Sunday, April 24, 2016 - Katie's Final NCL Tea
Katie and the K2 - A2 final National Charity League (NCL) Tea - Coronado (not and island), California
Sunday, April 24, 2016 - Transcript from Delaney's Patagonia Trek
Hello again, all!
I am writing to you from a little pueblito called Villa Cerro Castillo, tucked between some mean looking, jagged peaks. We have decided to camp a bit longer at this hostel because our arrival happened to coincide with a genuine Patagonian gaucho rodeo and fiesta. From what I can surmise so far this means cooking an absurd quantity of meat on an open flame (which I'm still not eating) and harassing and standing on cows (which causes me no pleasure to watch, quite the opposite).
Last night we had about 15 people cooking pizza together. People from all over the world speaking Spanish, English, and French. It was an hours long process--tending to the fuegito for the oven, kneading the dough and letting it rise, making the sauce from scratch and finally tossing whatever vegetable we could scrounge up I this isolated town. All the while drinking cheap wine and taking breaks to admire the moonrise.
I love food, and you can't find a lot of easily accessible, delicious, healthy stuff in Chile. So after consuming an untold number of stiff white bread bricks, meals like this are especially noteworthy.
Our first stop after disembarking the ferry from Quellón was the hub of the south--Coyhaique. A really cool town that reminded me of Boulder and Squamish--relatively small, mountains all around, and a huge rock wall right on the edge of town. The crisp/brisk ontoño mountain air was particularly refreshing after the long ferry ride. We stumbled upon a free film festival called FemCine where I kept up with two foreign films--one in French and one in Swedish--with Spanish subtitles. (Olmo and the Seagull, and Second Chance). We sat in a restaurant called Mamma Gaucha for 3 hours listening to American hip hop and enjoying salad, pizzas, and CRAFT BEER to our hearts' content, then stumbled around eating whatever fried fare we could find on the street.
Our plan was to leave the following day, but we met a young Chilean couple with a Swiss traveler on the street and were invited to snacks and wine. We stayed with them another two nights. As they say here, "Quien se apura en la Patagonia pierde el tiempo."
We met a guide in the Patagonia clothing store for the Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. He described a four night trek through the park, things fall into place. We shouldered our packs, stuck out our thumbs, and headed south.
AJ and I are both in agreement that this park is the most beautiful place we've laid eyes on (and he's been to 15 national parks in Chile!). One of the most striking features is the lenga tree (Nothofagus pumilio), which has turned to varying shades of orange, red, and yellow. Whole mountainsides are painted in this spectacular watercolor--I swear I almost cried!
We had relatively good weather the first two days, enjoying views of the daunting peaks and glaciers hanging off of them. The third day we woke up to a few centimeters of snow on the ground. We spent the day enjoying the winter wonderland, I even frolicked a bit. As we continued to climb up up up, past a scenic laguna, and scrambling over rocks we couldn't discern beneath the snow, we reached a ridge and were faced with heavy snow and wind. We were warned this would be an easy place to get lost. As the snow and wind turned to blizzard conditions we decided that we should probably take advantage of the "emergency exit" placed conveniently at this spot. (I was more very quick to the escape decision, AJ-not so much). Unfortunately it wasn't as if the emergency exit was an easy descent into the town below. There were virtually no trail markers, or they were all covered by the continually falling snow. I didn't feel safe yet, we were still sliding down the steep mountain on snow-covered shale. Slipping, falling, it's a miracle we didn't get hurt or start sliding out of control.
After about an hour of this we finally made it to the actual trail. Wet, dirty, exhausted--but most of all relieved. AJ's sense of adventure was satisfied and I was just happy to be out of the snow and among the trees.
Now I'm safe and warm, writing this from the inside of a bus-turned-restaurant on the side of the Careterra austral, looking up at the very cordillera that caused me so much trouble and excitement, in awe and still moved by their intimidating beauty.
Tonight, there's the party at the hostel we're camping at. I hope to use the wood fired hot tubs on the premises. They take 5 hours of constant attention to heat up, but I'm coming to love the Patagonian way of working hard for your pleasures.
Hasta luego muchachos,
DQ
Enviado desde mi iPhone
I am writing to you from a little pueblito called Villa Cerro Castillo, tucked between some mean looking, jagged peaks. We have decided to camp a bit longer at this hostel because our arrival happened to coincide with a genuine Patagonian gaucho rodeo and fiesta. From what I can surmise so far this means cooking an absurd quantity of meat on an open flame (which I'm still not eating) and harassing and standing on cows (which causes me no pleasure to watch, quite the opposite).
Last night we had about 15 people cooking pizza together. People from all over the world speaking Spanish, English, and French. It was an hours long process--tending to the fuegito for the oven, kneading the dough and letting it rise, making the sauce from scratch and finally tossing whatever vegetable we could scrounge up I this isolated town. All the while drinking cheap wine and taking breaks to admire the moonrise.
I love food, and you can't find a lot of easily accessible, delicious, healthy stuff in Chile. So after consuming an untold number of stiff white bread bricks, meals like this are especially noteworthy.
Our first stop after disembarking the ferry from Quellón was the hub of the south--Coyhaique. A really cool town that reminded me of Boulder and Squamish--relatively small, mountains all around, and a huge rock wall right on the edge of town. The crisp/brisk ontoño mountain air was particularly refreshing after the long ferry ride. We stumbled upon a free film festival called FemCine where I kept up with two foreign films--one in French and one in Swedish--with Spanish subtitles. (Olmo and the Seagull, and Second Chance). We sat in a restaurant called Mamma Gaucha for 3 hours listening to American hip hop and enjoying salad, pizzas, and CRAFT BEER to our hearts' content, then stumbled around eating whatever fried fare we could find on the street.
Our plan was to leave the following day, but we met a young Chilean couple with a Swiss traveler on the street and were invited to snacks and wine. We stayed with them another two nights. As they say here, "Quien se apura en la Patagonia pierde el tiempo."
We met a guide in the Patagonia clothing store for the Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. He described a four night trek through the park, things fall into place. We shouldered our packs, stuck out our thumbs, and headed south.
AJ and I are both in agreement that this park is the most beautiful place we've laid eyes on (and he's been to 15 national parks in Chile!). One of the most striking features is the lenga tree (Nothofagus pumilio), which has turned to varying shades of orange, red, and yellow. Whole mountainsides are painted in this spectacular watercolor--I swear I almost cried!
We had relatively good weather the first two days, enjoying views of the daunting peaks and glaciers hanging off of them. The third day we woke up to a few centimeters of snow on the ground. We spent the day enjoying the winter wonderland, I even frolicked a bit. As we continued to climb up up up, past a scenic laguna, and scrambling over rocks we couldn't discern beneath the snow, we reached a ridge and were faced with heavy snow and wind. We were warned this would be an easy place to get lost. As the snow and wind turned to blizzard conditions we decided that we should probably take advantage of the "emergency exit" placed conveniently at this spot. (I was more very quick to the escape decision, AJ-not so much). Unfortunately it wasn't as if the emergency exit was an easy descent into the town below. There were virtually no trail markers, or they were all covered by the continually falling snow. I didn't feel safe yet, we were still sliding down the steep mountain on snow-covered shale. Slipping, falling, it's a miracle we didn't get hurt or start sliding out of control.
After about an hour of this we finally made it to the actual trail. Wet, dirty, exhausted--but most of all relieved. AJ's sense of adventure was satisfied and I was just happy to be out of the snow and among the trees.
Now I'm safe and warm, writing this from the inside of a bus-turned-restaurant on the side of the Careterra austral, looking up at the very cordillera that caused me so much trouble and excitement, in awe and still moved by their intimidating beauty.
Tonight, there's the party at the hostel we're camping at. I hope to use the wood fired hot tubs on the premises. They take 5 hours of constant attention to heat up, but I'm coming to love the Patagonian way of working hard for your pleasures.
Hasta luego muchachos,
DQ
Enviado desde mi iPhone
Friday, April 22, 2016 - Solana Beach Coffee, Solana Beach, California
Wallace and Bentley
Double-tap to edit.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - Sunrise Highway, Mt. Laguna, California
Tuesday, April 15, 2016 - Honeysprings Road, San Diego, California
Tuesday, April 15, 2016 - Transcript From Delaney's Patagonia Trek
Hi guys,
I thought I'd send a little update to everyone who seemed like they'd be interested in periodic correspondence. I'm currently writing this as a note on my iPhone on a ferry to the Deep South ~ Chilean Patagonia. It's hour 25 of a 30 hour ferry ride (🎶30 hours🎶) from Quellón to Puerto Chacabuco. AJ and I are some of the last souls left on the ferry, accompanied by some fishermen and little old ladies. Somehow the time has flown by as I half-watch the 24 hour broadcast of Spanish-dubbed Hollywood films on TNT, read Tom Robbins, listen to music and podcasts, eat stale white bread and drink instant coffee with chocolate powder, but more than anything hold on for dear life with my eyes closed and try not to vomit as we rock side-to-side 180 degrees. A ferry employee claims it's the roughest it's ever been. We brought our camping mattresses and sleeping bags and had a great night's sleep on a floor reminiscent of a movie-theatre; old peanuts and dust bunnies to keep us company.
From here we begin a new chapter of our trip; the Careterra Austral (southern highway). An ambitious road connecting the pueblos and parks in the south of Chile. Our plan is to travel along to the end, the last stop being Villa O'Higgins, weather and all other factors permitting. It's autumn here in one of the rainiest, roughest, and most unpredictable places on the planet. But that also means there are little to no tourists and less competition for hitchhiking!
The beginning of our journey opened at Huelmo York where AJ had been volunteering (through the website Workaway) for a month and a half. A truly unique and cool spot utilizing permaculture and biodynamic principles and incorporating people from all over the world in the process. Also there were kittens... We ate delicious and fresh vegetarian meals and drank tea from medicinal herbs grown and dried right there on the farm. I peeled mountains of apples to make heaps of compote. A little slice of heaven after traveling about 30 hours.
We then traveled to Parque Nacional Hornopirén for my first trek in the Andes. After a full day of micro-buses, ferries, and hitchhiking we hiked for hours up the steepest, muddiest trail I've ever walked up and spend a cold, cold night by a magnificent lake. We awoke to a clear morning, the lake steaming from volcanic activity. Up up up out of the trees, crossing ridges that didn't feel entirely safe, until we reached a 360 degree view of hanging glaciers, dozens of peaks, lakes, pueblos, volcanic rock of hues spanning from dark black to vibrant red, and not a cloud for miles. Special.
For the past week and a half we've been on the island of Chiloé. Enjoying the little towns with their colorful buildings and handmade tejuelas (shingles covering the houses). Even finding REAL COFFEE in two towns (as opposed to nestle instant)! We spent 4 nights in Parque Nacional Chiloé ~ three of which at a spot called Rio Cole Cole (my mind draws parallels to Hawaii and New Zealand). Five impeccable days of sunshine on the beach doing laundry, writing, hiking, practicing yoga, and reading. We were with an awesome couple AJ met on the farm (an Argentinean man and French girl) and bid them adieu when we left the cute little town of Chonchi to head south.
We've had great luck encountering incredibly kind and hospitable Chileans. A family took pity on us, I guess we looked like the two lost gringos that we were, wandering through the streets at 10pm and hosted us in their home. We talked about Kundalini Shakti, meditation, and spirituality. Who knew there were hippies in Dalcahue? Another young couple that we hitchhiked with put us up in their cabaña and made a huge dinner especially for us. It was there I met the cutest, happiest baby girl in existence. I tend to bond with the babies and dogs because my Spanish still isn't very good.
That's all my little thumbs can produce for now, what's up with you all?
Lots of love~abrazos
✨😘💫
Delaney
Enviado desde mi iPhone
I thought I'd send a little update to everyone who seemed like they'd be interested in periodic correspondence. I'm currently writing this as a note on my iPhone on a ferry to the Deep South ~ Chilean Patagonia. It's hour 25 of a 30 hour ferry ride (🎶30 hours🎶) from Quellón to Puerto Chacabuco. AJ and I are some of the last souls left on the ferry, accompanied by some fishermen and little old ladies. Somehow the time has flown by as I half-watch the 24 hour broadcast of Spanish-dubbed Hollywood films on TNT, read Tom Robbins, listen to music and podcasts, eat stale white bread and drink instant coffee with chocolate powder, but more than anything hold on for dear life with my eyes closed and try not to vomit as we rock side-to-side 180 degrees. A ferry employee claims it's the roughest it's ever been. We brought our camping mattresses and sleeping bags and had a great night's sleep on a floor reminiscent of a movie-theatre; old peanuts and dust bunnies to keep us company.
From here we begin a new chapter of our trip; the Careterra Austral (southern highway). An ambitious road connecting the pueblos and parks in the south of Chile. Our plan is to travel along to the end, the last stop being Villa O'Higgins, weather and all other factors permitting. It's autumn here in one of the rainiest, roughest, and most unpredictable places on the planet. But that also means there are little to no tourists and less competition for hitchhiking!
The beginning of our journey opened at Huelmo York where AJ had been volunteering (through the website Workaway) for a month and a half. A truly unique and cool spot utilizing permaculture and biodynamic principles and incorporating people from all over the world in the process. Also there were kittens... We ate delicious and fresh vegetarian meals and drank tea from medicinal herbs grown and dried right there on the farm. I peeled mountains of apples to make heaps of compote. A little slice of heaven after traveling about 30 hours.
We then traveled to Parque Nacional Hornopirén for my first trek in the Andes. After a full day of micro-buses, ferries, and hitchhiking we hiked for hours up the steepest, muddiest trail I've ever walked up and spend a cold, cold night by a magnificent lake. We awoke to a clear morning, the lake steaming from volcanic activity. Up up up out of the trees, crossing ridges that didn't feel entirely safe, until we reached a 360 degree view of hanging glaciers, dozens of peaks, lakes, pueblos, volcanic rock of hues spanning from dark black to vibrant red, and not a cloud for miles. Special.
For the past week and a half we've been on the island of Chiloé. Enjoying the little towns with their colorful buildings and handmade tejuelas (shingles covering the houses). Even finding REAL COFFEE in two towns (as opposed to nestle instant)! We spent 4 nights in Parque Nacional Chiloé ~ three of which at a spot called Rio Cole Cole (my mind draws parallels to Hawaii and New Zealand). Five impeccable days of sunshine on the beach doing laundry, writing, hiking, practicing yoga, and reading. We were with an awesome couple AJ met on the farm (an Argentinean man and French girl) and bid them adieu when we left the cute little town of Chonchi to head south.
We've had great luck encountering incredibly kind and hospitable Chileans. A family took pity on us, I guess we looked like the two lost gringos that we were, wandering through the streets at 10pm and hosted us in their home. We talked about Kundalini Shakti, meditation, and spirituality. Who knew there were hippies in Dalcahue? Another young couple that we hitchhiked with put us up in their cabaña and made a huge dinner especially for us. It was there I met the cutest, happiest baby girl in existence. I tend to bond with the babies and dogs because my Spanish still isn't very good.
That's all my little thumbs can produce for now, what's up with you all?
Lots of love~abrazos
✨😘💫
Delaney
Enviado desde mi iPhone
Friday, February 11, 2016
Great day spending time with Valerie and Katie.
Great rest day; ready to do another bunch ride tomorrow.
Great rest day; ready to do another bunch ride tomorrow.
Thursday, Febraury 10, 2016
OK, will be working hard at keeping this "diary" up to date.
Stay tuned
Stay tuned
Thursday, November 26, 2015 - Thanksgiving, Delaney in Boulder
Friday, November 20, 2015
- Training
- 11:00 AM, Mission Beach Relax with Val😄👍
Thursday, November 19, 2015 - Training
Training; 80 miles
Pomerado, Del Dios, PCH, home via Lago di Murray
Pomerado, Del Dios, PCH, home via Lago di Murray
Sunday, November 15, 2015 - Random
Bentley on the prowl
Tuesday, November 3, 2015 - Training
Mike Nosco Ride - Funraiser. 80+ miles; 8,000 feet of climbing.
First of the 3 big climbs which totaled over 8,000 vertical feet.
Thursday, August 27, 2015 - Training
3 hour ride west to Mt. Soledad and back through the beach towns of Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, and South Mission Beach. Then up Montezuma and through SDSU to take a glimps at this year's first week of school
Wednesday, August 26, 2015 - Bike Trainingm Fixed Gear
90 minutes fixed gear ride on the Langster
Saturday, August 22, 2015 - Bike Training
Coffee ride, La Jolla, California
Thursday, August 20, 2015 - "W" Downtown, San Diego
Wednesday, August 19, 2015 - Recovery Day
Tuesday, August 18, 2015 - Travel Day, San Diego
Monday, August 17, 2015 - Summit Day
2nd Summit Hike in Two Days; , Mt Whitney Mountaineer's Route
Sunday, August 16, 2015 - Training
10 mile recon hike of the Whitney Mountaineer's Route
Saturday, August 15, 2015 - Recovery
Rest day, Lone Pine and Whitney Portal
Friday, August 14, 2015 - Whitney Summit #1; Main Route
Thursday, August 13, 2015 - Training; 12 miles up out and around Whitney Portal
Wednesday, August 12, 2012 - Travel Day; Whitney Portal
Sunday, August 9, 2016 - Mt. Baldy Hike
Thursday, August 6, 2015 - Bahia
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 - KQ Birthday, Bahia
Tuesday, August 4, 2015 - Bahia
Saturday, August 1, 2015 - Travel Day, PDX
Friday, July 31, 2015 - Travel Day, Eugene
Thursday, July 30, 2015 - Travel Day, PDX
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Friday, July 3, 2015
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
George Island
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 - Delaney, yoga pose.
Tidal Inlet and rock scramble in the AM and kayacking in the afternoon
Monday, June 29, 2015
Glacier Bay and glacier viewing
Sunday, June 28, 2015 - Family Salmon Fishing; MQ "reeling" in a King.
Salmon Fishing
Saturday, June 27, 2015 - Mendenhall Glacier
Juneau to Mendenhall Glacier
10:15 - Took the public transportation to Mendenhall
10:15 - Took the public transportation to Mendenhall
Friday, June 26, 2015
Travel to Juneau, Alaska
- 10:05 - 12:55 flight to Seattle
- 2:05 - 3:35 flight to Juneau
- Juneau; Westmark Baranof Hotel
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Just a quick little hour spin in the hood on the SW Tarmac.
Quality family time getting ready for a trip to Alaska
Photo tribute to our beloved Kitty Kat
Quality family time getting ready for a trip to Alaska
Photo tribute to our beloved Kitty Kat
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Today's bike of choice; 2015 Specialized S Works Tarmac.
Easy mid-day spin around Fletcher Hills. Temperature off the Garmin 510 reading between 95 and 102 degrees.
Today's photo is a nice canopy of shade in Fletcher Hills
Monday, June 22, 2015
Today's bike of choice; Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup.
2 hour tempo to Goodan Ranch. Strava called out 9 cups including one KOM. KOM's are difficult to come by at 53 years of age.
Temperature range 84 to 102, average 94.
Climbers Loop, Mission Trials - San Diego, California
Friday, June 19, 2015
Today's Ride, easy Mission Trails. Bike of choice, the Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Today's Ride, to La Jolla and back through El Cajon. Bike of choice, the Specialized 2015 S-Works Tarmac