The Ministry of Happiness

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: First Test Hike

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Michael Kane

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: First Test Hike

As I’ve mentioned previously I have undertaken planning to do a thru-hike next year on the Appalachian Trail (AT). My hope is that I will walk all 2,200 miles of the AT from Springer Mountain, GA to Mt. Kathadin, Maine starting in late February or early March, 2015. This is my trail journal where I hope to take you from my decision to do this, through my preparation and then notes from the trail and hopefully all the way to Maine. All of this in my journey and process to live happy days my friends ~ Rev Kane

When it comes down to it, all of the research, the equipment buying, book reading, conversations with former thru-hikers and gym work doesn’t mean anything until you get out and hike. I’ve been working in the occasional 6 to 10 mile hike on the Western States trail, I’ve been carrying around 25 pounds and to be honest those early single day hikes were harder than I had expected them to be. This led me to start working out harder at the gym and they got easier.

However the problem with the Western State’s Trail hikes is that the trail is not very hilly on the section nearest my house. Sure, there’s some up and down but nothing like the elevation changes I’ll see right off the bat on the AT. So the next step of course is to start going uphill. Luckily, living in Northern California and at the foothills of the Sierra Mountains, finding trails with elevation change isn’t that difficult.

Last Christmas I spent 3 days in a little place named Guerneville near the coast, just north of Santa Rosa and did some hiking in the Armstrong Redwood Reserve. The trip was great and the reserve was beautiful and more than that, a couple of trails I did had some steep elevation gains so I decided to do a three day test hike up in the reserve.

Day 1

The first day was a bit hectic, I needed to check-in at the place I was staying between 3 and 7 PM and had to be out of the parking lot at the park by sunset. I arrived at the park around 1PM and jumped out on the East Ridge Trail and very quickly realized the combination of a 30 pound pack and some real hills was going to hurt a bit. The trail has about 400 of elevation gain in the first mile. The climb felt good, hard but good but I was certainly walking more slowly than I would like. I hit the high point of the loop I was doing and swung back down some switch backs back to the starting elevation.

The next piece was another 600 foot climb up the Pool Ridge Trail, this trail had a couple of switch backs but it’s basically 600 feet in a half-mile so it’s pretty gnarly. I was determined to do the climb without a break and so I was going pretty slow, but I did accomplish that goal and felt pretty good at the top of the climb. The rest was a nice walk descending slowly with a lot of switch backs with the final half mile flat through the park.

Here were the answers to the three questions for that day:

What was the most beautiful thing you saw today?

The most beautiful thing I saw that day were the redwoods, I really feel a connection to them, always have and it was wonderful walking along trails through these giants.

What did you learn today?

What I learned today was that my back can handle the weight of full pack pretty well, I’m hoping to hold my full pack weight on the AT to around 30 pounds and that felt like a doable weight. Before the hikers out there chime in, yes, I wear my pack appropriately and drop as much weight as possible onto my hips. But there still is some dug on your back and I was a bit worried about mine.

What made you happy today?

Just being in the redwoods, walking instead of being behind a desk, feeling like I was making progress towards being ready for the AT.

Day 2

Woke up a little sore but was ready to go, the plan for the day was to climb the East Ridge Trail up to the Bullfrog Pond at the top of the park. The way the brochure was written it seemed like a total climb of about 1000 feet, probably should have looked at the topographic maps online. Because the fact is the elevation changes should have been added together, so I was expecting about a 1000 feet but it was actually 1500 feet plus over four miles. Not a huge amount of climbing but it messed with me, the mental aspect of hiking is every bit as important as the physical aspect. Twice as much climbing as I had expected really zapped my energy, add to that the mileage was longer than I anticipated and the hike suddenly felt like the Bataan Death March.

It didn’t help that once I finally arrived at the Bullfrog Pond, after descending for a half an hour, I found a dried up former mud pit, very disappointing. So I ate lunch and reversed the hike. I had hoped to return by the Pool Ridge Trail but the maps were very confusing and I didn’t want to risk getting lost and having to walk extra to get out of the park so I just reversed my steps.

The climb up had included some incredibly steep sections and as hard as they were to come up, I knew they would be even harder to face on the way down. I was right, but by the time I got back to a familiar spot I was about a mile left to the hike, my quads were screaming and I was pretty miserable. I finished out the hike, bought a sub and a big coke and crashed out. I woke a few hours later and showered, and was already a bit sore so I popped some ibuprofen and crashed back out, I planned to repeat the Day 1 hike in the morning.

The most beautiful thing I saw on Day 2 was a honey bee nest that had been dug out of the side of a hill by a black bear.

What I learned on Day 2, or more accurately what I was reminded of on Day 2, was how important the mental aspect of hiking was, not knowing the trails and being surprised by both the length and the elevation of the hike, really took a toll on me.

What made me happy on Day 2, not much, although I did find a few moments near the end of the hike where I started to laugh at myself. Understanding what had gone wrong I had to laugh, something I’m sure I will experience on the AT, particularly in the beginning weeks, long days that are harder than I expected but in the end I’m out hiking, not sitting in an office dealing with the inanity of all that encompasses, that thought made me happy.

Day 3

Well the evening of Day 2 to be exact, the pain set in. Late that night I woke and was very tight and very physically unhappy. I took some more ibuprofen, did some stretching and went back to sleep. When I woke up in the morning and swung out of bed I could barely stand up. When I could it was a very tentative and painful experience. That pretty much killed any hiking that day. I went out and had a big breakfast and then went up to the park to take a short and packless walk through the park to loosen up my legs. I was sore for a couple of more days.

The most beautiful thing I saw that day was an ibuprofen bottle for obvious reasons.

What I learned, quite a lot, particularly I learned that there were muscles that I hadn’t been working on in the gym. My hip abductors and the muscles along the front of my shins. Most of this discomfort came from the descent.

What made me happy, oddly enough my joints, after a couple of really hard days and a lot of sore muscles but my knees and ankles felt ok. I had a little knee pain but nothing significant and nothing on the scale of the muscle pain I was having. Muscle strength I know how to gain and isn’t all that serious, so I was in pain but I was happy.

Hard but happy days my friends ~ Rev Kane

YOU MIGHT DIG THESE AS WELL

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: A Start

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: Three Important Questions

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: Fear and Loathing on the AT

Happy News: Veterans Day

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happy News: Veterans Day, Thank You!

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~ Elmer Davis

Tonight our weekly look at the type of good news that regular and cable news ignore, with a special focus on veterans today. My family has been well represented in the military, two grandfathers in World War II, a father who served in Germany, an uncle who served in Vietnam and my first cousin is currently on active duty on the USS New York. I’m proud of all they have done. ~ Rev Kane

A Salute by Today of Military Moms & Dads

Relieving Veteran’s PTS through Yoga, with Horses etc…

Connecting Veterans with the right jobs

A video of wonderful military family reunions

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. ~ Jose Narosky

Posted in happiness news | Tagged Afghanistan, family, happiness, homecoming, Iraq, reunions, service, veterans, vietnam, world war II | 2 Comments

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 15 – Afterthoughts

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Michael Kane

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 15 – Afterthoughts

I’m re-posting my Himalayan Travelogue posts from one of my other blogs, given my upcoming adventure, hiking the Appalachian Trail, I thought these might be an interesting look back as I prepare ~ Rev Kane

It’s funny in writing something like this, trying to remember everything, even with journal notes, things come to you later, you realize you didn’t get in pictures that you like. You can never catch the feeling or the depth of the friendships that can be created so quickly. One person whose image hasn’t appeared is our friend Steve. Steve of course is not her given name, being born a woman in Hungary and all, but she is Steve, first a picture of my friend Steve.

And now a video to show you what the whole Steve thing is about:

The Tao of Steve

Steve is a truly amazing woman, this was her second trek and she was a zen-like trekker, calm quiet, Steve took everything in her own time. Not to mention that she was fascinating to talk and was being tracked and protected by the Hungarian Secret Service, at least that was the joke. We kidded her a lot that they had her on satellite imagery at all times, and then one day while we were resting under the eaves of a lodge on the trail to Na, a black helicopter came flying up the valley. It really seemed like since she was off satellite coverage and they had sent in the choppers. I miss Steve.

You have seen some of the other characters we were with, Stretch (Nieves), Mark, Philippe and a couple of pictures and a mention of Tom being sick. However, I believe I could write a 16 part series about my friend Tom, it was his second trek as well and he is one of the funniest humans I’ve ever encountered. He routinely kept me laughing and when I couldn’t go above a snail’s pace he spent the day walking with me. With Tom things were up and down, although he kept my spirits up, it was because of him that I ended up at war with Australia.

Our guides were magnificent and truly I wouldn’t trek with anyone else, Kim and Lhakpa are the best, Project Himalaya is great. If you go to see them bring Kim Jolly Ranchers and Lhakpa beef jerky and of course ziplocks and duct tape, they’ll appreciate it.

There are times in the mountains when life can’t get any better, and times when you can’t believe you’re going to finish the days walk. You can build life-long friendships climbing a single hill and totally forget where you are and what you are doing. One of my favorite moments among many was coming up over the ridge to Gorak Shep and looking at the mountains in front of me. Seeing these peaks rising 10,000 feet in the sky I stood there admiring them and then started to laugh. Yes, I was looking at peaks nearly 10,000 feet above me, but I was already 17,000 feet up, such is the power and the scale of the biggest mountains in the world.

I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to the Himalayas but I’m glad I went, the peace I gained in the rare air lasted me almost 10 months after I got back to “civilization.” The other thing that is hard to find space for are just pictures, so to wrap up this little odyssey just a set of pretty shots from the Himalayas and Kathmandu, enjoy!

Posted in Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness | Tagged backpacking, everest, happiness, hiking, kathmandu, mountains, nepal, tao of steve, trekking | 1 Comment

Himalayan Travelogue Part 14 – Namche Reunion, Back to Lukla

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Michael Kane

Himalayan Travelogue Part 14 – Namche Reunion, Back to Lukla

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity. ~ John Muir

Had a great night sleep in Namche, woke up and took my morning constitutional on an honest to goodness sit down toilet, ah the joys in life we take for granted on a daily basis. Fantastic breakfast my back was still a bit sore and I was finally tired of walking so I decided I would not go up to Thame to meet the group and instead spent the day in Namche. I walked around the town for the day, did a little shopping and looked at some amazing Thankas (religious paintings), did some e-mail, sat in the sun and ate apple pie at the Everest Bakery, they make a damn fine apple pie.

The rest of our group came in that night and it was a raucous and emotional reunion, we ate a lot, we drank a lot, and general relaxed. It was also starting to set in that we would be leaving each other soon, people were tired and emotions frayed, so like any good family party people were on edge. Over the last three weeks we had become a family in some sense of the word, we’d bonded over hard work and high altitude and had gotten very close. Like every family however, you had your obnoxious loud cousin, the weird family members, the quiet ones, the mom – I can see all of my former companions reading this and trying to figure out who I thought was who.

We’d been living together for three weeks and that brings with it all of the positives and all of the negatives of being close. However what I will say is that in doing these sorts of adventures, I’ve noticed that the people who show up to these things are typically a little easier to get along with than the general population. I do not like to be part of groups as a general rule but anybody willing to pay to walk up giant mountains and used squat toilets for three weeks has an adventurous nature and those folks are always easier to get along with, our group was no exception.

Our group, after we picked up a couple of stragglers, included scientists, teachers, computer programmers, business people and a doctor. The countries represented included the United States, France, Hungary and Slovenia a pretty diverse group. The age range and I’m guessing a little bit here, ranged from late 20’s to the early 60’s and every shape and size, this diversity provided for great conversation and a full rewriting of the Slovenian National Anthem.

The morning after our Namche reunion we walked down to Phakding. The website for Project Himalaya says this walk we came up two weeks before will seem remarkably easy and quick and it was true. It really is amazing after two weeks in the high country how much easier it was to walk at 10,000 feet and lower. We spent the night at a lodge in Phakding eating popcorn and watching Bollywood music videos. The next morning we were off to Lukla. The next morning uncharacteristically I was one of the first people to be ready and I set off down the trail toward Lukla. I was the second person out and was wandering down the trail looking at some of the amazing Mani Walls in the areas:

Some of the beautiful homes and gardens:

I was even stopped for awhile so that a train of mules essentially could go through, and at times stopped to let some of the unbelievable porters to come through.

The porters are absolutely amazing, small men by American standards, thin, wearing sneakers and sometimes even sandals and they are carrying crazy loads from 9000 to sometimes 15, 16, or 17,000 feet. I saw porters who were carrying five foot high stacks of can goods, with ten sheets of plywood (the picture above) and the most amazing, a five foot man carrying eight, seven foot long pieces of rebar. The rebar was so long that he had to go backwards downhill, the same downhills I was carefully picking my way down with trekking poles. Effectively the porters and Sherpas of the Khumbu are supermen.

Now one of the questions I often get was aren’t you afraid you’ll get lost and I always said no, the trails are fairly obvious and they were. Particularly on the way to Lukla, it’s a trail, mostly stone covered that thousands of people walk daily. Of course, this was the day I got lost. It was a short detour, I missed a turn around a little school and instead went off along the river. The trail kept getting narrower and I stopped seeing people come the other way so I realized pretty quickly I’d gone the wrong way. It was a nice little diversion down a quiet part of the valley and I was happy for the mistake.

I backtracked to the trail and ended up coming up behind the group and freaking people out as they were all sure I was up ahead of them. We walked leisurely that day, stopped for tea on a highpoint and enjoyed the sun. There was one last hill to climb and then we entered Lukla a full circle in the Himalayas.

We dropped down through the village and stayed at the lodge next to the airport and settled in for lunch, it was Thanksgiving Day back in the states but there was no turkey on the menu in Lukla. I was hungry and so I decided to order the sizzling Yak platter and when it came out steaming and sizzling I was the envy of the lunch crowd. We spent the day in Lukla picking up souvenirs, catching up with the world on the internet and then me, Mark and Tom decided to have a beer at the Everest Rock Bar. It was a fabulous little place, just us and the bartender who I’m sure thought we were nuts, we drank, we laughed and listened to the same loop of music over and over and it was wonderful. The girl who hiked in a skirt and her boyfriend even stuck their head into the bar in a nice little coincidence and said hi. It was a good afternoon.

That night was Thanksgiving Dinner, our last night party, we bought a box of wine and we all ordered the sizzling Yak, within minutes of our dinners coming out the steam had fogged up the entire lodge and they were opening windows. The other groups in the lodge, Italians and Japanese couldn’t stop watching our table. We were happy and rowdy and then it happened, perhaps the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life. One of the add-ons to our group, Chris had gone to an international nursery school as a small child and had learned a Japanese Nursery Rhyme. Suddenly, with no warning Chris leaped up and burst out in full Japanese song mode and started dancing and singing the rhyme. Some of the older Japanese ladies jumped up out of their chairs and joined right in, it was madness as the other Japanese trekkers went for their phones to video the whole affair. Every once-in-awhile I search YouTube hoping someone has posted it, the search continues.

A late night and lots of drinking would be followed by an early flight to Kathmandu. As I was nodding off Philippe came into the room and proceeded to spontaneously launch into a flying Tatanka massage. Nothing like being half-awake, buzzed and having a 250 pound flying Frenchman land on you full force to give you a full body Tatanka massage. After my screaming stopped I heard lots of laughter from the other rooms of my mates. I would sleep with one eye open for the rest of the night.

Posted in Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness | Tagged backpacking, everest, happiness, hiking, Lukla, nepal, thanksgiving, trekking, yak | 1 Comment

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 13 – Up to Mong La, down to French Fries and Fried Eggs

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Michael Kane

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 13 – Up to Mong La, down to French Fries and Fried Eggs

Mong La

Cold morning in Dhole and no fire in the common room so we ate as fast as possible and made for Phortse Tenga at a pretty fast clip. Then we made what was an hour and fourteen minute climb up to Mong La, with the extra weight in the packs it was a challenging climb. However, back at lower elevation and over two weeks in the Himalayas it wasn’t so bad. We stopped at Mong La for a quick cup of tea, a short rest and to take in the view which from there is truly spectacular.

My friend Nieves in Mong La

The picture is of my friend Nieves at Mong La the first time we came through. Mong La improbably sits on the top of a peak like a Himalayan rest area. Reaching the top there are several little lodges and our two stops there were magical.

Our tea stop was brief and we were on the march again, our goal was back to the Moonlight Lodge in Namche and back to internet connections, hot showers, sit on toilets and great apple pie in the bakeries. However my back was starting to bother with the extra weight, we came down off of the hill from Mong La and stopped at a lodge and our guide Lhakpa really wanted to move on through and get to Namche but Philippe and I were tired and as tempting as Namche and all it held was, a grumbling stomach won out. So we stopped to sit in the sun and have a snack and it is time to truly introduce you to my friend Phillipe, or as he became to known as, Tatanka. Philippe is from France and speaks excellent English although he doesn’t believe that so much, he’s a big and powerful man and happened to have a Tatonka bag. I don’t know what that means in German but it quickly got co-opted to the Lakota Sioux word for Bison. The following two pictures show exactly how well my friend took to his new name:

Philippe Is a very social man who speaks several languages, when we sat down another Frenchman joined us at the table and the French began to fly. Then several Germans sat at the next table and the German began to fly. It was fabulous sitting there in the middle of several conversations going on at once in English, French and German staring out across the Khumbu Valley with the high peaks in the distance. It was one of few truly cosmopolitan and amazing moments of my life, and then the Frenchman’s meal came, fried eggs on top of French Fries. At that moment it seemed to be the greatest culinary invention in the history of mankind and we order it immediately, much to the dismay of Lhakpa who now realized he’d lost the battle to keep us moving. Fried eggs, French Fries and a coke, it was delicious and different and in that moment has to have been one of the best meals I’d ever eaten. One of those meals that eaten anywhere else, at any other time, would barely be palatable was a veritable feast in the Himalayas, a concept I named in another blog as momentary food.

Eventually Lhakpa did get us moving and when he finally did he demonstrated his desire to get us quickly Namche with a blistering pace. It was a downhill run but my back began to hurt again, but it was time to tough it out, I did and the payoff was spotting two blood pheasants on the way into Namche, awesome.

Finally we were back at what seemed like home, Namche, The Moonlight Lodge and a reunion with our friend Tom who had left because he was ill and the cold beer that the reunion promised.

Posted in Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness | Tagged backpacking, everest, happiness, hiking, mong la, namche bazaar, nepal, sherpa, trekking | 1 Comment

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 12 – Renjo La Pass and Machermo

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Michael Kane

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 12 – Renjo La Pass and Machermo

Machermo

I’m re-posting my Himalayan Travelogue posts from one of my other blogs, given my upcoming adventure, hiking the Appalachian Trail, I thought these might be an interesting look back as I prepare ~ Rev Kane

On this day the group will be leaving to go over the Renjo La Pass (17,800) feet and down into the Thame valley. I had been thinking a lot about the pass, I’m not a good descender and there was a possibility that the descent would be icy and I just wasn’t feeling confident about it. The last thing I wanted to do was talk myself into a fall so I made the decision to go back down the Gokyo Valley and to Namche with a plan to meet the group in three days in Mende. My friend Phillipe had not been feeling well and he decided to make the trip down with me and one of the guides, Lhakpa. Breaking from the group meant no Yak support and so instead of light day packs we were carrying full packs, still not a ton of weight but definitely more than we had been carrying up to this point.

My hiking companion Phillipe doing his best Yak impression

It was a sad morning saying goodbye to the group and we watched them as long as we could as they slid up the side of Gokyo Ri, heading for what looked like an impossible path to reach a notch in the mountains. Finally it was time for us to go and we retreated down the Gokyo Valley, this time staying on the opposite side of the river which gave us new villages and vistas. We were heading for Dhole but our first stop was at Machermo a place I was very excited to be getting to. Why you ask? Well on the maps of the Khumbu Valley there is a notation at Machermo, “site of Yet attack in 1974, 3 yaks killed and woman thrown in stream.” Being as interested as I am in the Yeti, Machermo was certainly a high point on the trip for me, unfortunately I’m unable to locate my Machermo photos at this time, but they weren’t that exciting, just me by the village sign. The other thing both related to the Yeti and very interesting was the area just outside of Machermo, for the first time on the trek we found ourselves walking through actual forest including something that looked a lot like Spanish Moss on the trees. This really seemed like the first habitat we encountered that could actually support a large creature like the Yeti. For more on the Yeti check out the link below:

Tom Slick Expedition

We made Dhole (13,254) in the afternoon, it’s a sleepy little village and we had a great afternoon sitting in the sun, having a beer and watching crows stealing food off of the packs on the backs of the yaks coming through the village. The lodge at Dhole had very little heat in the common room and none in the sleeping area and it may have been the coldest night of the trek. Getting up at 3AM to urinate and the water in the squat toilet was actually frozen, I was very thankful for my mummy bag that night it was going to be a cold morning. ~ Rev Kane

Some Other Adventure Posts You Might Enjoy!

Appalachian Trail Happiness, the Book

Appalachian Trail Happiness: Trail Community

Appalachian Trail Happiness: Reader’s Favorite Posts

Quitting the Appalachian Trail

My Favorite Appalachian Trail Photos of 2015

Appalachian Trail Happiness: Precious Moments

Posted in Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness | Tagged backpacking, bigfoot, everest, happiness, hiking, macheermo, trekking, yeti | 1 Comment

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 11 – In the Land of Na & Gokyo

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Michael Kane

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 11 – In the Land of Na & Gokyo

Gokyo, with Cho Oyu in the background

The morning was spent making the trek back down from Dingboche to Phortse, retracing our steps once again to meet up with my little beard pulling friend. A nice night back in Phortse but the lodge is crowded, the snow has created some log jams both going up and coming down the trails. Being at a lower altitude feels amazing especially when just days before this was the thin air we were getting used to.

The next morning we said goodbye to one of our group who was sick and would be heading down to Namche and then the rest of us hit the trail moving up again. The trail to Na was by far my most difficult trail of the entire trek. I don’t like exposed trails, I mentioned that earlier and on the trail to Na we spent a very large portion of our seven hours of walking on the edge of about a 1000 foot drop off, with the trail winding out around outcroppings and the conversation for most of the day unfortunately centering on the guy who disappeared on this trail the year before.

The physical part of the walk was not an issue, it was the mental drain of having to focus so intensely on where to put foot after foot after foot. By the time we reached the river drainage that led up to the lodge at Na I was spent, the last half hour was a long slow slog. The high point of the day as well as the most embarrassing moment was watching a 50-something grandmother come up over mountain trails carrying her 4 year old grandson and moving at least as fast as I was, it put things into perspective.

The lodge at Na was a bit of a throwback to old trekking days, the outhouse was well outside of the lodge and a good distance away, the Yak dung stove smoked up the lodge and the rooms were chilly and our Yaks were huddled up against our window. However like the rest of the region it was beautiful, the shot below is the trail coming up the valley.

Looking back at the trail to Na

We lit out of Na, across the river and started upward again toward the Gokyo Valley, saw what were quite possibly snow leopard prints in the snow, very cool. We took a rest stop at the entrance to the Gokyo Valley on a little bridge over a raging river. I had been looking forward to seeing the valley, there are five sacred lakes in the Gokyo Valley and we quickly came upon the first. It looked a bit like a damned up wide spot in the river but was absolutely beautiful set against the snow. A little further up the valley we came to the second lake and it was magnificent, the lake is long and over a 100 feet deep. Looking back down the valley from the head of the lake and my favorite peak was gleaming in the sun, this instantly became my favorite spot in Nepal.

We spent a little time resting by the shore of the lake and then made our way up to Gokyo and the third lake. The view of Gokyo (15,700 ft) was awesome.

The third lake was like a small Lake Tahoe set in the Himalayas, the lodge we were staying at sat up over it with a magnificent view and had attached with it the outhouse with the best view in the world.

The lakes as I mentioned were sacred lakes so there is no one in boats or in the lake in any way. The lakes remain perfect and calm framed against the snow covered shores of Gokyo Ri (17,585) and in the shadow of Cho Oyu one of the world’s highest mountains at 26,900 feet and pictured below.

We had a rest day in Gokyo and I spent the day shooting, here’s a sampling enjoy.

Some Other Adventure Posts You Might Enjoy!

Appalachian Trail Happiness, the Book

Appalachian Trail Happiness: Trail Community

Appalachian Trail Happiness: Reader’s Favorite Posts

Quitting the Appalachian Trail

My Favorite Appalachian Trail Photos of 2015

Appalachian Trail Happiness: Precious Moments

Posted in Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness | Tagged adventure, backpacking, bucket list, everest, happiness, hiking, himalayas, lake tahoe, photography, trekking | 1 Comment

Himalayan Travelogue Part 10 – Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Michael Kane

Himalayan Travelogue Part 10 – Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

The poetry of the earth is never dead. ~ John Keats
November 17, 2009 – woke up to lots of snow probably six inches, considering that November is the dry season it was quite a surprise to everyone. The weather forecast that we could get indicated that the temperature for the next few days would remain cold. This meant that the pass we planned to go over to get to the Gokyo Valley would be snowed in and may stay that way for several days. This left our group with a decision to make, we could trek up to Everest Base Camp and spent the next several days waiting for the pass to possibly open and possibly run out of time and have to skip the Gokyo Valley, or make a long trek back down, around and then back up into the Gokyo Valley.

However the second option would mean we had to leave immediately and miss out on visiting Everest Base Camp. This was a tough decision for the group, base camp was a goal for many of us and had been the reason I had originally come on the trek. However, something I had come to realize walking up these mountains was that Everest no longer mattered. The mountains were unbelievable and although Everest may be the biggest, I had become more fascinated with Khan Tiega. It was no longer about just Everest and the group agreed to skip out on base camp and head down the mountain to spend the night at Dingboche just a six hour walk in the snow.

Once the decision was made we packed quickly and got ready to move. It was a brand new experience, walking trails that we had done the day before, but now were covered with snow and ice. The snow wasn’t terribly deep and we were making very good time considering the conditions. We flew the two hours down to Lobuche and the pace was frankly too much for me. Even going downhill at almost 17,000 ft the altitude can get to you, I was never so excited for a cup of tea as I was arriving at Lobuche that day in the snow. I had been nauseous most of the morning and now was dizzy on top of it, I hadn’t eaten much at all, but it was time to go back out in the snow

Below is what I wrote that night about walking that day:

“Felt nauseous all morning and the dizziness was not helping at all. However the walk was spectacular as the mountains were snow covered and kept dancing in and out of the clouds, it was the prototypical Himalayan Trekking day as I had envisioned it in my head before coming.”

It was a crazy day walking, at times the ground, the sky, the mountains and then fog crowded in on us and there were no borders to the world. There was a real fear of walking off the side of a cliff and luckily as usual my friend Mark and his size 14 boot prints were in front of me marking the way. Then, suddenly, the clouds would blow out and the sun would beat down reflected off of everything and you’d be hot as hell. At least four times during the day I either stripped down from my parka to my t-shirt or stopped to quickly bundle up again.

Retracing the steps we had done two days before we came to the ridge above Thugla and to the chortens marking the lost climbers. It had been magnificent and somber a few days before, but now it had taken on utterly surreal quality in the snow.

We ate lunch at Thugla and then moved on towards Dingboche, as we came down the valley I took one of my favorite photos of the trip:

We arrived back in Dingboche and truly I’ve never been so tired walking down hill, but it had been a magnificent day. The effects of altitude are amazing, dropping from 17,000 to 14,000 feet my head felt clearer, and my appetite had returned. We made a lot of jokes that night about the fat air at 14,000 feet, a joke that I could not have imagined finding amusing even two weeks earlier.

Posted in Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness | Tagged backpacking, everest, happiness, hiking, nepal, snow, trekking | 1 Comment

Happiness is Laughter: Weird News & Evil Clowns

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness is Laughter: Weird News & Evil Clowns

Tonight the Halloween version of our Friday laughter post and of course that has to mean one thing, evil and scary clowns, enjoy and have a happy day ~ Rev Kane

Dog narcs on his owner

Paranormal Investigators accidentally burn ghost church to the ground

Man arrested by side of the road for having sex with inflatable raft for the FOURTH time.

Could it be an alien clown invasion

Clowns banned in town in Southern France

Creepy clown haunting evenings in Wasco, CA

The State Island clown who started it all

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Posted in Happiness is Laughter | Tagged clowns, fun friday, ghosts, halloween, happiness, laughter, paranormal, pets | 1 Comment

Happiness & My Favorite Holiday: Dios de la Muertos

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness & My Favorite Holiday: Dios de la Muertos

Proud to say this painting by Heather Calderon hangs in my home

Dios de la Muertos and Thanksgiving are pretty much in a dead heat for my favorite holiday so as you can guess, November is a big month for me. So tonight some stuff related to the holiday to give you a little background and show you some great stuff. Take a look and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

First a little history on the Day of the Dead

How to make sugar skulls

A link to one of my favorite artists, Heather Calderon, her work is fantastic and I especially love her Day of the Dead work. Here are some examples:

My favorite piece, the reason I bought it.

Another piece of Heather’s work that I own

Finally tonight a few of my own images from my photo site, ZD Blue Images – Tasting Life with our Eyes.

Posted in Random Happiness | Tagged art, day of the dead, dias de los muertos, frida, halloween, happiness, painting, photography | 1 Comment

The Ministry of Happiness

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: First Test Hike

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Himalayan Travelogue, Part 15 – Afterthoughts

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 15 – Afterthoughts

Himalayan Travelogue Part 14 – Namche Reunion, Back to Lukla

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Himalayan Travelogue, Part 13 – Up to Mong La, down to French Fries and Fried Eggs

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 13 – Up to Mong La, down to French Fries and Fried Eggs

Himalayan Travelogue, Part 12 – Renjo La Pass and Machermo

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Himalayan Travelogue, Part 11 – In the Land of Na & Gokyo

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Himalayan Travelogue Part 10 – Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

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Happiness is Laughter: Weird News & Evil Clowns

Happiness is Laughter: Weird News & Evil Clowns

Could it be an alien clown invasion

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Happiness & My Favorite Holiday: Dios de la Muertos

Happiness & My Favorite Holiday: Dios de la Muertos

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