Trekking Part 2

Another motel, another bit of wifi, another blog. Hurrah! Trekking part two is a highlight I think. 
So I left you on my way to Yosemite National Park. I drove. I DROVE ALL THE WAY THERE! Look at me:

For some of my first legal driving it was pretty sweet. Long, straight roads, amazing views. Sure I was in the wrong (I mean other) side of the road but I only drove onto the verge once at a reasonably slow speed. And I negotiated rocks and trees and things in the campsite. I wanted Kirsty to take over there but she wouldn't. I think she thought It would be good for me...practice those manoeuvres, you know. 
We did a lot of driving in Yosemite. It's so big, and so much to see that it was the best way. At Glacier Point we got an amazing view of Half Dome and Clouds Rest etc as well as the "controlled fire" that was burning above the valley. There were lots of aeroplanes chucking water (very precisely) on the blaze. Two of them passed by at eye level actually. We were as high as planes :) 

The next day took us even higher on a trek to Clouds Rest. It's an incredible walk and there may have been cartwheels and jumping photos at the top. Classic.

And then it was time for the biggest trek of them all. Five days in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, bear canisters and all. It didn't start so well...
The trouble was...well it was lots of things. 
1. We were late. We didn't start walking until 2.20 and we had ten miles to walk before reaching our planned stop at Thousand Islands Lake (the pinnacle of our imaginations).
2. The weight. The bear canisters do add a significant chunk. Inside them we had to fit five days of food, toiletries and anything else smelly- to stop the bears getting in. This made us slow and weak, like a pair of geriatrics. 
3. The dark, which started early in the woods. And the rustling in the bushes by unknown animals which we imagined as bears of course, and sang "she'll be coming round the mountain" to scare them away. We aren't singers. There were definitely bears in the area- we saw a couple of large paws prints on the dusty path. Scaaaaaary. Until that point we were both very grumpy and hated each other a little bit. We didn't speak at all. So at least the bears bonded us. 
So we stopped a little early, as soon as we found a good spot. A little whiskey to warm us up (and calm us down) and bed. I dreamt of bears. 
The next day was much better, thank goodness. Not only did we make it to the stunningly beautiful Thousand Island Lake but a man (in response to me saying we were from London) said "Well Hot Diggity!!" What more can I say to convince you of the charms of the wilderness? 
We camped at another glorious lake, Garnet, and watched the sunset from the rocks, and saw an eagle. We bought binoculars this time to properly see all the big birds. Jeez, life is hard. 

And then in the morning it looked like this...a perfect mirror. 

And we had the opportunity to play :)

It was the next day at Rosalie Lake we made a friend called Dave. We made a bonfire, talked trekking and careers and 'Naked and Afraid.' He was very impressed with our trip. "If you girls are capable of this, then shame on you if you don't make wonderful things happen in your life." No pressure there, but I like the sentiment. We do do a great holiday. Why not more? 

And then finally two days hiking in one. We were in pain, filthy, sweaty. There was smoke in the air and landscape like a giant had rampage past unrooting huge trees. But the thought of a shower, a sandwich and a cup of whiskey spurred us on. So here we are. 

We even have carrot cake. 

Trekking Part 1

I am writing to you from a 24 hour laundromat. A laundomat opposite the motel we just checked into. We are so living the American dream right now. 

This unexpected bit of connection allows me to update you on life on the road part one. Right now we are tired, hungry, our bodies hurt and we've only been away from civilisation for a week (not quite). 

So what have we been up to I hear you cry? 

Well first we were in Point Reyes for three days. It's just north of San Francisco, right by the ocean, and just a couple of miles trek from where we left the car. That meant it was a bit of a practice-run. We had all our stuff for the couple of miles in and out, and took a day bag for the rest of the time. The day bag was still heavy at the time. We were so innocent then. 

So good things about Point Reyes are: the wild and empty beach, the lack of bears, all the other animals and birds that were EVERYWHERE! Lizards, deer, gofers, kites, and more whales :) we were happy nature spotters.

Bad things about it: teenage boys. School trip season meant they were everywhere. It was pretty tricky to wash, let me tell you. There were no showers so a discreet bowl wash was all we could manage. 

Before we knew it, it was time to move on so off we drove to the Carson Pass Ranger Station to get our permits for our next trek: the Mukelumne Wilderness.

Except we didn't get there that day. Who knew we'd end up caught in traffic on Labor Day Weekend. Not us apparently although I expect any Americans reading this to be rolling their eyes at our naivity. 

So we needed somewhere to sleep and we stopped long enough in Folsom (that of the Johnny Cash song) to see only a shopping centre and get wifi enough to google a campsite.

We found a beauty. Up a Top Gear worthy mountainside road, to a beautiful lakeside spot. 

Only, because of Labor Day (again!) it was completely reserved for a wedding no less. 

It had taken us an hour to get to just from Folsom. We had nowhere else to go so resolved to wait for the staff to leave and sleep in the car.

But we didn't have to sleep in the car after all. We went to the wedding party (the wedding was the following day) and asked their advice in somewhere nearby to sleep. Hint hint. And being the happy and generous gang they were, we were allowed a spot at the back if the site. I felt like Mary and Joseph asking for room at the inn. I think that wedding got some good karma for their kindness. 

That night we saw the Milky Way. 

Leaving the wedding early in the morning to not get in their way we headed for our original destination. The Internet had given us an address in Placerville but when we arrived it was just a house. Hmmm....

3 hours later and we had almost driven in a large circle hunting this place down (damn it Internet...you're supposed to know everything), when we chanced upon a ranger station that issued us permits, gave us directions and assured us we didn't need bear canisters as bears where almost never a problem there. Almost? Is that good enough? We were both nervous every time we fell asleep there in case the smells of avocados and jerky proved too much for a brave bear to resist. 

As you can see we are both still alive and have all our limbs. Hurrah! 

Mukolmne was just stunning. 

The first day we trekked past four lakes, down a mountain side and into the woods by the creek where we set up camp. 

The second day the creek took us through the pine woods and eventually to a sunny spot for a dunk in the creek to wash our hair. We stayed there for a while jumping from rock to rock, enjoying being clean and alone in the huge wilderness. We were so free that day. 

We even had a wilderness poo. The most scenic of our lives. 

Not together. 

That evening we put to use the skills we learnt at Survival School and successfully built and maintained a campfire that lasted hours and warmed our chilly bones. 

Today we had to make it back to the car and it was our hardest day yet. All uphill and overgrown so it was miles and miles of slog. Until you looked up or behind and where once again astonished by the view. 

The worst bit was when the path was ruined by landslide and we couldn't see which way to go. We scrambled precariously up the loose rocks until a sheer cliff face beat us back. We found to right path on the way back from our near death experience and continued...and continued...and continued. I have no photos of the day as I was too exhausted to get my phone out of my bag. 

It took us 7 hours a to walk as many miles but we had some wildlife highlights in a hawk and a yellow-bellied marmot. 

Some advice for your future road trips: 

Never celebrate reaching the top of a mountain until you are definitely on the way down the other side. It only leads to disappointment. 

Always check the map as well relying on TomTom. The place we were looking for was there all along. 

Don't be afraid to ask to crash a wedding. They are in a good mood so it's the perfect time to ask a favour.

Put sun cream on your ears. 

More to come...Yosemite tomorrow. 

Tourist Days in San Francisco

Today we are in Sausalito. We arrived here by accident after walking the Golden Gate Bridge in an attempt to find a bit of wilderness. The was a freeway between us and the object of our desire and so here we are, eating frozen yogurt instead. 

But don't be sad for us. You'll get your wild blog in not too long. Tomorrow we will stock up with noodles, couscous and dried vegetables, practice putting up our tent, ready to head out to the middle of nowhere. Or more specifically: Point Reyes, Mokelumne Wilderness, Yosemite, Thousand Island Lake, Jackass Meadows and Monterey Bay before we're onto LA and civilisation once again.
So although you may not hear from me for a while, don't worry, the bears probably haven't got me because I have a bell and a whistle. Infallible. 

I'll check in again when I have wi-fi once more. Nature doesn't supply it unfortunately but calm down....we'll be with you again soon. 
Before becoming simpler creatures with only our thoughts to occupy us we have spent this week in San Francisco as tourists as it is the perfect city to do so. The famous Pier 39 feels a bit like a set from a theme park, full of sea themed restaurants, Sea Lion merchandise and smiley American customer service. There is a lot to do and to take photos of. Here are some for your viewing pleasure:

And in our tourist-frenzy two themes have emerged: boats and animals. 
The boats were a surprise. We are in America to trek and this has become quite a watery experience so far. In New York we went on the Staten Island ferry and a Central Park rowing boat. Here we have done a loop around the bay, taken a ferry to Alcatraz and back, and been on a whale watching expedition. 5 boats in a week. 

The last, as you can see, combined with the animal theme to make a perfect day out. We saw about 7 humpback whales (one baby!...tiny giant), a jumping thresher shark, seals, porpoises, pelicans and a whole menagerie of other birds. And then when we were walking to the tube later we saw a really fat insect that turned out to be a hummingbird. There are kites and butterflies, dragonflies and beautiful blue jays. And this badass:

And having shown you that picture that I can't possibly top I'll say goodbye for now. Catch you in a couple of weeks and cheers! 

(Yes those are pints of Margarita...what can I say? Everything's bigger here.) 

Packing

Hurrah! There is just over a week left until Kirsty and I embark once again on a quest for adventure, sunshine and the perfect jumping shot. We have our visas, insurance and passports ready to roll so now it's time for the tricky part: packing.

Last time was hard enough. We were away for longer; needed clothes from the beach to the snowy Himalayas; and we'd never done anything like that before. This time (seasoned pros that we are) is both easier and more complicated. 

I'll explain. 

In true American road trip style we are hiring a car. This means we can pack not just our backpacks full of necessities, but an extra case with floral dresses, straw hats and other nonsense. Then, when we don't need the floral dresses, into the car they go and magically our load is lessened.

But here comes the hard part. The reason we chose this trip is for some trekking. We had planned to do the John Muir trail but sadly, when it was time to enter the wilderness permit lottery six months ago, we missed out. Instead we are doing lots of shorter bits of the trail, climbing some mountains and letting the balmy Californian breeze take us where it will. 

We have trekked before so we know what we need but last time was probably quite a luxury. The most obvious reason for that luxury was Krishna, our porter-extraordinaire. He carried everything and we skipped happily along a couple of miles behind him/fell over a lot (even with all our baggage he was significantly faster than us). This time we have to carry everything ourselves. I'm so glad I once walked to work with a weight in my bag. It'll make all the difference don't you think? :-/

And this brings us to problems two and three. In Nepal we stayed in tea houses along the route. We were fed, watered and given a bed to sleep in. In the national parks there is acres and acres of nothing but nature, so like a pair of tortoises we shall carry our home on our back. When we pack for trekking there needs to be space for a tent and when we are in the tent there needs to be room for our packs. In fact our tent is so small we will be spooning each other and our packs. At least it'll be warm I suppose.

And then for the worst news. There also needs to be room for food. Five days of food is heavy enough but this is bear country and it all needs to be safely hidden inside bear canisters. We can't get these until we get there so today I had a practice of packing all this :

The rucksack is at the bottom. Everything needed to go in leaving the main central pocket free for bear canister and cooking stuff. And guess what!

Here I am, packed and ready to go. And I look damn cool! Which is obviously the most important thing. I wonder how cool I'll look once the food is in and I'm bowed under the weight, slightly sunburnt and plagued by mosquitos....?

It's OK... I'll buy a baseball cap and jobs a goodun.

So success in stage 1 and see ya!!

Getting to Nepal. Disaster.

I last left you in paradise. Well, paradise progressed much as expected. We amused ourselves with beaches, books, boats and the backwaters. We made a friend who inspired and amused us with stories of his many travels and meetings with bears while peeing in orchards.
What more could you ask for? unless it was a guide who only stopped talking to himself long enough to say "Kerala very beautiful place, very coconut place. No pollution, very natural you like yes?"
We did like.
And then it was time to move on. India was so upset that we were leaving her, she slowed our journey to the best of her ability.
First our plane was delayed so we arrived at Delhi late, with only an hour to catch the next plane. We waited twenty minutes for our bags then Kirsty suggested a coffee (addict).
Not enough time.
I was right too. Couldn't be smug though. There was so little time we weren't allowed to check-in.
What??!! There's still half an hour!
No Ma'am, not possible.
Nooooooooo!!
So eight hours at Delhi airport later we finally got a plane (which was subsequently delayed) to Kathmandu. A taxi ride later through the general power cut of the city led us to the hotel that we'd already paid for, and which was locked, gated and pitch black.
Well that just takes the biscuit.
Not the best day of the trip.... Rest assured we did not spend the night homeless. Thank God for commission agents. There's never a shortage of taxi drivers with helpful hotel suggestions.
The next morning did not bring more luck though. It was when I went to get a charger out of my bag that I discovered I'd been robbed. A whole bag of chargers, adaptors, electrical stuff gone. And a (lucky empty) handbag.
If I hadn't given Kirsty an adaptor out of this bag in the check in queue I'd've assumed I'd forgotten it. As it is, Jet Airways have received an angry email. Who knew you can't trust airline employees with your stuff?
Things fortunately have improved though. Now you find us in Pokhara. Tomorrow we begin a 10 day trek to Annapurna base camp. We risk avalanches and minus degrees and we are very proud of ourselves. And already thinking we a) don't have enough clothes; b) have inflicted too heavy a bag on our porter; c) have a child guide (never seen a baby face like it); d) will collapse en route from exhaustion, cold and altitude. We will blame anything that goes wrong on the altitude.
The views are sure to be incredible though. And think how tiny my legs will be afterwards!
Of course this means no communication with the outside world for a while so excuse the following gap. When we return, frostbite, smelly but high on fresh air, they'll be the first to hear!

Trains and Mountains

Part 1

I`m writing this blog from the back of a jeep to Darjeeling. After these 2 minutes I already suspect it will be an interesting journey. For once I have an excuse for poor spelling. The road is a bit bumpy for touch screen typing.
We've just experienced Indian trains for the first time and aren't they a million miles away from Virgin Trains? Imagine a first class compartment, air conditioned, beds, blankets and a ready supply of Chai tea and coconuts.
And now put in a lot of people. The king of the area was our neighbour who talked, advised, lectured, ate, then declared at 9pm that it was bedtime, put down the bunks, here are your sheets, turn off the light please.
Now also add into the mix the constant hawking of goods. We made a list of 32 things its possible to buy. This includes toe nail clippers, screwdrivers, religious statues, etch-a-sketch and string. I wonder how many people buy these things?
Now put in some cockroaches and a mouse and two girls, feet up on the seat to avoid them. The girls check their shoes before putting them on.
And then its time to sleep only to find the king is not only a burper but a snorer too. And what a cacophony of snore sounds he has too. You get used to one tone and then he surprises you with another. If he is married I'm certain his wife hasn't slept for years. We were, however, early which is more than British Rail can manage. And it gives you such good stories and slightly hysterical laughter. The next train we are due to take was supposed to be sleeper class (lower). We are changing our tickets. You know, I did not intend to write so often but there is so much to say. But now: on with the journey.
(Posted and corrected a couple of days later)

Part 2


Now we are in Darjeeling. Quite a weird town. To look at the view is incredible...Himalayas, snowy peaks, tea fields. B-e-a-utiful.
And then you smell it. Not the fresh mountain air you'd expect but a noxious mix of car fumes and wet tarmac. So much for escaping the bad air of Kolkata.
It's ok though. Today we went trekking...away from town. And the air was good, although I would have liked a little more oxygen. And fitness. Note to self: get some stamina before Nepal or I might die and I'm too young for a heart attack.
We've made some friends here and they came trekking with us. We pretty much split into two groups: the guides, the Indian man and the German (who we've named Tom-Tom in honour of his in-built GPS)  were the athletes and miles ahead of us. The artist (us, and a couple of Slovenians, architect and sculptor) were slooooooow and stopped every few minutes for photos, eye-spy and fairytales. We are serious hikers, no?
And then back to Darjeeling in a tiny van that played The Venga Bus at full volume. Party bus. Whoop!!
And now, as we can't walk, I post two blogs in one as we sit wrapped in blankets. Cold here. Shiver.