Apparently....It isn't Supposed to Snow

El Chalten, Argentina
Saturday, March 8th, 2014

Today was a pretty early start but I was excited for the day. I was going to get to do some hiking in the mountains. On this day I had a guide with me, which I've never really done before but it was offered in my package so why not. Pilar (my guide), met me at my hotel at 0830, made sure I had enough water and food etc, and then we were off. One of the good things about having a guide is obviously that they know the trails and the local conditions and can make the best decisions about things. On this morning Pilar recommended that we start our hike at the other end of the trail. It would require taking a short (and cheap) taxi ride but she figured it was the best way to go. I'm not a mountain guide and certainly wasn't familiar with the area so went with her suggestion. It was a great idea.

At the start of the trail. It was a total coincidence that the trail was also named "Pilar". Pilar had suggested the starting point change for a couple reasons. One was because the other start point, was pretty much all uphill straight out of the gate and she said this end was a much nicer way up to our highest point. The second was because then we would have to walk the same part of the trail twice so starting at the far end would make for a better day. Again, I don't know so trusted the decision of the expert. This sign again makes very clear the rules for the national park. A big one again is that all garbage must be carried out of the park with hikers.

We hit the trail head at 0900. We had to walk through a small portion of private land to do so. When making the national park, the government took back land that was previously in private hands, however those individuals and families were able to keep some of it, and they are also still able to use some of it for things such as grazing animals. For information sake, the elevation at the hotel is 400 metres and at the trail head it was 600 metres. 

The view as we started hiking. Pilar noted that there was a lot of new snow on the surrounding peaks, that wasn't there the day before. It certainly wasn't clear and sunny and Pilar mentioned that it does not normally snow in this region this time of year.

 A look at one of the glaciers we passed on our hike.

A closer look at that glacier. A little bit of fresh snow there.

Snow!!! Yes, I was just in Antarctica and am not shocked by snow....but I wasn't really expecting to see it here.

You can't quite see the snow in this picture but Pilar is excited because she was not expecting to see it today either.

I was well prepared for cold weather obviously so the snow was not that big of a deal.

A hiking hut. There are several of these huts in the area that are used by climbers who are tackling Mt. Fitz Roy. They will normally set up tents for sleeping and use the huts for cooking and eating only. There are a few other camping spots in the area however camping is only allowed in designated areas. Again strict rules apply when related to garbage and EVERYTHING must be carried out by anyone who uses the park.

A look at the trail that leads to Laguna de Los Tres (The Lake of the Threes).

Laguna de Los Tres. It sits at an elevation of 1170 metres and was our highest point on this day.

Looking a bit more snowy now.

Pilar in the snow. She actually had me email here these pictures because she has never seen snow here this time of year and she was pretty sure no one would believe her when she told them it was snowing.

In case you cannot read the English at the bottom of this sign, it basically warns against uneven ground and only people in good physical condition with trekking boots should attempt it....and that snow and wind increase the danger.

Woodpecker. There were a lot of birds in the area. Other animals that call the area home include pumas, foxes and little rodents. The woodpeckers were pretty much all we saw though. Important to note that no domestic cats or dogs are allowed in the park and they do what they can to keep them out.

As we started to go back down, there was a little less snow.....

and a bit more sun.

Almost looks nice enough to swim....almost. It is still pretty cold.

The view heading back down,

Enjoying the sunshine.

The valley.

Getting closer to El Chalten.

Some little parrots to welcome us back to town.

At 1730 we made it back to town. The hike was right around 20 kilometres total and took us about 8.5 hours. Perfect leisurely day. As you can imagine I was a little tired so after a nice shower, I had some dinner and then pretty sure I was in bed and asleep by 2100.

A really fantastic day and looking forward to another one tomorrow.

Julie

Hail...No Rain......Wait....I'll Take a Sand Storm Please

Graffiti Rock, Outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Friday, April 13th, 2012


Well today is Friday the 13th so I thought it was about time that I headed out on a Hash again. I know it's been like 2 months but I've been busy. Plus after my trip to the Edge of the World I have learnt NOT to go hashing when I'm hungover. Yes, I did attend another Marine House Party last night, but we went home relatively early and I was looking forward to being outdoors for a few hours.


The trip out was very interesting. Once I found a ride, along with Katie (another girl from my nurse orientation group) with Andy and Sharyl (think Charle but in a french accent) we started the roughly 1.5 hour drive to the Hash site. While on that that ride we drove through sun and rain and sand storms and hail and sometimes all of those at the same time. We also found ourselves in a very small little village after we missed a turn (pretty sure the Saudi man who waved at us from his doorway as the hail was falling was not sure what all us westerners were doing in his little 2 house town).


Eventually we made it to Graffiti Rock and got signed in and paid our fee etc. Katie and I decided to head up Graffiti Rock while we waited for everything to get started. Graffiti Rock is an area that is about 5000 years old and so named for the markings on the rocks. Not sure you can authenticate them all but always interesting to see. The area is also home to some old tombs, one of which is circular and the other a line tomb. As I'm sure you know the information we receive at these sights is pretty limited but I did learn that much. Not much info when I googled it either but here are some pictures from the day.

From the top of Graffiti Rock. That's a kite coming out of that guys head, being flown down below by my friend Coralie.

A look at that little village we found ourselves in a little bit earlier. Ok. maybe it is more than 2 houses (but not more than 4) but still very small.

After going up Graffiti Rock we climbed the adjacent hill to check out the tombs. This is close to one of those tombs.

That's Graffiti Rock and all the cars at the site. Not a huge turn out today. I think the strange weather caused some people to turn back.

A look at that circular tomb.

And this is the line tomb.

Camels!!! Have I mentioned that I really like camels? These ones must have belonged to the houses or village near by as they were just wandering around. Camels tend to return home (some sort of internal homing beacon) so no concerns they were lost. I like the little ones. So cute.

A look at some of that ancient graffiti. Don't ask me what it says.

The walk was pretty quick and lucky for us no more rain appeared and we were able to enjoy some decent weather. And then we heard the words you don't want to hear while in the middle of the desert "SAND STORM, SAND STORM, SAND STORM". And what a sand storm it was. I never knew that a wall of sand could move so quickly but it was on top of us in about 5 minutes. Needless to say it made the drive home interesting. Most of us were not sure what to do once we were inside the storm. Driving conditions were similar to winter white out conditions back home. Very difficult to see anything. For a bit all the hash cars just sat off the road until it appeared apparent that it was not going to clear up anytime soon. So in a convoy of slow moving vehicles with 4 way flashers on, we made our way onto the highway and back to Riyadh.

Sand storm on the horizon. I thought they were clouds until we were warned about the storm heading our way.

Didn't take long for that wall of sand to over take the rock itself.

Yes, many of us stopped to take pictures. How could you not? It really was cool to see.

Many of us tried to outrun it. It was not going to happen. In a few seconds the storm completely engulfed us and the world turned that eerie orange colour I posted pictures of a few weeks ago. Not very long after that it just went dark as the sun went down. It was a very interesting drive back into town.

 The drive, nothing short of interesting along with the weather. Super glad I made the trip out. Can't see me experiencing anything like that anytime soon.


Julie

Eerie everytime.

Adios Tropical Cyclone Carlos!!!!

Darwin, Australia
Thursday, February 17, 2011

What a difference 10 hours can make. As I headed to bed last night the wind was howling and the rain was falling. Things appeared to be vamping up again. This morning I woke up to.......well sunshine.

I have survived my first cyclone. Tropical Cyclone Carlos only managed to gain enough strength to be a category one but that was enough for me. He kind of sat over the Darwin area since Tuesday. A lot of rain, a lot of wind and a lot of downed trees but other than that the area has come out of it quite well.

This tree is sitting on top of the bench I usually sit on while waiting for the bus after work. I'm super glad I wasn't there when this fell over.

The ground is pretty saturated (we got about 400 to 700mm of rain over 3 days depending on your source. Either way that is a lot of rain) and the root system of trees is pretty shallow here, which meant it didn't take a lot of wind to knock over some really big trees. The cyclone warning has been cancelled and the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression (as of 0800 this morning) but there is still a weather alert in effect. Basically that means more rain.

This was blocking the access road to my office when I tried to get to work on Wednesday. The Paramedic was hurt but was released from hospital and is recovering. The patient was uninjured. Can you say wrong place wrong time!!!!

Our apartment had only a few casualties......the sunflowers on the rooftop patio and the vegetables in our small patio garden......and one corner of our sunshade which ripped away (but made it much easier to get the rest of it down). Other than that the whole cyclone warning, buses not running, can't go to work, panic in the streets, was just a little bit.........anti-climatic. But just another experience. I can honestly say I have never seen this much rain.....and I've been in Darwin too long because I now find 26 C (79 F) cold.

But at the end of it all what's better than a rainbow? The view from the rooftop patio has never looked so good.

Julie

Staying Dry in the Wet Season

Darwin, Australia

In Canada we always joke about how there's only 2 seasons....winter and construction. In Darwin our 2 season are The Wet and The Dry. Unfortunately we are now in The Wet. The build up is over (which was hot, humid, sticky, gross, uncomfortable and down right terrible some days), and now you wake up to check the weather report and it will pretty much say the same thing every day......scattered thunderstorms with a chance of sunshine. I can tell you the weather people are normally not that far off.

I have been fortunate enough to be inside during some of the torrential monsoon like thunderstorms we received (although last Friday I did have to make a mad dash to the bus, which I almost missed, while trying to keep my bus pass and blackberry dry and losing my flip flops along the way.......it was futile. I got soaked). I have learned that some times, it's just easier to kick off your shoes and wander around in bare feet.....until you step on glass, then it's time to pull out the running shoes.

Not a lot of people here wear rain boots (rain is too strong some days......they would just fill with water) but an umbrella is certainly a permanent fixture in every one's wardrobe this time of year.

Anyway, here's how Scott deals with the rain on his days off.

Even the rain won't chase him inside.....but he needs to keep the computer dry.

Julie