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You are here: Home / Archives for mountains

A Weekend in the Berkshires

September 5, 2012 By Jillian

As Floridians who prefer the mountains over the beach, you may say that we live in the wrong place.  That’s ok , just as long as we get to spend our weekends and holidays in the mountains. This past weekend we were lucky enough to have a real mountain get away thanks to some friends who decided to get married in the bride’s home town in the Berkshires (Western Massachusetts).  A landscape that inspired Thoreau and Emerson,  and a weekend of hiking, eating and friends, what could be better?

The Berkshires is a popular mountain retreat area for the city dwellers of the Northeast.  With incredible landscapes hiking, fun and lively small towns and hospitable people, who can blame them for retreating to these woods?  Here’s what we suggest if you have a long weekend to spend in the Berkshires.

Day 1.  The Berkshires are a 2.5/3 hour drive from either New York City or Boston so take an easy morning and get to the mountains slowly.  Then spend the afternoon exploring some of the neat museums and towns in the area.  The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge is worth a few hours, but there are plenty of Gilded Age Mansions in the area that are open to the public if you are looking for something a bit more architectural.

Day 2. Start your morning with some delicious delicacy’s from a local bakery.   Great Barrington has a host of little coffee shops and delicious cafes, as do most of the other smaller towns along the way.  Saturdays are a great day to check out a local co-op or farmer’s market, especially if you are going to head up a mountain. Spend the afternoon hiking Mt. Greylock or Mt. Everett, two popular peaks in the area along the famed Appalachian Trail.  If you’re looking for something a bit less strenuous, or with less elevation, the area is covered in State Parks, like Mt. Washington and Beartown which have a variety of trails.  End your day relaxing at Great Barrington Brewery where you can enjoy solar brewed beers like Black Bear Stout and Berkshire Blond. If you arrive in summer, you may be lucky enough to grab lawn seats at Tanglewood, an outdoor music venue.  Pack a picnic and relax under the starts to performers like James Talyor and Evanessance.

Day 3. Time for some adventure! Cycling is a popular activity in the Berkshires and really if you don’t want to be outdoors, you probably shouldn’t be in the mountains. You can rent a bike in the larger towns like Adams, Great Barrington, Lenox or Pittsfield or jump on a day long cycling tour with a local operator.   The area is also home to ziplining courses, horseback riding, mountain biking trails and even ATV trails.  Choose the adventure of your fancy and make a day out of it!

IF YOU GO:  It’s helpful to have a car to explore some of the smaller towns and villages that make the Berkshire’s so special.   Take a few trips outside the car to explore the downtown areas and local shops, remember life in the mountains is about enjoying your surroundings. Save yourself from the mundane and skip staying at one of the chain hotels that seem out of place in the area.  Instead, stay at something with a bit more character like a B&B or a rental apartment.Rental apartments are popular in the area and give visitors a taste of mountain living, sometimes in funky places like converted barns or centuries old homes.

 

Filed Under: Destinations, Headline, North America, USA Tagged With: berkshires, hiking, mountains

Atop Mt. Sinai

June 7, 2010 By Danny

Hiking Mt Sinai is the sort of thing that manypeople come to Egypt to do. Most people fly to one of Egypt’s expensive coastal cities, book a tour, get on the bus around midnight, arrive sometime before 2am, and with some luck are at the summit with one thousand of their closest friends that they never met before who are all just as tired and cranky as you’d expect them to be…..oh, but the sunrise is spectacular. We decided against that route.

We arrived in the small yet touristy town of St. Catherine’s in the afternoon. This is little town is walking distance from the actual mountain but sees a mere fraction of the traffic the mountain does…since no one wants to sleep here. We were welcomed to town by nice cool air (it might be a desert but it is as high as Denver) along with a Bedouin man who took us rather quickly to his hotel where we quickly made ourselves comfortable as the only guests there. We sat out under the stars,enjoyed a nice Bedouin dinner (which looked surprisingly similar to Italian) and prepared to sleep in rather than waking up at 2am to start our hike…we slept until 10 am.

Doing this hike in the afternoon has three clear benefits from my standpoint. One, you’re awake. Two, you can see things and will enjoy yourself rather than injure yourself. Three, hardly anyone else does it this way. Teaming up with another fellow who arrived at our hotel long after we did we set off around midday to start our hike, passing the usual camel in the road, a couple of fruit stands, and an overpriced souvenir shop.

Arriving at the St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of the mountain we obtained the mandatory guide (in lieu of an entry fee) and started up the long windy trail rather than the steep staircase. On the way we passed 16 overpriced snack shacks but only a handful were open…they really exist for that morning crew. We had the mountain to ourselves the entire 3 hours we hiked.

At the top we were the first to arrive and immediately set to work. First I needed to find to large stones in the shape of tablets. Then, I gave myself a “desert nomad” look using my bandanna and found a suitable place for the photo shoot where I cast myself as Moses. Finally, I posed for the camera with my props approximately 250 times. Most of these photos remain private however, and will be used at a later date.

As far as I can tell, the sunset was just as spectacular as the sunrise would have been except that we were awake to see it so it didn’t feel quite as otherworldly as many who climb in the pre-dawn hours might experience. We went down that mountain rather quickly, and aided by the light of the nearly full moon. We ate well that night and slept even better.

IF YOU GO: Trust us, go and spend a couple of nights in St Catherine’s rather than doing this as an uncomfortable bus trip from Dahab. We stayed at Sheik Sina (owned by Sheik Musa’s son/) and had a found it very comfortable with a lot of options regarding lodging. Getting out the options were a bus to Dahab or a bus to Cairo (where we came from) so we took a cap to Nuweiba in order to continue to Jordan. You can walk to the Monastery and the hike from town without a problem.

Filed Under: Africa, Egypt, Headline, Hike, Middle East Tagged With: desert, hiking, mountains

Mt. Kilimanjaro- Day 6

March 26, 2010 By Jillian

Waking up at Horombo hut we were sore and although feeling much better than the day before, still physically exhausted. After summiting at 6:30 a.m. We hiked for another 7 hours back down to Kibo hut and finally to Horombo to spend the night. We ate breakfast and headed out ready to get off the mountain and down to lower altitude. Jubilant that we had all made it to the top, we headed down with whatever spring was left in our step covering the distance to Mandara huts in less than 3 hours. Leaving our friends to their lunch at the huts, we continued down the path for another hour to a little lunch spot along the trail. Emerging from the woods to what we thought was a secluded picnic site, we were surprised to see several groups of porters waiting in the shade. Tucking into our lunch, we ate quickly, ready for the journey to be over. Rejoining our friends for the final hour and a half, we finally walked through the park gates, overjoyed that the walking was over. Our feet were tired, our legs worn out, but we were happy and looking up at the summit I could hardly believe that just a day ago we had been up there!

Drinking a delicious ice cold soda, we relaxed a bit while our guide signed us off the trail and obtained our official summit certificates. Piling into our pick up truck, we headed down to the companies office to unload, unpack and wash up a bit. Again, it was hectic at the office, and by the time we sat down with our crew in the bar nearly an hour had passed since our arrival. Thanking them for their assistance and hard work, we shared a few drinks as our guides presented us with our certificates and we presented them with some tokens of appreciation. To congratulate us, our guide sang a song about Kilimanjaro in his local language, complete with dancing and clapping, which needless to say took us by surprise. The man who had been mostly silent the last week was suddenly full of life, jumping around and singing.

Heading to Moshi in a combi that night, we were the talk of the bus with one man moving to the back of the bus just to sit next to me and practice his English. An hour later we were in town ready for a hot shower and a big comfortable bed. We had summited Kilimanjaro!

Filed Under: Africa, Headline, Tanzania, Trek Tagged With: climbing, hiking, kilimanjaro, mountains, tours

Mt. Kilimanjaro- Day 5- Will we make it?

March 25, 2010 By Danny

As we left Kibo hut I turned to our new guide and asked what time it was. He checked his cell phone, which still had service at 4700m, and informed me that it was midnight on the dot. We were off, George setting the pace, and that was that.

At first the pace was rather quick, leaving us out of breath, but soon we caught up to the group in front of us and George slowed us down, he just wanted to make sure we not begin our walk alone. Up we went, a combination of heaving breathing and slow walking. The pace was so slow it was nerve-wrecking but anytime we sped up in the slightest we were left struggling to catch our breath. We passed some people, others passed us, we were just part of a small string of headlamps you could see snaking up the slope of the crater.

As we climbed higher the affects of the altitude took a greater toll. From the start I felt nauseous but as we climbed that discomfort ultimately transferred to my head, mild mountain sickness. One step in front of the other, we just kept climbing and climbing. We’re halfway to the top, George would tell us…then repeating that same sentence 40 minutes later. He played games like this the entire way up, the top never seeming as far away as his time estimates…thanks merely to the darkness and the fact that we couldn’t see how steep the climb was.

As we neared the crater’s rim we found the first casualties of our friends, one girl sitting having just vomited, another hyperventilating. We felt the mountain sickness but were overall OK. We’d climbed the hard part, nearly 1000m to the craters rim. It was hard work. We were physically exhausted. It was 5am and we hadn’t slept. We were out of breath when just sitting. We couldn’t sit for fear of growing cold or cramping up. We had to continue. George urged us on, “you’ll make it, don’t worry, follow me.”

Then it got hard.

Climbing over Gilman’s Point we could see the caldera of the crater for the first time. We’d climbed the volcano but we weren’t finished yet. With 200 additional meters to climb to the Uhuru peak the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, our energy levels plummeted, and the air continued to thin. At first it was actually a bit easier, with ground that was relatively flat from what we’d done. Soon the elevation began again and even though it was much smoother than the steep climb we’d already managed, it seemed nearly impossible.

I’m not sure what it was, but at some point my body wanted to do everything a newborn baby does. Breath, sleep, eat, drink, poop, and pee. I could do none of these.

I suppose I was breathing but no where near as much as I would have liked. It was the desire to sleep though that most took control. As I walked I began to count paces before resting and breathing, then I was counting breaths. Ten breaths walking, 2 resting, then 7 and 4, then 2 and 10. There was no system to these numbers but the rest breaks were as much about me leaning forward, resting my head on my walking stick, and shutting my eyes. I felt myself wanting to sleep. Jill knew I was struggling. So did both guides. At one point Coleman, behind me, carefully choosing his words as he barely spoke English, said to me that I must move faster or I’ll freeze. I knew he was right, but I wanted to sleep.

Then Jill started to struggle. For me it was exhaustion and a desire to sleep, for her it was a mounting headache. Seeing her struggling helped to wake me up and we continued to push each other to the summit. It hurt, we were cold, our hands and feet were numb. Our steps were slow. The snow was slippery. We could see it though and we just kept walking. Jill mumbled something along the lines of, “lets just get there and take our stupid picture.”

That’s exactly what we did.

We made it to the summit. Our friend had puked again. Others were delirious. We took our picture. The guide cut off the top of the sign, his fingers were numb as well. We took another picture, then another, finally we got one that was “good enough” and we started back down. While up there we had some tea, it was hot, didn’t bother to eat anything. It didn’t matter.

At 6:30am, on Thursday, March 11, 2010, 364 days after starting this trip, we stood atop Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa and the world’s tallest freestanding mountain.

Filed Under: Africa, Headline, Tanzania, Trek Tagged With: climbing, hiking, kilimanjaro, mountains, tours

Mt. Kilimanjaro- Day 4

March 24, 2010 By Jillian

After three easy days on the trail, day four was a killer. We took our time heading up to Kibo huts, knowing that if we made it to 4750m sick or feeling ill there was no way to make it to the summit the following morning. So we took our time and meandered our way up to Kibo. The trail itself was easy and although we gained nearly 1000m in altitude, and found ourselves at the end of the day in a relatively low oxygen environment, the hike itself wasn’t so hard. Unlike the hike to Horombo, the landscape to Kibo was basically desert. Very few plants live at that altitude near Kilimanjaro and within a few hours of leaving Horombo the landscape strongly resembled the alticama of Bolivia . Day four, for me, was a killer day because of the anticipation. All day on the way to Kibo hut we started at the summit of Kilimanjaro, hoping, waiting and anticipating what the final climb would be like. By the time we got to Kibo hut we were all excited and anxious to get to the summit. Doing well, with just a small altitude headache, we were prepared to rest up and get to the summit.

Although we had been to 4750m in Peru , we didn’t really realize what spending hours at that altitude would be like on our bodies. Although the body is exhausted from hiking and even breathing at that altitude, its practically impossible to sleep the afternoon before the summit. We arrived at Kibo huts early in the afternoon and went immediately into our beds to rest a little before an early dinner. Cold, excited and anxious, we could hardly sleep and spent most of the afternoon laying in our sleeping bags chatting with the other 10 climbers in our dormitory. Kibo hut is not comfortable, unlike the other huts, it’s made from stone and trust me it’s cold and has a tense feel about it- everyone approaching the summit from that side of the mountain stays at Kibo hut the night before summiting so the atmosphere is friendly, but intense. Everyone wants to make it to the top.

Unable to sleep well, we spent that afternoon and early evening resting- literally laying in our sleeping bags, drinking tea and eating what we could. After an early dinner, we crawled into our bags for a few hours of proper shut eye, which we didn’t really get, before getting up at midnight for the summit. As I lay there with my eyes closed I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Altitude or excitement I’ll never know, but I was very aware of every breath and movement I made and all I really wanted to do was get to the summit and get down.

At 11pm our dormitory door opened and a sea of guides came in. “Jambo Mama!” our guide said to me. “Uhuru. We go. You will make it.” And with that encouragement we were out of bed and layering up. Then game the bad news- our assistant guide, Frankie, was ill and wouldn’t be attempting the climb with us. Have no fear our guide assured us, one of the porters, Coleman, would take his place. Hesitant but unsure what would happen if we denied the porter’s assistance, we agreed and put our trust in the head guide. With temperatures as low as -25C at the top we were layered 1-2-3-4/5. One pair of boots, two pairs of socks, three pairs of pants, and 4/5 tops. Like abominable snowmen we packed into the little dining room to drink a small cup of tea and some biscuits. A bundle of nerves and excitement, we chatted with the other climbers, wishing everyone luck. Soon enough tea time was over and at midnight, in the pitch darkness, we set off up the trail…

Filed Under: Africa, Headline, Tanzania, Trek Tagged With: climbing, hiking, kilimanjaro, mountains, tours

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