Lucky

The Luckster and his buddy Wilson (shot taken by my sis, Stacey Gooch)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29536760@N07/4382370793/

My sister Stacey and her family are taking care of my dog Lucky while I'm away. From the looks of it they are doing an amazing job. The other day she captured some good playful moments between him and his new pal Spike, see link below. In spite of how it may look, they are just playing. Thanks Stacey for the great pics and taking such good care of the Luckster! He's a happy and very lucky dog!

Spike and Lucky

The full action sequence is at the link below

http://chronicles-of-organized-chaos.blogspot.com/2010/02/wild-kingdom.html

Blue and Green

The Blue Mountains of Australia and the Green of Fiji.

I landed in Australia after 4 days of planes, trains, and automobiles (literally) and have had a great time mountain biking with kangaroos, hiking the many scenic trails around Wentworth Falls, taking in the good cafes in the area, resting, and catching up with some great pals. My pals Jill and Bryn are professional mountain bike racers that spend the US winter months living and training in Australia. These guys have it dialed and are very professional with their training regiment. I've been lucky enough to cruise along for a few XC rides, play driver for some DH runs, and get an inside look at the daily life of professional athletes. Jill is crossing over from four-cross to downhill racing on the North American circuit this year and Bryn will be tearing up the World Cup circuit. I'll definitely be cheering them on from wherever I might be (www.jillkintner.com).

Bryn prepping for some DH runs

The undercliff trail in the Blue Mountains

View from atop of Ruined Castle

Since Jill is a US citizen (Bryn is an Aussie) she only gets a maximum stay of 3 months at a time so we hit up Fiji for a few days to get her out of the country and get her a new stay. A bit resort-y for my taste, but a good time all the same. Nothing like floating in the ocean and taking in some sun. We rented a car for a day to see a bit of the countryside. All sorts of horses meandering about, cute little villages, beach and forest hikes, and some awesome roadside barbecue.

Jill and I goofing around in Fiji

The tree of lost soles

Playing ball on the beach (with a coconut and driftwood)

A horse with no name

A Fijian firewalking ceremony

Sunset in Fiji

Now I'm back in the Blue Mountains and gearing up to leave Tuesday for Tasmania!

The Avenue of the Volcanoes

Believe it or not that's me standing there motivating a fellow classmate with the sun coming up behind us and Cotopaxi in the background.

As I mentioned at the tail end of my last post I was heading into Ecuador's Avenue of the Volcanoes for some more play time. This time there was more than just play. I had signed up for IWLS 24 day mountaineering course (originally for Patagonia, but it was cancelled) and was ready to hone my skills and learn some new ones on the great conical mountains of the Ecuadorian Andes. The hit list was impressive - Guagua Pichincha, Illiniza Norte, Cayambe, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo - but the weather kept us away from the summits and our rummy skills sharp. In the end I got to hike Rucu Pichincha, summit Illiniza Norte, nearly summit Cayambe, and summit Illiniza Sur (almost forgot, jumped off a bridge in Banos too).

Me iced up on Cayambe

Due to glacial recession Cayambe has an impressive set of bergschrund crevasses at it's top that requires a fair bit of ice climbing. We got through part of it, but I called it quits just about 10 minutes shy of the top to ensure a safe descent. Illiniza Sur wasn't on the original list and is an impressive peak to top out on. There was no snow making it an ice climb to the top. Lots of steep ice travel and ice climbing with impressive crevasse formations along the way.

Jared, Micah, and I on the summit of Illiniza Sur

Now, after busing from Quito to Ushuaia and back up over 6 months and exploring a small chunk of the natural beauty that South America has to offer, I'm off to my next destination - Australia. Trading llamas and condors for koalas and kangaroos.

Goodbye quilted hills, golden paramo, majestic mountains, and kind people. Until we meet again...

Sun coming up over Cotopaxi, view from Illiniza Norte