Tag Archives: outdoors

Cancun Part 1: Cenotes

Erika and I spent five days in Cancun. We stayed at a fairly nice resort, the Gran Caribe Real. It’s one of those places where a flat price gets you a bed, all-you-can-eat buffets, and non-stop drinks while you are a guest. It’s a bit like a cruise ship on land. Of the five days we were there, we only spent one day exclusively at the resort. We weren’t going to fly all the way to Cancun and not seek out adventure. Over the next few days I’ll post pictures and such from the trip. First up, Cenotes.

I’d never heard of a cenote prior to my trip and I am going to assume most of you haven’t either. A cenote is essentially a sinkhole filled with fresh water. They vary in size, appearance, depth, and awesomeness. They can be found all over the Yucatan. We visited two: one near Chichen Itza and another on our way to Coba. They were both fantastic for different reasons. The first was roughly 150 feet deep, surrounded by lush vegetation, and visible from the surface. The water felt great and there was a diving platform 15-20 feet above the water. It was the well-known and commercial of the two. The second was accessible via a thin cave entrance and only after participating in a Maya purification ceremony. It was somewhat secluded, located within the jungle.

More Cenotes Pictures Here

More Caving

Erika and I went on another Extreme Things hike to a Mine Cave. Anne Marie and Patrick came along as well. There were plenty of rocks and such to scramble over along the way, something that keeps me happy during any hike. After a couple of hours we arrived at the Dawn Mine. It is by far the most interesting of the mines we have visited thus far. It is rather large and full of broken beams and much of the cave is flooded shin-deep. At some points, the ceiling snakes up tens of feet occasionally leading into a second cave further up the hillside. There is also a forty-foot deep pool of stagnant water you may wish to avoid. The climb to and from the higher cave was quite exciting, steep and full of interesting climbing opportunities. The uppermost cave was full of bat dung, but, alas, no bats were inside.

More Pics Here

Busy Weekend

I kept busy this weekend: three puppet shows with two workshops, a hike through Angeles Crest, and swimming this afternoon. Below are pictures of our hike through Angeles Crest to Switzer Falls. This is the third Extreme Things event Erika and I have attended and it was a good time. If you are in the L.A. area looking to do things outdoors, I recommend joining.

More Pics Here

Fire Flight Photos


Directly across from us, roughly 200 yards, after we reached the top of our climb.
It took about 3 minutes to turn from a spark into this.
It, of course, doesn’t look nearly as foreboding in a photo.

If you haven’t read my prior post, now is a good time to check it out because I have pictures and you may want to know what I am talking about if you look at them.

More Pics Here

Adventures in Mining

I returned to the Altadena Mines for the third time today. With me were Erika, Patrick and Anne Marie. We visited two mines, I explored the smaller claustrophobia-inducing one further this time, and we were making good time traversing the steep climb to the third cave. We stood at the summit taking a small break before entering the last mine shaft. Erika smelled smoke. Then, I heard crackling. Patrick pointed out a patch of smoke. Ahead, across the thin ravine, dancing up a hillside was a growing flame. It was moving quickly and growing steadily. Adjacent was the path we had taken into the gorge.

There was no time to waste. The route to the third mine is roughly thirty minutes of climbing rock faces ranging between five and fifteen feet, a few mildly precarious. The climb is dry, dusty, and littered with pebbles intent on tripping anyone not paying special attention to their footing. We launched down the mountainside. Sliding, jumping, slipping, occasionally climbing. We moved as quickly as possible without risking plummeting over an edge. As quickly as we moved down the mountain, the fire doubled moving up the opposing hillside. Erika and I slid into the gorge. Across from us, Patrick was waving us toward a somewhat slippery and dusty steep slope that would bring us to the exit path much sooner. Anne Marie was nearly at the top and smoke was beginning to roll in.

We jogged down the path towards the park entrance. Firefighters with hoses and fire trucks passing us along the way. The top of the nearby hill was already black and burned through. At one point, flames flickered along the edge of the trail. A helicopter passed overhead. We approached the street, a news van parked along the curb, spectators gathered outside their homes and near their vehicles staring into the distance. We were filthy, bruised, scraped, but we were not on fire.

I wonder what would have been the turn of events had we made it to the cave five minutes sooner. How strong would the blaze have been when we exited? Some hikers were air-lifted to safety. We were lucky enough to see the fire start and escape before it got too large. We were also lucky the weather wasn’t against us.

Al-Insan asked us not to do anything new and exciting without him. I hope he’s not too upset.
News Report by ABC

Mine Cave Exploration

A few weeks ago, I joined a website/Adventure Club called Extreme Things. Saturday. Erika and I joined them for a Mine Cave Exploration Hike in Altadena. Everyone seemed very friendly and we had a good time. Part of the fun for me was the hike, it involved a lot more climbing than I anticipated. Climbing is always a plus. We visited three mine caves, but I only ventured in to the second two. The first involved squeezing through a tight twenty foot crawl space. In essence, I would have only been able to use my feet to push myself through. I crawled through the ample entrance, the walls moving closer steadily. As I reached the point where my shoulders pressed against the rock and my movement became constricted, my heart began to race. I’ve always suffered from claustrophobia and Saturday wasn’t the day I would defeat it. Erika was tougher than me and squeezed inside, as did most of the group. There were two other cowards besides myself. I intend to visit the caves again and eventually force my way inside this particular cave, but it may take multiple attempts. The other two caves were much more spacious. The pictures are misleading, these caves are dark. Without a flashlight, you can see nothing, pure darkness. At some point, groups of gold-seekers dug these caves by hand and/or dynamite. They are rather large when one considers that, each a few hundred feet deep with two or three forks and various alcoves.

More Cave Pics Here

Channel Islands

I have been wanting to visit the Channel Islands for some time now. They are a group of islands off the coast of Ventura that are part of a natural reserve. In other words, you can’t live or build there, but you can visit and camp. Erika and I took a trip to the closest island, Anacapa today. It was her first time on a boat and it was a hell of a way to be introduced. The waters were quite choppy and the trip was fairly wet. Sometimes spray would splash across the upper deck. Anacapa is a beautiful place. I hope to go camping, kayaking, and snorkeling on one of the other islands in the near future, probably Santa Cruz. On that one, you get to take a small skiff with all your supplies over the waves and onto the beach and you’ll probably get very wet.

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¡Tahoe!


Earlier this week, I returned from Lake Tahoe. This place is amazing. It is something you only see in photographs, but never in reality…except you do…if you…go to Lake Tahoe…then you…then you see it…in reality…not just photos. Seeing as it is Spring, we assumed there would no longer be snow, but were very wrong as we discovered upon arrival in our shorts.


This was my first real experience with actual snow, not just an inch that melts within a few hours. It is also the first time I ever skiied, which I enjoyed. 


Jennifer won a few hundred in the casino. I, on the other hand, racked up tickets in the arcade. I also managed to purchase two left foot snow boots.