How I became the Outdoor
Neophyte...
Since my first trip to Desolation Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada mountains I have trekked a variety of locations, some of which were very daunting to me. But, in my naivete, I have stumbled through adventures which have enhanced my sense of self and exposed me to experiences, vistas and cultures that have added meaning to my life.
One of the things I have discovered over the course of the past five years, is that the amount of joy an adventure holds is not tied to distance, expense or risk. Sometimes the simplest "adventure" can be the most memorable. A walk with my husband in the hills behind the neighborhood grocery store to Hunter Lake, for example, remains one of the most fun-filled days I have ever spent walking. We had a destination, perfect weather, good snacks and after a few wrong turns and 18 miles we returned once again to our car and drove ten minutes to our house. Joyful adventures, many times, await us, literally, in our own backyards.
In the links below I provide some brief highlights of some of my trips.
Remember, I would really like to hear about YOUR trips, experiences, observations and adventures. If you would like, I will post them on this site to share with others. Just send me an e-mail with your stories and/ or pictures!
Montana (NEW) Becoming an Outdoor Woman program for adult women.
Turkey. (NEW) Elizabeth treks the Aladag Mountains and meets an Israeli couple.
Borneo. Two months after Desolation, I spent two weeks in Indonesia and Borneo, with one week spent trekking in the jungles of Sarawak . Leeches and snakes could not prevent feeling the excitement of being in a remote culture and tasting the wildness of the jungle and the warm enthusiasm of the descendents of headhunters.
Cho Oyu is the sister mountain of Everest and sixth tallest mountain in the world. I was invited to trek to Advance Base camp, where I spent a month camping at 18,500 feet with members of the climbing expedition. In nine months I had gone from not owning a pair of hiking boots, to sharing incredible experiences in the Himalayan mountains such as I had only seen on television documentaries.
K-2 , Concordia is located in Northeast Pakistan at the confluence of five great glaciers. It is the amphitheater for eight of the world's 30 highest mountains with K2 as its crown jewel. After 16 days trekking the Baltoro Glacier I ran out of adrenalin!
Chillingi Pass is on the Northwest Frontier of Pakistan - an area only recently opened to foreigners and noted on CIA maps as "nominally under control of Pakistan." On this trek we had the opportunity to visit the Kalish people who live in three isolated valleys and are thought to be descendants of Alexander the Great's generals.
Bhutan. This gentle kingdom borders the Himalayas on the north which provided a spectacular backdrop for a 160 mile trek to visit the remote village of the Laya people, descendants of the Tibetans.
New Mexico. This describes a short trip to the "Land of Enchantement".
Looking forward to reading your adventures, great and small!