My Journey

tgil.....several days ago I read an article on my Google feed and it was about Idaho sheep farmers being fed up with do gooders rounding up their sheep herding dogs (thinking they've been abandoned) and taking them to the animal shelters. Funny thing.....the same thought crossed my mind.....but now I know better.....thanks.....

Foy.....I read several articles about that guy and was so impressed with his life.....like I said a true hero for sure.....

mekcanix.....so pleased that you enjoy the content.....thanks.....



So now our days are spent watering grass, mowing grass, feeding animals, collecting chicken eggs & garden vegetables, and other miscellaneous chores.....what a wonderful change of pace.....and taking hot showers.....

Maybe it was two years or so ago that I posted pictures from past climbing trips and a few people enjoyed those pictures so with really nothing new to post here in our travels I decided to once again copy some pictures from my climbing website.....

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I believe that every picture that I'm posting today was taken in either Argentina or Chile.....

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Last night I found myself looking for Defender 110's once again.....a nice change from Zillow looking for log cabins.....

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I so look forward to a vaccine.....

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My chin nearly hit the floor this morning when I saw the latest prediction that over 400,000 Americans will die before the end of the year.....what an incredible tragedy this all is.....

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Arjan

Fossil Overlander
"..Last night I found myself looking for Defender 110's once again ..."

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I seriously advise against getting one. I love reading your posts and very, very few mention mechanical problems / brake downs etc.
This one is getting to the point where it is starting to be reliable and that has taken some 10 years. Next year I'll be replacing the chassis and bulkhead (firewall you guys call it me thinks) with galvanized versions.

Please keep them coming - love the read !

Thanks.
 

Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
"..Last night I found myself looking for Defender 110's once again ..."

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I seriously advise against getting one. I love reading your posts and very, very few mention mechanical problems / brake downs etc.
This one is getting to the point where it is starting to be reliable and that has taken some 10 years. Next year I'll be replacing the chassis and bulkhead (firewall you guys call it me thinks) with galvanized versions.

Please keep them coming - love the read !

Thanks.

I agree. I’ve never owned one (or any British car) but the reliability factor is not high. My casual observation of what people really trust all over the Globe is the Toyota Land Cruiser. The 80 series is probably the top dog as it was the last to utilize a solid front axle. Keep it simple.

Toyota still builds the solid axle 70 Series equipped with a V-8 turbo diesel. Dream rig for many but not available in the US.


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mekcanix.....I probably misspoke when I said "website" cause it's more of just an online site where I store some personal climbing data and a limited number of pictures.....it is nothing like XP where I attempt to tell my story. Most (thousands) of my pictures are stored on CDs and on an old computer that is no longer operable.....

Arjan.....it's just a dream these days and nothing more. I'm not typically one to shy away from obstacles in life but certainly there are a few hurdles to overcome before I make that decision.....

Ace.....did you climb the Colorado fourteener on your birthday ?



Not too long ago I was watching one of the videos that Kelsey & Tim (Dirt Sunrise) post here on XP (well worth watching if you haven't seen them yet) and in one of their videos Kelsey mentions the large crowds that they encountered while visiting Machu Picchu and how lucky one would be to have come here years prior. Well, I was one of those lucky ones as I was indeed here years ago and I was the first one to enter the ruins on the day that I visited and I had the entire place to myself.....it was magical.....

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At that time there were three different trains that left from Cusco, Peru to Aguas Calientes, Peru. Each one was for a different class of travel.....one was beautiful and expensive and one was in between, and then there was the train for the locals.....it was plain and cheap. And it was the plain and cheap train that I took.....I prefer traveling with the locals over the wealthy western tourists every time.....

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I spent about a week, maybe ten days in the area exploring, hiking and climbing.....and fell further into love with Peru and the Andes Mountains.....

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How could you not love those dirty little faces.....

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And here are a few more pictures taken while climbing somewhere in the Andes Mountains.....

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Posting these pictures this morning sure does make me want to return for an eighth time.....those were the days my friends.....

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In the last picture you see one of the Benegas brothers from Patagonia, Argentina.....unfortunately I don't recall which brother it is.....these guys were & are both world renowned climbers.....

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Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
Jerry we put the climb off from my birthday due to heavy smoke. Then we were going to climb on September 8, which coincidentally was the birthday for our trip leader. But they predicted record cold and possibly heavy snow in the Rockies. So now we are hoping to climb on the 14th. I could go anytime but we are trying work out a day that’s best for my friend Sarah. She just finished her last 14er but is still employed. She owns this neat little Outdoor Store in my town.
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tikirob

New member
My wife and I follow Tim and Kelsey and are probably one of the few we follow! They are just down to earth and real! One of there videos Kelsey made a comment on the trains in Peru that they were at and she said it was a Instagram place, which I find is so true nowadays! People go to these places just because everybody else goes, just to say they have the picture! That is why we enjoy your travels, because you go to places others don't and keep it simple! You have definitely opened our eyes to the unforgotten places and the non mainstream! Thank You!
 
Ace.....keep us posted and feel free to post your summit shot here.....best of luck and stay safe out there.....

JD.....the older I get.....the more I miss them.....

tikirob.....thanks for the kind message and for always a throwing a thumbs up my way. That never goes unnoticed and maybe it's a good time to also say thanks to everyone that follows along. Tanner & I.....we enjoy sharing so much these days.....

Also another site you might enjoy on YouTube is called GrizzlyNbear. Another young couple traveling in remote locations around the world.....



So tonight will be our nineteenth night camped here on the back of my friends property and it will also be our last night here as we should be back on the road tomorrow by late afternoon. I have plans for the next week, possibly some interesting plans for October and early November, and possibly some really interesting plans for the winter. More to come on those plans but for now I'll share a few more photos of years past.....

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Yes that is me below.....

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And yours truly inappropriately wearing a scuba diving ball cap on a climbing trip.....

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In my book there really is no better place to be than on the summit of a mountain anywhere on earth.....

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This shot.....I believe is somewhere in the U.S.A. .....heck.....I don't know where.....

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And last.....a shot of one of my sons.....teaching him the skills of backcountry travel and the value of time spent in the backcountry.....

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longhorn1

Observer
A bit of snow out West. They closed Trail Ridge Road due to the smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire (West of Fort Collins and dipping into RMNP closing back country camping and trails. Hoping the snow puts the fire out or gets it under control and the road gets re-opened or my day passes will just be souvenirs. The Trail Ridge God's have not been very nice to me over the past 3 years?
 

Foy

Explorer
Amazing family story: I recalled in the article I'd read that the late Tom Duffy was himself the son of a chopper pilot. On Sunday morning the 6th, his father, Mark Duffy, flew a series of missions at Granite Peak, the highest point in Montana, rescuing two injured climbers. A third climber was killed when the boulder his belay was attached to gave way. Mark Duffy then returned to Bozeman for the scheduled funeral services for his son Tom on Sunday afternoon.

Tom Dufffy was a scholarship basketball player at Montana State in the early 2000s. At 6' 11", he was a natural and very athletic star. He missed around half of his conference's games each season due to a strict adherence to his Seventh Day Adventists faith. Later in his too-short life, he served his church community in a variety of leadership roles locally and statewide.

RIP Tom Duffy, and heaps of praises to his grieving family, especially father Mark Duffy, for his unwavering service to Montana residents and visitors alike.

Foy
 
JD.....the first snows of the "winter" season fell two nights ago.....something special about that first snow.....like the first kiss I sometimes think.....

Foy.....great write up.....sometimes you remind me of Jon Meacham on MSNBC.....adding an aspect of travel, history, or geography that others (such as me) are not able to do so well.....please keep following and please keep educating us.....thank you.....



This will be my last post with random pictures from the past.....we are back on the road now seeing what we can see.....and as I post here this morning we are camped once again along the meanders of the wild & wonderful Yellowstone River looking out at majestic snow covered mountain peaks.....and this is our journey.....

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This one is Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park.....it's a must do hike if you make it to the park.....this is one of my favorite pictures taken in the park.....yes.....majestic.....

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Rock climbing with some friends at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia.....

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Ice climbing with friends in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.....

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Crossing a crevasse on the slopes of the Cascade Mountains as we pursued the summit of Mount Rainier (14,411').....

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Sharing the summit with one of my sons.....I don't recall which peak this was / is but I believe one of these two.....Rucu (15,413 ft) or Guagua (15,696 ft), Ecuador, South America. These were both warm up climbs for the volcanoes of Ecuador....

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Climbing with a buddy on Granite Peak (12,807').....the highest peak in Montana.....

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These are penitentes in the Andes Mountains which are encountered on the route to Aconcaqua.....Argentinas highest peak at 22,841'.....

From Wikipedia.....

"Penitentes, or nieves penitentes (Spanish for "penitent-shaped snows"), are snow formations found at high altitudes. They take the form of elongated, thin blades of hardened snow or ice, closely spaced and pointing towards the general direction of the sun."

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Foy

Explorer
You're too kind, Jerry, and I'm sure some of my friends will get a kick out of me being associated with MSNBC!

Turns out Tom Duffy was the son AND grandson of helicopter pilots. Tom having passed away at age 40, doing a bit of math makes me curious about his father's training background. If father Mark Duffy was in his early 30s when Tom was born in 1980, he'd be around the age of a lot of Vietnam veteran helicopter pilots. And if his grandfather was in his 30s when father Mark was born, he would be around the age of WWII fixed wing pilots.

Veterans or not, clearly the Duffys are an extraordinary family and my heart aches over their tremendous loss.

Foy
 

Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
Jerry looking at your climbing photos I wonder what was the highest peak you summited?


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