Hiking

In the fall of 2001 I visited Nepal to do some trekking. I started my journey in the Kathmandu Valley.

On the last leg of our Pembrokeshire hike, we enjoy beautiful sunny weather. Low tide in the middle of the day reveals stunningly beautiful beaches.

St. Davids is the birthplace of the patron saint of Wales. Using this historical town as a base, we do several day hikes along the coastal path. Along one of the hikes, a robin lands right in front of me and allows me to photograph it.

On the first day of our Pembrokeshire coastal hike, we get blown off-course by a wicked storm, and our luggage fails to show up at our accommodations. The following days brought better hiking conditions. From the coastal path we watch a ferry coming from Ireland pull into port.

In part five of our Nakasendo hike, we walk downhill to Ochiai and then on to Nakatsugawa. We walk across the “Ochiai Pavement” – original paving stones of the Nakasendo which are

In part four of our Nakasendo hike, we walk from Nagiso to Tsumago. I enjoy photographing historic Tsumago, and we find a bakery that sells chestnut-filled steamed buns.

In part three of our Nakasendo hike, we stay in a historic minshuku (guesthouse) and we huddle around a butane heater. Our walk to Nojiri leads through a pretty valley with tiered rice paddies.

In part two of our Nakasendo hike, we explore the upper Kiso Valley. We stay at a ryokan in Kiso-Fukushima, and soak our feet in the communal footbath.

In part one of our Nakasendo trek, we visit a castle in Matsumoto and we sample wasabi-flavored products at the Hotaka wasabi farm. We start our Nakasendo hike in the village of Hideshio, from where we walk to the picture-perfect post-town of Narai.