It’s strange but I’ve lived in the Bay Area since 1988 and yet I had never been up Mt. Diablo. Neither had Darlene so, last Friday morning, we dusted off our road bikes and drove to Danville to start up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly an ideal day to take in the tremendous views: it’s been weeks since we’ve had any sort of wind or rain to clear the air. There was a smog advisory in effect but also an inversion layer in place holding much of it down to lower elevations. A late morning Friday made for a nice quiet ride up what is typically a pretty busy road on the weekends and we could still see the Sierras off in the distance.
I originally got to visit the Galapagos Islands five years ago but Darlene has long wanted to go herself. Of course the Galapagos Islands are well known for their abundant and unique wildlife, their fascinating and beautiful geology, as well as for the inspiration and development of Darwin’s theory of biological evolution. So, no, I really didn’t mind going back for a second visit!
We were in the Galapagos for twelve days (December 5th through the 16th) and we stayed overnight on the islands of Santa Cruz, Isabela and San Cristobal with day trips out to Santa Fe, Bartolomé, Leon Dormido as well as a few smaller outcroppings. (Here’s a great map.) This was a land-based trip (as was my previous trip), but this time I booked the trip through BikeHike.com and extended it with time on our own for four days (and to include San Cristobal).
Our days were filled with hiking, biking, kayaking, snorkeling, and boating as well as with sea lions, iguanas, penguins, giant tortoises, sharks, sea turtles, rays, cormorants, pelicans, frigate birds, crabs and fish! And great food! The whole trip was fantastic! (Thanks again to our guide, Jorgen, and to everyone else who contributed to making this such a fun experience!)
Here’s a little video I put together covering the whole of the trip:
(5:37 minutes, 115 MB download)
And here are my pictures and other video clips from the trip (including some of Darlene’s), separated into four galleries:
My sister-in-law, Michele, started a blog recently about her adventures with my brother, Glenn, and their success at turning around their health and lifestyle and getting to do more of what they want to be able to do.
Michele has always been really great at writing very entertaining stories and it shows here too! Check it out, it’s both fun and inspirational: A Life More Extraordinary
Darlene and I recently enjoyed a twelve day trip to Croatia, booked through REI Adventures. (June 27th to July 9th)
Our trip started in Zagreb and we worked our way south through Dalmatia and down to Dubrovnik, with a side excursion through Bosnia-Herzegovina. As an active, multi-sport trip, we enjoyed lots of hiking, biking, river and sea kayaking, as well as just seeing and exploring various sites along the way.
Here’s a video montage I put together covering much of our trip:
I’ve organized the pictures into four different galleries:
Darlene and I joined some of her cycling friends in a biking event around Lake Tahoe this past Sunday, June 1st: “23rd Annual America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride“. The main route is 72 miles around the lake and a total of about 4000 ft of elevation gain.
Click for the full gallery of pictures
Here’s a short (three minute, 50 MB) video montage I put together of the whole ride around the lake:
Here are some pictures and video from a few days of cycling and camping in the Eastern Sierra in and around the Mono Lake Basin, Mammoth and June lakes, Long Valley and Rock Creek Canyon over May 24th-27th. It was Darlene’s first time seeing the area. We came over by way of highway 108 and Sonora Pass and down through Bridgeport and Lee Vining to camp out on national forest land near highway 395 and June Lake on Saturday night.
Mono Lake (click for full gallery)
Sunday we set out for a bike ride to the South Tufa area at Mono Lake via the June Lake loop. That worked out to about 38 miles. Afterward, we stopped in for groceries at Mammoth Lakes and then set out on Benton Crossing Road to find a nice spot in the rocky hills east of Crowley Lake to use as our base camp Sunday and Monday nights. That night I was up late exploring the wonderfully dark (and moonless) skies with my telescope.
Long Valley looking towards Mammoth (click for full gallery)
Monday morning we left our camp standing and drove into Tom’s Place at the base of Rock Creek Canyon to set off on our bikes to climb the 2600 ft. up to Rock Creek Lake (at 9682 ft). Alas, there was to be no Pie in the Sky today at the Rock Creek Lodge so lunch was back down at Tom’s Place.
After breaking camp on Tuesday we stopped in at Mammoth Lakes again for breakfast and a bit of shopping before heading home, this time via Yosemite and Tioga Pass/Road.
I just returned from a fun and challenging little adventure (arranged through BikeHike.com) where a group of eight of us made our way across Costa Rica from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean entirely under our own human power… and a fair amount of gravity assist!
We started in Quepos, on the western coast, and we proceeded to bike, hike, raft and kayak our way entirely across the country until we reached the eastern coast and the Caribbean. We mostly camped at sites along the way and a support vehicle carried our gear but we otherwise made our way from one coast to the other. Along the way, we encountered (or sometimes befriended) caiman, monkeys, sloths, toucans, turkey vultures, frogs, bats, snakes and some biting fish, as well as numerous insects including various spiders, ants, butterflies and a particularly aggrieved, giant grasshopper.
Click on through for my gallery of photos and videos from the trip:
Earlier this week, Darlene and I made a little two-day, round-trip bike excursion to Monterey and back from Santa Cruz. It worked out to about 101 miles round trip from my place in the hills near Scotts Valley. We had actually intended to go down on Monday, hang out on Tuesday and return Wednesday but as we weren’t really ready to go until late Monday afternoon, with two hours of sunlight left…. oops! So, Tuesday morning we finally headed out.
It’s a common route and except for a couple of miles around Moss Landing, you stay off of Highway 1. And in fact, there’s a great bike trail that runs from Castroville all the way into Monterey which we didn’t know about until we stumbled on to it en route.
We had great weather both days and a lovely ride and stayed overnight at the inexpensive but nice Cannery Row Inn – across from San Carlos Beach and The Breakwater (a popular SCUBA diving spot).
