Hiking – Page 2 – Travel with Goneguru

Hiking into the land of the Grizzlies: Glacier National Park

In the summer of 1967, two young women were killed by separate grizzly bear attacks on the same night in Glacier National Park. When you hike or backpack the Highline Trail to Granite Park Chalet you will be visiting the site where one of the incidents took place. Prior to that time, watching the grizzlies forage through the trash and food scraps discarded by the Chalet into a nearby ravine was considered suitable amusement for the overnight guests at the Chalet. In fact the Chalet had even set up lights in the ravine so that the guests could see the bears better. The entire story of the night is told in the book The Night of the Grizzlies by Jack Olson.

Montana hut — Granite Park Chalet from across the feeding ravine

We began our hike to Granite Park Chalet at the intersection of the Highline Trail and the Going to the Sun Road at Logan Pass. Although it was July, you will see snow in pictures and the road, which traverses Glacier National Park, had only opened in late June. Glacier sits astride the Continental Divide and the water from the winter snows flows east to the Gulf of Mexico, west to the Pacific Ocean, and north to the Hudson Bay. The Highline Trail hugs the sky just below the Contiental Divide. As you begin hiking you are on a narrow ledge of a trail across the Garden Wall and at times feel suspended between heaven and earth, but the trail is mainly level without significant changes in altitude, so the walk is exhilerating. You are hiking at about 8000 feet above sea level almost all the time.

Copy (2) of Copy of DSC00876 — Looking down on Going to the Sun Road from the Garden Wall

Mary, the Seer, takes all the great photographs in this blog and with her camera in her hand she knows no fear. Neither height, nor wind, nor wild animal can deter her from getting that shot. Along the Highline, we had all of the above. After hiking for a while, we came to a pass that was still covered with snow, but it had melted down to where the snow was only about a foot deep and had become well packed. We carefully picked our way across the snow circling around a projecting formation known as Haystack Butte. As we made our way between the high ground of the Continental Divide to our right and Haystack Butte, Mary whispered, “look!” Before I could say be careful, she had slid her backpack to the ground and had the lens cap off her camera, already walking across the packed snow toward the long slide down to the Going to the Sun road. And there, right in her viewfinder was the magnificent Bighorn Ram in the picture below.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA — Bighorn Ram on the slippery slope

The ram was, of course, too smart to really get himself into danger, so after a moment of teasing eternity, he turned and walked back toward the area where the snow had melted, never in a hurry and never showing any real concern for the hikers. Finally, he turned and posed for Mary to get the shot she wanted, and we moved on down the trail.

Granite Park Chalet is about 7 to 8 miles along the trail from Logan Pass and the picture below is probably close to half way there. It was along here that we encountered the first of many mountain goats. Each was a female with a kid. The kids, in each instance only a few weeks old, skipped over the steep slope as if it were a living room carpet. Of course, while the kid was playing at a distance Mary got up close and personal with the mama’s. As you can see, the mama has a face only a kid could love.

The Highline Trail is above the tree line here so the veiws are more than spectacular. They don’t call Montana the Big Sky Country for nothing. As you walk along you can’t keep your eyes on the trail because the vistas draw you into some quietly peaceful place. The sound of the cars churning up the road were gone long before we reached Haystack and here you are alone with who ever you are hiking with and God’s creation.

More than a mile from Granite Park Chalet we can see the building sitting on a ridge jutting out into the valley. As with most hikes, it seems tantalizingly close and infinitely far away after you’ve already walked nearly 7 miles in splendid unbelievable air. Amazingly, we had beautiful blue sky as well as the sure threat of rain, which came and went in a matter of minutes dropping the temperature at least 20 degrees. A sign that, at this elevation, change is constant, rapid and certain. As we walked across the yard to the Chalet, we passed an offset room to the back of the building. In the 1920’s when the Chalet offered full service to its guests, this room had held the meat and other provisions. Notice the spikes on the shutters. Where people are, bears follow.

As I understand it, Granite Park Chalet and Sperry Chalet as well as the Great Lodges at Glacier National Park were built by the Railroads in their heyday between 1912 and 1920 to attract tourists who would take the train to Great Lodges and then travel to the Chalets on horseback. At that time, meals were prepared for the guests and a larder was stocked for their pleasure. Now, there is a kitchen which is available for you to use to cook what you carry and bunk beds in common rooms for you to sleep in. The cooks and other servants have been gone for decades. The view is as beautiful as ever.

Although the two bears responsible for the deaths in 1967 were euthanized, there are still plenty of grizzly and brown bear in Glacier. We saw a couple of grizzly through a telescope mounted on the porch at the chalet. We happened to be looking back along the Highline and saw the bears down in a meadow below it. On a hike further west, which I’ll tell you about in the next Glacier post, we saw where the grizzlies had churned the ground looking for food. As you might have expected, no one feeds the bears at Granite Park Chalet, and when you cross the ravine where the feedings once took place, it is impossible to not look over your shoulder.

I’ll be adding posts about Glacier from time to time, but I can’t tell you all you want to know. If you are interested in the trip we took contact Glacier Guides and Montana Raft Company. Another resource you might find helpful is http://www.bigskyfishing.com/ .

Hiking Capri: From Marina Grande to the top of Mt. Solora

Our Italian hiking trip to Capri found us staying on the southern side of the Island at Marina Piccola. Although there are many fine hotels in the town of Capri, which sits astride the middle of the Isle de Capri, we chose to stay at the Hotel Ambassador Weber, mainly because it was right on the sea, which I prefer and because it was reasonably priced. Our window did indeed look over the sea, the beach below, to our left the Faraglioni and to our right the cliffs rising up to Mt. Solora.

jeff's pix 004 — The view from the Ambassador Weber

The staff at the hotel were very friendly and always tried to help, even pointing out trails along the map of Capri that they provided, however, when we told them that we wanted to walk up La Scala Fenicia, the concierge looked at us with dismay and exclaimed, “Oh no, it is very tiresome. You do not wish to do this!” We persuaded him that we did indeed want to go see the staircase, but we did not tell him that we intended to go all the way to the top of Mt. Solora, so he directed us to the other side of the Isle de Capri to Marina Grande, where the staircase begins a few feet above sea level.

To get to Marina Grande from Marina Piccola, we walked up a brick pathway to Capri and then took the funicular railway, an inclined railway running between Capri ad Marina Grande. If you go to the Isle de Capri, your trip is not complete without riding it. From the Funicular we walked past the beach and docks up the road to the west of

the fishing boats, then turned south with the street until we came to a small sign near the Church of St. Constanza marking the bottom of La Scala Fenicia. The staircase has approxiamtely 900 steps cut into the granite from the port to the town of Anacapri. For centuries, this staircase was the only way to get from the port to Anacapri. Although the name implies that the steps were cut by the Phonecians, they are likely to have been hewn by the Greek settlers of the island instead.

The climb takes you past the residences, school, and olive gardens and fields. As you look back down the steps, the fishing boats in the marina grow increasingly smaller and the climb becomes steeper and steeper. You look up to see where the staircase may come out and wonder if you can get there. Eventually the trail crosses the modern road to AnaCapri, and as you walk from beneath the roadway people look at you as though you were insane. It is probably the fact that your mouth is hanging open gasping for air. Above the road the steps continue, and the panorama below you grows ever larger until you come to Villa San Michelle, built by Axel Munthe and now a museum. There, you find yourself on a street passing little shops and leading into Anacapri.

We walked through the town and found our way to the Church of St. Michele. The floor of the church is a hand painted tile depicting the explusion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Walkways around the floor preserve its beauty and allow you to see it up close, but you won’t appreciate it until you climb the staircase and look down from the galleries above. We returned to the center of town and debated taking the chair lift to the top of Mt. Solora. However, we decided to walk instead, so we cut across the village to the east of the cable line and soon picked up the trail. It was a moderate hike through a pine thicket so that you only saw the cable cars passing overhead occassionally.

Mt. Solora cable cars — The cable Cars to Mt. Solora

After about an hour, we had passed the spur leading down to the Hermitage of Cetrella and were making our way to the summit of Mt. Solora. As with most of the island, here you find the ruins of by gone battlements and outbuildings, in a setting so picturesque as to defy imagination. Looking down to the east we can see the Faraglioni east and south

Fragolinini from Mt. Solora — Faraglioni from atop Mt. Solora

of Marina Picolla. Jutting out at the far eastern point of the island is Villa Jovis, with Capri and Anacapri on either side of the island. The sea below is a multi-color pallet

and you wish not to leave, but the small cafe is closing and it is clear that they want everyone to leave. The few tourists, besides ourselves, and the cafe staff board the cable cars and head down while we return to the path and hike our way down to AnaCapri, where we catch the bus back to Marina Picolla. It was a great day.

Hiking the White Mountains: Hut to Hut

Hiking the Southern Presidential Range of the White Mountains along the Appalachian Trail is a test for an outdoor adventurer of any level. The mountains are beautiful, but the layer of soil over the granite building blocks of the mountains is extremely thin and you will find yourself walking on, over and around areas of exposed rock throughout the hike. That should not dissuade you from the hike, however, since in our group were people in their early twenties and mid-seventies. Each handled the rigors of the hike and finished with smiles. We met at the AMC Highlands Center at Crawford Notch in northern New Hampshire and followed a well marked trail that crossed the road and lead us up the mountain to the AT. There are stretches along this hiking trail where you will believe it was designed for goats.

Note that the Highland Center is at 1900 feet above sea level. In a few hours or so you’ll reach the AT and from there on you follow the ridges and flanks of the mountains. It was on this hike that we learned the meaning of the term “peak bagging.” During our first night on the trail, at a hut named Mitzpah Spring Hut, one of the AMC hut workers gave a seminar on the subject. At first I thought he was saying Peat Bagging, then he explained that peak bagging entailed reaching the summit of a named mountain rising at least 4000 feet above sea level (asl). Mitzpah Spring Hut sits at 3800 feet asl on the south flank of Mt. Pierce. To get to Mitzpah Spring, we scrambled up the access trail to the summit of Mt. Webster where we picked up the AT and headed north, summitting Mt. Jackson before getting there. So we had “bagged” our first peak on this hike before we even knew what the term meant. The “hut” sleeps 60 in coed bunkrooms that accomodate up to 8 people. You must eat what you put on your plate because everything used at the hut must be carried in and everything left must be carried out. After the hike from Crawford Notch, you will have no trouble cleaning your plate.

The next morning, we hustled up Mt. Pierce, bagging our second peak and set off up the AT toward our goal for the evening. The summit of Mt. Washington which is one of the the highest peaks east of the Mississppi River and the site of the highest recorded winds on any continent on earth, clocking in at over 200mph. To get there we followed the AT and loop trails to summit Mt. Franklin, Mt. Monroe and Mt. Eisenhower before we reached the Lake of the Clouds Hut in the saddle between Mt. Eisenhower and Mt. Washington.

After checking in at the hut, which sits at 5050 feet asl, we dropped our backpacks and headed up Mt. Washington. We reached the peak late in the afternoon and rather than backtrack down the trail we headed down the far side of Mt. Washington and back around the flank of the mountain to Lakes of the Clouds Hut. Our plates were dutifully cleaned and we were elated to sit at the dining hall tables and look at a beautiful New Hampshire sunset.

I’ll post more pictures of the terrain in the next post on hiking the Southern Presidential Range.

Secluded Beach – Cumberland Island

Although Cumberland Island is a National Seashore, there is no bridge to get there, and we all like it that way. This treasure is the southernmost barrier island off the coast of Georgia (USA) at the mouth of the St. Mary’s River. Although inhabited for thousands of years, since the 1970’s most of the island has been under the control of the National Park Service which limits the number of visitors to the island to about 300 per day. The island is 17 miles long and 3 miles wide, so there is plenty of room to separate yourself from the crowd. Technically, there are some private landowners remaining on the island who are heir’s of the Carnegie’s and other long gone islanders, whose history is chronicled in the book Strong Women, Wild Horses, among others. I’ll only touch some of the island history to help you understand the place before you make your visit.

Other than the few private landowners and the Park Service employees, there are no vehicles allowed on the island, thus, for those of us who like hiking in serene silence away from the world, this is one of the places where most of the time you’ll be satisfied with what you hear. One shell packed road runs the length of the island and the eastern side of the island beaches on the Atlantic Ocean, so the beach is immense and virtually deserted.

The picture above is of the beach three miles from the ranger station. You can get there by walking or renting a bicycle and cycling along the road. Otherwise, you won’t see it. There are no developments on the beach and access across the dunes to the beach is restricted to a dozen or so well marked lanes. So, how do you really get to this reclaimed beauty? Read on.

If you have a private vessel capable of navigating the intercoastal waterway, you can get to Cumberland Island by yourself, but most of us rely on the ferry which is authorized by the NPS to carry visitors from the dock at St. Mary’s, Georgia to Seacamp dock on Cumberland Island. The ferry runs twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon and takes about 45 minutes to get to make the trip. Pay attention to your return trip departure time because, although they count heads on the way to the island, they have no way of knowing how many are supposed to be on the boat on the way to the mainland, therefore, they don’t try to account for your return. There are also no provisions available on the island, so take your own water and food or buy some on the ferry. If you are making a day trip and want to rent a bicycle, you have to do it on the ferry. If you are staying overnight and want to buy firewood, the only place you can do that is on the ferry.

Once you are on the island, the choices and the distance between choices make the decisions for you. We wanted to backpack to Stafford Beach and camp at the campsites there. Another group that ferried over with us had young children and were headed to the campsites at Seacamp. A young couple on the ferry were backpacking a couple of miles beyond Stafford Beach and camping at an even more remote backcountry campsite. As you

seacamp boardwalk over dunes — Boardwalk over the dunes to the beach at Seacamp.

guess, each option had its advantages and drawbacks. Seacamp is the closest to the dock and ranger station and about 1/2 mile along a sandy trail across the island. A number of campsites are arranged for substantial privacy and the campsite has running water, showers, toilet facilities and a group area. The boardwalk shown above leads from Seacamp over to the beach. You will have miles of beach in either direction, but you will be sharing it with the largest concentration of people on the island. Stafford beach is 3 and 1/2 miles from the dock along the parallel trail which is well-marked.

Parallel trail — Parallel Trail to Stafford Beach

The trail more or less parallels the road, but is a far more enjoyable and easier hike. The trail cuts through the palmetto fronds beneath the live oaks and you soon lose sight of the road or where you came from. Watch your step because wild horses and wild hogs share the trails with you and leave their souvenirs along the way. As plentiful as the dung was, we never saw the hogs, although the population is such that the NPS has had to institute hunts to thin the herd. The twisted shapes of the live oak trees, the leaves filtering the sun and the limited distance visibility give the landscape along the trail a mystical and unreal quality. You would not be in the least surprised to see any creature from folklore stick his head around a tree and look at you . In all likelihood, you will see the wild horses on the island. They run free on the island at the command of Ms. Lucy Carnegie, grand dame and matriarch of the island’s Carnegie clan, as set forth in her will decades ago. At the time of the American Revolution, the live oaks were harvested for use in the sailing vessels of the day because of their great strength and resiliency. Barrier island oak was used in the USS Constitution and can be seen today if you visit the ship in Boston.

When you arrive at Stafford Beach camp, you can select from one of less than 20 campsites equipped with a fire ring. There is a common bathhouse with a cold water shower and toilets, however, any water from the area including the bath house has to be treated by boiling, filtering or chemicals before it can be consumed. Don’ t even brush your teeth with untreated water. Your campsite can range from extremely private to rather private depending on the proximity to the bathhouse. A trail runs across the dunes to the beach pictured at the top of the post. Although the rangers sometimes drive over to check on things, the only other people you will see on this beach are the ones who have hiked three plus miles to get there. They are there for the same reason you are: and that is nobody’s business.

Cumberland campsite — Stafford Beach campsite

We chose a campsite away from the bath house and away from the beach. As you can see it was great. We used the overhanging trees to suspend our supplies so the raccoons, squirrels and hogs couldn’t get into it. Note that firewood is scarce and you may want to bring a lightweight cutting implement to reduce what you may find to fit into the fire-ring. The campsites north of Stafford Beach are primitive. There are no bathouses and no potable water. These campsites are also not near the beach and at least one is on the intercoastal waterway side of the island. We haven’t made it to one of those yet, but the young couple we met came back smiling.

If you want to see the island and its history in a short amount of time, then you should take the tour. Fifteen passenger vans leave from the ranger station at the dock twice a day to take you on the tour. We walked the three and 1/2 miles back to the ranger station one morning to take the tour, only to learn that you have to by the tickets for the tour on the mainland before you get to the island. Be prepared. We walked the 7 & 1/2 half miles to Plum Orchard mansion, one of the many Carnegie mansions on the island and then the 4 miles back to Stafford Beach. It was worth the walk. A volunteer working in conjunction with the Park Service was at the mansion and gave us a great talk as he showed us around. A half mile or so south of the ranger station is the museum, housed in the Carnegie ice house and beyond that are the ruins of the main Carnegie complex, where Ms. Lucy held sway and before her the earlier claimants on this amazing island. Ms. Lucy’s Dungeness burned in the middle of the twentieth century but you can still sense its grandeur from the ruins.

dungeness ruins — Dungeness Ruins on Cumberland Island

At the north end of the island is the church where John F. Kennedy, Jr. got married, in between is the Greyfield Inn run by the Carnegie heirs, cemeteries, wild horses and maybe a few ghosts. Most of all it is a place to get away from it all. I’ll have more to say in a later post.

Great Smokey Mountains Hike in Lodge – Mount Leconte

The Great Smokey Mountains National Park hosts 10 million visitors each year, making it the most visited National Park in the country. Of those 10 million annual visitors, less than 2/10ths of 1 percent get the opportunity to spend the night in a rustic lodge inside the park on top of the third highest peak in the Appalachian Mountain Range. LeConte Lodge, built in 1925 and upgraded to present times, accommodates about 60 overnight guests per night in its rustic cabins

LeConte cabins — Two of the cabins at LeConte Lodge

and is open from mid-March to mid-November. The lodge is accessible only on public hiking trails leading up the sides of the mountain, with the shortest being nearly 5 miles in length and climbing more than 2500 feet. We have a group of friends who make this trek twice a year, spring and fall, some of whom have done so for over twenty years. Here is how we do it.

Mount LeConte sits beside US 441 inside the Great Smokey Mountains National Park between Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Cherokee, North Carolina. Our core group has seven people in it. Years ago we agreed that we would rent a cabin or chalet from one of the commercial vendors in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge for the night before our hike, the night we were on the mountain and the night after the hike. Sharing the cost of the chalet is as economical as a motel room and adds the convienence of not having to load all your non-hiking gear into the cars. Of course, at one time we simply drove to the trail head from our respective homes and went up the mountain. Now, we meet at the chalet or a restaurant in Gatlinburg the evening before the hike, reaquaint our selves and catch up a bit over a good meal. Sometimes the dinner adds to the adventure, like the time we were leaving the parking lot for Calhoun’ Steakhouse when a black bear crossed in front of the car. The morning of the hike we’ll usually have breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake house and then head to the trailhead.

Although there are 5 trails to the top, we usually take Alum Cave Trail up and then take another of the trails down. It’s important to have your tailgating supplies in the vehicles at the end of the hike.This requires a consensus at breakfast because we have to take part of the vehicles to the trailhead we will come down at and drive the party to the Alum Cave trailhead to start the hikc. The trailhead for the Alum Cave Trail is directly on US 441 inside the Great Smokey Mountains National Park about 8 miles south of the park welcome center. There are two parking lots and during the fall and spring they fill up with day hkers’ cars as well as car’s of those staying at the top. Leaving the trailhead you cross over a bridge and hike along a mountain stream for the first hour or so. This part of the trail is green with ample foliage and if the has been plenty of water, so you will pass through a Rhodadendram Tunnel as you move along the stream

Alum Cave Trail - Rhodadendran Walk — Along lower Alum Cave Trail

crossing a couple of footbridges until the trail goes up through a hole in the mountain and climbs above the stream. Take your time along here before you reach the vista’s at the higher elevations. Along here, every thing there is to see is close at hand.

Alum Cave Trail gets its name not from a cave but from a distinctive over hang about 2.5 miles up the trail. A yellowish alum like powder flakes off the walls and covers the ground near the outcrop. The trail gets decidedly steeper as you near Alum Cave, causing many to stop and rest. Some day hikers turn around at the cave and many others stop there for a snack, but the

area is so powdery that you are better of moving on up the trail to Inspiration point. There a rocky outcrop where the trail crosses a ridgeline that provides ample seating and a great view of the valley below. As you climb up the mountain the trail gets steeper and crosses the ridges with a series of lengthy switchbacks. At a number of locations you are moving across exposed rocks and cables have been installed to give you a hand hold since there can be a drop off immediately adjacent the trail. The footing can be treacherous when there is rain or ice on the mountan. Even in dry weather you can lose you footing and easily stumble on the uneven rocks.

trail cable — This part of the trail can be wet or icy

The hike will take most hikers more than four hours, so remember that the weather can change drastically and that as you go up the mountain the conditions will not be the same. We’ve encountered people suffering from hypothermia because the left the parking lot in shorts and a tee shirt and got caught in a rainstrom a couple of hours up the trail. If you don’t have raingear, fold up a large trash can bag and stick it in your pocket. Tie a fleece around your waist or neck, just in case. You’ll be much better off carrying a few extra ounces than having your lips and fingers turn blue. The rangers have to recover hikers from the Great Smokey Mountain trails every year for the lack of such simple precaustions.

The trails leading up to the Lodge and beyond are public and you can make a day hike to the top and back down if you are in generally good condition. However, If you want to overnight at the LeConte Lodge you need a reservation. The Lodge is a privately operated facility so you need to make reservations directly with them. Typically, reservations for the following calendar year are opened up on October 1. At that time, a sort of lottery takes place to see who gets which dates. We always submit our requested dates by October 1. Some years we have been shut out on the initial requests and have had to scramble for dates the came open later. If you don’t want to stay at the lodge, you can camp between the Lodge and the through hikers shelter up near Myrtle Point. Boulevard Trail leads from Mt. LeConte to the Appalachian Trail about 3 miles east of where the AT crosses 441 at Newfound Gap. Although there are a number of other shelters along the AT in the area you will still find some through hikers who come over to this shelter.

The Lodge has no electricity, outdoor community toilets, no showers, a dining hall, crew quarters, a small souvenier store and community room, and cabins that can sleep from 4 to 13 people per night. The cabins are heated by butane space heaters and contain full size bunk beds. That is to say, two hikers top and two hikers on the bottom. Most cabins also have at least one single cot. When you get to the top, you can get hot chocolate to hold you over until dinner at 6:00pm. If you include it in your reservation you can have a glass of wine with dinner. Usually, we’ve been able to get to the cliff tops to the west of the Lodge in time for sunset.

Leconte sumset2 — Sunset on Moute Leconte

When the weather is right its gorgeous. The cliffs are only a quarter mile from the Lodge so it only takes a few minutes to get there. The picture above doesn’t do it justice. If you dont’t make it to sunset, climb out of bed in the morning and go to Myrtle point, which is half a mile to the east and along toward the Boulevard Trail. Don’t foget to eat breakfast though. Its the same every time I go there and I eat it with gusto. If you don’f feel like walking to Myrtle, sit on your porch and watch the dawn.

It takes much less time going down than up so we don’t usually rush leaving LeConte Lodge. We vary the trail going down and have done Bullhead, Rainbow Falls, Trillium, and Boulevard, which is probably the most scenic, but is the longest. Each is worth the walk in its own right. You may or may not see much wildlife. We’ve seen snakes, chipmunks, deer and almost evry trip at least one black bear.

Although these creatures are under a lot of pressure from the number of visitors to the park, they are still wild so keep your distance. Head back down the trail and look at the faces of the people near the bottom who will turn back before they reach the summit and enjoy your accomplishment. Happy trails.

Hut to Hut Hiking in the White Mountains

We had backpacked our way into and out of the Grand Canyon, and hiked along the Highline Trail to Granite Park Chalet in Glacier National Park, so we were looking for a little something different along the Appalachian Trail. It turns out that the Appalachian Trail Club maintains a series of Huts along the AT. The huts we decided to go to were in the White Mountains of New Hampshire along the Southern Presidential Range. Of course, getting there was half the fun. We were scheduled to fly into Portland, Maine, but the pilot couldn’t get the plane on the ground and had to divert to Manchester from where we took a bus to Portland. Needless to say, we arrived about 3 hours later than expected. We were driving a rental over to Conway and spending the night in a Bed and Breakfast before heading up to ATC Lodge, however, we had no illusions that the doors of the B&B would be open after midnight, so we called ahead to the Bernerhof Inn and told them we’d be late. They left a key outside in a secure place for us and we let ourselves in to the house in the middle of the night. We met our hosts the next morning and were very grateful. There are nice people all over the world and these innkeepers are some of the nicest.

The next morning we went for a local hike to a state park near Conway, then headed up to the ATC Lodge to meet our group. Early the next morning we crossed the road and headed up the access trail to the AT. Look and the picture and tell me that access trail doesn’t look like a land slide

Backpacking Grandview Trail into the Grand Canyon

A backpacker’s life is probably not complete without a trip to the Grand Canyon. We decided against Bright Angel Trail which heads down from the south rim a the lodge and main tourist area, but, we didn’t really want to take off into the Canyon alone. The solution was REI. http://www.rei.com/ We had gotten most of our backpacking gear, technical clothes, backpacks, and cycling supplies from REI so as members we get their promotional mailers and emails. We were hooked on the 3 day backpacking in the Grand Canyon as soon as we saw it. REI proovided the tents, food, and two guides Tom and Todd who met us at the campground at the south rim. After dividing the gear to be carried and assigning us tents, they prepared the first of our amazing meals and told us to hit the sack because we were starting down early the next day.

And so we did, heading off into the Canyon at Grandview point down the Grandview trail. The first few miles were a continuous downhill with switch backs, amazing views and incessant chatter from the excitement. The first goal was Horseshoe Mesa that we were looking down on and as an added bonus, a cave in the side of the mesa. We reached the Mesa in a few hours and numerous cut backs. The trail further down into the the Grand Canyon passes the remnants of a house and storage area and bears off to the east. A less distinct trail heads off to the west then turns south down to the edge of the mesa. A narrow trail leads around to a shelf where double entrances to the cave are set back from the cliff face. Inside the cave is a log, presumably so that if you don’t come back to the entrance, they’ll at least know where you wound up. Leaving the cave, we headed back across Horsehoe Mesa and drop down 800 feet through the Redwall Limestone. Well, it feels like you are going to drop. The problem is your backpack rubs against the wall and urges toward the empty air that is only inches away from where your feet are trying to land. Don’t let anybody tell you going uphill is harder. Going down a trail like this is far more exhausting.

Hiking Glacier – A visit to GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

The National Parks are an amazing treasure. A Rocky Mountain National Park not be missed is Glacier National Park located in northern Montana. We probably have as many pictures taken in Glacier as anywhere we’ve visited. Words are not enough.

Hiking the Isle de Capri

Seer had always talked about going to Capri, but neither of us are shoppers. We checked the island off the coast of Italy out and decided it would be a fabulous place to spend a few days hiking. No backpacks or camping, instead we would find a hotel and explore the island on foot. At the east end of the Island is the Villa Jovis, ruins of an ancient Roman party palace. Rising more than 2000 feet in the center of the island is Mt. Solara. We figured we could stay in between and easily hike to both.We booked airline tickets using frequent flyer miles so the story of getting there is where we’ll start.

We had a layover in Philadephia before the alnight flight to Milan. I know Capri is off the coast from Naples. We had to fly from Milan to Naples on a AirOne, a regional airline. If you ever go to Milan, follow the herd getting off the airplane. We were supposed to pick up our boarding passes for AirOne in the airport. Getting off the plane the signs said Baggage Claim and connecting gates. We only had carryon items so we didn’t need baggage claim. Granted, the hallway to baggage claim was lit and the hallway to connecting gates was dark, but there were a couple of uniformed guards by the access, so as everyone else headed toward baggage claim, we walked over to the guards and explained that we needed to get our tickets at AirOne. He didn’t know what we were talking about, but after looking over the itenerary in my hand, he let us through a turnstile to a hallway and stairway that lead to a large waiting area adjacent the duty free shop. Spotting the information desk, we confidently asked for directions. The maid who was cleaning up told me the staff would arrive in half an hour, so we could take a seat. When, the next attendant arrived, She looked at us as if we had extra heads and informed us, she did not know of any AirOne, but we could ask the ticket agents at the kioks at the gates. Note that we had not gone through customs, had not shown our passports to any one and were wandering around an Italian airport with no clue as to where to get our tickets for the next flight.

Goneguru’s Travel and Recreation Blog

I’m the Traveler at Goneguru.com. My wife is the Seer. Together and separately we have had the great good fortune to have hiked, biked, run, traveled and enjoyed such places and things as: backpacking in the Grand Canyon, the White Mountains, Cumberland Island; hiking along the Appalachian Trail, along the Highline in Glacier National Park, to the top of Mount LeConte in Tennessee, and along the coast from Villa Jovis to Marina Piccolo on the Isle of Capri. One or both of us have traveled to Rome, Venice, Florence, Gibraltar, Madrid the Coast of Spain, Costa Rica, the Riviera Maya, San Diego to Maine, and Alaska to St. Thomas. We’ve swam with Pirranha’s, snorkeled on Caribbean reefs, and ridden our bicycles from border to border. We’ve done tri-athlons, du-athalons, half-marathons and the Peachtree Road Race. All of this requires a great appreciation and love of food and travel and most of all meeting people. We intend to recreate our travels for our readers, to share our experiences from the past and future, and hopefully meet up with you along the way.