Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge

One of my favorite Alabama places, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in north Alabama is 34,500 acres of wetlands, open rivers, sloughs, hardwood forests, swamps and fields.  Established as a refuge for waterfowl in 1938, Wheeler is the winter home to thousands of ducks, geese and other waterfowl.  In recent years it has hosted an increasing number of sandhill cranes and endangered whooping cranes.  In 2014 over 15,000 sandhill cranes overwintered at Wheeler and in the past dozen years a slowly increasing number of whooping cranes have spent their winters there. Twenty-six whooping cranes were present in 2014.  There are less than 600 whooping cranes left in the world so Wheeler hosts a significant population of these rare and striking birds.

From November through March overwintering waterfowl are always visible on the refuge.  Popular viewing spots are Limestone Bay, Beaverdam Peninsula, Flint Creek, and Crabtree Slough.  But perhaps the best place to see birds is from the refuge's Observation Building, a modern two-story structure that overlooks open water and fields.  On any winter day you can count on seeing hundreds of ducks and geese, sandhill cranes and maybe a handful of whooping cranes, often within close range, from the warmth of the heated building.  The Observation Building has one-way glass so the birds are not disturbed by your presence.  Arguably the best place in Alabama to observe waterfowl up close and in my opinion the best place in the world to view whooping cranes.

Check out this photo gallery of Wheeler's visitors, courtesy of photographer George Lee.


Sandhill cranes showing off




Two Whooping cranes trying to blend in with Sandhill cranes (good luck!)

Lots of water means lots of reptiles and amphibians.  Wheeler is home to a small population of American alligators



Northern shovelers are just one of many species that call Wheeler NWR their winter home.

Amphibians abound!

Coyotes and bobcats are two predators on the refuge



Hooded Mergansers



Crowded skies are a common sight in winter



Sandhill cranes, mallards, gadwalls American wigeons, northern shovelers, ringnecked ducks, wood ducks and others share space at Wheeler

Beautiful shot of a sandhill crane in evening light.

Canvasback

More sandhills in flight



The fields near the Observation Building teem with birds



Whooping crane sharing airspace

Armadillo posing for a glamour shot



Wood ducks are plentiful.  Wheeler NWR personnel conduct annual banding efforts

American wigeons

A curious river otter

White-tailed deer are common

Two of the resident bald eagles

Pied billed grebe



Rafts of hundreds of American white pelicans and snow geese are present in winter in the Flint Creek and Limestone Bay areas. It is not unusual to see 2000 pelicans and a like number of snow geese on Limestone Bay.

Amazon River Trip, Peru

I looked forward to this trip with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.  Excitement is understandable--getting to experience the beauty and wildness of the longest river in the world.  The apprehension is perhaps my personal worry.  I have read too may stories about deforestation and ruin along the river.  I was afraid of what I may see.  Denuded forests?  Slash and burn ranches?  Or what I may not see: monkeys, macaws, sloths, river dolphins.

All these thoughts went through my mind again as our plane began its descent into Iquitos Peru.  We had a long flight from Lima and I had peered out the plane window most of the trip, trying to get a feel for what was happening in the vast forests below.  What I saw was comforting.  Most of the forests were an unbroken carpet of green.  Perhaps my fears were unfounded.

Iquitos is the main jumping off point on this upper part of the Amazon River.  It's a bustling, dirty, crowded, noisy port city on the river, the main shipping port for goods, people and trade on the river.  the only access to Iquitos is by boat or plane; no roads lead in or out. 

We boarded our boat, an old but nicely appointed river boat called the Aquamarina, on the riverfront there and set out into the swirling, muddy Amazon.  The river is wide here and we happened to be there when the river was particularly high from unusually strong rains.  I talked to a vendor in the Iquitos market and she said the water was as high as she had seen in 38 years.

Toucans were common

Capuchin monkey



One of many flooded villages

 

The locals were flooded out of their homes.  Many river villages were partially underwater. 

As we continued upriver we discovered that my fears about ravaged forests and scarce wildlife were unfounded.  Wildlife was everywhere.



Monk saki monkey

Green tree iguana

A 9 foot black caiman

Spotted six varieties of toucans.

Parakeets were plentiful.  We saw hundreds flying over daily.

We were hoping to see at least one three-toed sloth.  To our delight we saw 13 including on with a baby!

Sloth close-up

Red and green macaw

Yikes!  Nice looking tarantula.

And that famous snake of the Amazon, anaconda.  Our guide found this guy for us.

She's holding her baby.

This giant river otter came right up to our skiff.

Spider monkey

Saddleback tamarind monkey

Red howler monkey

He was curious.

 

 

We were invited into this home for a meal.

We visited a local family who invited us into their home for a meal.  Beautiful and friendly family.

And we fished for piranha.

Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile

We did the "W" trek through Torres del Paine National Park in Chile--the most famous and popular trek in Patagonia.  We jumped off from the town of Punta Arenas, the southernmost point of Chile, near the southern tip of South America and far enough south to still hit us in the face with harsh conditions when we flew in from Santiago in early November.  It was the beginning of Spring and the weather was still sketchy.  We stepped off the plan in Punta Arenas into snowy, cold, windy weather.

A good day to acclimate to the weather that would be facing us for the next seven days.  After a day nosing around Punta Arenas we caught a bus into Torres del Paine National park and the heart of Patagonia.  We made a brief stop at Milodon Cave, the site of the discovery of prehistoric evidence of extinct Paleozoic creatures.  Our last stop before entering into the gorgeous and wild lands of Patagonia.

And we quickly discovered how wild Patagonia really is when we sighted a healthy and stealthy
puma loping along a gravel bar alongside a river.  He didn't seem particularly surprised to see us and didn't seem too concerned that we were there.




He didn't seem too interested in us.  Guess we didn't look tasty.

 

EcoCamp with Torres del Paine in background

 We checked into our cozy dome at EcoCamp, an environmentally friendly camp nestled under the watchful gaze of the three towers.  I can't say enough about EcoCamp; the food was excellent, the sleeping was comfy, the scenery excellent plus it is designed to have minimal impact on the environment.

The next day we were up early to start our week-long trek.  The first day was an easy intro; four hours of relaxed hiking along the edge of the glowing turquoise Lake Nordenskjold.  We followed the Paso Los Cuernos trail below the Paine massif with the granite horns of the cuernos looming over us all day.  A leisurely half day trek brought us to Refugio Los Cuernos.  We made the mistake of telling our guide Alejandro that is was very easy and he suggested an extra hike after we reached camp.  Our mistake.  It turned into a grueling climb from the refugio to a summit 2100 feet up the mountain--brutal enough but we were trapped in high winds that slapped us back and forth on the mountain.  After two killer hours we summited, had a quick rest and rushed back down the mountain to beat the darkness. 



Site of the avalanche

Oh well, a warm up for the next day, a long tiring uphill hiked up French Valley.  This was a long slow slog, with a quick stop at Camp Italiano before continuing up the valley to Mirador del Frances.  Halfway up we heard a load and ominous rumbling of thunder--except it wasn't thunder, it was a massive avalanche, fortunately across the valley and we had an awesome views of a huge shelf of ice break away and rumble down the mountainside into the valley.  After that show we continued up the valley to take in the view of the Frances glacier at the end of the valley.  A challenging hike and we had to descend yet and make our way across low fields to our next overnight at Refugio Paine Grande, an easy flat hike but long and tiring and we were beat by the time we hit the refugio.  Refugio Paine Grande is a dormitory style lodge and after a quick dinner and a couple of beers we tumbled into our beds in a shared room with another hiker from Brazil.

Day three was a short hike to Mirador Grey and Grey glacier.  Short, but not easy.  We were slammed in the face with powerful, gusty winds.  Winds is too gentle a term.  Were battled headwinds that would nearly (and in one case did) sweep you off your first.  I have never encountered anything like it. 

Finally made it, caught a boat across Lago Grey and saw the most surreal blue glaciers ever.  They seemed to be lit from some unnatural but beautiful light within, a breathtaking blue.

It was well worth the tough hike.


Drink and a toast with whiskey and glacier ice.

But we looked forward to the next day's trek--a hard hike of eight hours roundtrip up to the foot of

the granite spires of El Paine.  A difficult hike through forest and then across a wide moraine field littered with large boulders.  But Wow!  what a view at the top.  The three towers overlooking a glacier lake.  Incredible.

Our last days were spent hiking the steppes around Mirador Laguna Azul, gawking at 6000 year old petroglyphs, herds of guanacos, Andean condors, breathtaking scenery and grasslands littered liberally with the skeletons and remains of guanacos--the result of predation by pumas.  More skeletal animal remains than I have seen anywhere--including the  Serengeti.

Bottom line--on of the most beautiful places anywhere.  Go.

River Snorkeling in Georgia

Check out my short piece on Georgia river snorkeling in Blue Ridge Country magazine:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20150506/index.php?startid=19

D-Day Anniversary

We were in Normandy for the D-Day anniversary and ran into this gentleman at Omaha Beach. Ninety years old now, he was a 21 year old sailor in the Royal Navy on D-Day and served on the HMS Prince Albert, offloading soldiers onto Sword Beach in the British sector.


















It was a real thrill and a rare privilege to shake hands with a WWII D-Day veteran.

How Hard is Climbing Kilimanjaro....Really?

When I talk to people about my Kilimanjaro climb the first thing they invariably ask is: How hard was it?

No surprise there, when I first thought about climbing Mt Kilimanjaro my concern was whether I could make the climb.  I did extensive research but there was so much conflicting information out there that all it did was confuse me.  I would check a dozen blogs and websites and get a dozen different takes on how difficult the climb actually is.

And even more infuriating was that most accounts were on the extreme ends of the spectrum; either “a piece of cake” or “unbelievably demanding”.  I also believe that many people who make the summit tend to make it sound worse than it is to heighten their success story.  I finally threw up my hands in frustration.  Who could you believe?

Granted, everyone brings a different level of skill and fitness to the table so how to determine the true answer?  What I discovered is that most people gave their opinion without any frame of reference.  How old are they?  Did they train?  How long and how hard?  Are they a marathon runner or a step above couch potato?  A little background would be of tremendous help.
So let me do that for you.  Let me tell you about my background, preparation and other details that will hopefully provide you with a baseline to do a comparison of your particular situation and make an intelligent determination of your chances of success.

First of all, you’re probably wondering how many people who actually attempt the summit are successful.  You would think that would be an easy answer to find but unfortunately the web is a veritable storehouse of misinformation, conflicting data and success rates that are skewed to favor certain routes and tour companies.  Many companies boast success rates upwards of 80-90%.  I initially took these to be accurate but the more I checked it became obvious that a lot of tour companies inflate the percentages in order to not discourage potential clients. 

There are actually three points on Kilimanjaro that are loosely and commonly considered to be the summit.  The three points are Gillman’s Point, Stella Point and Uhuru Peak.  Only Uhuru, at 5895 meters, is the true summit but some climbers make it to Gillman’s or Stella and can’t make it further.  If you reach either Gillman’s or Stella you will still be issued a climbing certificate from Kilimanjaro National Park (KINAPA) but these are NOT the true summit.  It is another 300 meters from Gillman’s to Uhuru and 200 meters from Stella—which doesn’t sound like much but is a grueling trek.  However, again to boost their success rates, most tour companies count these as summit successes since a certificate is awarded.

After some digging I found a published success rate from Kilimanjaro National Park of 45%.  I consider this an accurate figure since KINAPA has no reason to pump up the success rate.  In other words, take claimed success rates with a grain of salt—and if you are talking to someone who claims to have summited Kili ask them if they made it all the way to Uhuru Peak.

OK, now we have that out of the way let's get to the original question: How hard is the climb?  To answer that for you let me break my answer down into two areas; personal physical shape and mountain difficulty.

First the personal.  As I said earlier I will give you an idea of my specific situation and hopefully it will give you a starting point to assess your situation vis-a-vis mine.  I was 62 years old when I climbed Kili.  Old for a climber.  I checked the entry logs at the campsites and for the three weeks prior to my climb only one person older than me signed in and he was 78 years old.  Having said that I am in excellent physical shape.  I am very active and have hiked, biked, canoed, backpacked and otherwise been active my entire life.  Six months before my climb I started a dedicated training regime of hiking, running and gym training.  I ran a couple of 5Ks and a half marathon (my first) during that time.  I ran, hiked or hit the gym at least four days per week.  I ran the half marathon four months prior to the climb and after that I did very little running, mostly hiking.  My hikes were 8-, 10- and 12-milers, often while carrying a fifteen pound pack.  I also ran the steps (with full pack) at a nearby high school football stadium.  My gym work was largely treadmill and stairmaster although I did some upper body work on chest and shoulders.  Finally, three weeks before we left for Tanzania, we went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to do some “altitude” hiking.  We did three consecutive summits of Mt. LeConte (up and down) in three days.  I live in Alabama and Mt. LeConte is only 6500 feet but it was our only option in the Southeast.

As you can see, I prepped well.  I felt good about my physical fitness, the only unknown was what effect the altitude would have.  I was dedicated to getting in shape, part of this was due to my age which caused me to have some doubts as to whether I could summit.  If you are in your 20s or 30s or 40s you have an edge on me and could probably get by with a less dedicated program.  Still, don’t underestimate the mountain.

Which is a nice segue to the second area: the difficulty of the mountain.  We did a six day trek.  I don’t recommend the shorter 5-day trips which give your body less time to acclimate to the altitude.  It is four days to base camp, fifth day to summit, sixth day down.  There is no comparison between the four days to base camp portion and summit day.  I was pleasantly surprised with the four day climb to base camp.  While it was strenuous, it was not as bad as I feared.  I attribute this to my training.   The days are long and constant and unrelentingly upward, upward, upward but definitely achievable by anyone in good shape. 

As you go up each day you will start feeling the effects of altitude.  Two significant side effects are insomnia and lack of appetite.  I took Tylenol PM to help me sleep but still got very little sleep and spent every night tossing and turning.  Worse, even though our tour company provided plentiful and delicious meals we were able to eat hardly anything. 

Although the hike to base camp was easier than I expected summit day was another story.  You will begin your summit assault at midnight after having spent a large part of that day hiking to base camp so you are already tired.  The darkness, altitude (base camp is at 15,400 feet) and cold are all disorienting.  You will set off in total darkness with only the light from your headlamp.  From base camp the mountain flank is steep and consists of loose scree (slippery rocks).  And did I mention it is cold?  You will be wearing heavy gear to further limit your movement.

I will tell you frankly, the summit climb is brutal and was as difficult as I had feared in my worst dreams. The altitude effects can be daunting—headaches and nausea, lack of oxygen.  The goal is to summit by dawn to see the dazzling sunrise over Africa so there is little time to dawdle which means a steady, brisk pace and little time for rest stops. Our first rest stop was Williams Point and I still felt OK but by our second stop at Hans Meyer Cave I was struggling and seriously thought I would have to turn back.  This was only the first of many times I considered giving up and going back to base camp.  I became increasingly tired and we would stop and gasp for breath every few steps.  The scree complicated the climb—for every three steps up it seemed we slid one down.  An area called Jamaica Rocks was particularly difficult, picking traverses back and forth through this steep rocky stretch. Still, just persevere, keep on walking and it is doable.

By the time we made it to Gillman’s Point I was totally exhausted, gasping for air.  It is a mistake to think you have an easy go from Gillman’s to Uhuru—it was another two hours of grueling climbing.  I should mention that we took Diamox, a prescription altitude drug and we felt that it helped us deal with the altitude. Frankly, from Gillman’s to Uhuru, I was on autopilot, my brain fuzzy.

But we made it—and you can too!  Reading back over this it sounds brutal—and it is.  Yes, it is a physical challenge that you need to train for.  You can’t do the climb on a whim.  But it is mostly mental.  Don’t give up, persevere and you will have your picture at Uhuru Peak.  It is the trip of a lifetime and while I would not do it again under any circumstances, it was a huge achievement and I will be proud of it for the rest of my life.