US Hiking v. European Hiking

Over the past 12 year, I have hiked a fair amount, mostly in the Western US.  But my wife and I just completed our second long slackpack in the Alps.  Here are some of the things that are different between US and European hiking:

• The trails in the Alps tend to be steeper and much rockier.  Many are old roads and some are old goat paths but Europeans don't seem to build switchbacks like they do here.
• Bathrooms can be hard to find in the Alps.  Refugios have them but they require a purchase.  There are very few public toilets so take advantage when you encounter one.
• The Alps are covered with refugios so you are always within walking distance of a good meal, glass of wine or coffee.  There are very few comparable examples in the US but places like Muir Trail Ranch come close.
• Since much of the Alps are accesible by car, gondola or chairlift, the trails are usually much more crowded.

Government Shutdown Notices

I saw this on the website for Tonto NF:

Things That Are Better In Europe

Europe has lots of problems but they do some things better than the US:

• Prices are mostly rounded to the nearest Euro
• Prices include taxes
• They tend to use cash more (although this is changing in parts of the US due to high card fees)
• They are less "safety" obssessed - I think this is due to their more sensible tort laws so they don't need as many useless signs
• Food is better and more wholesome - hopefully this is changing here

Southern Oregon 2025

After the SSI Live conference, we explored central and southern Oregon for a few days.

First stop was Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  Here we went to the visitor center and heard a ranger talk about all the volcanic activity, most of it fairly recent.  We drove up to Lava Butte Lookout and walked around the crater.  We also drove to Benham Falls but they were more like rapids.

We then drove to Newberry Caldera.  There we had a nice lunch at the Paulina Lake Lodge.  After that we walked around the Big Obsidian Flow which was pretty amazing.

We then had a long drive down to Crater Lake.  Since it was getting late, we made a quick stop along the west shore to take in the views and then headed south to Jo's Motel in Fort Klamath.  Jo's is a nice motel, RV resort and campground along the Wood River.  They have a nice organice store where we picked up some snacks.  The next day we explored the National Park: Rim Drive, Crater Lake Lodge, Mazama Village, and Watchman observation point.  The boats were already closed for the season and the rim road was closed along the southern edge unfortunately.  Crater Lake is pretty amazing but one day is probably enough.

Jo's Motel

The view from Watchman

Crater Lake

Entering the park

Another view of the lake

Paulina Lake Lodge

Lava Butte overlook

Along the trail to Benham Falls

Italy 2025

As part of our 30th anniversary, we heading back to Italy for hiking and fun.

Day 1 - We flew into Venice with the usual international travel hassles.  After landing, we got on a bus to Cortina.  We stayed Ambra Hotel which is very nice and had great pizza for dinner.  Cortina is a nice little town.  They don't look to be ready for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Spritzes at The Roof

Downtown Cortina

Day 2 - Much of the day was taking the cable car up to the Tofane.  The weather was overcast so we didn't get great views.  We also walked around the town.

Taking the cable car

View from the mountains

Day 3 - Took a bus up to Lago de Braies.  The lake is a pristine alpine lake that is overrun with visitors.  Many rent rowboats and it is fun to watch to see how few know how to row.  The hotel is a great old school hotel that was a great hiker package.  At dinner, some guy was watching soccer on his phone very loudly and another poor older gentleman had a heart attack; all this made for an interesting evening.

Lago de Braies

Hotel de Braies

Day 4 - First day on trail!  We packed our suitcase and sent it off to meet us in Venice, then we head out on trail.  We had a nice stroll around the to the other side of the lake and then hit a long uphill. As we approached the hit point, we saw some chamois scrambling around on the rocks.  As wildlife is quite rare in the Alps, we were excited.  We passed on the scramble up to Crodo del Becco and had a nice lunch at Refugio Biella.  The rest of the day was a nice stroll and down into Refugio Sennes.  Sennes had great views and an old airstrip that was populated by marmots.  We had a private room with bunk beds and a shared bathroom.

Refugio Sennes

View toward Refuio Bellio

Along the trail

Day 5 - The next day starting with a gentle downhill into some stunted forest.  We got a glimpse of some rare deer.  We then hit the most brutal downhill straight down a steep road into Pederu.  Jyoti re-injured her knee so we spent some time at the refugio getting ice on it.  We then had a long uphill into Refugio Fanes.  At Fanes, we walked around the lake and had a great dinner.  We had shared bath but a regular bed here.

Refugio Fanes

One of many beautiful valleys

A little village and refugio

Forest

Day 6 - Out of Fanes was a very nice hike through wonderful terrain.  We decided to take an alternate route that took us downhill to catch a bus to Passo Folzarego.  From the pass, we headed down a nice but muddy trail to the chairlift at Cinque Torre.  We starting exploring the WWI fortifactions but as the weather turned bad, we headed up to our next stay at Refugio Averau.  We got there just as the storm hit.  We had a private room and bath at Averau.

Refugio Averau

WWI trenches at Cinque Torri

Endless valleys

Great scenery

Day 7 - The hike started with a steep traverse down the ski slope road.  Then we started encountering crowds up for the weekend as we got to Passo Giao.  After coffee and water, we headed up to Forcella Giao.  The next few miles were a little up and lots of down.  After a break at Refugio Citta di Fiume, we make a long hike into Refugio Staulanza.  That night we decided to get off trail and head back to Venice.

Refugio Staulanza

Thumb Butt in the Dolomites

Day 8 - The plan for the day was to head up to Forcello Coldai and then reverse back down to take a chairlift down into a town.  However, when we got to the base of the hike up to Coldai, we decided to skip it since the downhill would have really been tough.  We then headed down into Palafavera.  From there we got a bus into Longerone.  We had some time in Lonerone so we had lunch then checked into our hotel.  We then walked around town and visited the Vajant Dam museum.  I had never heard of this disaster but it wiped out the entire town in 1963.  After some delicous pizza, we went to bed.

Longerone

Noisy cows

Day 9 - 12 - The next four where spent in Venice.  Some of sites we saw: St. Mark's Basilica and Campanile, San Giorgio Maggiore, Murano, Burano, Torcello, Cichetti tour, Arsenele.  We also did a side trip to Verona to see the Roman arena and other sites.

Wonderful dinner in the Canneregio

Castelvecchio in Verona

Roman arena in Verona

They still have events in the Verona arena after 2000 years

View towards St. Mark's square

Getting a bit of rain

On the vaporetta

Rain along the canals

St. Mark's Campanile

Just getting into Venice

Weekend Activities

• Drove out to Camp Verde to look at property and stopped at Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well; hit some short jeep trails along the way back
• Parents came up for a day
• Lots of rain!

Cows trying to find shade

Arizona sky

Montezuma Well

Montezuma Castle

Weekend Activities

• Hauled brush for our first Chipper Day
• Hosted our first happy hour!
• More awesome training at Compass
• Great Sunday night dinner with friends

Weekend Activities

Finally back in town for a nice weekend...

• Caught the Spouse Whisperer at the Elks, always funny
• Another great happy hour
• Did some chainsawing to prep for chipper day
• Great vehicle/room clearing training at Compass
• Waiting for the monsoons....

Atlanta Trip

We had an extended trip in Georgia:

• Closed on another storage facility in Lithia Springs
• Did alot of work on our existing facilities
• Caught a great band at the The Vineyard Wine Market and The Village Hideout
• Only made one trip to Rev Coffee
  
• Got plenty of rain and heat

Reading List Update

• Building a Story Brand 2.0 by Donald Miller
• The Old West's First Power Couple: The Fremonts, The Custers and Their Epic Quest for Manifest Destiny by William R. Nester
• Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
• Cry Havoc by A. American
• Max Velocity trilogy

Weekend Activities

• Jeep trip to PNF
• Dug a trench with the help of some great neighbors
• Caught Sir Harrison and full band at The Windsock
• Hiked Williams Peak - awesome views

View from Williams Peak

View from Williams Peak

It is good to have neighbors with stuff like this

PNF Jeep Loop

I got a chance to explore the Prescott National Forest area to the northwest of Prescott.  After packing the car and dog, we headed out to Contreras Road.  I aired down at the junction with Tonto Road while Lily chased jackrabbits. We headed north on Tonto Rd and then Williamson Valley Rd passing wonderful horse and pronghorn territory.  After crossing Walnut Creek, we stopped for a coffee break.  We turned south on Walnut Creek which was a very nice drive.  Then we turned off on Brushy Basin.  This was slow going along rocky roads with very sharp turns.  Also hit the first of many cattle gates to open and close.   One of my goals was to determine which roads were open and which were closed to public traffic.  We hit a closed gate along Wood Camp and made a slight detour along Mud Tank and Jordan Well to get to Telephone Line.  This was pretty smooth to Fair Oaks.  The plan was to keep going south but it looked like there was more private land that would be in the way, so we headed east back to Tonto Rd and back home.  Lily doesn't care for cars so she was glad to be back home.

Stopped for a break

Bridge across Walnut Creek

Where the Antelope Roam