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Samos Bliss
As if to make up for yesterday’s anchor fiasco, our morning Med mooring in Pythagoreio Harbor on Samos was faultless. Or so I was told. I was actually asleep and barely heard the anchor chain doing it’s thing above my head. I don’t need to say that most of us really needed some land time.…
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Patmos and Panic
Everyone felt hugely rested after a good sleep and we were ready to absorb the sights of Patmos. It’s a pretty little island with tall hills and white houses clustered around the harbor. We started up the path to John The Revelator’s cave which, surprise, surprise, had a church built over it. You could still…
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Swabbing the Deck and Peace Offerings
Knowing the wind and seas were rising, we were motivated to get to shore by 9:00 am to start our exploration. A steep hike up through the town led to a Castle and some windmills of all things. I find it magnificently annoying how pictures always distort stuff so you really can’t ever see without…
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They woke up in Greece
The shopkeeper had all day. Good thing Zach C and I weren’t in a great hurry either. He thought we were nuts, having flown 20hrs to visit Greece. We must be very rich, he said. I told him not so fierce rich, we had had to budget and I mean honestly, 20hrs are peanuts when…
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Endless Endings
Hanging around by the trailhead waiting on the Trans Canyon shuttle was bliss. We had done it! I won’t lie, I was too tired to do a happy dance with my legs, but I most certainly was with my heart! Others strangled up and we swapped stories, lamented the fact that the bathrooms were all…
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Heath’s perspective
Trouble at Phantom Ranch Written by Heath It’s evening and we are sitting at Phantom Ranch. A group of four people, two couples – 50ish maybe – are fighting beside us. We are at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It’s a long, grueling climb out. Hours and miles of climbing steep rocky steps. The…
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The Hike Itself
I feel a bit like roadkill. With only 5 hours of sleep, a Rim2Rim hike, two flights and a long drive in the last 60 hours, I feel like a dead raccoon. But was it worth it? 100 times Yes. Would I do it again? Never. Probably. We flew to Phoenix with our friend Sharon…
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Some People Never Learn
Why, you ask, am I sacked out in the Sioux Falls Airport with my legs elevated? Because I can’t say No. That’s why. I plain and simply can’t say no when I have a chance to hike the Grand Canyon again. When I not only survived but actually enjoyed my hike last time, I was…
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Up Is Mandatory
The alarm woke us shortly after 3am. Yes. Woke us! Clearly we had slept a little. It still hadn’t cooled off much, but there was a teensy breeze. Throughout the campground we could see the winking lights of other hikers packing up and starting up the trail. You do what you need to do to…
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Water is Life
Phantom Creek was calling our names, but Phantom Ranch Canteen was calling mine even louder. While the rest set up camp or plunged into the water, I set off the 1/2 mile or so to the Ranch and hopefully a cold drink. I’m not sure why cold drink seemed so important, but it did. And…
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Descent Into The Oven
“Wait for the Hikers Express just down the street at the Blue Line bus stop” they said when we checked the evening before. We wanted it all to go like clockwork cause we really wanted an early start to beat the heat. The Flex was parked at the Bright Angel trail head and there we…
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Grand Canyon or Bust
A Dream It all started when I was a small, square headed kid, listening as my dad told stories of hiking Bright Angel Trail down to Phantom Ranch and up again in one day. The talk of butchered feet, hot weather, stunning scenery and mules was enchanting and I vowed in my little heart that…
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War
The path was still in the shadows as we climbed up Mt. Arbel in Galilee, so although it was supposed to be a hot day, we still hadn’t broken a sweat. The cows and goats were grazing the steep slopes and a brilliant blue bird was singing from a rock. Another beautiful morning in Israel.…
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Night Hours
The Tent The breeze shivers the olive trees and our little fire sends a puff of smoke smack into Garrett’s face. We are sacked out on elderly couches and wobbly plastic chairs smack in the middle of an olive orchard. Beside us is a large insulated tent that “easily” sleeps 10 people. The owner has…
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Daylight Hours
Is there anything more epic than walking up a steep mountain path surrounded by a carpet of wildflowers, and looking out over the Sea of Galilee to the snowy peaks of Mt Hermon rising in the distance? Yes. It’s doing that and managing to dodge all the cow pies on said path. Not naming names…
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Galilee
Some things work out better, some worse. It’s the end of Galilee day and we’re tired, itchy and a touch sun burned. After a LONG night at a dump in Bet She’an, we felt ready to tackle the day. And it was a dump. Heath said he had felt positively like he was hobnobbing with…
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The Saga Continues
The rest of our group managed to fly in without any big ticket issues, so now we’re 6 of us rolling around in a massive 9 passenger van. No creative luggage packing needed. It’s almost sad. It was Shabbat evening when we entered Jerusalem, and not having looked at the GPS route properly we were…
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Herrodian Day
Temple Mount had no queue this morning, so we were able to go right on up! The sun was blinding as it bounced off the stones, but it was peaceful and beautiful. Our legs passed the modesty police check without triggering any alarm, so no extra skirts had to be worn over our existing ones.…
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Tunnels and Tombs
I’m writing this a day late as we wait in a long checkpoint line to get into Jericho. All we want to do is quick buy some fruit, but it is what it is. It’s the first time that we’ve actually been delayed by the Police, so we’re not complaining. The girls arrived in spite…
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Back South
So apparently the war is affecting us a little. I woke up abruptly in the night to see Heath thrashing and kicking at some imaginary opponent. Seriously, I doubt he could kick that fast if he was awake. I thought for a second he was having a seizure and would fall out of bed, but…
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