Category: Hiking
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The Path with Heart: A 70 mile epic across the volcanic spine of Armenia in the Gegham mountains
(July 13th – 21st, 2026) Mt. Ararat, the fabled mountain where Noah’s Arc came to rest after the biblical Great Flood, rose regally above the western horizon as the morning sun lit it up in glory. Kate and I had similarly marveled at its stature from the overlook above Yerevan’s storied Cascade Complex the evening…
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Tragedy in Paradise (Shovi, Georgia)
(July 6 – 10, 2026) The packed marshrutka, a transport minivan of varying degrees of quality typical in Georgia, raced through the winding forested foothills rising above the Imereti plain, a central fertile agricultural basin of Georgia. As it climbed higher into cloud forests, I kept an eye on the GPS to signal to the…
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Wildflowers of the Tatras: A photo essay
As mentioned in the post on my adventure on the Slovak side of the Tatras, Life is precious, don’t let it slip away, I was totally captivated by the stunning array of wildflowers on my hike out of the mountains. After staring up at pinnacles of towering rock for days, I was delighted with the…
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Life is precious, don’t let it slip away (Tatras, Slovakia)
(June 12 -14, 2026) –dadadadadadadadadadadadadada!…….daa-daaa-daaahhh!….indecipherable Slovak lyrics follow… “So, what is he singing about?” I ask my new acquaintance, Vlado, a jolly, broad shouldered man leading an outdoors group from his region of Orava on a trip to the Zelene Pleso hut, as we bask in the golden hour light illuminating all of the natural…
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Taming the Tantalizing Tatras (Poland)
An enveloping fog slowly gripped to the jet black precipices above me while I kick a step into the seemingly supportable, but not entirely firm, receding snowpack. Instilling within me sufficient trust to continue, I then debate using the cold steel chains bolted into the mountain wall as climbing aides or simply scrambling along the…
