By all accounts, he wasn’t an easy man, my grandfather. He pushed hard, asked a lot, expected excellence - or at least excellent effort - from all around him. But, also by all accounts, he didn’t have the easiest beginnings, so his idiosyncrasies can at least be understood, if not justified. Sadly, I never met […]
November 24, 2005, Nimaj, Rajasthan, India It was impossible to capture him. His face was topographic, lines etched deep, a storybook of years spent smiling and laughing, toiling and struggling, living under the blazing sun of central Rajasthan. Wende and I were back in India, this time taking our mothers on (what was then) an […]
As I wrote Tuesday’s “Mountains of Memories” post Do Hard Things, the photo of my friend Peter atop Bienn a’ Chruliaste made me think not just of the beauty of wilderness solitude, but also the loneliness and isolation felt by me - perhaps by many - during our current challenging times. So, a Thursday Thought […]
The world lost a legend yesterday with the passing of Kancha Sherpa, the last living member of the 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition and, along with Jim Whittaker, the only living members of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition. I didn't know Kancha well, but was fortunate to spend a couple days with him in […]
Everest History, History, In Memoriam, sherpa
Read MoreSeptember 10, 2006, Diraphuk Gompa on the Kailash Kora, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Gentle murmurings, soft, subtle, almost lost, camouflaged by a Himalayan breeze and squawks from goraks (Tibetan ravens). I sat and watched, quietly, trying not to disturb, not to invade their sacred space. The mother and daughter prostrated repeatedly - standing, then kneeling, then […]
September 25, 2000 - Near Pethang Ringmo, Tibet Note: I began writing this post a couple days ago while, interestingly, waiting out a storm in the Colorado high country above Fairplay. I didn’t know then that there were many trekkers stuck in the Kangshung Valley. I wish them well, and safe returns, and also send […]
mount everest, Mountains of Memories, Tibet
Read MoreYears ago, I was wandering with Pete McBride through trash piles on the outskirts of Rishikesh, India. We were filming the final bits of our film Holy (un)Holy River, and had come to the local dump to document the effluvia seeping from it into the nearby, sacred Ganges River. We knew what to expect: a […]
india, joy, perspective, Thursday Thought
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