Ramble On...

Ojai Magazine Higher Ground

2011-12-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

Current Feature in Ojai Magazine, free pub!

Tail Winds Mountain Bike Feature...

2011-11-11T11:30:00.001-08:00

Freediving Feature!

2011-10-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

http://npaper-wehaa.com/desert-leaf/2011/10/01/s1/?g=print#?article=1393847

Official Announcement...

2011-10-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Just to make it official here, I am no longer an editor at the Highly Acclaimed Magazine...

PERU!

2011-09-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

We survived our South American Excursion! Highly recommend a visit there. Fantastic history and ruins from the Inca, colonial buildings from the Spanish, amazing trekking, monasteries/churches from the 1500's... Maureen is a fantastic travel companion and it went incredibly smoothly considering it was our first international travel excursion together.

Night busses are a bit epic with oxygen deficit and overheating issues because the windows don't open. Cruz del Sur was by far the best bus option...

Met a climber/photographer at the Huaraz hostel of La Zarela (which caters to climbers) in the shadow of the Cordillera Blanca. He phrased it well when he said "It's hard to take a bad picture here.

2011-07-11T14:28:00.001-07:00

check out thehighlyacclaimed.com

The Highly Acclaimed blogs...

2011-07-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

2011-07-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

wahoooooo! new mag set to be released upon North America this week!!!

The Highly Acclaimed Magazine...

2011-06-27T21:03:00.001-07:00

http://issuu.com/thehighlyacclaimed/docs/thaissue1?mode=a_p

The Highly Aclaimed is about off the presses! I snuck in quite a bit of work into it--pretty excited to see it printed!

The Ojai Magazine

2011-06-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Feature just out for the Ojai Magazine!

2011-05-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

2011-04-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6539791&id=124198512240 ">http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6539791&id=124198512240

links to some recent adventures with kayakers and new gear...

2011-03-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

I had a cover and feature with photos in Desert Leaf... http://npaper-wehaa.com/desert-leaf#2011/03/26/?article=1214568
About failures in wilderness objectives, something intimately familiar with...

Lowe Alpine Calendar...

2011-03-25T11:20:00.001-07:00

Heading up to attempt the Grand Teton in 2009 but it proved a bit too cold to summit for desert dwellers... lots of ice and snow. brrr...

PDX

2011-03-18T11:27:00.001-07:00

image © Bennett Barthelemy

Dusk along Portland's waterfront... PDX is one of the more attractive cities for sure... I think my camera dropped acid when I wasn't looking. The result was not planned for but I like it.

2011-03-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

© Bennett Barthelemy

Shooting lots of kayaking lately... Rain, mist from falls, slippery rocks in lots of dripping wet forests. Rapping in over mossy loose basalt blocks for pics for 4 seconds of shoot time of a 70 foot falls... An awesome challenge and some amazing extreme athletes!

Also working for new stock agency, www.tandemstock.com

Ojai Quarterly, Imagining Ojai...

2011-02-22T16:32:00.000-08:00

Signed on as outdoor columnist for Ojai Quarterly, styly regional mag from Southern California... The magazine was hot off the press, today, February 22.... this is the first installment!

Volleyball

2011-01-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

Volleyball... My first real experience with it last night in Portland, Maureen brought me to watch her play at the co-ed club team night... Seems I can't just enjoy an outing without bringing along the camera... Realized shooting volleyball would take some knowledge of the sport, some better equipment, technical know-how etc etc but fun and great learning experience shooting-wise, and understanding a bit of the intensity required for the sport. Eyes tell it all!

Nation Geo image from Tassie...

2011-01-04T20:18:00.000-08:00

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-trips-2011-photos/#/8-tasmania-female-climbing-boulder_30441_600x450.jpg

this is the link to an image of mine from a trip to Tasmania in 2008 from Nat Geo Trveler...

Trail Running in the Los Padres NF...

2010-12-30T06:48:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day inspiration, trail running in the Coast Range above Ojai...

Banff and Jasper summer 2010

2010-12-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

got a month to thrash around in Canada this summer! wild!

Outside Mag pub...

2010-09-08T11:23:00.001-07:00

http://outsideonline.com/travel/travel-ta-havasu-canyon-rock-climbing-sidwcmdev_151384.html

Everything and Nothing

2010-08-18T08:48:00.001-07:00

Canmore Folk Festival

2010-08-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

La Vent Du Nord, Dala, Four men and a dog, Ruthie Foster...

Jasper National Park, Alberta Canada

2010-07-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

Baja Mexico...III

2010-01-07T16:37:00.001-08:00

Sea Kayaking or near drowning? Definitely an adventure!
Never a dull moment with Claire...

all images posted on this blog ©Bennett Barthelemy...

Baja Mexico...II

2010-01-07T16:29:00.001-08:00

A trip to Baja over New Year's 09/10

Baja Mexico...

2010-01-07T16:09:00.001-08:00

Trinity River Kayak

2009-09-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

Walker Bay/Aris Inflatable Kayaks

2009-09-24T07:27:00.001-07:00

Survived a run down the Trinity in Northern California in the super stable Aris kayaks by Walker Bay... technology has changed quite a bit since turning circles in the tiniest of breezes and currents in my old Sevylor... super rigid design (lots of PSI) gives security when bouncing off a bony river bottom.... psyched to head into some bigger water, San Juan will be the next adventure in a few days... Out of the four (Claire R., Ben York and Sasha) of us on the river i was the only one to swim, a class 1 ripple 200 yards from the take out... Perfect weather, good company... pretty sweet! check out the boats at www.walkerbay.com

Sierra, Mid July, 2009

2009-07-19T15:19:00.001-07:00

Stone Muse

2009-06-27T13:41:00.001-07:00

2009-06-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

clips...

2009-06-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Four Corners Magazine, April/May 09

2009-04-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

recent images...

2009-04-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

Yosemite...

2008-10-07T09:26:00.001-07:00

Havasu, Grand Canyon

2008-06-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Three Days in June… (Havasu Falls Backpack)

There is something oddly magical about being thrown together with a group of strangers, each attuned to one distant frequency. Our frequency was of course a resonance of unlikely life—water surging through an ancient and incredibly dusty, rocky inhospitable and impossibly parched region of the Southwest, a massive hydrologic scalpel slicing through the armor of earth.

Some of our party had traveled across the continent to be here, from the humid climes of Appalachia. Others of our group came from just a few hours distant over the nearly monochromatic landscape of ponderosa pine and scrubby juniper beyond the rim.

Approaching Supai, the native village just two miles from the cascades but eight from the treks beginning, is akin to transiting from one world to the another, and from one time to another. This surreal experience continues throughout the visit into the depths of the primordial canyon—a continual transiting from past to present, a split reality of ancient culture and technology mixed with 21st century modernity.

Such incredible forces at work—heat, water, wind, tectonics, gravity, time… mixed with a palpable serenity that happily infects. A welcome juxtaposition of visual and sensory experience, a pleasant and engaging opposition. Location must be paramount in the lives of many (all?), transitory as our locations and lives may be.

Three days in late June was enough to glimpse the magic of connection between people, cultures and landscape. Three days was enough to access parts of the cluttered self, to shed a bit of baggage and resonate with something timeless and beautiful. Just enough time to understand the necessity of reconnection, the ongoing need feel a part of something magical. –Bennett Barthelemy

Oz...

2008-03-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

The Mount…
Mt. Arapiles was a good dose of reality…living in conditions that were not ideal. We first arrived in mid February to cool temps, great climbing and good people. After the first couple of weeks the weather turned ugly, heating up to 110 degrees temps with a wind that one of friends said, felt like someone was putting a hair dyer in your face. And HUMID. Nobody talks about how humid the Australian desert is!!!!! Bread rotted in a couple of days, veggies in one. The fire bans for multiple days at a time so we couldn’t cook food, not like anybody felt like eating much anyway.
We’re not complaining though, well maybe a little, but the reality is that we are so lucky to be traveling, doing what we love, with all the love and support of our family and friends.
It was a reality check in that traveling is never like you imagine, and some things just suck, but there are the treasures hidden in those times that are the most memorable. Hanging out with Luke (a crazy Oregonian electrician) and Alex (an even crazier Brit) on one of the first 100+ days drinking beer and playing scrabble at the pub. (We overheard the pub owners say, “there over there with a COMPUTER, playing SCRABBLE!!!!! To each is own, I guess”) Going to Aldi’s for the first time and discovering some of the first really cheap food we’ve seen the whole trip, listening to Volker, king of the Pines, philsosophize about life (he’d been living at the campground for 6 months when we arrived). The hitchhiking, route finding, RP (tiny brass wires to protect tiny cracks) epic’ing and climbing on rock that absolutely radiated heat. Hanging out learning not so nice Swedish phrases from Oscar and and Kalla…. All memorable times that will stay with us forever. D-

Yes, Arapiles is another vortex, kind of like the center of the universe in YO-semite…The Grampians, sadly only a day there, is also a magical spot. Tassie too and all the burly adventure there… Not a bad place to be stuck for a while. Nice to be tasting the chill of fall over the last couple of days after so many hot ones. Surreal to think that tonight we will be falling out of the fall and springing into the spring in the northern latitudes of the Mediterranean. Thanks to all the crazy souls for the good times in Oz, the genuine kindness of folks like Volker, Luke, Andy, Alex et all. All the best to them. B-

Tasmania!

2008-02-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

Aahhh, Tasmania. It was the first place I have regretted leaving, wishing we had more time. It felt like we barely scratched the surface of such a wonderfully incredible and diverse place. And the friendships we forged there have made our trip rich in a way that can’t be described. Bleary eyed off the ferry in Devonport, we made the decision to rent a car, as we had heard that it would be impossible to get to many of the destinations we wanted to see with shuttle service. A good deal, and we were on our way with the mist beginning to rise out of the Eucalyptus valley, broken by rolling farmland. Through Launceston to Ben Lomond, checking out road kill along the way, trying to figure out what the animals were. A dirt road took us up through the forest, two snakes and an Echidna scurrying out of the way. We stopped for the Echidna, originally mistaking it for some porcupine, but it did the characteristic ritual of burying its nose in the ground. The locals call it the “I can’t see you so you can’t see me” ritual. Ben Lemon was nothing short of magical, huge pillars above tree line. The mist rolling through in the mornings and evenings.
After a couple of days getting schooled, we decided to move down the coast. Found a great whole foods store in St. Marys (no apostrophes here) and tasted the delights of Eucalyptus candy (a little strong for my taste) and Turkish delights (reminded me of my great grandmother for some reason as its made with rosewater). Driving down Elephants pass we caught our first glimpse of the Tasmanian coastline and as we dropped down further we saw the white sand beaches set against an aqua ocean and a deep cobalt sky. Utterly breathtaking. We stopped in Bicheno (pronounced Bisheno) for some much needed protein and then headed out towards Friendly Beaches. Little did we know we would be spending quite a bit of time at this Friendly beach. Our first exposure to Wallabies (aptly named Bennett’s Wallaby, no joke)….weird, and huge biting ants.
From Friendly beaches we decided to head down to the Freycinet peninsula where there was gorgeous sea cliffs. It promptly rained for the next five days and we were only able to get in a route or two. After the fifth day we bailed, having rescued the tent from the pond and headed back toward Bicheno for some groceries and internet. Headed back up to St. Marys to go to a cliff that we had passed on our way out of Ben Lomond and ended up doing a couple of climbs in between rain storms. Bailed out when the rain hit and then made our way back down to Freycinet (stopping again at the Friendly beaches for Wallaby burgers, VERY tasty, especially when wallabies are watching you eat them!!!!) We went back to the sea cliffs just in time to do a climb and meet Bob and Anna…one of the most serendipitous meetings of our trip! An hour later we were sharing wine and talking like long lost friends in the back of Anna’s car as rain poured down and possums tried to crawl on Bennett.
We stayed for another few days after they left and then headed down to Hobart, the capitol of Tasmania, to stay with Anna. We enjoyed her generosity for 5 days, showers, and a real bed in a real house .luxury. Did some great climbs together and then headed up the wild coast to catch our flight out of Launceston. Stayed with Bob and his incredible family outside of Exeter on the night before our flight out, it was a wonderful way to end the trip. There is still so much to explore here….
I think of the people we love all the time, so in a way we are all making this journey together and it has been more than I could have ever imagined. Thank you all for your love and support. Dana

Island Fever....

2008-01-22T21:14:00.001-08:00

I can't believe our time in New Zealand is ending! Three weeks went by so quickly, but with lots of absolutely incredible memories. We rented a car so that we could tool around on our own schedule, and made our first stop at the base of Mt. Cook. Crazy glaciers and beautiful trails and some exciting climbing!!!! The day after we left Mt. Cook village, Sir Edmund Hillary passed away, so it eneded up being a timely visit...to be able to relate to the place where he spent much of his time training.
From there we drove through Wanaka, where we spent a hot afternoon waiting for the mechanic to explain why our rental car died....Then a seven hour push up the west coast to pick up a new car in Hokitika. The day ended with a beautiful sunset and pulling into a grassy campsite. Awoke to the sound of waves on the beach, thick costal fog and a wonderful little bay. The climbing here was incredible too, hung out for a few days at the place that boasts the closest crag to pub distance on the south island. Spent a rainy day chatting to a local jewler convinced of jade riches off the coast and playing scrabble in the pub with a wayward Canadian.
We ditched (or thought we did) the rainy weather and made a beeline for the alps in the hope of doing a trak there, but predictions of 3mm of rain/hour and the numerous river crossings persuaded us to continue down the eastern side of the alps to the boulering mecca of Castle Rock. Camped by a high alpine lake for a few days and confirmed that we are just not boulderers.
Having come to that conclusion, and wanting to do something more hardcore and adventureous, we hiked into a basalt area called Mt. Somers, an epic four hour trek with really heavy packs. Camped there for 5 days and weatherd out a storm and a low abundance of food...but it was worth it to hang out and climb. Ended up meeting a german couple whom we had met at the coastal crag of Charelston and were on a similar circuit as us. All in all, I couldn't imagine a better time! We fly out to Auckland from Christchurch tomorrow morning and then onto Sydney on Friday!!! Looking forward to another set of adventures.....Dana

Forever bittersweet... No plans to return but there will be things I will miss about N Zed... Like how the "e" in deck etc gets mangled in that characteristically Kiwi way--"the top dick is reserved for first class passengers only". The graffitti on the Constant Bay Reserve campground privy door that read "B 4 you bone Minky, cover ya slinky". The stipling of tiny manuka flowers on rolling sub-alpine landscapes. The sub-alpine bees the size of ping-pong balls endlessly fascinated by the nectar flowing from my dripping nose. Calling coffee long black or flat white. How every Kiwi is at the ready to give you a meteorological lesson about typical NZ wind patterns, rainfall, rain shadows, trends... and the way they say, "It was supposed to be nice." Being in a country where one of the most visible national heroes (on the $5 dollar bill i think) is/was a humanitarian and mountaineer. NZ actually makes a concerted effort to be somewhat bi-lingual with Maori text accompanying English on signs, some news broadcasts etc. Parting a sea of white mewing 150 lb wooly parasites with our NIssan Sunny that has 270,000 k's on the highway as dogs smarter than the average Republican keep them in order. Sliding nuts over 25 year old machine bolts on rock as slick as soap and about as crumbly while swearing I see Frodo strapped to a crashpad running through the labyrinth of Castle Hill bouders. Finding my passport missing the day before we fly to Australia and calling the Bank of NZ in Akaroa and hearing them tell me they will courier my forgotten passport to me via the shuttle bus driver that is leaving for Christchurch that very hour. -Bennett

New Zealand!

2008-01-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

Kiwis are probably the friendliest folk on the planet... rain, sun, green, clear cuts, homegenous second growth, slipping through sheep merdes, hostel scenes, guiness on draft, kumara chips, sore calf muscles, tolkienesque landscapes, black beech and tree ferns, Maori... so far so good. renting a car today to escape the multi national sheep and do our own thing and climb, camp for free etc... things are steep for the wimpy US dollar here and geared toward those that want to pay for convenience--not us obviously. time do some streching so i can heft the near 80 lbs of gear (imagine me flexing...ok, maybe not) B.B.
A little narration on the pictures....The one of a crazy french statue with me is in Picton (where there is an incredible bakery, with all sorts of meat pies). Everyone found our packs fairly amusing (Bennett likes to make it known that his pack is 15 whole lbs. heavier than mine, even though he outweighs me by 45 lbs.)! The one of me and some other folks at a cabin is the lunch stop on the first day of our Kaikoura coast track. Pretty incredible view, complete with a "billy" to boil tea (the tea here is AMAZING). The two women are great English girls and the guy is an Australian who wants to do a PhD studying ANTS!!!! The picture of Bennett and I was also taken on the first day of the KCT, and I'm doped up on antihistamines, HORRIBLE hay fever. We got treated to picking eggs from the henhouse on the first night and homemade, incredible treats on our last afternoon from a woman named Gypsy. She made amazing fruit cake (you would have loved it Mom!!!) The trip has been wonderful so far, surpassing any previous expectations and everything seems to be going smoothly, which in nice. We miss you all, but are having a terrific time! Love, Dana

New Years Travels...

2007-12-29T13:04:00.000-08:00

Below is our new Travel Itinerary for our around the world trip. (subject to some tweakage but a good rough guide). Our goal is to stay near the oceans and chase the sun as much as possible--hopefully 9 months of summer! If folks are traveling on a transecting path give us a shout!

1. New Zealand -January 1 to the 25th
2. Australia and Tasmania -January 25th through the 21 of March
3. Turkey March 23rd through April 5th
4. Greece April 5th 22 or so...
5. Italy/Corsica/Sardinia through May 20
6. Morroco May 20 through 30
7. Europe proper til the 20th of June... Training it through mainland Europe with the Eurail pass...

Our goal is to stay out of cities as much as possible, but when we are there we will be updating the blog...
All the best. b and d.

Location, Location...

2007-11-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

Flag has been killer, but alas we move in in just a month...and 10 days of that will be in NC. All in all, a damn good place to be stuck for a while...

Seattle Pig Hunt

2007-07-27T10:57:00.001-07:00

Sedona Magic..

2007-07-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

At sunset I hiked in the raging 90+ degree heat of Sedona up to Cathedral Rock and through the notch to the back of the Mace for moonrise photos. Sedona, for all the over-the-top hype, does offer some amazing moments. I had the place all to myself as soon as the moon rose--only one dumb enough to be out alone and without a headlamp an hour from the trailhead up crazy slickrock. It was worth two days of pulling out various species of cactus thorns. Being out and alone in such a place is a magical experience.

37--dragonflys and lizards

2007-07-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

37 was how old i turned yesterday. Epic birthday, spent with the best person ever--Dana! A bit of a manic day, harnessed of course--fitting. Half day canyoneeering, a new endeavor and a good taste of what to expect as a newbie. Bailed out after a mile or so as we were not finding the clean, clear water we had hoped to lounge in--the monsoons need to flush out the stagnant toilet of James Canyon, swimming through it, or crawling through the poison ivy alternative was not that appealing. Spent the remainder of the day lounging in Oak Creek with cool water cascading over us. I shot lizards and dragonflys with the macro (see attached pics). Ahhh....

Great Sunrise, Great Movie...

2007-06-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

Poised for a literary leap here; time will tell if I reach the other side…

A great sunrise is like a great movie. Casting eastward or screen-ward, patiently, the moment pregnant with possibility. Perhaps a few clouds skirt the horizon, actors waiting in the wings for the grand entrance, to catch the light for a fleeting moment, to wash with color and emotion. Shadows shorten as depth and clarity build… Soon a symphony of light—the blasting of trumpets and the beating of kettle drums kind… In the growing promise of, and finally realized warmth, we can smile and nod at how good it feels to be engaged and alive. The burst of light-rays from the sun would have to be the script as it kind of holds everything together and makes it all happen. A good sunrise stays with you, like a flirtatious smile, hard to shake from memory and almost magical. Is it possible to weep watching the sunrise? Yes.

A bad movie? Better off sleeping in.

Two great movies:

1. The Fountain. A masterpiece on all levels… Rachel Weisz, Hugh Jackman
Heavy, like celluloid gold.

2. Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector. Larry The Cable Guy is my new hero. Iris Bahr is perfectly cast. Light, like celluloid helium.

Bryce NP Bio Adventure

2007-06-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

So I survived 8 days in Bryce as a volunteer photographer. We (Dana-newly minted professional biologist and Kirstin Ironside-professional for some time now) hiked transects set up in the 1950's as part of a permenent vegetation study of forest succession. Every decade or so biologists (Dana got this sweet gig for the summer through NAU/Merriam-Powell Center for Enviromental Research) hunt down rebar stakes pounded into the ground at 100 meter intervals and then catalog basically every plant, flower and tree they find in the surrounding radius.

New respect for field biologists--these guys work hard! Hot, dusty, dirty, dehydrated, sunburnt, heavy loads, long days... These rebar stakes can be a nightmare to find, hidden under sage, lost after fires, with sometimes only a few rusty inches poking out fo the red earth. I got good at pacing and compass bearings. My job was to shoot each plot with the quadrat placed over it (see photo) and then at the photo plots, every 4th or so, i would match the bearing with earlier photos and shoot the resident trees etc. I think the record was 11 plots in one day.

I am pretty good too at ID-ing ponderosa, limber pine, juniper, bristle-cone... and picked up some fun latin names like artemesia, pinus flexicus... Next time the study is done the biologist will have a much easier time as every plot will now have a corresponding photograph and will be locked into the GPS unit with crazy layers in the GIS program that will make the data super accessible and ripe for all kinds of cool analysis to help better understand the nature of forest-prairie evolution/health etc...

Only 184 more plots to go!

Wupatki National Monument AZ

2007-06-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

From Sunset Crater, (which the National Monument sign states as a “clumsy” name given by J.W. Powell for the volcano’s colors during his SW trompings—I thought was not too bad for a moniker…) the drive is a horeshoe shape, eventually reconnecting quite a ways north down the 89. Multiple ruins from Anasazi/Hopi begin to appear about half-way through the 30 mile drive in Wupatki NM that date from around 1050 AD. (Imagine a perfect 15 foot high, 5.10 finger crack in a natural boulder in your living room—see pic)Amazing architects—sites up high like the Citadel and on rock scarps with the landscape dropping away to east through red sandstones, limestones and volcanic columns and on into the Painted Desert. One of the northern most ball courts, very reminiscent of Mayan/Aztec ball games, there are a network of over 200 courts that are roughly 100 feet long and 70 feet wide that can be walked to in a day. The day I visited Wupatki gusts of over 70 mph threatened to blow my tripod away. If you have a half-day to spare this tour is well worth it.

The Mace, Sedona AZ

2007-06-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yeah, The Mace, way fun.

Secret beta is that one 70m rope works fine for 2 raps off the back--3 counting the short one back to the step across move--I had a handy excuse not to do the psychotic jump as my ankle is sprained from a recent bike crash, no health insurance is a good de-motivator as well. You now rap from the metal summit register---weird and something neither of us had ever seen before which took us a bit to figure out, so new there are no rope grooves and only scant friction burns on the rock.

My partner Pat had a rope in a pack-strong!- and I had my camera bag -stupid!- on our backs which was a nightmare in the chimneys and not the way to go--no wonder people balk at the 5.9+ rating, must be as dumb as we were. Yet the climbing in actuallity is pretty chill, it's when you choose to superflously accessorize that you pay dearly, like the high-heeled woman with her foot caught beneath the brake pedal.

Off the top I had Pat posing with Metolius prusik/sewn rapel cords that photo ed Brooke S had sent along for shots (on El Cap, but i figured this was a close second, just smaller by a one power of 10 right?). Funny because the prop ended up saving the day as Pat rapped a no pro chimney and had to prusik back up... Oh, and pants are definitely key, thanks for that tidbit--especially in full sun and 90 degree heat!

What would be really sick is to invent a desert climber suit (I am sure someone's thought of this), like the football mascots have, with AC in them. Or next time we could just do a Charlie Chicken and Barney ascent...would Climbing be psyched running a story on a desert FA by a chicken and a dinosaur?--I think we could make it happen-- But which one would i be? hmmmm...

So Pat and I then staggered around decadent downtown Sedona covered in sweat and red dust and too proud/cheap to cave in to a $10 hot dog and $5 water so drove up to Flag--amazing how severe dehydration can mimic 3 hits of acid but it made the scenic drive amazingly so and without the nasty hangover.

Comedy of errors--it never ends.

Around the world...

2007-06-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

Throwing caution to the zephyrs and kissing goodbye any hopes of procuring a car, Dana and I officially purchased our round the world tickets! So if any wayward souls find themselves crossing the bow of our ship in parts known and unknown we should meet up. Our stated goals with our international sojourns (besides the obvious of grabbing a solid relationship by the ankles and pulling in all directions at once to see what happens) is to climb, write, shoot, volunteer at non-profits, and hopefully publish selected aspects of the insanity. Our itinerary is as follows:

January 3rd: New Zealand, South Island for about 2 weeks
January 17: Sidney Australia
February 19: Kathmandu
March 21: Istanbul
March 24: Greece
Overland travel through Mediterranean, Morroco, Europe
June 17: Paris to Los Angeles

Flagstaff...

2007-06-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

So Dana and I made the big move. Hanging out with locals (see pic). So far Flag rocks!