Hiking Mt. Fuji Before Sunrise

by Jamie Rhein on

A few days ago, I wrote a post about traveling in the Sahara, the favored trip of my adult ESL students. One of the trips that caught my attention was the hiking to Mt. Fuji at night. The intention of this endeavor is to arrive by sunrise.

This travel experience is not a solo endeavor. The article in Budget Traveler mentioned the dozens of people who do the same thing. Mt. Fuji, considered to be sacred, is a bit of a poke from the bottom to the top, 12,388 feet, but it’s doable for even unseasoned hikers. Taking one’s time and drinking plenty of water are imperative and there are rest stops with shack like buildings scattered along the way where, if need be, you can lie down and rest.

The Budget Traveler article mentioned people buying oxygen bottles to help them breathe towards the top, but another article in the New York Times, a first person account, doesn’t say a thing about that. For a quick nuts and bolts overview of the trip up Mt. Fuji, head to Budget Traveler. For an experiential journey, Kathy Glass’s article in the New York Times captures the sites and feelings of the assent and descent, and some tidbits of Mt. Fuji history. For example, women weren’t allowed to climb the mountain until 1867. Her descriptions of interactions with the landscape and the people she met on the way is a read to savor.

Experience Ladakh

by Jamie Rhein on

It helps to know French for the narration, but in this lovely video of trekking in Ladakh, India, your eyesight is really enough to enjoy the viewing. The music and the sounds of the wind create something exquisite. If you’re feeling like life is spinning fast, chblanchard’s video posted on YouTube is one way to calm down.

Trekking in Ladakh starts picking up towards the end of May and on through the summer. While it helps to be in shape, someone in decent health can trek without too much trouble as long as pacing and drinking A LOT of water are part of the trekking equation. Drinking water prevents the effects of high altitudes.

Video on Outside

by Erik Olsen on

It seems everyone is getting into video these days. And if there is one magazine and online site that I’ve been waiting with bated breath to see enter the online video fray, it’s Outside Magazine. I went over to Outside online to check out what they are doing and while I was not blown away, I did spend some quality time consuming some top-notch vids. Take, for example, a an excerpt they’ve posted from the upcoming film The Ghost Mountain Boys, based on the article “Chasing Ghosts,” by writer James Campbell. I haven’t read the piece yet (still getting through my April issue, alas), but it’s in the May issue of Outside. Then, dear to my Chile-loving heart, there is the five-minute piece called Eco-Trekker on Torres del Paine (one of my favorite spots on earth) with Ian Wrights. Keep scrolling down and you’ll find vids on snowboarding, surfing, climbing and more. Most of them are re-purposed pieces from shows like the above Eco-Trekker, but definitely a good way to while away a few minutes. As I say, it’s a good start for the much-loved outdoor magazine. Not quite where I’d like to see them ultimately, but worthy of a perusal.

The 395: California’s (Second) Best Stretch of Road

by Neil Woodburn on

There is a long stretch of highway running north/south in California which few out-of-state tourists bother navigating. And yet, the 395 captures so much of what the Golden State has to offer in the natural beauty department.

Highway 1, which winds its way up the coast is perhaps more beautiful, but the 395 embraces a different type of nature than golden sand beaches and crashing waves. The 395 cuts across the desert landscape of California on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas. It is a stunning route, with desert landscape stretching out before you and the enormous, snow-capped Sierras looming above.

One or twice a year I drive this route to either go backpacking in the Sierras, or nowboarding at Mammoth Mountain. For most people like myself, the 395 is usually blown through at 80 miles an hour on a Friday night in the dark. Those who take a more leisurely drive, however, will discover that this desert road is rich with a bounty of nature, history, and tourist sites.

The Los Angeles Times recently spotlighted this long stretch of road and the highlights one can expect. Did you know, for example, that the 395 slices right between the lowest elevation and the highest elevation in the continental United States? Yep, Badwater (-282 feet) and Mt. Whitney (14,495 feet) are within spitting distance of each other. In fact, there is an annual, grueling race in which elite runners start in Badwater and run 135 miles to the Whitney portal. Yikes. Count me out.

The LA Times mentions so many cool stops along the drive that it would take a week to visit all the ghost towns, hot springs, fishing holes, Hollywood western locations (400+), lakes, one-horse towns, day hikes, mines, flora and fauna, historic hotels, fish hatcheries, bakeries, and even a couple of museums.

So, next time I undertake the grueling drive, I’ll be sure to stop along the way and truly enjoy it.

Lake Minnewaska: The Great Escape

by Jamie Rhein on

I grew up, at least from 8th grade on, living next to Minnewaska State Nature Preserve. Our land was right next to it. My friends and I would hike from my house to Lake Minnewaska the back way, meaning up over the mountain and down to the lake. That was the good part about living near there. Then, though, it was not owned by New York state, but the Phillips family. This is a tale of intrigue, mystery and bankruptcy. Eventually, the Phillips had to bail. (See article about history)

Generally, though, as an 8th grader and high schooler, living next to Minnewaska was like living next to Siberia. I’d pay friends money to drive me home since it was 10 miles out of New Paltz (13 from the high school) and I didn’t have a driver’s license until after I graduated. (How would you have felt if when you were learning to drive your mother grabbed the rearview mirror and made noises like, “Oh! Oh! Oh! At least that’s my version of the story.) The last four miles on SR 55 involved an extremely windy road and a hairpin turn (scroll down for picture.) Perhaps this turn had something to do with my mom’s reactions. I went through adolescence pining for a life in town.

Now, though, when I go home to visit, I rarely go to New Paltz and always head to Lake Minnewaska, usually walking along the trail that leads from my father’s road, past the waterfalls and on up to the lake. The trails once served for horse drawn tourist carriages that went from Mohonk Mountain House to Lake Minnewaka back in the 1920s. They are a mountain biker’s dream.

These memories of Minnewaska just came about because my best friend from high school just sent me a travel article on Lake Minnewaska published in The New York Times. “Spring in Your Steps” is a current Escapes feature. Ironically, the place that I always wanted to escape from is written up as a place to escape to. Who knew? Here’s more on Minnewaska, including other people’s memories.