Fujiyama from the shinkansen.
Fuji constant pic.twitter.com/XafvX8IhU2
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 30, 2019
What the Fuji
November 29, 2019
mountain, travel fuji, fujiyama, japan, mt fuji, nature, photography, shinkansen, travel, video 2 Comments
Katoomba Blue Mountains Hike (Australia)
September 15, 2019
hiking, mountain, travel australia, blue mountains, dardanelles pass, federal pass, furber steps, gem, giant stairway, hiking, katoomba, lilianfels, photography, three sisters, travel, video 2 Comments
In about three hours, Brian and I hiked 6.3 miles covering an elevation delta of 1600 feet. We started at Lilianfells,took the Prince Henry trail over to the Furber Steps, went down the steps (with some great views of Katoomba Falls), hiked Federal pass to Honeymoon Lookout, doubled back through the Dardanelles Pass and then climbed up the 900 steps of the Giant Stairway to the Three Sisters. Finishing with the climb up the steps was interesting.
Katoomba
Katoomba falls
Brian takes a picture
Picture in picture
Katoomba
Overlook Mt Solitary
Katoomba Falls
Spring Fiddleheads (Australia September)
Rain forest Katoomba
Turning point
View from Dardenelles
Heading up the Gianty Stairway
Only 1/2 way up. Exhausting climb.
Three sisters. Alone.
All in all, an incredible hike on a gorgeous day. Better ending up than down.
Four days on skis (Norway)
April 27, 2019
mountain, nature, photography, who knows cross country, downhill, nature, Norway, Skarvheimem, ski, skiing Leave a comment
Day one involved cross country skiing. This is not a thing we do well. We got better.
At least there were waffles and beer! Though I think that home brew knocked my internals out of whack.
Our skiing all happened somewhere around here
Day two was also cross country.
On the third day, we arose from the dead and did some downhill.
Then it was back on the grindstone for more cross country.
This guy had better skis than we did
Fin
Cheers!
After skiing, there is always bubbly!
The Blue Mountains: Katoomba, Australia
December 1, 2018
flowers, hiking, mountain, nature, photography, plants australia, blue mountains, day trip, gem, hiking, katoomba, nature, photography, sydney, train, video 2 Comments
A two hour train ride outside of Sydney, you can find the tourist hamlet of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Tourists have been coming here since the turn of the century (1900). Katoomba itself reminds me of West Virginia in its old coal town turned bust turned tourist vibe. You can now find hipsters and artists in residence.
We took the train out in the morning and spent several hours walking from the train station to a trailhead, down the cliff face, and back up again.
Highlights on the mountain visit include the three sisters, the giant stairway (976 steps!), waterfalls, and the steepest railroad in Australia.
We started our morning at Sydney central
The two hour train ride is a little long. The tourist center by the train station is well worth a visit. That is where we finalized our plan.
8things cafe. Great food and super service
8things for lunch in katoomba: pork belly ramen https://t.co/9c5hlVDFOT pic.twitter.com/ZFCUYehWjo
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 30, 2018
Cassiopia coffee (recommended)
We walked from the station to Echo point (2.3 km).
The Echo Point visitors center
This is where we first caught sight of the famed three sisters. Which we saw many times throughout the day.
Three sisters from Echo Point visitor center
Three sisters from the echo point trail
Three sisters from the trail
Three sisters from just above
Honeycomb cave (at the three sisters)
Three sisters from below on the Federal trail
Three sisters from Scenic World gondola
Here’s what happened in between. After honeycomb cave, we entered the giant stairway. Lots of stairs down (976 in fact). Amy did not do them all.
This is an alternative way to get down the stairs (not recommended by our attorney)
Not here
Here
Flowers and bromiliads
Amy
AMY
A tiny fiddlehead against the mountains
Down
Flowers on the mountain
Looking down 500 feet
The blue mountains
Amy contemplates
Cliff hangers
Amy takes the stairs with a monk
Cliff hangers and rare species
Eventually, we entered the rain forrest at the bottom of the cliff.
The giant stairway is well named. It has been there a while.
Rainforest ecology
Amy rounds the bend
Ferns and trail. The rainforest shift is striking
A very big tree indeed
Katoomba Creek falls
After the falls, we were back in what passes as civilization. Scenic world was first contemplated by coal miners. Just take the train thingy up.
And, why not? Try the cable car too.
We walked back from scenic world (another 2.5km). All told we may have hiked around 5 miles. We deserved a beer.
After a long day hiking, it was high time for a beer!
After 3.5 hours walking in a circle from the katoomba station it's time for a beer. The damn paparazzi are stalking me. pic.twitter.com/u0VtkgLdTj
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 30, 2018
The 2 hour train ride back to Sydney was slightly too long.
Mountain Cabin: The Fuck All Ya’ll House
July 9, 2018
mountain, music, nature, who knows bitter liberals, blue ridge, fuck all ya'll house, mountain cabin, music 1 Comment
Lil cabin in the woods
Just bought a cabin on the Blue Ridge for the Bitter Liberals. It’s a little thing with a hilarious story available only in person. Suffice it to say that we’ll be calling it the “fuck all ya’ll” house. That’s meant only in the kindest way, of course.
Once the stuff is gone, the band will go here
fireplace side, and yoga too no doubt
kitchenette
Here are some more views of the outside. All of the decks need to be replaced, and we’ll put in two skylights for the upstairs rooms.
Back deck
front deck
The house sits on just over 6 acres of woodland with a creek as one of the borders.
