Chamonix ve etrafinda donem tatili / Spring Break in Chamonix and around

Verbier Kayak Merkezi - Isvicre'de en tepeden manzara / View from the top of Verbier Ski Resort - Switzerland

Courmayeur Kayak Merkezi - Italya / Courmayeur Ski Resort - Italy

Arkadasim Kat ile harika bir donem tatili! Bu tatilde Chamonix’den Zermatt’a meshur Haute route uzerinden kayaklarla gitmeyi dusunuyorduk ama baska bir zamana ertelemeye ve Chamonix’de kalmaya karar verdik. Chamonix gercekten harika bir dag kasabasi. Turistiyle, yerlisiyle her tur insan var. Cok meshur biryer olmasina ragmen hicbir zaman cig hissettirmiyor kendisini, ve de herkes cok sakin ve huzurlu genel olarak. Ayrica, buradaki ve etrafindaki kayak merkezlerinde kayak yapmak cok asiri pahali degil (Tahoe’dakileri ya da Amerika’daki benzer sekilde meshur kayak merkezlerini dusununce). Birgun Alplerin Isvicre tarafindaki Verbier kayak merkezine, bir baska gun ise Italya tarafindaki Courmayeur kayak merkezine gittik. Cografya her mekanda bir degisik, yeme icme daha degisik, ve genel olarak ortamin havasi bile degisik! Kayak disinda, cok sicak olan birkac gun Chamonix vadisinde kosular da yaptik. Bir taraftan da Kat, Kathmandu’ya Lhotse ekspedisyonu icin gitmek uzere hazirliklarini yapiyordu. Son dakika alisverisleri, ekipman kontrolu, ve canta hazirlama ile ugrastik ara ara. Bu hazirlik kisminin parcasi olmak da cok guzel ve heyecanliydi. Ve tabi ki bir dolu tirmanis ve kosu plani da yapildi! Bu arada Kat, daha yakin zamanda, Guney Kutbu’na 4 kisilik bir ekibin parcasi olarak desteksiz!!! 6.5 hafta suren bir ekspedisyon ile kizaklarla ulasan ilk Ingiliz kadin! 915km/560 mil ucsuz bucaksiz sastrugi denen dalgalanmis buz uzerinden kayak/kizakla! (Genelde insanlar son enlemi -89.cudan 90.ya kadar- kayak/kizaklarla gecerek Guney Kutbu’na ulasiyorlar, Antartika’nin bir kiyisindan baslayip butun yolu gecerek degil!). Harika bir ilham kaynagi ve cok sevdigim bir arkadasim olan bu kadinin Lhotse ekspedisyonunu ve gelecekteki maceralarini Instagram hesabindan takip edebilirsiniz: @k2koolkat.

Grand Montets Kayak Merkezi - Chamonix / Grand Montets Ski Resort - Chamonix

Spring break well spent with Kat! We were thinking about skiing from Chamonix to Zermatt – the infamous Haute route but postponed that plan to another year and stayed in town. Chamonix is such a cool mountain town with all kinds of people including tourists and locals. Despite being a very famous touristic spot, I find this place to be very chill and normal. And it is not super expensive to ski around there (compared to what you’d pay in Tahoe or in some other very touristic places). One day we went to ski at Verbier in Switzerland, another day we were skiing in Courmayeur in Italy! Each about 45 min drive away! Yet the terrain is different, the food is different, and the overall vibe is different! A few days were very warm so we also opted for some runs in the Chamonix Valley. Kat was also getting ready to leave for Kathmandu for her Lhotse expedition so there was some last minute shopping, gear-checks, and packing involved. It was so good to be part of the excitement and it was a great time overall – as always with Kat! including lots of planning for future running and climbing expeditions together. She actually very recently got back from South Pole where she became the first British woman to reach South Pole fully unsupported!!! in 6.5 weeks as part of a 4-person team that she did skied/sled all the way of 915kms/560 miles on endless sastrugi from the coast to the pole! (Usually people chose to ski/sled the last degree –from 89th to 90th- in a week or so to get to South Pole). She is such an inspiration and such a great friend! Follow her Lhotse expedition (and future adventures) on Instagram: @k2koolkat.

Vadideki kosularimizdan / From one of our runs in the valley

GRAND CANYON R2R2R

facebook.com/groups/GrandCanyonHikers
Photo by Jason Hines

Ne zamandir yapmak istedigim bir projeydi Grand Canyon R2R2R. Guney Rim'den Kuzey Rim'e, oradan tekrar geri Guney Rim'e kosma projesi. Toplamda 45mil+ ve 3200 metre irtifa kazanimli bir rota. Gecen yaz Turkiye'deyken eski dagci arkadaslarimdan Hakan, Phoenix'e bir konferans icin gelecegini soylediginde kendisine bu projemden bahsetmistim. Hakan'in planlar belli olunca ben de hemen SF'ten Phoenix'e ucak biletimi aldim. 12 Kasim'da orada bulustuk ve direk Grand Canyon girisinde kalacagimiz motel'e dogru yola ciktik. Karnimizi doyurup cantamizi hazirladiktan sonra sabah 5te Ziyaretci Merkezi'nden bizi baslangic noktamiza goturecek servis aracini yakalamak uzere yola ciktik. Kosmaya/asagiya dogru kafa lambalarimizla inmeye basladigimizda saat sabah 5:15 idi. South Kaibab denen bu patika baya dik ve tozlu bir patika. Yolda bizden once baslamis gruplari gecerek devam ettik. Ben uzun mesafe kosular ve yarislar daha once cok yaptigim icin beni neyin bekledigini az cok biliyordum. Hakan kisa mesafelerde hizina yetisemedigim bir kosucu olmasina ragmen bu tarz bir organizasyonu ilk defa yapiyordu. Ama O da benim gibi eski dagcilardan oldugu icin endiselenecek bir durum yoktu tabi ki de! Biraz dinlendikten sonra geri donuse gectik. Bol bol fotograf molasi verip manzaralardan da keyif almaya calistik tabi ki. Geri South Rim'e cikmak icin indigimiz dik patika yerine Bright Angel denen biraz daha uzun ama daha mulayim bir egimi olan ve Colorado Nehri manzarali patikayi sectik. Sahane bir dolunay esliginde rotayi 17 saatte bitirdik. Cok yorulduk ama bitirdigimizde cok mutluyduk. Harika bir macera yaptigimizda hemfikir bir sekilde hemen motele geri donduk. Ertesi gun oglen ben SF'teydim bile! Hakan da konferansinda! :)

Grand Canyon R2R2R has been on the books for quite some time now (10500ft elevation gain over 45+ miles). Over the summer, when my long time friend Hakan told that he may be coming to Phoenix for a conference, I mentioned him about this run and after his plans were finalised, we decided to do it. I flew to Phoenix from San Francisco and we drove straight to the motel we were going to stay at the entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. After dinner and preparing our backpacks, we got up early to drive to the shuttle at 5am in the Park that would drop us at the South Kaibab trailhead. We started running down at 5:15am and passed a few big groups on the way down. The trail was very steep and dusty. I am used to long distance running and various format long races. Hakan is super fast in short-er distances but was new to this format. But he is an old mountaineer so there was no concern at all! Although we started our way back slow, we picked our pace but didn't forget to stop to enjoy the views and to take photos. On the way back up to the South Rim, instead of the steep trail we came down, we took the Bright Angel trail which is relatively longer but goes up more gradually. Besides, it had the views of the Colorado River under the Super Moon. After 17 hours (lots of stops and rests) we got back to the South Rim and went straight to the motel. We were very tired but ecstatic about our little adventure. The next day by midday I was already in SF and Hakan was already at his conference :)

BIR GUNDE HALF DOME (San Francisco'dan gunu birlik!) / HALF DOME IN A DAY (From San Francisco and back!)

Half Dome'un tepesi / The top of Half Dome

Yosemite Milli Parki Amerika'daki en guzel milli parklardan biri. Genel olarak bu ulkedeki milli parklar, burasi ile ilgili en sevdigim ve begendigim sey diyebilirim. Yosemite San Francisco'ya yaklasik 3-4 saat uzaklikta ve epeyce turist cekiyor. Bir dolu gorulesi guzel noktaya, hem yuruyus hem de tirmanis rotalarina sahip. Half Dome'da hem tirmanis hem de yuruyus icin harika bir hedef.  Eger duz! duvarini tirmanmak istemiyorsaniz, arka tarafindan tepeye ulasmak mumkun. Half Dome'un arka tarafina kadar yoldan itibaren yaklasik 8 mil yurumek/kosmak gerekiyor. Son kismi da kayaya cakilmis metal bir kabolya tutunarak yapiliyor, cunku cok dik. Tahmin edilecegi uzere bu cok populer bir rota oldugu icin Milli Park tarafindan bir gun icinde normal duvar ya da patika rotasinda kac kisi olacagi sinirlandirilmis. Bahar sonu ve yaz aylari icin cok onceden izinlerin alinmasi gerekiyor cunku bu vakitler en kalabalik zamanlar. Ben onceden bircok kereler basvurmaya calismistim ama kalabaliklar yuzunden hevesim kacmisti izin almak da hic nasip olmamisti. Ekim basinda Veronica ile hafta ici bir gun sansimizi denemeye karar verdik. Ama Ekim 15'te de celik kablolar kaldirildigi icin (hava sartlari yuzunden Ekim 15 sonrasi o kisim kapatiliyor) cok fazla gunumuz yoktu. Onceden izin alamayanlar icin gitmeyi planladiginiz gunden iki gun once Park yonetimini arayip basvurunuzu yapiyorsunuz kalabalik olmayan mevsimlerde, iptal vs durumlarina gore Park size 24 saat icinde evet ya da hayir ile geri donuyor. Ben 3 Ekim pazartesi iki kisi icin randevu talebimizi yaptim, ertesi sabah evet emaili gelisti bile! 5 Ekim Carsamba sabahi erkenden yola ciktik. (Normalde bir suru insan Half Dome icin 2 gun ayiriyor - bir gece kamp yaparak 16 mil/25.7kmlik ve 4800ft/1463m irtifa kazanimli rotayi iki gunde tamamliyorlar). Ogleden once de patikaya girmistik bile! Ikimiz de antremanli oldugumuz icin fotograf cekmek disinda cok vakit kaybetmeden hizli bir sekilde yol katettik kablolara kadar.  Tepede kisa bir ogle yemegi ve fotograf molasindan sonra inise gectik, toplamda 6,5 saat sonra arabaya geri gelmistik bile ama onumuzde 3-4 saatlik geri donus yolu vardi. Gece 12de evimdeydim harika bir gunun sonunda! Haftaici bir gunu boyle bir maceraya ayridigimiz icin ikimiz de tum bir haftasonu calismak zorunda kaldiysakta pisman degildik! :)

Vernal selalesi / Vernal fall

Half Dome'un tepesine cikan celik kablolar / Steel cables leading to the top

Yosemite National Park is one of the best national parks in the US. I can easily say that national parks in this country are the one thing I love the most about here. It is about 3-4 hrs drive to San Francisco and attracts the crowds all the time as it has a lot of great vistas, hikes, and climbs. Half Dome is one of those attractions in the park whether you climb one of the routes on the wall leading to the top or whether you take the trail to reach the top hiking from behind (about 8 miles roundtrip with 4800ft elevation gain).  The last part of the trail is "a steep hike" to the top and the Park service puts steel cables during the summer season. Because of the crowds though, the park service also put a cap on the number of people who can be on the wall or on the trail on any given day so one has to apply for permits in advance. Since the popular seasons are at the end of Spring and Summer, it is almost impossible to get a permit unless you act way in advance assuming you know exactly which day you will be going up there. I haven't had a chance to go to Half Dome because of this permit hassle until this year. I knew that off-season, one could apply for a day permit contacting the Park service 48hrs in advance and that's what I did on October 3 Monday. I also knew that the park service was going to remove the steel cables by October 15 (due to season change). I got the confirmation from the parking service the next day for my permit for October 5 so me and my friend Veronica left early in the am driving towards the park! It took us about 3.5 hrs and we were on the trail before noon and we moved as fast as we could and stopped only to take photos until the cables. After lunch and some more photos on top, we made our way down back to the trail and run back to our car. It took us about 6.5 hrs with all the stops from car to car.  The 3-4 hr drive back to SF was a dread but ok. I was at home by midnight and very grateful for such a great escape. Taking a day off midweek cost both of us to work all weekend but it was totally worthed so no regrets! :)