… The last mile to camp is always a drag. Almost always. Or always. I could be strolling through a wonderland of gold and diamonds and chocolate fountains and unicorns, but moving like an uninspired sloth. My feet are tired. My butt is gently chafed. I need nutrients.
In camp, I immediately engage in some sort of polite battle with fellow tent-pitchers over The Best Spot. “No, you pick first.” “No, no – you pick.” I invariably choose one that seems flat and windless. Seems.
Time for water math. Do I have enough? Should I filter tonight or in the morning? How much should I grab for dinner? …
Steve Fugate of Vero Beach, Florida, walked into the Cheraw town limits at 12:36 p.m. May 13, braving the 82-degree heat. The large sign on his back — which reads “love life” in red capital letters — made him easy to spot. …
Crossing the state line marked a milestone for Fugate as South Carolina is the final state in his trek through each of the lower 48, ending his cross-country walk two years, one month and 20 days after it began on March 23, 2013. …
Fugate said this is his eighth time making the journey, and that he has walked 39,000 miles he said he expects to walk his 40,000th mile somewhere in South Carolina. …
Fugate said he started these walks in 1999 after losing his son, 26-year-old Stevie, to suicide while walking the Appalachian Trail. Six years later tragedy struck again when Fugate’s daughter, 36-year-old Shelly, died from an accidental drug overdose.
Fugate said he carries the sign on his back to remind people to love and appreciate their lives. …
Ever wonder what a day spent trekking the Himalaya of Nepal is like? Than this video is definitely for you. It encapsulates that experience very nicely, boiling it down to a two-and-a-half minute clip that captures the essence …
… It seems like an age ago since I first met Mike, I was looking for some company to trek up to Annapurna Base Camp in the Nepal Himalaya. Although this is a easy route to tackle on your own, I believe that sometimes moments are best shared with two.
Posting a thread on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum looking for people, I received an email from a Yorkshire man who was currently cycling around and across Nepal, but wanted to leave his bike behind for some good old fashioned walking.
We caught up in Pokhara, by Phewa Lake for a beer and a cheeky Western treat of Pizza. …
You’re currently in South America, what has it been like and where have you been?
… I started my travels in Buenos Aires, dubbed the Paris of South America. I spent a month learning Spanish and exploring this colourful and vibrant city. From there I travelled to Argentina’s southernmost city; Usuhaia. El Fin Del Mundo (The End of the World) and started my trip north toward Columbia after a last minute trip to Antartica. I cycled through Patagonia, the Argentinan and Chilean Lake Districts before stopping off for a breather and a slice of city life in Santiago and Valpariso.
From there I linked up with the spine of the Andes and rode through the Argentina wine growing areas of Mendoza and Cafayate before crossing in to Boliva and spending over 6 weeks on the Bolivian Antiplano crossing the spectacular Salar De Uyuni. I am currently in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, and plan to follow these north as closely as possible. …
The Tibetan belief is that the winds blow the positive energy of the prayers and chants imprinted on the flags into the world- and into all sentient beings they touch. As a result you’ll usually see the flags strung in high places where they can have maximum effect.
view from the top of Kala Patthar above Everest Base Camp
… a collection of my pix with prayer flags in them. Most are taken from hikes in the Annapurna and Khumbu region of Nepal, but you’ll also find flags fluttering in Patagonia, near Jasper in the Canadian Rockies, above the heads of chanting monks in Bohd Gaya in India, in the Christiania area of Copenhagen in Denmark, and in my neighbourhood above the eastern banks of the Don River in Toronto. …
In the summer of 2013 Casey Gannon and Colin Arisman thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail with cameras in hand. “Only The Essential” is the story of their 5 month, 2668 mile journey on foot from Mexico to Canada across the wilderness of California, Oregon, and Washington.
Just finished reading one of the weirdest and wildest outdoors books.
Not sure whether his prose pieces are the insane ramblings of an arrogant egomaniac. Or genius insight.
KISS OR KILL
Sit back and join the ride with this collection of edge-of-your-seat climbing stories by Mark Twight aka Dr. Doom. “Somewhere out there somebody understands these words and knows they matter. They were written in blood, learned by heart.” –Mark Twight
– BANFF award-winner
Extreme climber. Extreme writer. Extreme personality. No matter what he’s doing, Mark Twight takes a definite, and often controversial, stand. Anyone who knows climbing knows Twight’s name, and anyone who knows Twight’s name will want to read this book. Each story is told in Twight’s taut, in-your-face style. Brand-new epilogues bring each piece full circle , providing updated information and fresh, hindsight perspectives.
Born on November 2, 1961 in Yosemite National Park, California, Mark Twight rose to prominence in the world Alpine mountaineering community in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a well-documented series of difficult, dangerous alpine climbs in various ranges around the world.
He made the first ascent of “The Reality Bath” on the White Pyramid with Randy Rackliff, which is unrepeated and described by Canadian Rockies guidebook author, Albi Sole as “so dangerous as to be of little value except to those suicidally inclined.”
… Twight was nominated for the Piolet d’Or twice during his career, in 1993 for “Beyond Good and Evil” and 1995 for “Deprivation”.
Reality Bath is somewhere centre on this wall
Publishers Weekly:
From Chamonix to the Himalayas to Peak Communism in the Pamirs, extreme climbing has been Twight’s response to “stupidity and mediocrity” and at times it is even “a tool to forestall suicide.”
Following Extreme Alpinism, this volume collects more than 12 years of Twight’s extreme outdoor journalism for such magazines as Climbing, Outside and Men’s Journal.
Punk rock lyrics pepper these essays, providing context and form for his rage, cynicism and obsessive, masculine drive.
Avalanches, rotten ice, the deaths of fellow climbers, the rescue of others, dwindling food supplies, lost tents at 18,000 feet Twight survives mortal dangers and tragedies, writing, “No matter what I did, the suffering I experienced did not satisfy me. I had to have more.”
Twight’s in-your-face style is both his strength and his weakness fans of Henry Rollins or Charles Bukowski may find a sport nut analogue in Twight. Deeply personal, arrogant, grandiose, thrilling and unapologetic, this record of his 15-year career will gratify and repel extreme athletes, their admirers and their detractors.
Andrew Pleavin
Mark Twight is the founder of Gym Jones, where he trains athletes, military personnel, and others for whom fitness goes beyond appearance. At Gym Jones Twight and fellow trainers and coaches work with everyone from NFL players to MMA fighters, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors (a half-dozen Pedro Sauer black belts work and train there), bike racers, rock and mountain climbers, and a variety of ultra-endurance athletes. …
In 2005 Twight trained the cast and stunt crew for the movie 300. … The training was difficult, Twight pulled no punches, refusing to differentiate between actors, stuntmen, or athletes. After being told the details of a day’s workout Andrew Pleavin said, “It feels like you just killed my dog.”
One training regimen that his crew underwent in the movie came to be known as the 300 Workout, spawning many variations by other fitness personalities and trainers.
In 1999, Steve Fugate lost his son to suicide. A few years later, he lost his daughter to a drug overdose.
At sixty-four years old, he has walked across the United States seven times to raise awareness for depression and suicide and to inspire people he meets to “love life.” After fourteen years and 34,000 miles of walking, Steve continues his quest to heal his heart and the hearts of those in need one step at a time. …
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