Eat Your Way Through Andalusia: Tasty Tapas Spots in Granada and Sevilla
It’s no secret that Spain as a whole is famous for its tapas, but it’s also no secret that not EVERY tapas place is as tasty or well-priced as the next.
Month: August 2015
The Top of Crypt Falls
On our descent from Crypt Lake on Waterton’s infamous Crypt Lake hike, a fellow hiker told us, “If you haven’t taken the path to the left to see the top of the waterfall, you gotta do it. I’m not sure what I was expecting with viewing the top of a waterfall, but it wasn’t this pristine, exceptionally colourful view of nature in its wildest form. You could hear the narrow falls beginning their roar from the creek’s edge, but other than that noise it was a peaceful haven away from the hoards of hikers, and a gentle respite prior to scrambling along a mountain ledge once again.
Overlooking Lisbon: The City’s Best Viewpoints
Lisbon, Portugal is a city of hills. Buildings perch on slopes, and funicular trams transport the hill-weary up the steep cobblestone alleys. Naturally, in a coastal city built on hills, there are many amazing views, and the more you ascend, the better the view.
Crypt Lake’s Hanging Valley
After recovering from the dizziness from being on a rocky scramble two feet wide with a thousand foot drop on the ledge, I finally felt brave enough to get my camera back out. This is the view of the hanging valley as you descend from the ultimate destination of Crypt Lake on this Waterton hike. The mountains of the western Americas all result from the same tectonic plate, and yet the differences between the ranges and even within the ranges are so vast. In the Rockies, Waterton’s mountains have a red underlay while Banff’s are greyer in tone. The Andes mountains of Peru are jungled while those of Patagonia are jagged. While I quest for more mountains and more mountaintop views, people have asked why I seek out mountains in other countries since we already have the gorgeous Rockies for just a short (or long, in Waterton’s case) drive away. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to explain it, so there’s a Robert MacFarlane quote to do it for me: “Those who travel to mountain-tops are …
Caminito del Rey – A Guide to Andalusia’s Renewed Trail
Once considered the most dangerous hike in the world, the Caminito del Rey (a.k.a the “King’s Path”) originated as a path for miners in the El Chorro gorge, which is an hour outside of the city of Malaga.
Crypt Lake
The Crypt Lake hike in Waterton Lakes, National Park, Alberta is one of the most challenging day hikes I have ever done, both physically and mentally. Physically partly because I was in a bike accident four days before I did the hike and my knees were already wrecked, and partly because of the 32 Celsius temperatures. Mentally, it was a challenge because of my fear of steep drop-offs, especially when you’re scrambling on a two and a half foot-wide ledge with nothing but a bolted-in wire to hold on it. The end-point of the hike, before you descend and do it all again, is this gorgeous lake, which the hottest and most daring of hikers braved the ice cold temperatures and dived in to escape the heat. It made for a lovely spot to eat lunch and recover from the panic I felt while looking straight down into the Crypt Valley.
Sunset Over Waterton
In the book/film Wild, Cheryl Strayed details how her mother always used to say that there was a sunrise and a sunset every day, and you simply had to be present for it, to “put yourself in the way of beauty.” We were enjoying beers at our campsite just outside the National Park gates. In the mountains, steaming hot days mean frigid nights, so every few minutes called for another layer of clothing. My eyes drifted from the powerful draw of the fire pit’s flames as I got up for another beer. To the west, the most beautiful pink sky was skirting over the distant peaks. Knowing that time was limited, I left my opened beer in the truck box, grabbed my camera and tripod, and ran out of the campsite towards the highway for a better view. I only brought my wide focal length lens with me, which is a huge regret, but time was of the essence, and I still think I managed to capture that pink hue acting like a gradient over the mountain top, …
