Laurel Snow Pocket Wilderness, Dayton TN

This was taken while we were out for a day of hiking and bouldering at the Laurel Snow Pocket Wilderness. It was my first time there - a very beautiful place - but it was cold on the hands! On top of that I don't boulder much any more since I broke my ankle, but it was nice to get outdoors anyway.

Maderas Volcano, Ompete, Nicaragua

Today myself, three other girls hiked up (with a guide)another volcanoe. This one was called Madras Volcanoe on Ometepe Island and had not errupted for over 3000 years so we figured it would be safe! The path was wet to begin with as it had rained solidly all night! (If you have ever been to Central America you might understand their rain - "solidly" I mean almost flooding!) It was still raining a bit when we started the hike and we had to cross a "river" which had developed along the path the night before. Mud was everywhere - including all over us after only a few minutes! The hike took us about 8hrs in total including our breaks. We were wet from the rain and after it stopped we stayed wet drenched in our own seweat due to the over-powering humidity. We were so glad to reach the lake at the top which has formed inside an old crater from the volcano. It was not easy, but we definitely felt like we had accomplished something by the end of the day!

San Juan Crater, Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua

Well this one was a pretty easy hike. More of a walk actually. We were able to drive right into the nature reserve and walk up to a view point to see the large crater and old volcanoes near by. The Masaya Volcano's last eruption was in 2003. After that we walked the ridge between San Jan and San Fernando craters formed long, long ago.

Water Cay, Utila Island, Honduras

It has rained the last two days and it's pretty hard to do much of anything. The island I was going to (Roatan) had a strike on it and the roads where blocked so instead I went to Utila. To make a long story short, the ferry that regularly goes to Roatan also was being repaired, and instead of the 1 hr ferry to Utila we went on one that took us 3hrs in the storm! Yesterday it rained all day and although I went for a couple walks and got thoroughly drenched, the majority of the day was watching movies. So today we were happy to get out and go on a snorkeling boat trip to some islands (cays) around Utila. (Even if the island was covered in trash from the mainland!)

Copan Ruins, Copan, Honduras

Today we went to the Copan Ruins which are not far from the border of Guatemala in Honduras... it was very interesting and I coudl have spent all day there if it weren't for the humidity! (But then again I love that kind of stuff!) Here I am in what used to be a head/mouth of a snake. You can see the bottom jaw and teeth. It was a great day overall even though it was pretty hot and sticky.

Cerro de la Cruz, Antigua Guatemala

Today I walked up to the Cerro de la Cruz a hill that overlooks the city of Antigua. It had been raining most of the morning, but luckily when I got to the top it cleared a little and I was able to sit and enjoy the view for a while. What a beautiful old colonial city!

Placaya Volcano, near Antigua Guatemala

Today I went up Placaya Volcano. It was quite an interesting experience to say the least. When we got to the top the guide actually let everyone roam around where ever they liked on the lava. Parts of it were glowing red and there was heat coming from under our feet. People actually melted their shoes and one family brought marshmallows along with them so we roasted them on the hot spots. Only in Guatemala!

Mixco Viejo, near Pachalum, Guatemala

This is near the town of Pachalum where I am volunteering. We took a picnic lunch and a bunch of us piled into the back of a pick up truck and drove to spend the day here. A small but beautiful Mayan historical site.

Panajachel, Guatemala

This was taken while I was in Panajachel for a 3 day meeting or conference with the Municiple Office I am volunteering for in Guatemala.
What a beautiful place. Behind me one of these volcanoes is still active! What a beautiful place if you can see things through the clouds!

Acropolis, Athens, Greece

It's not easy taking a photo in such a crowded tourist destination. I must say, last time I was in Greece I visited the Acropolis about 5 or 6 years ago it was half covered in scaffolding and being renovated. Well guess what? It still is! It is a bit of a disappointment to say the least my flight went through Athens anyway, so and I spent some more time in the city!

Fragul, near Bunyola, Malloca Spain

We tried to access one of many famous climbing areas while we were in Mallorca and after driving up many many hairpin turns on what any North American would call a very scary cliff side road back and forth and back and forth we reached a gate saying the road was closed during the months of June, July and August. After talking to some other climbers we met, we found out we were indeed on the right road and we needed to just park here and walk the extra 2.5km up the cliff instead of accessing by the dirt road. (It was more of a path anyway). We went back several days later and did it again this time getting to the climbing area with little trouble. From the top of this point you can see all the way across the island to Palma the main big city on Mallorca.

Formentor, Mallorca, Spain

After climbing today, we drove all the way to the most northerly tip of the island in our rental car to a place called Formentor. There are several lookouts and places you can pull off and go for short walks over the cliffs that look down into the sea. We noticed over the face of one cliff there were a few routes bolted although climbing in this place is supposed to be strictly prohibited. The views were amazing and I took a lot of photos! It's a place that I'd recommend going to if you're ever on the island!

L´Aigille de Midi, Mont Blanc, France

This picture was taken from the observation deck at the building they have constructed at L´Aigille de Midi. From here you can see the town of Chaminox below as well as miles and miles in all directions. You can see all the other mountain ranges as well. Beautiful! We happened to run into a climber from near Nashville Tennessee. He was in the are for some climbing as well as some higher altitude trekking and ice climbing! It really is a small world!

Lac Blu, Aiguillette D´Árgentiere, France

This was during our big outting (huge hike) from the top of the Flegere down through Argentinere and Tre-le-Champ to take the train back to Chamonix from Montroc. We had to walk through lots of snow that day as we were very high in the mountains and one of us (not me) decided to wear Chacos!

Lac Blanc, near Mont Blanc, France

This is me at Lac Blanc near Mont Blanc in France. We went for a short hike and it was surprisingly warm! There was some snow around this lake but the sun was super warm. You can see how clear the glacier water is. Apprenently these lakes in the mountains are not there year round. Sometimes they dry up. What a great day outside even if my ankle is not 100%!

Near Mont Blanc, France

This is Mont Blanc (the highest mountain in this area) behind me in the background. It was a truly magical feeling hiking around these snow covered mountains. It really makes one feel very insignificant and small!

Les Gaillands, Chaminox, France

This was a picture taken at some ruins at Les Gaillands just outside of Chaminox. The climbing place there was so manicured and it was a real family affair. It was just like families go to the park! It was a park! Parking lot and everything right in front of it.

Buckingham Palace, London, England, UK

I have been to London a few times, so for me this was nothing new. It's always fun and exciting to be with people who are seeing it all for the first time though. Since I have no leftleg photos of it, I was thankful to remember to get one right in front of one of Buckingham Palace´s gates just before we dropped in and said "hey" to Lizzy!

White's Bluff, Bruce Pennisula, ON

After one of my friend's car broke down we thought we might not be going on our long weekend climbing trip to Lion's Head. We ended up borrowing a car, but the weather looked horrible. We still went with the plan to at least visit with friends and maybe if we were looking get some climbing in! Were we ever glad we did! We drove the 3.5 hrs to Lion's head leaving home at 6am! It rained almost the entire duration of the drive! As soon as we got to Lion's Head however, it stopped and the sun came out. It ended up being a beautiful day and we climbed at White's in the morning thinking it might rain again, by afternoon when it was still beautiful we went to the beach and had lunch and then headed to Lion's Head to rappel down and do some climbs. It was way windier on that side, but it always is! We had a great day followed by dinner and drinks at the pub and the weather totally surprised us!

Lake Bonnechere, Algonquin Park, ON

Last year I was planning on joining family for the annual canoe/fishing trip to Algonquin Park. I unfortunately did not get to go due to my broken ankle... so this year I figured I better take advantage of the opportunity even though my ankle is still not back to normal. I don't know when I will be getting back up to that area! It was a great 4 day trip with a few fairly easy portages compared to other trips I have done. I was glad though -my ankle was pretty much pushed to it's limits. I didn't catch many fish compared to everyone else (just 1) but that's OK. I don't really believe in tormenting the little guys anyhow. The weather was pretty good with on ly a little rain and I had a great time being outdoors again!

Leaving Kraft Mountain, Red Rocks, Nevada

After climbing at Sunny and Steep and checking out a few of the other walls the sun was starting to go down and we figured it was time to head back. It was a nice walk back and one of my favorite climbing/hiking areas during the little over a week we were at Red Rocks. The rocks are so pretty. We saw few people there since it is a hike in unlike some of the pull-offs on the scenic drive loop where you can see the walls from teh parking lot.

Hiking in the Calico Basin, Nevada

The Calico Basin can be accessed by hiking from the Scenic Loop Drive, but there is another road that leads you more directly to it. In this area the rocks show some of the best mixtures of colours. It's quite fascinating. The rock is supposed to be over 600 million years old and was once on the bottom of a deep ocean basin. Over time the land and water levels changed and deposited different types of ocean and continental sediments resulting in the limestone that you can see today. About 180 years ago, a bunch of sand came along and a giant sand dune was formed. The weight of the many layers compressed and formed the sandstone that you see today. Basically, some of that sand has eroded to make different shapes the iron-bearing minerals in the sandstone was exposed to the elements causing oxidation. This is why you can see the grey limestone as well as many layers of red, orange and tan colored rocks today. Fascinating stuff!

The Grand Canyon, Arizona

I took a little day trip from Las Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon which is in Arizona. They say about 90% of the visitors to the Grand Canyon see it from here. It is a touristy place, but I did not have time to do any of the hikes or visit from the many other places in the National Park. The area.s average height is around 7000 feet or 2134 metres above sea level. It can be very windy - and it was the day I went there . Even thought it was a beautiful bright sunny day, the temperatures were much much colder than Las Vegas. There was even some snow on some of the sides of the cliffs! It is a spectacular place though, and somewhere everyone should visit if they can. It really puts how insignificant and small we are into perspective!

Hiking to First Creek Canyon, Red Rocks, Nevada

This was taken on the way to First Creek Canyon where we did the trad multi-pitch climb Lotta Balls, 5.8. The approach is an easy hike from the parking lot for around 1 hour and then a bit of an uphill scramble to reach the start of the climb. I found the scrambling to be harder than the climbing for my ankle! The climb was fun with some flake and crack sections that were a bit hard to jam my feet into because I still cannot turn my ankle sideways, but I survived. There is also one section where you are hanging onto small little balls about the size of quarters that protrude out from the rock face. They are one of the strangest rock features I have ever seen! It was a mixed back of climbing styles, nothing strenuous - just a Lotta Balls and a lot of fun!

Kraft Boulders, near Las Vegas, Nevada

The Kraft Boulders are just in front of Kraft Mountian. They might not look like much to other people, but to a climber... it certainly is an amazing place! We walked around for a while and found a few boulder problems that were in climbing videos which we had to try. I still can't boulder much because of my ankle, but it was a good day!

The Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Nashville TN

My flight on this visit departed out of Nashville. Since I had never been before, I went to see some sights in Nashville before I had to go to the airport. This is in the middle of Gaylord Opryland Hotel in one of the gazebos. You could get lost in this place if you wanted to or had time to. I didn't want to miss my flight so I kept close tabs on the time and on where we were going so that we could get back in time. We had fun and enjoyed all the decorations still up for the holiday season (despite the $16.00 parking fee!!).