Trekking in Northern Thailand

Our month in SE Asia got off to a fantastic start with a 3-day backpacking trip in the hill country of Northern Thailand in Doi Inthanon National Park. We had a guide who led us on dusty trails through beautiful, tropical mountains near the highest point in Thailand. For the first day and a half, we had 6 other tourists with us. The remainder of the time, it was just us and the guide! We swam in waterfalls, saw water buffaloes grazing in dry rice fields and even saw an Asian Elephant browsing in thick vegetation. There were two local hill tribe people near the elephant and we found out that they "owned" it as a "working"elephant.

The most amazing part was walking by tiny hill tribe villages in the middle of a very remote section of Thailand. Most of these villages were way off the beaten path...they had no electricity, no running water, spoke no English and seemed happy and content in their simple life. We stayed in two villages. The first was like the one I described above and the second was similar, but a bit bigger and connected to a dirt road which led to the city of Chiang Mai about an hour away.

Our guide bought a pumpkin from the farmer above. Those are water buffalo behind him!

We walked along many lonely fenses like this in a very remote area.

Above is a scene from the first hill tribe village we stayed in.

This was the house that we stayed in. We slept on a thin mat on the wooden floor and woke up early to the sound of roosters, pigs and dogs. We shared the house with at least 3 others who lived there. The village had about 40 people living there.

Dinner was cooked over an open fire. It was a delicious pumpkin, chicken stew with rice and a bit of spicy chili sauce!

We were able to interact with quite a few of the locals like the one above and below.

Our guide (Sunni) walking up to one of the many waterfalls that we swam under. When we would come up to a swimming spot like this, Sunni would say, "Ok, you can take a shower now."

Above is a view of active rice fields and small houses nearby. A couple of hours from here, we ended our hike at a spot where we could ride an elephant (a bit touristy but pretty cool!) and take a bamboo raft trip down a rushing river (not touristy and REALLY fun!).

The sunset of 2011 and the sunrise of 2012

On New Years Eve, we drove up a narrow, twisting road into the mountains of Northern California to an elevation of about 3,800 feet. The road continued, but the increasing amount of ice and rocks and drop-offs, helped us decide to not try and get any higher. With full backpacks and a sense of excitement, we began the 1,500 foot climb (over 4.5 miles) to our home for the night: a small cabin on the top of Bear Basin Butte.

It was mid afternoon by the time we climbed above the trees to a windswept summit with a cozy little cabin and old fire tower on top. The 360 degree view was absolutely tremendous! To the east was a line of rugged mountains: The Siskiyou's and distant Marble Mountains. To the west was an undulating set of coastal mountains and the far off glistening ocean.

We quickly got a fire going in the wood stove and sat back for the glorious conclusion to 2011 and dramatic start to 2012. The sunset set the western sky on fire and the sunrise painted the whole sky pink and orange.

A frosty morning

We enjoyed a frosty December morning in Redwood National Park the other day with more elk than people! This big bull was the king of his harem. We watched him for awhile as he walked back and forth between us and the cows. He kept eyeing us suspiciously until finally trotting our way with his antlers lowered. This made us get out of there fast...but not before we got a few good photos!

Thanksgiving in Vegas Part I

We spent a wonderful 9 days in Las Vegas over the Thanksgiving holiday. Our adventures can be nicely broken up into two parts, although both parts have a lot of overlap. The first part includes the explorations with Mom and Dad Ausema while the second part includes explorations with Mom and Dad Weber. Susanna's parents live in the NW side of Las Vegas near lots of spectacular desert scenery. This is where Susanna and I stayed for the 9 days. My parents flew in to Las Vegas on Monday and stayed until Friday. They stayed on the 9th floor of a beautiful hotel called the Sun Coast. The Sun Coast also happens to be a casino...I found it very funny to drop off my parents at the casino each night! Here are some of the adventures that we packed into this short timeframe.

• Sunset walk at Red Rock Canyon NCA (second picture above)


• Explorations of the famous Las Vegas Strip, including walking around the Venetian Casino and Hotel...which is like taking a step into Italy!


• Drive, picnic and hike along the north shore of Lake Mead NRA (top photo)...this included seeing a couple of desert bighorn sheep


• Explorations of Valley of Fire State Park...a park as spectacular as the name suggests!


• A huge adventurous day at Death Valley National Park


• Thanksgiving morning back at Red Rock Canyon NCA (I'll include this in Park II)
  

The Venetian...like being in Italy

Glitz and glamor along the Las Vegas Strip

Desert Bighorn in Lake Mead NRA

Susanna exploring the red rocks of Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire State Park

Sunset at Valley of Fire State Park

Desolate landscape in Death Valley NP

Appropriately named Golden Canyon in Death Valley NP

Wild and rugged interior of Death Valley

Mom and Dad at the lowest place in the U.S.

Thanksgiving in Vegas - Part II

The second part of our Las Vegas vacation involved explorations with the Weber parents. Once again, some of this has overlapped with explorations with the Ausema parents. Here are some of the highlights:

• Thanksgiving morning exploration of Red Rock Canyon NCA (picture above) which included seeing a ringtail cat and a wild burro.


• Afternoon Thanksgiving feast with 13 people at Susanna's parents' cozy home.


• Climb of Lone Mountain, a rocky, rugged peak right next to Vegas.


• An awesome hike into the steep, cool walls of Pine Creek Canyon.


• Swimming in the community pool and playing mini golf

Red Rock Canyon

The start of the Lone Mountain Climb

Standing on top of Lone Mountain

The start of the Pine Creek Canyon hike

Pine Creek Canyon

Hiking out of Pine Creek Canyon

Peace Corps Reunion

This past week, we hosted the 2nd official Peace Corps reunion (the first was in the Virgin Islands in January, 2007). It's been nearly 10 years since Susanna and the rest of the gang ended their two years as Peace Corps volunteers in Guatemala.

People came from all over...including Maryland, Idaho, Colorado, southern California and even Thailand! We ended up with eleven people staying at our house, including 5 in a 6-person tent in the back yard (first picture below)! It was a wonderful time to reunite with great conversations, great food and the incredible scenery of the north coast. With the exception of an all-day rain on monday, the weather was flawless. We spent time in Trinidad, Redwood NP, Patricks Point State Park as well as Arcata and Eureka. Here are a few of my favorite photos...

Rainey's tiny friend!


Hunting season on the beach!



Mike and Susanna on top of Trinidad Head


In awe in the Redwood Forest

The group at Trillium Falls in Redwood NP

An Oregon Sunset...

We spent a wonderful night camping at Harris Beach State Park in southern Oregon this past weekend. The sunset was absolutely perfect...