Hiking

I love to hike, its is probably my favorite activity of all time. I also realized that I've been hiking in quite a few places. I now have made it a goal to try to go hiking to every state/ country I visit, even if it's only for a mile.

Here are the places I've already gone:

Vermont

This picture was taken just after returning from Benin. It's at Little Rock Pond near to where I grew up. 

Wyoming and Montana

I led backpacking trips in and out of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park one summer. This picture is taken at the lower saddle of the Grand Teton. I had pretty bad altitude sickness that day. 

Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin 

Park W

My fellow Peace Corps volunteers and I along with local guides took children on safari in the park and hiked through the three countries it is located in.  

Wyoming

This picture was taken at Heart Lake, beautiful spot but FULL of mosquitoes.

California

This was taken at Joshua Tree National Park. Absolutely stunning place. I really fell in love with Joshua Tree. Backpacking is really the way to go, the stars are unforgettable! 

New Hampshire 

I've been on many hikes in New Hampshire, but this was one of my favorites, hiking up Mt. Moat with my Wilderness First Responder friends! 

Alaska 

I was in Skagway for a time and this was taken at Lower Dewey Lake, a 3 mile round trip hike that is straight up hill, but well worth the hike. 

North Carolina

This was taken on my birthday last year we hiked at the Pisgah National Forest. What a great way to spend a birthday! 

I've also been hiking in New York, Maine, and Florida. 

Thunderstorms and Hurricanes

So this week our school canceled because of Hurricane Sandy, or Frankenstorm as I like to refer to it. It was too bad because the children who were coming would probably have been safer in New Hampshire than just outside Boston. about the only thing that happened here was a wetter than average storm and a little bit of wind. I was imagining the storm that rocked me and my group on Yellowstone Lake. Trees coming down every 5 minutes. No joke, this was a terrifying experience, to know that you are in the woods the only thing you have is a flimsy tent and live trees a foot in diameter are falling everywhere. You hear more trees fall than you see. A falling tree is a scary thing to watch, a 30 foot thing falling at its own will, blowing in the wind and bending in ways you didn't think possible, and then slamming into the ground. Most people prefer to think of nature as a calming nurturing place. But nature also has raw power that can make you feel very small and insignificant.

Hurricane Sandy was just another storm for us, for others in New York and Atlantic City it ruined and changed so much, I compare it to how Hurrican Irene reeked havoc on southern Vermont. But like I said, in New Hampshire nothing really did happen even though we prepared for this weather by battening down the hatches and making sure our warm sleeping bags were ready to go. I'm glad that we did that though, because right now as I write this there is a thunderstorm going on outside. I hadn't realized this until just before writing this but I haven't experienced a thunderstorm since last spring before I left Alaska. No thunderstorms on the glacier. Maybe it was the change in elevation from Small town Alaska to the glacier (4000 foot difference in a couple of miles.) that left us without thunderstorms. But right now there is a killer storm happening, a drenching rain and lightening hitting the lake about 15 feet from my door step. the kind of thunder that shakes your house and you can hear the lightening crackle in the air. (my computer is NOT plugged in by the way).

I love thunderstorms and realized that I have missed them. Glad that I got to see another before winter hit.