August 2007-December 2007 Interim

After leaving Japan and the Kurobe Masters team I wasn't totally lazy for 5 months. I tried to stay active while I was traveling, although I had days of just sitting on trains, buses or in jeeps. When I wasn't sitting around I did some pretty cool things, (I must admit):


Great Baikal Trail: camping and trail building in Siberia near Lake Baikal for two weeks, hiked 3-5km into camp with LOTS of gear: tents, sleeping bag, tools and food! Built a bridge and 67m of NEW trail.

Leo Hostel "Secret" Great Wall Tour: hiked 2-3 hours up to and around the great wall in an area that has NOT been rebuilt. It was a tough trail and you really had to watch your step! But beautiful views!

Annapurna Circuit: trekked 18 days around the Annapurna Mtn. range in Nepal. It was about 300km and took us from about 800m to 5416m over the Thoroung La pass.

Annapurna Base Camp: trekked 7 days up to Annapurna and Machupuchre Base Camp and back.

Rafting & Canyoning at The Last Resort: 2 fabulous days of white water on the Bhote Kosi in Nepal. The second day was much more intense and unfortunately my mom fell out! We also tried canyoning which was lots of fun!!

Triund Trek: while staying in Dharamsala, India I did a lot of walking EVERYDAY. But one Saturday a student and I walked up to Triund, about 18km in 6 hours.

Lazy Swimming: and I did a few laps of luxury at Ideal Beach Resort in Mahabalipuram! Oh, I love that place!!

And now I'm walking all over campus in the UK! An exciting life continues in another country!

Mt. Oitsurushiyama

Chica and I climbed Mt. Oitsurushiyama again today! I was doubtful about the climb because it's been pouring the last two days, but this morning was dry! The trail was a little wet and slippery, but it wasn't raining!!

It's just 10am and I've already gone for a three hour hike, showered and eaten! Yatta!! Of course it meant that I got up at 4:45! But anyway, now I have the whole day ahead of me! And it's gonna be a long one. Two good-bye meals to attend!

Total: 3 hours 5.2km

Mt. Oitsurushiyama

Today Chica-san and I climbed Mt. Oitsurushiyama in Nyuzen. It is 6km roundtrip and about 3 hours, 90 minutes up and 90 minutes down. It is a super step trail and there is rope along many sections of it to help you get up and down. It was lightly raining for part of the hike, but at the top it was clear and dry. We might try to do it a few more times before the end of July to help get me ready for the big one this fall.

At the top of the mountain, less than 1000m!

We saw monkeys at the bottom!!

After the hike, Chica and I stopped at her farming patch and picked strawberries! So delicious!

3500m

700s
500p
300k brd
100k brst no brd
16x100 on 2:00 (#4,8,12,16 brst)
100k
200s

I'm loving vacation time! I went to the pool today with no plan other than to swim. I started the 100 set as 8x100, but after #8 I decided to keep going. And #12 didn't feel like a good stopping point either. It's not a great way to do a workout, but I felt good, so I kept swimming. Luckily, there was another serious swimmer in my lane. She was also swimming 100-200s so we kept out of each others way for the most part. Hurray! I'm hoping to make it to the pool Thurs/Fri too! Add in a few bike rides on top of that and maybe a run! Should be a good week!

Oh, and yesterday I went for a light hike around a lake...nice and flat, but it was at about 1500m. It felt great to be outside and it was so so beautiful!!!