Packing My Hiking Kit

Let me tell you about my gear, clothing, and food from my recent 7 day section hike from Tuolumne Meadows to Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA. First, I firmly believe in "Hike Your Own Hike" (HYOH) – my way is not the right way, it is just my way. If yours is different, that is all good. As an example, I like to be organized. Everything fits in a stuff sack and then goes in the pack. I know then, if I need my toilet then I grab the red stuff sack, my kitchen – the blue sack, and so on. Others will just cram the tent in, the sleeping bag in, their clothes in, wherever they fit. HYOH.



This trip covered 75 miles, at elevation of 8,500 to 10,800 feet, there was no resupply, and temps ranged from low 70s F in the day to 32 F at night. Packing my hiking kit efficiently was essential. Working clockwise from left, you can see my GoLite Quest backpack... Continue reading....

Sunrise Over Mount Everest

Continued from Kathmandu to Mount Everest Base Camp...

Over the following days our expedition team trekked to the villages of Khunde and Khumjung, or to the locals Khurnyung, that lie adjacent in a valley of Sagarmatha National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This part of the expedition held more memorable moments of Nepalese cultural sights. While hiking in this valley we looked up at the amazing Khumjung Gompa ("gompa" translates in English to monastery). It was destroyed by different reasons time and again since its first construction about 350 years ago. The ambiance of the gompa was the most interesting thing of all. Although lamas, Buddhist monks, carried out their daily chores in and out of the monastery, it was as silent as it could be. Another surprising artifact we came across the same day was a chance to see what the locals call "the skull of the mystical mountain animal", known also as the Yeti.

Tengboche Gompa in Nepal by Uzol at XplorMor

Leaving these significant villages behind, I along with our expedition team headed up higher elevations towards Everest Base Camp, which still was a long distance away. As we went further up, the mountains got closer and closer, so close that for a moment I felt like I could touch them with the tips of my fingers. Days went by on the trails and we reached a very small village, home to a world-famous monastery named Tengboche Gompa, it is also known as Dawa Challing Gompa. The gompa rests at an elevation of 3,870 meters or 13,700 feet. The Tengboche Gompa is also the biggest monastery of entire Khumbu region. Tengboche is not only famous for the architecture and artwork of this monastery, but also as a viewpoint from where to see an amazingly close view of Mount Everest; closer even than that from Namche Bazaar. The breathtaking color combination of white mountains kissing the deep blue sky is spectacular, and imprinted in my mind a never-fading memory of incredible Everest.

As we got closer to our destination I felt uncomfortable and realized... Continue reading....

Kathmandu to Mount Everest Base Camp

Wow! This experience is incredible. I never thought, my mind could be absorbed by a single question or a place: What exactly is happening right now? Am I out of this world or entering an amazing air-conditioned realm? Just 32 minutes ago, I was in Kathmandu, Capital City of Nepal, country of the Himalayas, where lies the world’s highest mountain peak. This peak has many names in many languages, such as Sagarmatha and Chomolongma, but the most popular name in the world for a mountain which soars to an elevation of 8,848 meters or 29,029 feet is "Everest". The highest elevation on the planet.



The most popular and the only aerial port of entry to the Everest region is Lukla. Lukla is a small village based around a primitive airport. The Lukla airport, officially named the Tenzing-Hillary Airport, has been time and again rated by National Geographic and others as one of the most dangerous airports in the world. I look out from the window of my plane, and the runway looks like a small, very short alley way. The airstrip is so short, barely more than 400 meters or a quarter of a mile, that I have a major adrenaline rush as we take off! After take-off my excitement sky-rocketed even more from just looking out the window at the incredible landscapes we flew over.



The main settlers of the Himalayas, known individually as a “Sherpa”, are equally renowned and unique when compared to Mount Everest, and were completely different from... Continue reading...

Journaling Your Expedition Details

I carry a journal along when I backpack or camp and I would suggest that you do so, as well. I do not fool myself into thinking that I will ever compose essays in the manner of Edward Abbey, no matter how witty or profound my thoughts seem while hiking throughout the day. For me, the primary reason behind my journaling is to record the day’s events. This helps me in recounting tales of a specific trip, matching my photographs to my maps, and keeping accurate records of exactly which peak, pass, lake, or stream that I encountered. But when face to face with a blank page where does one begin?

I cannot claim that ‘my’ format is really even mine. I give all credit to Ed Garvey, who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1970, and wrote about his hike in Appalachian Hiker: Adventure of a Lifetime. Garvey kept notes in a 4x6 inch bound notebook but I find his real genius was in devising a format which captures the critical elements of each day's hike. Garvey actually had his format printed up on sheets separate from his journaling book; I am not so formal as that but use Garvey’s foundation as the base for what I record. Here is Garvey’s format that I have adopted... Continue reading...

Joshua Tree: A Land of Subtle, Stark Wonder

I’d never been to Joshua Tree National Park before. I’d heard about it from friends, and often said to myself I should go there, but I never got around to it. Like a lot of things in California, it was so close that it was easy to forget it was there. California is like that, so full of things to see and experience your choices become as congested and difficult to maneuver as the freeways of Los Angeles.  A friend of mine, back from teaching kids in Korea for the winter, asked me to join him on a day long excursion to this special place, and not having seen him in almost two years I could not refuse. Besides, it would be good to get away after a truly awful divorce from someone I thought I could trust. This is also a common thing in California.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Like most people, in my youth I thought of a desert as a barren, boiling wasteland choked with sand. I thought of Lawrence of Arabia leading a charging army of fierce desert nomads. Deserts were places for the lost and the damned, filled with shallow graves just off the road and swarmed by nefarious hitchhikers and shady characters. Giant worms ridden by noble Fremen charged across endless dunes. It was easy to believe the Hollywood vision. And nothing could be further from the truth (except when it is). Deserts (yes there are different kinds), as varied as any other environment you’ll pass through, team with survivors, creatures so well adapted they thrive in places that can suck the life out of a person in a few hours.

Continue reading...

Bali to Bangkok, Part 5

The final chapter of Bali to Bangkok (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)...

Soon I found myself showered and with a full stomach slipping into this big soft bed covered and comfy, relaxed and drifting off into a deep undisturbed sleep. It was early around 7:30 or 8:00 P.M. and I was ready to drift away till morning. Alas, Heaven turned to Hell at about 9:30 P.M. when a band fired up in the bar below me and at screaming Mack 5 decibels. The Thai’s have only one setting on their amps, all the way up. This went on until 3:00 A.M. With ear plugs and my head buried inside double pillows there was no relief. I began to feel like I was a prisoner at Guantanamo being tortured into signing a confession for having committed some heinous terrorist act.

In the morning I lay there in bed trying to recover a little bit from the torture I had just endured. I sat up and without my glasses I saw what looked to be on the snow white sheet a small black bug, looking like an ant I squished it with my thumb blood the size of a dime dominated the spot where this little creature had once been, bright red blood, my blood. Then I spotted another squished to as well and again bright red blood. Bed bugs! In all my travels I have not before encountered these vile creatures.

Bali to Bangkok by Robert Varney

That was it, with bloodshot eyes I staggered down the stairs to the front desk and explained to the desk manager that there was no way that I could possibly endure such another night.  And, that regrettably as lovely as the room was, it was never going to give me a restful night, something I now desperately need. I began to feel like a refugee fleeing from a war zone as I staggered across the street to yet a third guest house to inquire as to the availability of a room far from the little bar, bed bugs and loud music. I was shown on the third floor in the back a small but seemingly adequate room and the price was within reason so I now have moved for the third time in as many nights. Home at last?

Continue reading...

Bali to Bangkok, Part 4

Bali to Bangkok continues (Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)...

I quickly take up my bags, scurry out of the office, down the stairs, cross the lines of people, find counter number K14 walk up, and present my ticket. I ask the attendant if I can get on standby, she looks at the computer and says, “Yes, please check your bag here and you have 15 minutes to get to gate B6 before boarding.” Off I went in a dead run. Security check. Off with the shoes, belt, watch, cell phone… next they will ask to remove the fillings in your teeth. Scanned and screened, I recapture all my stuff and resume my fast pace to B6. As luck would have it, it is another seeming mile away.

Bali to Bangkok by Robert Varney

Running between horizontal escalators past the boutique shops selling bags and watches and duty free items I go. Alas, panting and out of breath I arrive just as they are announcing my boarding number and I slide into the plane and find my seat. I try to rest and gather my wits during the 1 ½ hour flight. We land. I disembark, gather the bags, find a taxi stand, buy a ticket to Karon Beach, wait forever for the taxi, jump in paying too much as this is not a time to try and bargain (it’s now close to midnight), and sit back in the cab gathering my breath once again. What is often as much as a two hour ride is cut in half due to the absence of any traffic at this hour; the streets are wide open and we make record time.

Continue reading... 

Bali to Bangkok, Part 3

Bali to Bangkok continues (Read Part 1, Part 2)...

Off I went to locate my bag. The information counter misunderstood me; I should have just shown her my flight number on my baggage claim. As it was not at what I discovered to be an empty carousel. Rechecking at yet another Information stand, I was to then find that my bag was at the complete opposite end from where I now stood. So off I went not yet realizing what valuable time this had cost me.

I arrived to see only one lonely bag left slowly orbiting around waiting for me to reunite with it. Grabbing it up and locating a baggage cart, off I went to find the departure floor and check what I then presumed to be one of several airline counters which had flights to Phuket. The departure floor is up three stories. There is a lift that will accommodate the baggage carts, but the line for this was too long. I abandoned the cart and lugged my bag up the escalator. At last inside the departure area and to inquire as to when would be my soonest opportunity to grab a flight to Phuket. Soon I realize that whereas last year there were many companies; there are now none. What?! I go to Information, and ask what happened to all the airline counters that were just there last year. Gone. Now there are only two airlines that have flights to Phuket. Thai and Bangkok airlines. Thai ticket sales, I was informed, was just across the many check-in counters at the end of Isle N. Above that up the elevator is Bangkok. Off I go to test my luck, which has not been proven to be so kind thus far.

Bali to Bangkok by Robert Varney

I worked my way through the throngs of people checking in, until I was able to cover the distance between the entrances of the check in area and the Thai Air ticketing office. The ticketing office resembled a bank of tellers. One was then obliged to use a small machine to get a number and watch and wait until your number came up on a screen informing you as to which of the several ticketing agents were free to accommodate you. There were several people before me, and then at last my number came up. 

Continue reading...

Bali to Bangkok, Part 2

Bali to Bangkok continues (Read Part 1)...

The flight takes more time than flying from L.A. to N.Y.C. I gain an hour and still arrive at 7:30 in the evening. Then, Immigration. After walking what seems to be a mile of corridors I get to the entry area that leads up to the Immigration queues. A sea of people clustered in an unorganized mass leading to the ill-defined roped off areas that begin to define that which will  become the endless zigzag lines leading to the openings that allows you to stand before the Immigration officer and get your visa on arrival and pass on to the baggage claim. Phew. Exhausted just thinking about it. I am looking at hours of wasted time only to get to the point to where I can get my bag. Then off to begin inquiring about any hope I may have of an existing flight to Phuket. Even if I am able to book something for the next day, it will still take a lot of time just to find out.

Bali to Bangkok by Robert Varney

As I pondered my dilemma while facing this sea of people. I noticed a few people slipping off to the right of everyone and seeming to find some other way. So I decided to investigate. I slid up along the right side of all these people and came to the where I had seen people disappear. What I found was a line for non-foreigners. This was for the Thai people only. Dead end. I looked back to where I had just come and to my great regret, hundreds more people had joined the line! Then I got an idea that it came as a question. The question was, “how can I cut in line and not incur the wrath of several hundred people. I stood there looking at the hundreds of faces that stood trance like inching along slowly defining what was to become a portal to Thailand. l stood there looking across all these faces and all this mixed group of race and nationalities. Every known ethnic origin clustered for one common purpose. Enter Thailand. Many even more exhausted than I. One person stood out... 

Continue reading...

Bali to Bangkok, Part 1

When one dreams of travel one often imagines tranquility peace and relaxation. Or, perhaps adventure and excitement. The seamless transition from point A to point B. With the speed of modern air travel one is swept away effortlessly to a far off land. At times it is not always so. Sometimes things just don’t move along as smoothly as you had planned or imagined. Such was my transition from Bail to Bangkok. It all started when, after a lovely time on the Island of Bali, I decided to fly north to Phuket, Thailand.

Bali to Bangkok by Robert Varney

For the last several years, and up until this year, nonstop flights from Phuket to Bali and from Bali to Phuket were daily. I had not booked anything in advance because I was not certain just when I wished to leave Bali. My plan was to just secure the next flight whenever the nearest flight became available. I was not in a great rush. I had just spent two weeks in Bali and the outlying islands recovering from the horrors of jet jag. Plus I so prefer to enter Thailand in the small airport of Phuket rather than its international giant, as it services immigration for nearby countries and has less arrivals. At Suvarnabumi, the big international airport in Bangkok, immigration is a nightmare as it services all the major cities of the world. As a result tens of thousands of people arrive each day, day and night. Immigration alone often can take several hours standing in long lines, depending how many planes have recently arrived.

Continue reading...