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I just spent almost three weeks there as a tourist. To answer the most basic questions: 1. Yes, I felt completely safe in both countries. Tourism was down 95% in Jordan, 60% in Egypt, and man, was everyone happy to see us! 2. Yes, we did this as part of an organized trip via Ama Waterways, so...

Thought you guys might like this photo

Excellent! They are amazsing birds. We had a funny experience in El Chalten, Argentina. We’d just finished hiking the Cerro del Aguila trail there (Patagonia, for those keeping track at home) in the hopes of seeing condors, but were skunked. So we came back to the trailhead to talk to a...

Yes! Now that mention it, we've also seen them in Zion!

We've seen them in the Pinnacles and in the Andes, but this is still very cool https://patch.com/california/napavalley/s/izhab/california-condors-make-4th-annual-flight-to-mount-diablo-east-bay?utm_source=local-update&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert

If you've been wondering where I've been over the past ten days, the answer is: out of town. But no, I haven't been hiking in Greenland, sorry to say. I was speaking at a conference in Armenia, and spent a few extra days there exploring that amazing country. I'll have a report on that trip in...

Great report. We've done three different trips around Cusco, and always wondered about this one. How much did the whole Choquequirao trip cost? And where did you stay in Lamay?

Here's the project that I've been working on in Yosemite: https://phys.org/news/2024-09-yosemite-national-crews-landscape-conditions.html

Peter Starr was a young pioneer in the world of High Sierra climbing. SF Gate does a good job of telling the story of his disappearance, and the heroes who eventually solved the mystery: https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/california-search-mission-mountain-grave-19723292.php

I thought i'd add a bit of eye candy to the previous post: Channel Lake, Desolation Wilderness Nameless lake, Desolation Wilderness Lake Aloha, Desolation Wilderness Lake Aloha, Desolation Wilderness

I've just come back from another trip to Desolation Wilderness as a volunteer, doing the usual stuff: restoring illegal campsites, destroying fire rings, and talking to hikers about their plans and conditions. If you're interested in the full report, complete with a few nice photos, I've posted...

Charley Pankey, host of Sierra Recreation Now, a nice guide to some of the delights of the Sierra Nevada, inteviewed me for his podcast recently. Here's a link to the show: https://sierrarecmagazine.com/podcast-interview-with-paul-wagner-backpackingthesierra/ Charlie is a great guy, loves the...

While we saw a few interesting animals in Yosemite (Marmots, deer, a pika or two, and some squirrels, one thing we did not see was beaver. But then, we can see those right here, within to blocks of our house. Ever since Napa forced the Army Corps of Engineers to completely revise their flood...

Since my birthday falls in early August, I usually manage to get out on the trail to celebrate. This year, my youngest daughter was in town, which gave us even more impetus to see some wonderful places over the course of a few days. We spent one night at our cabin above Sonora. The next day we...

I do get to meet a lot of really good people when I volunteer on the trail. There are families, sharing the experience with the third or fourth generation of Desolation hikers. There are fearless groups of young urbanites, full of energy, setting forth to experience the mountains for the first...

Talk about confronting your mortality. This hike up Ralston Peak in Desolation Wilderness knocked me for a loop. I took it slow. I had all day to hike six miles, but I wasn't really prepared for my 72-year-old legs to need two hours to climb 2,000 feet. And in the sun I used up much of my water...

And there is this; https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/fecal-fears-pile-la-hiking-mecca-reopens-half-19588359.php

I'm sure you've read more than one article about the ten essentials to take on a hike: Here's one from REI that covers the topic: https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html Fine. But every one of those articles leaves one thing out. And I'm getting darn tired of it. I've...

Public Service: Ackerman Meadow I spent Thursday doing my bit to improve Yosemite National Park, working on a restoration project at Ackerman Meadow. It was a full day of hard work, comraderie, and learning, all wrapped up in a beautiful location that's under the radar for most people visiting...

We wanted to take a backpacking trip outside of my normal volunteering projects in Desolation Wilderness, and since we have a cabin a little more than an hour from Yosemite, that's where we headed. I went online and found a permit for Lyell Canyon (not over Donahue Pass, for those of you...