Santa Cruz Trek, Day 3: The Santa Cruz Valley **An older version of this post originally appeared in 2015 on the old legacy blog. We hope you enjoy this updated version! Waking on the third morning I was greeted, as I stuck my face from the tent, by a cow. This animal, standing about twenty feet away, took one look […]
The Other Side of the Mountain
The Santa Cruz Trek, Day 2: Punta Union We awoke the next morning to the sound of the guides already up and busy with the camp chores. Sylvia had, as she often does, suffered through the whole night from cold feet. We had brought along a pair of hand warmers to counter this but, considering the next campsite promised to be […]
Nevado Huascaran
The Santa Cruz Trek: Day One **An older version of this post originally appeared in 2015 on the old legacy blog. We hope you enjoy this updated version! Before we began our hike we had to get some logistical complications out of the way. In Peru, almost all logistics involve complications. These can involve traffic, cars not showing up at […]
A Slowly Dying Lake of Ice
Pastoruri Glacier…or, what’s left of it **An older version of this post originally appeared in 2015 on the old legacy blog. We hope you enjoy this updated version! Most trips to Huaraz include a side trip to Pastoruri Glacier, one of the few glaciers remaining in tropical South America. Except that nowadays, it’s more correct to say, what’s left of […]
Where the Roads Fade to Paths
The Santa Cruz Trek: Huaraz, Peru…Arrival *This is the third in our series of “reboot posts” of our Peru trips that were featured on our old legacy Blog, but have never appeared on BecauseItzThere.com. The first was our Trek to Machu Picchu via the Salkantay Route in 2012. The second was our successful hike of Colca Canyon and somewhat less […]
Observation (exclamation) Point
Day 3: Observation Point, Zion Canyon *We have added Observation Point to BecauseItzThere’s list of Great Hikes in The US and Canada. It’s hard to believe a hike could get much better…yet the almost universal consensus is that this hike ranks below Angels Landing and The Narrows, both of which are Bucketlist Hikes. Need any more reasons to visit Zion? […]
The Bowl Full of Wonders
Day 2: Bryce Canyon *Located less than 90 minutes north of Zion National Park is much less visited Bryce Canyon National Park. Though less epic in scale than Zion, it is photogenically AT LEAST as pleasing and a worthy place to to visit all by itself. If you are visiting Zion anyway and have time, making the drive up to […]
Three Canyons, One Trip…An American Southwest Sampler
Zion, Bryce and Red Rock Canyons: A Southwest Sampler *Zion Canyon, which we visited in March of 2013, is one of BecauseItzThere’s Best Places to hike in North America. We think it’s the best of the Southwestern US National Parks, excepting only Grand Canyon NP. Bryce Canyon and Red Rock Canyon aren’t chopped liver either. **Zion Canyon contains a pair […]
Countdown to the Alps!
***The Tour Du Mount Blanc is one of BecauseItzThere’s Bucket List hikes. It will be our headlining trip of 2018, and our fourth Bucket List trip completed as a team! The Alps is Three Months Away! ANY hiker worth his or her salt wants to take their game to the Alps. If I have to explain why…then you probably won’t understand […]
Can Anyone Hike Colca Canyon and Misti?
Wrap Up: Colca Canyon and Misti Peru Adventure The question you may find yourself asking as you read these posts is, can I also do this stuff? My usual answer is – if we did it, why, sure you can, too! Sylvia and I are active and experienced hikers, but we are certainly not outdoor athletes. Anything we can do, […]