Mountaineering In Ecuador - My trip to Ecuador turned out to be a success far beyond my wildest dreams. It was exciting to be climbing amongst the huge serracs and gaping crevasses, something I never imagined I would experience. We enjoyed the views of far off Cotopaxi, Antisana and Chimborazo and after the obligatory summit photos my rope team started back down. It was an intense experience for reasons I have yet to fully understand and one that I have great difficulty explaining.

Expedition to Ecuador - In late November I went to South America with a small party from the American Alpine Institute. During the fifteen day trip to Ecuador we did lots of high altitude mountaineering and made summit attempts on three volcanic mountains - Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. This was my first experience traveling outside of North America and as a prelude to the main event I posted periodic updates as the preparations progressed.

Snow Fever - The snow covered mountains glowed as they were slowly lit by the golden sunrise. Having no dignity to begin with, I realized I had nothing to lose and boldly pushed off into the void. Once again the snow unexpectedly snatched a ski and I found myself buried face first in the snow. I momentarily feared I had been struck blind but it was only the inch of snow that was packed behind my glasses.

Beaten By The Ice Giants - As we neared the crest of the great Lion Head Trail, the sky appeared to clear and we rejoiced in what seemed to be certain victory. But alas, quicker than the eye can blink, the Ice Giants unleashed an unholy wind that threatened to blow us clear off the mountain. We learned from record keepers later that the peak wind speed had been recorded at 115 mph.

Tahawus Thanksgiving - Plastered with rime ice, we pushed on up the ice and snow-covered rock of Mt. Marcy, the highest point in New York, fully exposed to the howling wind. We took the obligatory summit photos and after a few minutes I started urging them to get down off the mountain. I was rapidly getting very cold and we still had four miles to cover in the remaining two hours of daylight.

FreezeBaby Tour - It's -15° F when I'm aroused by an annoyingly itchy nose. A look in my handy little mirror reveals the mother of all sunburns. Oh well. The climb to the summit is surprisingly easy and fun, front-pointing several hundred feet straight up some very steep ice. My first view of the Pemigewasset Wilderness is stunning. I can see the snow covered Presidential range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire shining in the distance.

North Country Trail - Since this would be Mike and Ron's first winter backpack trip, we had decided on what we thought was a fairly conservative destination - the North Country Trail in northeastern Pennsylvania's Allegheny National Forest. Unfortunately, the trip was full of small mishaps but we managed to survive and learned some lessons the hard way.

The 1998 Hancock Horizontal Hundred - It was tougher than I expected. After several hours of baking myself in the broiling sun I tend to lose my already tenuous grasp on reality. But that isn't the reason the ride was hard. No, the reason the ride was so tough is because it's flat. I fell in with a few riders that were moving at about twenty miles per hour and we moved along through the cool, foggy farmland, the only sound that of hundreds of bicycle tires hissing on the pavement.

Yer Gonna Git Wet Sucka! - I don't think Hawk had a good time. First I got us lost in a cave, and then I made him pilot his own kayak instead of going in a raft. I figured since he had already rafted the river we oughta raise the stakes. Oh sheeit...

Cave Rescue - The so-called rescue team had a hundred and one different ways of securing Ibberson and spent the next hour torturing the poor man by tying and untying him to the litter. We were as careful as possible but we still beat the hell out of the poor guy dragging him through the cave. When we reached the surface we were greeted by a herd of firemen who tried to snatch the litter from us, just in time for the local newspaper photographers to snap their pictures.

Down East Autumn - After setting up camp we found the Katahdin Stream trailhead and hiked about 5 miles up past Thoreau Falls to treeline. Later that afternoon we all piled into a canoe and paddled clear across South Branch Pond. I never thought I would one day be paddling a canoe in the north woods of Maine surrounded by beautiful trees and mountains... it was great! I was pleased that my folks had finally seen some of these wonderful places.

Otter Creek Wilderness Area - Located in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, the Otter Creek Wilderness has over forty miles of trails, many of which are old logging roads or railroad grades. Since this is a Wilderness Area the trails are no longer signed and it is necessary to carry a map and compass to avoid getting lost.

Photographs from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park - The photographs in this slide show are from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park located in north-eastern Ohio, USA. Although I visit the park throughout the year, the colder months of late autumn, winter, and early spring have become my favorite seasons. I prefer to concentrate my attention on the frequently overlooked ordered-chaos of nature, a fascinating subject that is most often captured best by using moderate close-up techniques.

Nordic skiing in New York's Allegany State Park - Partially comprised of old, narrow gauge railroad beds that wander through beautiful old-growth hardwood forests, the scenic trails of the Art Roscoe Ski Touring Area offer spectacular views of the surrounding Allegheny Mountains. In fact, Bob and I are a bit surprised at how similar the area is to the Pemigawasset Wilderness in far off New Hampshire. With over 35 miles of groomed cross country ski trails ranging from 1.5 miles to 6 miles, western New York's Allegany State Park offers great Nordic ski touring.