mountain - Days Eight and Nine 

And so, after 16 months of planning, preparing, and participating, the Mt. Kilimanjaro adventure was almost complete. Surprisingly, I did not feel a great sense of personal accomplishment. My competitive days are long in the past and wasn't about to be disappointed if my body could not handle the thin air or the rigors of mountaineering. I considered this trip to be a success based only on my acceptance to undertake it and spending quality time with good friends in exotic places. Acheiving the [...]

Running Out of Ground - Trekking to the Roof of Africa on Mt. Kilimanjaro - Part 3 - Skirting the Mountain's Base - Days Three, Four, and Five 

Shira 1 Camp to Moir Hut - August 15 Leaving Shira 1 Camp, the porters set out for their destination - Moir Hut Camp.The landscape has definitely changed since the rainforest.The Shira Plateau is a lava flow-filled caldera. The Shira Volcano was likely the first cone built in this area, less than one million years ago. It is incredible young for being so large. Trekkers are walking on the lava-flow surface here.This is a close-up of the main type of rock seen on Kilimanjaro - the rhomb porphory [...]

Running Out of Ground - Trekking to the Roof of Africa on Mt. Kilimanjaro - Part 2 - The Approach - Days One and Two 

In spite of the inevitable delays on such a grand undertaking, we were trekking by about 4 PM on August 13. At first we walked on a 4X4 road, then a bonafide trail. Our route up the mountain would be the Lomosho Route.Near the start of the trek, we travel through carrot and potato fields.After entering the National Park, the forest is preserved and quite beautiful.One of our porters carrying eggs for the trip.Forest hiking.Colubus monkeys were quite numerous in the trees overhead. The are [...]

Running Out of Ground - Trekking to the Roof of Africa on Mt. Kilimanjaro - Part 1 - The Set-Up 

Many of you know that I have been in Africa this August traveling with my wife Helen. We have been on safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, as well as partaking in a trek with friends to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We have just returned home and are beginning to process the myriad emotions, information, photographs, and memories. A blog posting seems too simple a venue to express all that we have experienced in these 19 days. In a word, the trek was hard but doable, especially with the [...]

Silver Island peaks are gold to those who love exploring remote Utah 

sltrib.com Early explorers and pioneers often found precisely the right words to describe land formations as they named features they encountered while trekking west. On July 27, 1850, for example, Robert Chalmers led a group of about 300 gold miners headed to California across the Bonneville Salt Flats using the Hastings Cutoff. Seeing a mountain

Back From The Lesser Himalayas 

I am back after several days of hiking in the Mukteshwar area of Uttarakhand. I'll be writing a more geology oriented post in a few days but let me first put up a few photos to give you an idea about the place. It was beautiful.. there is no other word to describe it.. take a look. Sunrise over Nanda Devi (extreme left).. height 25,643 feet Temple on a hill.. Walking

Nubi vulcaniche e fulmini. 

La foto qui accanto è stata scattata da Brettwood Higman, un fotografo che era casualmente impegnato in un trekking nella zona del vulcano Redoubt nella primavera del 2009. Si vedono dei fulmini provenire dalla nube al di sopra del vulcano.Nelle fasi più parossistiche di una eruzione, quando un pennacchio di ceneri sovrasta il vulcano, non è infrequente notare la presenza di fulmini, che possono raggiungere lunghezze ben superiori al kilometro.Capirne la causa non è a prima vista molto [...]