Get the Ark (Overflowing Waterfalls of Tompkins County)

I didn't sleep the night before Labor Day - booming explosions and bright flashes kept me awake.

One point three inches of rain?  Why yes, it's time for Waterfall Tour Extravaganza To Determine Most Awesome Waterfall 2013!

(Keywords:  I'm visiting Ithaca and I want to know the most popular waterfalls to visit.  Heh.)

First up:  Ithaca Falls.  Always a strong contender for Most Awesome Waterfall because it's not in a crowded park - it's just on the side of the road.

ithaca falls - typical flow

ithaca falls - 9/1/2013

I'm going to give this a 8.5/10.0.  We've got a super strong flow and a decent amount of spray.  Water color is white and foamy.  Gets an additional 0.5 points for the decent flooding in Fall Creek.  Still, I'm not getting that sort of "OMG I'm going to get blown off my feet by the power of that sucker."

Next up:  Lucifer Falls at Treman State Park.  YEAH BABY!  9.5/10.

lucifer falls from overlook - normal flow

lucifer falls - 9/1/2013

This got a 9.0 in the initial evaluation, but the Russian judge bumped it up an additional half point for the comparison between these two photos.  We've got increased width in the falls and a rainbow from all of the spray.  Lucifer Falls is bringing its game to capture the title of Most Awesome Waterfall!

Style points for water-based trail erosion closing the Gorge Trail.  This was as close as we could get:

lucifer falls from gorge trail - normal/ low flow

lucifer falls from gorge trail - 9/1/2013

Whew.  Is that spray from the falls or just a thin film of sweat from the adrenaline?

Third stop:  Buttermilk Falls State Park.  Buttermilk is usually pretty tame.  How did it stack up?

buttermilk falls - typical flow.  very chill.

buttermilk falls - 9/1/2013

7.5/10.0.  Considering Buttermilk Falls is usually a garden hose rather than a geyser, this increase is impressive.  But it can't compare to the other falls in the county.  Nice try, Buttermilk!

Last stop:  Taughannock Falls State Park.

taughannock falls state park - typical to slightly low flow

taughannock falls state park - 9/1/2013

Check out got a huge mist cloud filling up the "bowl" of the gorge.  Those falls are ripping!  Obvious increase in volume and thunderous from nearly a quarter mile away.  9.0/10.0.

So there you have it!  Final Rankings:

9.5/10.0:  Lucifer Falls, Treman State Park - Most Awesome Waterfall Award
9.0/10.0:  Taughannock Falls (State Park)
8.5/10.0:  Ithaca Falls
7.5/10.0:  Buttermilk Falls (State Park)

June Through December

The second half of 2012... in pictures.

Summer Fun In Ithaca!

jumping for joy on summer solstice

enjoying the sunset at stewart park

not-so-clandestine waterfall jumping at buttermilk falls

sciencenter fun for my 30th birthday (is that what our kids will look like?!)

being temporarily homeless (between apartments) & camping in danby state forest

radishes from our garden

A Visit to North Carolina

mother/ daughter portrait

mummers walking in the gardens

Also,

That One Time I Got Stung By A Bee On My Morning Run

& Turned Into A Baby Dinosaur

rawr

 Then It Was Autumn

autumn's colors at thatcher's pinnacles

autumn walks with diane and fudgie

city and lake views from the top of the maple tree in our backyard

hiking mt. mansfield in burlington, vermont

  Lots of Trips to the Gunks

climbing

more climbing

falling

 And Also A Trip To Rumney

climbing again

more climbing (nice red shirts, guys)

climbing dolt and jolt (no really, that's what the routes are named)

A Late Autumn Trip To Poke-O-Moonshine

it's a gonna be cold, need my finger warmers

adirondack autumn

pano stolen from timo

A Kentucky Thanksgiving At The Red River Gorge

finally on the sharp end

also doing some bird flipping. what?!... it was cold.

Hello, 2013.  :-)

Eastbound, At Last

For the first time in well over a year, I'm headed eastbound instead of westbound. Moving westbound last year, west and farther west still, brought me around the globe—and then I continued west, again, this year.

Always chasing the setting sun, I've occasionally wondered if my perpetual westward heading related to some conclusion in the broader context of my life. Cutting myself free closed one chapter. This year I'll turn 29, completing my 30th year on this planet. As I turn eastbound, toward the rising sun, I can't help but think about beginnings, about joyfully opening a new chapter, and about everything I can look forward to.  :-)

sunrise over tuateawa bay, new zealand

Anyway! What's happened since I've turned eastbound? Seems like my priority has been adventuring, rather than writing about adventures. Some day I'll write more about my time out West. But, for now, here's a quick update, starting from California.

San Francisco: I rejoined Davo, and we went to Muir Woods so he could see the Redwood trees. John Muir is quite an inspiration to me (this blog is named for one of his quotations). The place was crammed with people, even though it was raining, so it wasn't really a place for quiet contemplation and reflection.

golden gate bridge, after the rain

That evening, we hung out with Jenny O, an awesome woman we know from Ithaca. The weather sucked, so we decided to move on to...

Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks: which we did not get to visit. Still snowed in, tire chains required. We continued on to...

Death Valley National Park: In the hottest, driest place in North America, I experienced the worst, coldest, wettest, nastiest weather of the road trip when a freak storm blew through. There was tons of rockfall across Towne Pass; we checked in with four cars disabled on the side of the road in poor visibility with rocks still falling around them as it snowed. So that's why they call it Death Valley!

"colorful"--for the desert--salt creek, home of the salt creek pupfish

Death Valley was more interesting than I expected, because of all of the organisms that have evolved to survive in this environment. Life will find a way! It was also more photogenic than I expected, with colorful badlands next to pure white salt flats under a blue desert sky.

Red Rocks National Conservation Area: Red Rocks NCA is ten miles in distance and a million miles in feeling from the Las Vegas strip. We did a half-day hike up Turtlehead Peak.

And, of course, we climbed! It was my first experience on desert sandstone, and I enjoyed the awesome weather, amazing scenery, super sticky rock, and very chilled out vibe. (Not going to lie, it was a nice, undeserved ego boost to climb about two grades harder than I do on the East Coast.)

red rocks panorama

The BLM campsite was totally full, but we found some guys from Colorado who had room for an extra car. Put a bunch of strangers around a campfire and you'd be surprised what wisdom results. I loved Red Rocks, and I would definitely return some day.

Grand Canyon National Park: Moving on to the Grand Canyon, I had no idea what we'd do. The weather wasn't great—overcast and spitting snow—so my first impressions of the canyon weren't, well, very impressive. Plus, backcountry camping permits book out months in advance.

Yet somehow our lack of planning and total flexibility snagged us a permit for Indian Garden! We hung out on the rim for a day and camped outside the park in Kaibab National Forest. The next day, we hiked 5,000 vertical feet down the canyon (via South Kaibab Trail), took lunch on the Colorado River, and hiked back up the canyon 2,000 vertical feet (via Bright Angel Trail). The next morning, we hiked out the remaining 3,000 vertical feet, in sunshine for the first time.

with the colorado river below us

Everyone talks about the Grand Canyon like it's the most amazing place on earth. I thought it was really impressive, but something about the hordes of people and the overly-maintained trails kept me from connecting with the Canyon. It is much more of a tourist attraction than a wilderness experience, which is fine—just not my cup of tea.

For personal and family reasons, I assumed that our southwestern adventures would probably end here. But a sweet turn of events meant that we continued to southern Utah... and that deserves a post of its own!

Adventures on the Border

Holy smokes! So much has happened since Big Bend it's hard to know where to start (and how to prevent this from turning into ten pages of blahblahblah).

This was our route:

We've been following the southwestern border with Mexico because it's still a bit too cold to venture farther north.

And here are a few highlights from each place we've visited:

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas: Our hiking plans were foiled once by winds gusting to 80 mph. Nearly foiled again by a backcountry fire! We hiked Guadalupe Peak, elevation 8749 feet, the highest point in Texas. Also, I earned my Junior Ranger badge and patch.

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico: The caves are more vast and more highly decorated (stalagtites, stalagmites, the whole deal) than you could possibly imagine. We walked down the Natural Entrance and around the Big Room. Though there were facilities for throngs of tourists, we had the entire silent, eerie place to ourselves (yay February visit!).

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico: I thought this would be cheesy, but WHOA it's SO cool! It was so much fun to run up and down the dunes, throwing sand and ourselves into the air, enjoying the contrast between the pure white sand and the brilliantly blue sky.

Las Cruces, New Mexico: Shitty weather and a need to talk to someone other than each other led us to another fantastic Couchsurfing host. I helped her made "authentic" Southwestern enchiladas with mole, played with the three dogs, and chatted about outdoor adventures.

Franklin Mountains State Park, Texas: Our Couchsurfing hosts tipped us off to a little crag called Sneed's Cory outside El Paso. Dave got to christen his new rope, and I made my first sport lead outdoors (on Spirit, 5.6).

Gila National Forest, Wilderness, and Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico: A return to pine forests after three weeks in sandy scrub was refreshing... and COLD! Overnight temps fell to 15-25º F. Chuck, our volunteer tour guide, made the Cliff Dwellings mysterious and exciting. We did an overnight trip up the Little Bear Canyon—a narrow, undulating crack—to camp at its junction with the Middle Fork of the Gila River under soaring, red cliffs. I accomplished 32 stream crossings without whining or anxiety to get from camp to the Jordan Hot Springs and back.

Saguaro National Park, Arizona: The saguaro cacti remind me of human-like trees, or tree-like humans, and they are delightful. In our wanderings around the Sonoran desert, we missed a turn and ended up in a dead-end canyon. Dave continued bushwhacking, while I tucked myself into a rock overcrop with my journal and my thoughts.

At the moment I'm in Tucson, a city whose highways and boulevards sprawl in every direction, a city with abundant sunshine and air but no water (like most southwestern cities, I guess). Today is our rest day, which means RESTING, and also straightening up the car, getting an oil change, putting together some food, internet time at the County Library, and catching up with friends and family.

From here, we're thinking of backtracking east a bit to Cochise Stronghold for a day of climbing, then continuing (surprise, surprise!) west to Joshua Tree National Park in California. We will be in Los Angeles by the 13th for Dave to fly to a job on the East Coast.

Those are the updates for now; library is closing so I gotta run!  I'll write again the next time I have internet access!

P.S. My best photos are posted at picasaweb.google.com/nicotedesco. The albums from White Sands and Saguaro are my favorites.

Turkey, I Love You. Let Me Count The Ways...

Turkey was the first country that I was sorry to leave, the first place I can truly say that I see myself returning some day. I've thought about why I love Turkey so much compared to, say, Nepal. Though I can't come up one significant reason that puts this place above others in my mind, my heart is filled with dozens of small anecdotes, minor details ever so specific to Turkey that, together, have made an unforgettable experience.

blue mosque interior

Turkey, I love you. Let me count the ways...

• Amazing Architecture (not only the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque). An Alphabet I can read (first since Malaysia) helps, too. I think Ayran (a yogurt-based drink) single-handedly healed my stomach issues from Nepal.
• Bazaars, Baklava, the Blue Mosque, and the Bosphorus. Also, the long-distance Buses are fast, clean, secure, and comfortable. Don't forget Bubby and Boss!
• Cats: the fluffy, furry, fat cats that are everywhere in Istanbul. Couchsurfing in Turkey has given me some of the best experiences of my trip. And Cheese, lots of tasty tasty cheese! 
• Diyarbakır, city of my heart. Also Döner, Dave's tasty snack on-the-go for about $0.70. 
• Ethnic pride, specifically Kurdish of southeast Turkey, stands out in my mind. Turks care for the Environment: we saw no trash or graffiti in Pigeon Valley, and the Bosphorus has little to no trash floating in it. The Eggplant here is the best I've ever had (sorry Mummers). 
• Friendliness. Smiling Thais? Meh. Friendly Nepalis? Get real. The Turks are masters of friendliness. 
• Göreme. The very first tourist town that hasn't made me nauseous. Quite a compliment, Göreme. 
• History is everywhere. I got a new skin in the Hamam. Hygiene is so good that the unthinkable—someone touching my food with their bare hands—does not freak me out. Turkey was Hassle-free compared to the rest of Asia. Even the carpet sellers are laid-back and polite! And don't get me started on Hospitality. 
• Istanbul. For a city of 18 million, it's not that bad. 

me and my juice

• Jetties on the Bosphorus where men bring their fishing rods and I snap dozens of photos. I had my first cup of freshly-squeezed pomegranate Juice. 
• Kindness to animals. Unlike the Nepalis who throw rocks at dogs and seem to enjoy it, I noticed multiple acts of kindness toward stray animals.  There were three homeless dogs on a random corner, sleeping in a makeshift cardboard and trash bag shelter someone had made for them. A ripped-open clear plastic bag of leftover meat and pasta was at their side as they slumbered, protected from the drizzle. I can't tell you the number of times I saw burly Turkish men with stern moustaches stop in their tracks to scratch a street kitty under the chin. Our couchsurf host told us that stray dogs in Istanbul are routinely tagged and vaccinated as a public service. The Turks' kindness toward animals is apparent, as strays are uniformly clean, calm, and approachable. Some of the stray cats are even borderline overweight! 
• Lokum (turkish delight) is ok, not to my taste, but I understand why some love it. I prefer the Language, which is much easier than any South or Southeastern Asian language. 
• Mosques and Minarets—they're everywhere! And, of course, Mr. Turkish Bull. 
• Neckties on men serving tea and cakes on the buses. Seriously. Tea, cakes, and neckties. On buses. I rest my case. 
• Old people sipping çay in a courtyard. Olives sold by the kilo. 

pide

• Pomegranates, my favorite fruit. I ate a lot of Pide (turkish pizza), which is quick, cheap, vegetarian friendly, and delicious. Perfect street food! 
• Quiet, quaint villages. It's SO EASY to get off the beaten tourist trail here. Just go anywhere east of Göreme. 
• Rumi, the mystical Sufi poet, whose masterwork I hope to read at some point. 
• Sanlıurfa and it's lovely public and historic spaces. Just in time for winter, steaming cups of Salep (powdered orchid root drink) topped with cinnamon. 
• Tea! Tea! Tea! Anything and everything is an excuse for çay. And Textiles—if you're into fiber arts, carpets, wool, max out your credit card in Istanbul. 
• Üsküdar and Uçisar, two Unexpected places that feel Untouristy yet welcoming. 
• Vegetables. After eating only starch and fat for most of Southeast Asia, I hit Istanbul's fruit and veggie markets hard. It was awesome. 
• Wi-fi. Finally, and internet connection that is fast and reliable? Whoa! 
• X is the intersection between "west" and "east," "old" and "new." And it's true. Turkey brings it all together. 
• Yoğurt. Oh, so this is what yoghurt tastes like without additives, stabilisers, and flavor enhancers. America, yer doin' it wrong. 
• Zero moments when I questioned my decision to travel or what I was getting from/ giving to the experience. 

To be fair, there were moments when I wasn't feeling so keen on Turkey. Four out of five days in Istanbul brought nasty, cold, damp weather. I was hardly in the mood to wander around random neighborhoods, and there isn't much nature in the city. I regretted giving five whole days to wandering around Istanbul and wished I had spent a day or two in another city, perhaps Konya.

A few other less-than-perfect points:

• Overnight bus rides (though, admittedly, those have been my choice); 
• Getting lost (though someone has always offered to help us become un-lost); 
• Some people have been over-zealous in sharing/ pushing their Muslim faith; 
• Food and accomodation in touristy areas is expensive and poor value (i.e. you don't get much for the cost); 
• Google Voice doesn't work; 
• I wasn't able to download NPR podcasts. 

If I'm whining about missing NPR instead of missing clean drinking water, then I guess I don't have much to whine about.

Three cheers for Turkey!

Paradise!

Written Monday, September 20, 2010.

After leaving Malaysia, we headed north toward Thailand.  It was my first overland border crossing in Asia, and it went really smoothly.  Some crossings, like Thailand into Cambodia, have a long-standing, well-deserved, terrible reputation for scams, bribery, long waits, and other travel hassles.  But Malaysia to Thailand was so easy!

We took an overnight train from Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth (still in Malaysia).  In Butterworth, we walked across the street from the train station to the bus station, where we got a ticket for a mini-bus bound for Hat Yai in Thailand.  At the border, we got out of the mini-bus, went through immigration (already had a tourist visa from Kuala Lumpur), and got back in the mini-bus.  In Hat Yai, we got some Thai baht out of an ATM and got onto another local mini-bus bound for Surat Thani.  By that evening, we were walking around Surat Thani, looking for a way to Koh Tao.  We bought tickets on the overnight ferry, and I slept like a baby in its mother's arms.  In the morning, we payed a small fortune for a pick-up truck to bring us from the ferry to a deserted bay on the far side of the island.  And what did we find there?

Totally worth the 36 hour journey.

There are so many beautiful tropical islands on this great dewdrop, but I've never had the pleasure of visiting one.  I'm so glad that we found ourselves on Koh Tao.  It was random, actually--I did a quick google search to find a place that wouldn't be terribly affected by the monsoon season.  Koh Tao, along with the more famous Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, are off the eastern coast of Thailand.  The full moon fell during our visit, so most of the backpackers left for Koh Phangan and the infamous Full Moon Party, so we had the place to ourselves.



The hiking was like the other hiking I've found in Malaysia and Indonesia.  The paths aren't very well marked, and no one really knows the way, but it was refreshing to wander in the woods for a day.

We also went climbing one day.  There is a local shop, "Goodtime Adventures," that rents out shoes, harnesses, draws, and ropes.  The gear seems to be ok quality, good enough that I felt safe using it.  According to Dave, some of the fixed anchors are suspect, core showing in static line (he brought this to the attention of the staff).  Lesson of the day:  know what you're doing.  This is why Davo built all our anchors.  :-D

The climbing is mostly granite slab.  There's just one technique:  SMEAR.  Seriously, there are no hands, and you don't need to think about any sequence.  Just slap your shoes on the super-rough granite and smear your way up the wall.  Toward the end of the day, I was getting the hang of it.  It was great to climb again, even for a day.  I've only climbed twice since leaving the United States.  It definitely made me think of my friends at home, and I was very thankful that the Gunks are only a 3.5 hour drive from Ithaca!

more climbing porn here :-)

My other big adventure:  I went scuba diving!  This was pretty big for me.  Even though I used to like being in the water as a kid, I've gotten more nervous in the water as I've gotten older.  I get freaked out when I can't see what's underneath me, can't see my arms and legs in murky water...  basically, I'm afraid of sea monsters that might bite me in half.  :-)  As I stood on the edge of the dive boat and started panicking, I wasn't sure if I was going in the water at all.  I had to take off my fins and, with a white-knuckled grip, lower my self down a ladder.

Once I was in the water, it was great!  I had prescription goggles, so I could see everything.  The water was very clear, so no sea monsters could sneak up!  Plus, I had fins and was wearing a wetsuit, so I felt pretty well protected.

What a world, under the water...  just as there are so many insects, frogs, skinks, butterflies, birds, and all manner of critters in the forest, there are big and small fishes, sea slugs, prickly things, smooth things, skinny things, fat things, and every manner of critter under the waves.  I had never fully realized how much lives in the water!

Not only is there tons of wildlife in a reef, but the coral forms all manner of underwater shapes.  I imagine there must be entire mountains under the ocean.  I think of mountains all the time, but they usually have trees or snow on them.  Neat to think this exists under the sea (minus the snow).

Plus, scuba diving itself is really neat.  You can stay underwater for so long that you can really take the time to appreciate what's happening around you.

I probably won't dive again, but I'm really glad I did it once.  And that's what I can say about Koh Tao:  I'll probably spend a lot more time in the mountains than I'll ever spend on a tropical island, or even on a beach, but beaches and tropical islands are still quite nice.

Suggestions for visiting Koh Tao:

Malaysia? What's in Malaysia?

Written September 22, 2010

I'll be honest:  the reason I ended up in Malaysia was because of a cheap flight.  Denpasar, Bali to Kuala Lumpur for about 100 greenbacks.  I needed to leave before my visa ran out, so I figured, "Why not?"

Malaysia was an interesting place.  Just like Singapore is the most un-Southeast Asian city in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is the most un-Southeast Asian country in Southeast Asia.

The standard of living is quite high; Wikipedia tells me that the per capita GDP is roughly USD$14,800, the only country in SE Asia to beat the global average of USD$10,500 (except Brunei, which beats even the United States).  And you can tell it's wealthy, too.  The public transit is clean, efficient, and relatively expensive.  People are well-educated; most speak at least two languages, as English is a compulsory subject in schools.  While I did see some people living on the streets in Kuala Lumpur, the city felt just as modern and clean as Singapore.

Malaysians are an interesting ethnic blend of Malay, Chinese, and Indian.  So even though Malaysia is an Islamic country, defined as such by the Malaysian constitution, there are significant minorities of Buddhists (~19%), Christians (~9%), and Hindus (~6%).  We were in Malaysia for the start of Ramadan, but it didn't affect our travel plans at all.  We simply ate in Indian or Chinese restaurants for breakfast and lunch.

We spent our time in three places:  Kuala Lumpur, Taman Negara National Park, and the Cameron Highlands.

The Easiest Mountain I've Ever Climbed

Mt. Bromo:  hands down, the easiest mountain I've ever climbed.

Dave and I were planning our next move, and we realized that booking a package tour from Yogyakarta to Denpasar in Bali, with a stop in Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, would be nearly as cheap as going independently.  Sigh.  So, we joined the tourist herd for 48 hours.  In retrospect, even though the mini-bus was cramped and the air-conditioning didn't work and the whole shebang was incredibly disorganized, it was probably better than the multiply public transport buses, mini-buses, and bemos we'd have to take.

We got up at 3:30 a.m. to catch a jeep up Mt. Penanjakan to see the sun rise from the north of the volcanoes.  The sunrise wasn't anything amazing, but holy guacamole, those are some pretty pretty mountains!!!

almost like looking at a painting

We piled back in the jeep and headed down into the "Sea of Sands," the inside of the massive crater from which rise the three volcanoes in the foreground above (Semeru, the tall mountain in the back, is outside the crater, to the south).

View Larger Map

So, this is how I climbed the easiest mountain ever.  The jeep drops you off about 1-2 km from the mountain itself.  You walk across the sand, avoid the local Tengger people selling bottled water and horserides at the base of the mountain, then climb 253 steps to the top.  Yeah, there's a staircase.  But the crater at the top is pretty sweet!

holy smokes...  literally!

Here are the rest of the pictures from the day:

Here's what I'd do differently, if I visit again: