Category Archives: Hike

Strolling the Neighborhood

By jimblock | Published December 3, 2011

My wife and I like to take short walks most days. Rarely do we venture too far from home. I always carry a camera, and I sometimes use it. Here are some photos I took during November while strolling our “neighborhood”—Etna, Enfield, and Canaan.

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Thorung La Conquered

By jimblock | Published April 19, 2011

We spent the night before at the end of the world, or so it seemed.  The Annapurna Circuit trail we had hiked for 10 days ended in a canyon as the walls closed in on us.  Only the hint of a path zigzagging up the steep slope behind the lodge revealed a possible route over the pass. Tomorrow was to be the high point of our trek, both figuratively and literally. Wake up time was 2:30 AM and after breakfast we would be gasping thin air as we slowly climbed to nearly 18,000 feet starting in the dark.

Breakfast lasted longer than planned—it is the way things work in Nepal. We finally left the lodge at Thorung Phedi at 4 AM headlamps lighting the way. We thankfully carried only cameras. The sherpas carried our packs and the porters carried the sherpa’s packs now that the canned food, water, and bananas no longer weighed them down. Step, deep breath, step, deep breath, and so it would go for many hours.

We reached High Camp at 5 AM. Not much to cheer about—still a long way to go. But it was good for a 10 minute break. It took about that long to catch our breath. The dim light made for some interesting and challenging photography handholding at 1/2 sec and ISO 1600 with just a hint of fill flash. I’m not sure why a map was being consulted; the only way was up.

Eventually light returned as we climbed higher and higher. Here is a 5-shot panoramic image taken just before 6 AM. Those tiny “ants” near the center of the photo are the members of our group. I had fallen behind in order to get some photos of the morning light at this spectacular spot.

We climbed onward seeing many false passes ahead, like the one in the image above. Eventually we saw a large group of prayer flags and a bit after 8 AM we had reached the 17,769 foot pass. Photos were taken by others of us and by us of others as cameras were passed around to document the accomplishment. Here are the 8 trekkers, and the 5 sherpas that got us there.

I conclude this post with a tribute to our leader, Chhongba Sherpa. This is the third time he has guided me on treks through Nepal. He is truly an exceptional leader and a generous person.

Stay tuned for more from this adventure.

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Home from Nepal

By jimblock | Published April 16, 2011

A group of eight trekkers successfully made it over the 17,769 ft Thorung La (pass) earlier this month with lots of support from a great group of five sherpas and six porters, especially our leader, Chhongba Sherpa. We did the classic Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, circling the Annapurna mountain range from Besi Shar to Jomson with a side trip to the beautiful village of Marpha. Before retuning to Kathmandu we crossed the Phewa Tal (lake) to hike up to the World Peace Pagoda high above Pokhara.

Many more words and images from this wonderful trip will find their way onto this site over the coming months. Suffice it to say we had a very compatible group, a tiring but rewarding trek, and many marvelous shared experiences. Here we are at the Hotel Tibet in Kathmandu just before boarding the bus to Besi Shar. This photo was taken by Pasang Sherpa who also appears in the photo through the magic of Photoshop.

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Snowshoe Hike down SRK Greenway Trail 10

By jimblock | Published January 24, 2011

Lee Carvalho led a group of 5 hikers down the SRK Greenway Trail 10 from near Winslow State Park in Wilmot to Proctor Academy in Andover. It was snowing when we started but by the end we saw some glimpses of sun. Lee is near the center of the photo below while Deb is photographic a pair who planned to head uphill toward Mount Kearsarge.


Before we entered the woods we passed Fieldstone Farm. A pair of horses retreated back to near the barn then watched us cautiously. If you click the image below you will be taken to a version of this photo that you can zoom in and explore in detail along with another panoramic image from the trip.

The woods were quiet. We passed cellar holes and the remains of fireplaces—one quite impressive. We hiked along snowmobile trails but only saw one—shortly after I commented that I was surprised we didn’t see any snowmobiles. We saw very little open water until we reached the Blackwater River. Below is a patch of water in a small stream surrounded by smooth mounds of snow.

Here is a slide show from the hike. Two of the images have been edited to simplify details like a painter might do. And the last shows blowing snow on the side of Kearsarge from a Proctor Academy field after the snow stopped.

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