NOLS Waddington Range Mountaineering

NOLS: North Cascades Mountaineering

The past 30 days were spent in the mountains and valleys of Washington state, instructing a NOLS North Cascades Mountaineering course. Ten students and one other instructor and I headed out for 30 days of glacier mountaineering. But first we had to get there.


From the dense forrests we climbed up and up and up towards the snow in our not-so-trail-friendly plastic mountaineering boots. We had a ration periods of 8 days, then two 10-day ration periods. With each re-ration we had to descend into the lush forrest to get another 10 days of food. Not easy to add 20lbs of food to a pack that was just starting to feel good, and then start heading up again. But I was always happy to be heading back up towards the snow and rocky peaks.


The work was hard, but the living was simple, as I like it. Keep yourself dry, warm, fed and rested. No phones, no television, just the team and the surrounding world. Here are my favorite pics:

During my week off, I flew east to NYC to see my brother, Chad, play in his band, Dispatch for two of the three sold out shows at Madison Square Garden. It was an unreal experience to be in New York after this last month in the wilderness with our small team, and then seeing 20,000 wild fans singing my brother's songs.

I am now back in Washington getting ready to head out on another 30 day expedition. This time, we are heading to the Waddington Range of British Columbia. We spend more time on the glaciers here, getting resupplied not by van or horse packer, but by... ....helicopter. And we get into the wilderness not by van, but by ... ... float plane. Yes, I am very excited. It will be fun. All the best to you all.

New Job!

I've just been offered, and have accepted, a job for the entire school year of 2007-2008. I will be a teachers' assistant at The Learning Center for Deaf Children in Framingham, Massachusetts. My sign language skills have a long way to go but I was able to get through the half hour interview all in sign. It's a bit daunting right now to consider being in one place for 10 months and to be using a foreign language most of the day but I imagine there will be a pretty steep learning curve, at least that's what I hope...

Florida Outward Bound

Down to Key Largo, Florida after two full days at home. Sort of felt like I hadn't been home, though magically, I had less bagage, and quicker flights. It was great to see old friends, and familiar boats. The winds were good, as were the students (ages 15 and 16), and we all had an excellent time.


I am now home trying to sort everything out. Not an easy task after being away for six months having been in Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Florida. Thanks, again for all your interest. I am flattered and you all make it more worthwhile. To Washington State this summer for NOLS mountaineering courses. The next few weeks will determine what comes next fall. We shall see...

All the best to you all.
Ben

Hawaii

Hawaii. Back in the states. Flew into Honolulu, checked out the Pearl Harbor memorial sights and then started driving around with another Ice friend, Andrea, who I randomly met in the Sydney airport, to discover we were both headed to Honolulu. Cancelling my rented car, we started the drive around the island in her rental car. O'ahu is a beautiful island and we enjoyed our driving and little side hikes. I camped that night and then I hit the surf in the morning for a few hours before my flight to Maui. It was fun, there were lots of surfers, and thankfully, I managed to stay out of their way.


Then onto Maui, were I spent the first night in a campsite on Haleakala, halfway to the summit. It was a beautiful twilight drive up to the camp. The bright stars were out and as I drove up the mountain, I slowly climbed above the hanging clouds. It was magnificent.

The next morning I awoke at 4am to catch the light changing before the sunrise. It was again, spectacular. After the sunrise, I hiked around in the crater for a few hours, before heading down to the coast to do the famous "drive to hana" and just past it to where I spent my second and last night in Maui. The drive was excellent, and I had to pull over many times to take pictures.

Sunrise:

Hawaii was an unexpected beauty. I wish I had had more time to explore. So it goes, I hope to return, perhaps on the backside of another trip to the ice...

Katoomba, Blue Mountains

Finally up to date. On Monday, I met up with General Assistant Tracy, who is also staying in Sydney, and we took a train up to the Blue Mountains. They were beautiful and we hiked for hours along the cliff top and then dropped into the forest, always on the lookout for deadly snakes and spiders.

After a long day, we played some backgammon with my new travel backgammon board. I was on top of my game as the picture will show those who know the game. It is unimportant to note that I had only taught Tracy how to play the night before. She called me a "dork" but I couldn't miss capturing the moment.

No more triathlons planned for me, though Caroline has one this weekend, and Jamie has his cricket finals. Otherwise, we're going to the symphony orchestra tonight to hear the show "Antarctica" complete with pictures and narrations from Robert Scott's expedition. We are very excited.

On Sunday I'm off to Hawaii for a few days. It was less than a hundred dollars through Raytheon's travel plans to stop in Hawaii, so I couldn't pass it up. Then home for two full days before going to Florida to teach a week long Outward Bound sailing course. The adventure continues...On a side note it looks like the Denali expedition will not be happening. The leader of our expedition got a job as a volunteer park ranger that same month, and it was understandably too good of an opportunity for him to pass up. Hopefully some time in the future I'll find myself on the mountain...

Hope springtime is almost on the way in New England!

Sydney, Australia

I am currently in Sydney, Australia with my cousin Jamie and his wife Caroline. Got here Friday evening. Saturday was a training day. Yes, Caroline, the triathlete, had managed to get me a number Sunday's olympic distance triathlon. How could I refuse when she had emailed me about it a few days before I left New Zealand. Biking with the "tri-team" at 6:30AM then to surf swim practice of entering and exiting the water. The practice involved working on the techniques of diving under waves and body surfing them back to the shore when the swim had been completed. It was excellent to be in the warm water. And the waves were quite fun.

Caroline took excellent care of me. She somehow found me a sweet bike, bike shoes, a triathlon wetsuit, and a race suit. That's right, I hadn't been on a bike or worn goggles for half a year, but I was going to look the part, at least as far as my equipment was concerned.

The actual competition was a lot of fun. I was far from being competitive, but I pushed all I could with what I had and had a great time and I finished in 2 hours and 29 minutes...and I've now gone "international." Caroline finished twenty minutes before me and got second in her age group! And if it weren't for her chain coming off, she would have taken first!

After the race we went to Jamie's cricket semi finals. Here he is as he patiently waits for his turn to his bat. Finally Jamie made it up to bad, and after he scored 11 runs, the other team could see that he was on his way for a century, so the game was called. They won, and are now moving on to the FINALS! Quite an exciting weekend!

Able Tasman and NZ Departure

To Able Tasman National Park, Scottie and I went. Camped in a campground for $4 - a nice spot on the water. It was a pleasant night until the rain started, which I had feared it would. My sleeping bag was in a bivi sack, so it held the rain out for a bit. But somehow in my confused sleepy state, the side zipper got left open while I was messing with the sack's mesh screen. So I woke up at 5 am a little wet. At 5:45, I tossed in the towel, got up and studied my sign language dictionary until it was light enough to move on in the rain.

Drove to the Able Tasman area, and then ran into the park for about an hour and 15 minutes. I figured running was the best way to see as much of the park as possible in a short amount of time. The bays and water and islands were beautiful. More tropical than Stewart Island was. I ran on and on, hoping to get around the next ridge for another view, but soon it was time to turn around. Then back I went taking some pictures as I went.

Back to Nelson for the night, and then I made my way towards Christchurch, picking up my friend Ragnar along the way. The weather was quite different going over Lewis Pass. Luckily, Scottie was up to the challenge and we persevered.

Back to Christchurch for a few days of rest and relaxation with Ice friends who were also about to head on. Went back to the Antarctica exhibit near the gardens. It was very interesting to look upon all the artifacts and pictures and displays knowing I had been where all these expeditions were trying to go. Then a little walk around the botanical gardens. So beautiful. I loved the trees, so well taken care of. Finally found my favorite tree.

It was strange to be in Christchurch, about to leave. Christchurch seemed to be where it all began. Fall was coming and the cool breeze and the leaves changing color reminded me that it is a time of change. I love the trees, so nice to have my hand on a living plant.

New Zealand was amazing. Wonderful people (especially John and Jill!), spectacular sights, and now this past month makes wonderful memories. Australia is next to visit my cousin Jamie and his wife Caroline.

Glaciers and Pictin

From Tea Anau and Milford Sound, we headed to Wanaka in Mt. Aspriring National Park. We were there for a few days visiting friends and figuring out our plans from there. We decided to steer Scottie towards the glaciers on the west coast.

To the Fox (below) and Franz Joseph Glaciers we went. They were interesting but less than spectacular after spending 4.5 months around snow and ice. Had we been actually on them, the story might have been different. And as it was, the rain was coming down quite steadily.

After the glaciers, we eventually found ourselves back in Christchurch. It was sadly time for Krista to head back to the US of A, and for Ben to fly Scottie without a copilot up the north-east coast.

To Pictin, the north-east corner of the south island, I went. Beautiful inlets, bays, islands and such. New Zealand continues to amaze me.

Later that afternoon, I found the New Zealand Outward Bound headquarters. I introduced myself as an instructor from the states and I was immediately welcomed and taken care of. They fed me dinner and even let me row out in their dingy to check out their boats. Such hospitality!

Ran a bit of the Queen Charlotte Track the following day and then headed west.

Milford Sound

To Milford Sound:

After the Kepler Track, Krista and I figured it would be worth driving the Milford Road even if we couldn't get on the track. So into Scottie we went, north into fjordland. The views were spectacular and I don't think I've ever been on a road with such magestic views. I had to stop every five minutes to take another picture. It was really incredible.

We arrived at the carpark and were greeted with even more stunning views. There were boat cruises that went into the sound, but being that you had to pay for them, we figured that the drive would be enough. However, once we got there, we could not turn around without seeing the area from the water. And so, off we went, into this incredible fjord.

It was just incredible. The shear cliffs, the plant life coming out of the cliffs, the waterfalls, the clear water. It was all amazing. The pictures tell the story. We went all the way to the Tasman Sea and then sadly turned back. Amazing place.