Away!

Imma go here.  Imma do this (sorta).  Back in a week!

Dam.

In the lochs of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, China.  I seem to recall spending the night in this boat stairway.  Water goes up, water goes down.  Very. slowly.

Not with a bang, but a whimper.

This is how your trek ends...

...if you are unfortunate enough to come down with Acute Mountain Sickness.  We saw this tableau many a time, with the tourists in varying degrees of distress.  The best-off came down on their own feet, in a stumbley sort of way, leaning on porters or guides.  Then came the horse-loads, like this guy, heads bobbing in semi-consciousness.  And for the worst of all, a seat in a helicopter evacuating the dangerously-ill to Kathmandu; a constant stream above our heads.

Pumped!

Today I finally sent a route that I had been working on for a couple of weeks.  A fairly wussy one (although it hit my weak spots...hence the projecting) and in the gym, but I am feeling very pleased with myself, noobness and all.  Thus, you get a climbing picture- Wizard @ Birdsboro, cleaning a 5.12a.  Enjoy.

Island life

Some friends of mine are in St. Lucia right now...

Jerks.

Meanwhile, I went down to Occupy Philly and was aggressively hit on by one cop and about ten drunk homeless men. Oh, and there was some protest action too.  Not action-action, a la Oakland or PDX, but the somewhat more civilized kind.

Oh, and this picture is from a trip to St. Croix (guess I can't complain too much...), taken on film and somewhat shittily scanned, hence the grain.  Still, I find it a soothing image. 

Dog fight!

Two healthy-looking strays play fighting as we entered Namche Bazaar, in the Nepali Himalaya.  Mountain air does a doggie good!

The Mountain Cat's Ear

Two social commentary pictures in a row?  Crazy.  Now, here is a flower.

Liliaceae Calochortus Subalpinus, the Subalpine Mariposa Lily, taken near the beginning of a circumnavigation of Mt. Hood via the Timberline Trail, with my bro.

The other half

Destitution, Xi'an, China- but it could be anywhere on Earth.  Its a good day to be thankful for what you have.

Occupy: Sedan Chair

Everyone loves an aggressively obvious visual metaphor, non?

Seriously though, I find the expression on this guy's face as he is being portaged up some very steep stairs to be pretty evocative.  Epic smugness.

Street(non)meats

There are rice pyramids in these bamboo leaves.  They looked so good (and so benign and un-intimidating relative to the average East Asian streetmeat), but they were just a bit too blandly sweet for me.  Muslim Quarter, Xi'an, China.

Stone Idol

Swayambhunath, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Dew

Sunrise dew on the bushes outside my tent, Dolly Sods, WV.

Fiery Apparition