Corsica

In the Fall 01 2013 a couple of friends from grad-school days and I decided to plan a week-or-so long hiking trip. The tree of us, Stefano "Italian Stallion" Recchia, Andrej and I had met on trips with the outdoor club at Columbia and we enjoyed exploring new places by hiking and camping there. We were now spread all over: I was in New York, Stefano in Cambridge, England and Andrei in Italy. We decided on Corsica which some friends had suggested to Stefano as a great hiking destination. I was a little puzzled; how could a small island in the Mediterranean afford 10 days of hiking. Once we got there and got going, boy, bid I discover I was wrong. Corsica has the GR20, considered the toughest multi-day trek in Europe.

Hiking in Corsica

  

The GR20

The GR20

The GR20 runs the length of Corsica North-South and is about 180 kms long. The whole trek takes about two weeks to complete, and since we only had about a week, we decided to do the more difficult and hilly Northern part starting at Calenzana and ending in Vizzavona. There is a train that runs from Vizzavona that takes one to Ajaccio.

Corsica

I arrived in Calvi, a port in the Northern part of Corsica and planned to meet Steffano and Andrej, a Slovakian friend of ours from grad-school at Columbia now living in Italy, in Calenzana.  Calvi is about 15 kms from Calenzana, and to warm up for the trek, I decided to hoof it -which people I met along the way for directions thought crazy. It was a long and tiring walk but it helped me get a feel for the island. The Corsicans speak French but also Corsican which is closer to Italian. As I wound my way up from the port-city of Calvi and slowly started ascending to Calenzana, views of the Northern valley/bowl opened up a view that encompassed Calvi, Calenzana and a few other small towns that dotted the rugged mountainside. I also got a glimpse of the craggy tall hills to the south we would soon ascend.

The view of Calvi on the way to Calenzana

Day 1 to Refugio d'Ortu

The trail is dotted with refugios which are huts with bunk-beds, kitchens and some provisions. There are enough of these that one can hike the trail without carrying a tent and with minimal food. Our first days's trek was to the Refugio'Ortu which takes up up to the main ridge -an ascent of 1300 ms. The day was beautiful and we had some lovely views from out lunch spot.

Andrei, Stefano and me up above Calvi

Lunch spot on Day 1

Refugio d'Ortu

Day 2 to Refugio de Carrozu

Climbing up 4000 ft on the first day made us realize that we were in for some rugged hiking, and we were not disappointed.  The second day was even longer that the first day and it took us to the heart of the highest crags at about 2000 ms (6000 ft). The views were spectacular and we went up and down over some peaks.

Refugio di Carrozzu

Day 3 to Refuge d'Asto Stagnu

As we walked through the towering pinnacles, we occasionally caught glimpses of the Mediterranean  in the distance.

Day 4 to Refugio de Tigjettu

Day 5 Circque de Solitude

This was the toughest day of the trip as we have to descend into a hard-to-access valley aptly called "Circue de Solitude". It is so steep down that one has to descend holding on to chains that are bolted to the side of the mountain.
After a brutal 8 hours of hiking, we get to our campsite which was a small sheep and cattle farm. The farmer also ran a tiny restaurant where he served up food eked out from his farm. We were ravenous at this point we devour everything the farmer threw on the table:  rustic bread, local wine, and a huge bowl of pasta with at mouth-watering lamb-sauce.

Sheep and Cheese Farmer's hut

Farmer's Hut

Cirque de Solitude

With Andrei (the Martian) and Stefano (the Italian Stallion)

Day 6 to Pietra Pena

The pinnacles along the way are spectacular. The valley of the Cirque de Solitude required us to descend rock-faces so steep that we had to hold on to chains bolted on to the rocks. All this with boots and a full pack. I'd climbed rock so was used to it. Andrej who was not got quite a scare from the descent.

I now got to appreciate why the valley is called Cirque de Solitude. The pinnacles and rock-faces around the valley are so steep that people historically rarely ventured into it. Only after the GR20 bolted and chained the descent is there regular human traffic.

Crazy Americans

I'd walked the first couple of days in my sandals (my trusted Chacos) but the toll started to tell and I had to switch to the boots I'd brought along as a backup. Many of the European hikes could believe that there was someone hiking in Sandals. They all seemed to dress for hiking de-riguer -hardy boots, hiking-poles, sun-hats, hiking pants- and shook their heads at me; one asked me if I was American in a tone that said "only American's would be crazy enough to dress like this :)

Sadly my boots had not been used in years and mold had gotten to the glue. After half a day they started falling apart. We had to use most of the duct-tape we had to strap the sole on to the boots. I was worried that they may fall apart. Luckily the Castel de Vergio refuge we reached that night was very well equipped as it used to be a ski-station and so had a road leading to it. I promptly bought myself a pair of boots.

I also decided to try hiking-poles after some prodding from my European friends -we had been amongst the slowest movers downhill- and they were convinced that I'd move faster with them. Sure enough they sped me up considerably and we were not the laggards that we had been after that point.

Day 7 to Ciottulu di i Mori

After many days of looking at granite pillars and walls, the day was a welcome change. We wound our way through beech-trees to a high grassy meadow with the picturesque Lake de Nino. It was a lovely lunch spot with a nice cool swim as we watched wild horses grazing around us.

Refugio de Ciottolu de i Mori

Day 8 

The weather turned for the worse while we were at Mori. A thunderstorm arrived overnight and it was raining as we set off in the morning. The weathermen predicted lightning so we had to change plans, as the days hike would have taken us up to one of the highest points in the hike to Capitellu at 7000 ft and to the Col de haute Route.

We chose a less exciting but more protected route to Pietra Piana. While descending to the refuge at Pietra Piana through a valley, the thunderstorm hit  full-force. I'd forgotten my rain clothes in the hurry to pack for the trip and had to make do with some  plastic bags I had managed to salvage at the refugio i' Mori. There was thunder and lightning all around us scaring the daylights of some fellow German hikers. Having grown up with the monsoons in India, the rivers of water we had to wade through along the hiking trail felt very familiar. After wading through streams of faster and faster flowing water we luckily came across a farmer's hut where we waited out the storm then headed thankfully to the refugio Pietra Piana which was taken care of by an old cranky French caretaker.

Day 9 to Vizzavona

The last days hike was a leisurely walk from Pietra Piana to Vizzavona.  We descended through a long valley from where we could see Vizzavona in the distance. We were tired at this point, and while Vizzavona looked enticingly near, it took about four hours of gentle descent along the side of the valley to finally drag out weary but happy feet to Vizzavona and civilization. After a nice regular lunch I too a mountain-train to Ajjacio through some spectacular scenery.

What a trip!

Summer's End at the Catskills

Summer's End

The lovely mild Summer of 2014 is drawing to a close with a heat spell. For two weeks it has been the hottest I remember all Summer. Happily my record of spending a lot of time outside continues: last Friday -the last of the Summer Fridays-  was spent in the Gunks climbing with Andrei. The weekend after Labor day Becca, a friend who used to live in NYC and now lives in Dobbs Ferry decided to meet up and go camping in the Adirondacks.

The Catskills

I took Monday off from work, rented a car from an agency at Laguardia airport and we set off Saturday to the Catskills for a weekend camping.

Saturday

Becca had to come into NYC for work that Saturday, She was scheduled to be done around 7 so we'd planned to set off around 7:30. The trip started with complications as the car-rental in LaGuardia wouldn't accept the Chase Debit/Credit card I use normally. I had to go back home to pick up a regular credit card before they would rent me a car, so we started off a couple of hours behind schedule. Becca had to meet me and she had trouble with the buses to LaGuardia, So we finally headed out around 8:30. Becca was so tired after her long week that she fell asleep in the car. We got to the Woodland Valley campground in the Catskills after midnight -well after the 9 PM the campground recommends. Mercifully there were plenty of spots open and the campground wasn't locked off. We found a nice camping spot where we could also park the car.

Woodland Valley Campground

We were quite tired at this point so set up camp quickly despite it being Becca's first time camping -she was quite adept at helping set up the site- and went to bed. We were weary from the long week so slept like logs and got up only around 9AM, well past sunrise when most of the campground gets going. We had a relaxed breakfast at our site and around 10 AM got going. We decided to do the Wittenberg - Cornell - Slide Mtn. loop which would take us over two 3,500 peaks and the 4,000 ft Slide Mtn, the highest point in the Catskills. The trail is a rugged 15 mile loop and perfect for a two-day hike.


We set off slowly as Becca had to get used to trudging up the mountains with a new very-large backpack but we made steady progress. Nice places with views to stop and take water-breaks were few and far in-between and so it was a steady 3 hour trudge straight up nearly 2,500 ft to the top of Wittenberg Mtn. When we finally got there we were weary but the spectacular views made up for it.  

The view from Wittenberg

We ran into a very friendly guy at the top of Mt. Wittenberg who gave us advice on camping-sites and took pictures for us. We were in a great mood -we hung out there for a while, took pictures, took in the view, munched on some some trail-mix and after a well deserved break got going again with the top of Cornell Mtn., a half hour away, our destination for lunch.

On top of Wittenberg

We made it to the top of Cornell, but we were neither hungry nor were the views any good, so we decided to press on. We set off on the long descent down before the 1000 ft, ascent to the top of Slide Mtn. On the ascent to Slide, we spotted a nice sunny clearing and decided to make it the lunch spot. After a pita, hummus, cheese, cucumbers and sausage lunch we decided that a siesta was called for. Our siesta put us in a quiet mellow mood and we could have stayed at that mellow sunny spot all day, but Slide Mtn. called. We set off in our post lunch quietus and reached the top of Slide Mtn. in a quiet and mellow mood. Becca happily -unlike me- perked up for pictures when we got to the highest point of our camping trip where we met this unusual but lovely and interesting couple from South Jersey on top: Kyla and Matt took our picture next to a plaque on top of Slide Mtn (you can see the effect of the long trek and petulant thought on my face -what a contrast to Becca's nice smile !)  

Slide Mountain

From Slide, our plan was to walk down into the next valley down from Slide Mtn. and find a campground or some flat spots near some streams where we could camp for the night.On the way down from Slide Mtn. we came across a nice opening in the woods that afforded excellent views from a steep ledge which hosted an old dead tree. Becca decided that the dead tree's branches made for a nice seat!

Going down from Slide

Despite the fact that it had rained the night before all the streams on the valley down from Slide had no water in them! We kept walking further and further in search for water until it was dusk and we we were at the road on the valley-floor below Slide Mtn. We had been walking at this point for nearly 10 hours and were at a loss as to how to proceed, not to mention tired. Interestingly and luckily, at the parking lot on the road, we ran into Kyla and Matt who were packing their car and enjoying some PBRs (which, after the long days trek, made me very envious). When we mentioned our predicament they generously gave us a gallon of their water.

The Wittenberg-Slide loop has a unpleasant two miles of hiking alongside the road from where we stood to the next parking-lot up North. I'd wanted to avoid having to hike that bit, so when Kyla and Matt mentioned they were driving up North, I asked if they could give us a ride to the next parking lot. They happily obliged! When we got to the second parking-lot it was almost dark. Kyla was a bit concerned, and generously asked if they could drive us to the Woodland Valley Campground since they were driving to Phoenicia which is close to the campground where our car was. After having enviously watching Matt down his PBR the thought of some beers in Phoenicia was very enticing, so we took up Kyla's offer and got a ride to Phoenicia which is about five miles from the Woodland Valley campground.

On the way we got to know Kyla and Matt better: Matt was a carpenter in the small South Jersey town they were from and Kyla worked at a bar there for half the year and spent the rest of the year traveling -what a great life. We discussed Equador, and Becca shared stories about Brazil with Kyla.
The music they were listening intrigued me too: it turned out to be a bluegrass band called Railroad Earth I'd gone to listen to in New York with some folk I met on a camping trip while in graduate school in Columbia. Here's the sound. What cool folk Kyla and Matt were!

We decided to splurge, and decided to eat at a burger-joint in Phoenicia rather than settle for our meagre camping-rations. Once happily sated with beer and dinner, there was this one issue we needed to deal with: we were still five miles away from the campground. Phoenicia apparently has no cabs, so we had to ask around the bar for rides until one of the guys working there offered us a ride in exchange for a beer -what a good exchange.

Monday

Becca had not slept well and woke up not entirely rested. She'd not blown up her sleeping-pad and so could feel the uneven camp-floor all night. And all our beers from the night before had predictably, got me snoring. After a quiet breakfast, we decided to to do a short hike to the Giant-Ledge a couple of hours away from the campground. It was a uneventful gentle climb to the ledge up a river-valley and then on a shingle-track. Becca used the walk to revive herself from the bad-night's sleep and I walked just ahead of her range-of-vision to so that she wouldn't be reminded of one of the causes! Once we got to the ledge the the lovely views under the picture-perfect skies perked us up.

View from the Giant Ledge

Becca on the Giant ledge

Chillin on the Giant Ledge

After spending some time taking in the views, we decided to head back to camp, pack up and find a place for lunch on the way back home. Becca spotted this nice spot on the Espous creek on our drive back, and we had a lovely al-fresco lunch after a quick dip in the creek. We dug into the couscous and curry that had been slated for Sunday dinner, followed by dark-chocolate. Becca decided that she needed to at least nibble at the Dorritos her host-mom had presented her for the trip!

Lunch on the Esopus river. Note the little cairns!

We then drove back home after a lovely trip. The drive back went smoothly with no traffic and we got to Dobbs-Ferry where Becca lives at around 7PM and I got back to NYC around 8 PM. What a lovely way to spend a weekend!

Summer in New York

Summer 2014

New York has such a different in the Summer. People unwind, let down their hair, and for a brief few months stop rushing around and are friendly to strangers, Nothing exemplifies this more than Midsummer Swing, a month long festival of al-fresco music and dancing at the Lincoln Center Bandshell.
It has also been one of the mildest and most pleasant summers in memory and I can count the hot days in one hand. There used to be about three days each year I'd rue not getting myself an AC, but this year I've not missed it at all.

It also has been a very outdoorsy Summer with the surfeit of nice days. There has been an abundance of outdoor dance and music events: Midsummer Swing, Salsa o the Hudson at 72nd street, Moondance, with its various music on 42nd. The lively Tuesday night salsa on 14th st, and varied live bands at Bryant Park. It has been lovely to be outside and dance.

Hiking and Climbing

I got out on three hikes with the Columbia Hiking Club via trains to Breakneck Ridge, Tuxedo and Harriman. I had a lovely time and met, as usual, myriad interesting people from different walks of life. There were Olivia, a French grad. student, Lu a girl from China studying at Barnard both of whom enjoyed food; Michael and a whole cohort from a community college in Queens. What struck me about the cohort was how urban they were; they had grown up in the city and talked incessantly -the quiet of the woods, insects, snakes were alien to them- about anime, manga, video-games and life.

Also went out climbing most weekends with Andrei or his dad Joe (Iosef). Been lovely -if not hair-rising. I learned to lead-climb and be on the sharp edge of the rope. I realized there is a lot to learn in lead-climbing: anchors, gear-placement, rope-management and reading the climb. My first full lead was the climb Betty on the Traps - a classic two pitch 5.3 with plenty of protection.

Betty

Betty

Betty

Andrei an I made a fun trip to the Adirondaks for a long weekend. We climbed Friday and Saturday but returned Saturday night as it started raining.

Then I led the first pitch of  Shipman's Arrete n the Adirondacks which is a 5.3. The second pitch is a 5.7 that Andrei led. I managed to face-climb the second pitch lean, much to my surprise. I am learning to trust my feet more!

Shipman's Arrete

Shipman's Arrete 

My arms have gotten stronger -I can hold on to smaller holds, longer, and I am more sure of my feet. I seem to climb up to 5-6 comfortably but start flailing at 5-7. I am determined to get stronger over the Winter by going to the Gym and pushing myself while there.

Food

I bought myself an induction hot-plate and a nice pressure-cooker and it has transformed my cooking. The hot-plate allows one to program the food-temperature or heat and set a timer, allowing for unattended cooking. The pressure cooker dramatically reduces cooking time. The combination means that I can now toss a bunch of ingredients into the cooker and put it on the hotplate; program the induction hot-plate and we are done. For example a chicken-soup I like just involves tossing a whole-chicken, celery, carrots, onion, cucumber, bay-leaf and stock into the pressure-cooker, heating it on high for five minutes until it reaches pressure, programming the plate to simmer to maintain the pressure for 20 minutes, and we are done. The whole process can be completed in 10 minutes! The pressure-cooker also came with a recipe book of 50 recipes that has started me experimenting with dishes that I have not hitherto made. 

In addition I have started a slow trend to start eating more healthy food and cut out the junk I am used to eating. It started with the realization that I weighed about 20 pounds more than the ideal 155 I feel most happy at. Exercise alone seem to make little headway in losing the extra weight. Nutrition experts universally seemed to agree that excess weight is due to eating very-processed foods: sugars, flour and sweeteners. So am attempting to cut down sugar, artificial-sweeteners and reduce foods made from flours and processed grain. 

Summer

It's  been one of the happiest Summers I can remember. Fundamental to this has been the hours spent outside, healthy eating, living in the moment and enjoying the lovely Summer.

Puerto RIco

The Wedding

I returned last week from my first visit to Puerto Rico for Mike and Silvana's wedding.
Puerto Rico was an eye-opener; I'd visited its sister island The Dominican Republic a
couple of years ago and expected PR to be similar. It was anything but! The island
was very americanized -parts of San Juan made me feel like I was in Miami;
tourism was its only industry; there were cars everywhere; people preferred to
eat meat and fast-food over fish; a sizable number of people spoke very
little Spanish.

The wedding was in Vieques, a small island a few miles off the main island. I went there with Stefano who'd joined me in NYC from Cambridge and we stayed in a small nice B&B in Isabel Segundo, the island's  main town. It was an outdoor wedding, and it was warm. I was planning on going casual, but Stefano insisted that we wear suits!

With Stefano, the Italian Stallion at the wedding

The wedding was at a lovely house in the W resort. The house, its lawn and pool overlooked the sea; was a lovely setting.

Mike gave a nice, lighthearted speech at the dinner

The Party

Gloria, who I met on the small and short flight from San Juan to Vieques, was staying at the W, the wedding venue
and so came to the party after with her Colombian friends. They were a lot of fun, good dancers and really livened the party up.
We all did an impromptu pool-dip in the middle of all the celebrations!

With the wedding-crashers (Gloria and her Colombian friends)

The bar next to the pool, after a midnight splash prompted by Gloria

Puerto Rico

After the wedding I went on a week's tour of the main island of Puerto Rico. I took an hour-long ferry over choppy waters to Fajardo, and decided to walk up the coast to the NE peninsula about 5 or so miles North. I quickly realized that Puerto Rico had a very strong LA-like car-culture; public transport, or the idea of walking did not exist. I had to make my way up overgrown sidewalks and through curious stray dogs. 

It turned out that I was there in between seasons and everything seemed shutdown. I took me a few hours to find a place to sleep in Cabezas -I was rueing not bringing my camping gear- and when I did find a place, I was the only person in a run-down motel. The next day I spent a futile few hours trying to find a bus to take me to Fajardo. I finally gave up and called a cab to take me to a car-rental where I rented a small car for three days. Suddenly I was mobile, but in an isolated, air-conditioned cocoon, with the radio keeping me company.

I first drove down the East coast, and found myself in this lovely beach town called Maunabo. Again I found myself to be the only person at this old tourist hostel there. Not only did I have the hostel to myself, but I had the lovely beach it overlooked to myself too.  The hostel had great character with cats and chicken running all over the place.

The view from the hostel at Maunabo

I had interesting company at the hostel

The drive along the southern coast to Ponce

The next day I decided to drive along the southern coast to Ponce, then up to the central mountains. After a 8 lane highway to Ponce along the coast,  the roads to the central mountains were winding, lush with vegetation and slow. I spent the evening in a small town called Adjuntas. It seemed that every small town in PR has a central square around which the town revolves.

The main square in Adjuntas

 The guide-book promised some hiking around the neighboring Mt. Punta, the highest point in PR. I drove there the next day but was unable to find the hiking trail that led to the top -it had vanished because of non-use. There was, however, a steep four-wheeler road to the top.  I climbed up the steep road but sadly the top was emblazoned with communication towers and even my view was obscured by rain-clouds that moved in.

Sadly clouds rolled in just as I walked up to the top of Mt. Punta

The highest point in Puerto Rico, Mt. Punta

I continued on and then drove up to the northern coast through the mountains. Then I headed East to San Juan for the weekend before heading back to NYC

Lunch spot in the Central Mountains

San Juan

San Juan the capital was eerie. Parts of it along the beach felt made me feel that I was in Miami. The area I stayed, a little south of the beaches, called Santurce was more gritty and reminded me more of the Puerto Rican neighborhoods of NYC. Some big differences: unlike NYC and the Dominican Republic  there were no little bodegas on each street-corner; instead there was Walmart and another big supermarket. Sad!

Amazingly I ran into two people I knew in the three days I was in San Juan. Laura, Silvana's cousin from the wedding came to stay at the hostel I was in, and then at the Nuorican Cafe, a spot for good Latin Jazz and Salsa, I ran into a colleague from work in NYC. Small world!