Hike 1 in the Dolly Sods

We had an early morning start today so that we could hit the trails while it was still cool. Clearly, we're new here. It was never not cool today. How glorious to have cold fingers in June. We were both doing a bit of a function check on ailing knees and ankles, so we set out for a 7 mile hike on a mild trail. It was never terribly steep or technical. The most significant terrain feature we had to navigate was mud and general swampiness due to the recent rains.

Seth on Rohrbaugh Trail

One of my favorite features on hikes like this one are the beds of mossy ground cover. After the first mile Seth gently reminded me that, if I keep stopping to touch it, this 7 mile hike would take us longer than we had food or water to sustain us. Onward!

Grow little guys! Grow!

Another thing I am a sucker for are the tiny little evergreen trees that are just taking root on the side of the trail. We saw loads of these during our honeymoon in Glacier National Park. I always feel the urge to pat them on their tops, like a little pup.

After miles of gorgeous wooded trails in the cold, damp morning air we popped out of this scenic viewpoint overlooking the valley and river below. I wish the camera could have captured the view I had during this hike. As Seth walked along in front of me, the densely wooded trail was occasionally punctuated with patches of bright morning sun that would illuminate his breath before he stepped into the next shadow. That was one of my favorite sights today. I kept taking big gulps of the cold, moist air and letting out long sighs. Taking it all in.

How to spend a rainy day in West Virginia

After a slow morning, we set out for Blackwater Falls State Park. The scent of evergreen trees and wet earth was strong as we hiked down to the falls.

On the way to our next stop in Thomas, WV we passed by the billboard below. This should give you an indication of just how small of a town Davis, WV is:

You can see why Brittiny felt the need to stand out by spelling her name in a unique way in a town this size.

Thomas, WV has a small, yet sweet commercial street. We took the recommendation of our friend Stephen and ate lunch at the Purple Fiddle. The food was tasty and we were offered a free brownie when the waitress/cook realized that she made a mistake on Seth's order.

The Purple Fiddle

West Virginia: Wet, wild & wonderful

There is a mountain behind the cloud

We arrived in West Virginia yesterday for a week of hiking and a general goal of soaking up the green. Having learned our lesson last year during the Corbin Cabin Escapade, we opted for more comfortable furnishings to serve as our base of operations this year.

After cooking a dinner of pasta, salad and garlic bread in the spacious kitchen last night, we set out for a walk. We needed jackets. Yes! The gray clouds hung so low in the sky that we could almost reach up and run our hands through them. Double Yes! After a year in Cairo, rain and gray skies are a welcomed sight. We walked out to the road you see in the above photo, only to discover that it is actually a runway. We continued to wind our way among the cluster of houses and noticed many of them for sale. Flagstone chimneys, wrap around porches and beautiful views, all for about the same price our 600 sq. ft. condo in Arlington would sell for.

Behind the cloud in the above photo are two ski areas. We won't be venturing up there today, but have picked out several trails to explore in the coming days. For now, coffee and a book on the back porch sounds pretty good.

Horseback Riding near Abu Sir

This morning two friends and I drove out to a farm near the village of Abu Sir outside of Cairo for a horseback ride around the countryside and neighboring Abu Sir necropolis pyramid fields. The farm and horse stables are owned by a woman named Maryanne. Along with her horses, Maryanne keeps goats, donkeys, a water buffalo and 16 dogs.

We set out with our guides for a leisurely walk. The irony being that this was supposed to be a birthday gift of sorts for one of our friends who informed us just before getting out of the car that she "has a fear of horses." Outstanding. We're tight, can you tell? She was a trooper and saw this as an opportunity to work on getting over her fear. After winding through back alleys and side streets along the canal in the village we came to an opening in a wall. As we stepped through it felt like some sort of portal in time. The desert spread out before us in rolling dunes and pyramids of Abu Sir were visible in the distance. In the photo below you can see the pyramid at Saqqara on the left, the Bent pyramid and the Red pyramid on the right. The Nile Valley and the village were to our left: Back over our left shoulder you can make out the skyline of Ma'adi through the haze: After walking through the desert for a short while we turned left toward the village, picked our way through another opening in the wall and worked our way back to the farm. We passed a small group of bee keepers. I snapped this quick photo for our friends back in Arlington who are becoming bee keepers themselves: Looking back toward the pyramids from the village, you could see the causeway that was used to bring the stones from the Nile. You can also just make out the two columns on either side where the causeway meets the pyramid. This is literally in someone's backyard. One of the things that impressed me during this ride was the behavior of the motorists and people on the roads. Almost everyone understood to pull over and stop as we passed. Cars, trucks, kids with dogs, donkey cart drivers all stopped as we passed. Maryanne said that it took her years of riding and talking with the villagers for them to understand the importance of slowing down and stopping around the horses for the safety of everyone involved. This is a shot of the horse I was riding as she stopped to get a snack from a Mulberry tree: It was an excellent way to spend three hours this morning, and to see a part of EGypt that I had not seen before.

Bikya! Bikya!

Many a Saturday morning Seth and I have rolled away from the light of our bedroom window in an attempt to capture a few more minutes of sleep only to be nudged back to consciousness by the Bikya man.

Bikya men, or junk-collectors, ride around the streets of Cairo on donkey or bicycle carts calling out, “bikya, bikya!” – an Arabic transliteration of vecchia, which is Italian for “old”. This started at a time when Cairo was more cosmopolitan and people could afford to throw away things that seemed past the point of being worth trying to fix. These days the bikya men are everywhere, but they’re lucky if they can find an old fridge or television set to sell for scrap.

The call of the Bikya man is grating. It can be heard from blocks away, and is repeated in a relentless pattern as he winds his way toward you. "Bikya, bikya!" perfectly disrupts a quiet moment reading on the balcony or a late morning snooze in much the same way a small yapper type dog or screaming child would. The call of the Bikya man has become a cause of snickering laughter in our house, as it often comes at just the wrong moment. Leaning in for a romantic kiss, in the middle of a heated conversation, or after one of us has just commented on what a beautiful and peaceful morning it is, "Bikya! Bikya!" is Egypt's homegrown comic relief.

Another New Years in Tignes

We decided to spend New Year's Eve in Tignes, France again for a week of skiing. We make this decision every year with some consternation -- "Do we really want to go to the same place again? What about all the other ski resorts in Europe?" But I've done a lot of research -- snowfall for the time of year, flight costs, transfer options, hotels, etc -- and it's not like much changes from year to year. Plus, it's a huge ski area to explore and no matter what your scene, there is something to do after the skiing is over.



So, we went to Tignes again with a little concern about Europe's drought earlier in the season. Europe's drought ended a little before we got there, and any concerns of it coming back were addressed while we were there. Reports varied, but it appears Tignes got 1-2 METERS of snow in the 10 days we were there. That means a lot of low visibility days, a lot of days where visibility, high winds, and avalanche risk kept the majority of the mountain closed, a few cherry days where some GREAT deep powder could be found.

Good turns.

We went again with the Telemark Ski Company for some lessons and some off-piste guiding. On our first snow and blue sky day early in the week we went on a (lift assisted) ski tour from Tignes le Lac, out a gate, through some slackcountry, and eventually wrapped around to Val Claret. It was a beautiful run, but I probably needed a few more days of powder experience. I started out ok, made some solid turns, and felt reasonably confident. But as tends to happen in the backcountry, the snow conditions were pretty variable between deep, wet, soft snow to wind scoured slabs. Also, some bad habits you can get away with on piste really bit me in the butt.

Tips over head is not usually a good sign.

Long story short, I took a few tumbles. Then the confidence got rattled around and I fell a lot more. None were immediately dangerous or painful, but they did eat up time, energy, and confidence. Since I have a decent aerobic base and it was a short tour it was fine, but I can see how it could quickly turn into a problem.

Later in the week though, we fought the visibility and manage to get some pockets of good weather and some excellent snow. My skiing improved through the week and I suspect if I had done the ski tour later in the week I probably would have managed a lot better. Good times were had either way.

Low Viz: It's even worse when you're trying to ski.

Dusk in Tignes le Lac.

Istanbul Trip 2011

This year I spent Thanksgiving, ironically, in Turkey. I was chaperoning a school trip to Istanbul with about 30 students from my school here in Cairo. After arriving at the hotel and getting all of the kids arranged in their rooms, we headed for the tour buses and a whirlwind tour of some of Istanbul's famous sights. The purpose of our trip was to participate in a Junior Model United Nations conference, so this would be our only opportunity for sight seeing.

Hagia Sophia


Our first stop was Hagia Sophia. Originally built as a Christian cathedral around 360 AD, this building was a center of Orthodox Christianity until the mid 1400's when the city was converted to Islam. At that time Hagia Sophia was transformed into a mosque, and it remained so until the building was converted into a museum by the Turkish Government in the 1930's. When the cathedral was converted to a mosque, all of the intricate mosaics depicting scenes form Christianity were covered in clay.

When you stand inside the main hall of this building there is an incredible feeling of contradictions, as well as unity. Today these mosaics have been uncovered and restored resulting in a blending of Islamic and Christian ornamentation in the same house of worship.


Dome above the altar. Notice the Christian Mosaic between the two large discs of Arabic calligraphy



The Blue Mosque

Literally across the street from Hagia Sophia is The Blue Mosque. Technically named The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, this mosque is known for its blue and white tile work inside. It was here that I had one of the most memorable experiences of my life abroad. We entered the courtyard of the mosque just as the call to prayer was starting.


The Blue Mosque taken from the courtyard outside


The perimeter of the courtyard

It was a surreal moment, having just crossed the threshold as the call began. All at once the birds perched along the tops of the courtyard walls took flight. If you click on the link to the call to prayer above you can actually see the birds flying above the Blue Mosque during the call. I felt like I was on the set of a movie; could this really be my own life? Amazing.

From my seat along the perimeter wall I noticed a large group of our students running across the courtyard toward the other chaperones. They huddle around my colleagues for a moment in conversation and then tore across the courtyard again toward the entrance to the mosque. The Muslim students had asked if they could all go inside and pray together. What an incredible moment for them. All of the adults on the trip had to remain outside, being the infidels that we are, leaving this group of 11-14 year olds to pray together inside. I was quite moved by this entire experience.


I know this is blurry, but it captures my students taking off their shoes before entering the mosque.

Once the prayer had concluded the remaining students and chaperones were permitted to enter the mosque. Below you will see how it earned its name:






The hundreds of chains you saw hanging in the two photos above are used to suspend these massive chandeliers.

Finally, below are a few more photos form the trip.


I liked the color of the buildings and the tiled roof in this photo. Notice the old aqueduct in the back ground?

The temperature had been dropping when we arrived. I spotted this motorcycle during one of my walks. I thought this was a resourceful way to keep warm during deliveries:





I loved this fruit stand:



And finally, I had to snap a quick shot of this dog doing his best to uproot an electrical line. Memories of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and the cat chewing on the tree lights sprang to mind and I ran the other way.