ALASKA'S NATURAL BEAUTY

Compact snow so intensely blue it appears painted, frozen peaks of silt stained glacial ice and large chunks sheared from a tide water glacier adrift in the sea, will forever define my thoughts of Alaska after our Silversea cruise. 
Over the past week we have visited the isolated towns of Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka and Skagway enjoying a variety of activities designed to showcase the natural beauty of this part of the world. These small coastal towns swell from May to September each year as people come to experience the abundant glacial ice and marine life.

In Juneau we soared high above the Mendenhall glacier in a helicopter ride which helped give perspective to its enormous scale and dramatic beauty - glacial ice hung over cliff precipices forming a deceptively fragile topography, while surface ice peaked in patterns reminiscent of icing on a birthday cake. The glacier itself appeared pockmarked – wave like peaks of ice stained by glacial silt ground from the rocks – a result of the froes of gravity across its surface.

On our ascent to the landing area high on the glacier, our highly skilled helicopter pilot nonchalantly flew so close to the shear mountain rock face that we felt we could reach out and touch it. (Not surprisingly he had read ‘Chickenhawk’ the non-fiction epic about a Vietnam helicopter fighter pilot at aged 14).

Landing high on the glacier enabled us to trek across its surface to gain a closer view of the deep crevasses and blue lakes. Seeing the graduating intensity of the blue ice at close range was so picturesque that even consistent rain could not dampen our enthusiasm – the “liquid sunshine” an obvious necessity for longevity of a glacier! We also lay on the ice to sample the pure glacial water directly from the summer stream – crisp, cold and devoid of any man made additives.

Overall the clarity and graduating intensity of the blue ice will be a lasting memory. We usually think of snow and ice as being white in colour, but as it compacts, density and thickness increasing, the absorption of blue from the colour spectrum decreases, thus the deeper the ice the more the intense the blue.

In Skagway we took a catamaran ride to a remote island where we paddled across Davidson lake to walk on the Davidson glacier. There was a group ice climbing on the glacier and their presence enabled a scale comparison to appreciate its enormity. On our way there we saw whales playing in the ocean plus a large sea lion colony whose boisterous males were using their impressive bulk to aggressively defend their female pack from younger males sea lions.

In Sitka we rode bicycles along a quite forest lined inlet to hike through rainforest with a gushing glacial fed stream. An enjoyable way to appreciate the peaceful natural beauty of this location.

Then on our final sea day we rose early to marvel at the tide water Hubbard Glacier. A snowflake that falls on its surface today will take about 400 years to reach its base – a fact which makes its huge scale even more impressive. Like all glaciers it is constantly moving – evident by the large chunks of ice adrift in the surrounding sea and the occasional sound of it shearing off at the edges.

On each of our shore trips we were warned of what to do in case we happened upon a bear in the wild and it was the only disappointing aspect to my trip that we didn’t encounter any! - However with no "bear mace" (the locals really do carry it - they tell me it is like normal mace but on steroids!), in our backpacks perhaps that was not such a bad thing. 

Mendenhall Glacier seen from the helicopter

Cravass on Mendenhall Glacier

Drinking the Glacial Water directly from the stream

Paddling across Davidson lake to Davidson Glacier

Hiking in the glacial fed rain forest at Skagway 

Hubbard Glacier

Ice chunks adrift in the sea at Hubbard Glacier

Hubbard Glacier as seen from the deck of our Silversea ship

The Atlas Mountains & Imlil

We took our conference group on a day tour to the snow covered Atlas mountains about 1.5hrs drive outside Marrakech. It is a fabulous day trip if you are in  Marrakech as the small Berber villages are an incredibly stark contrast to the city. It is preferable to try to do this trip on a Saturday, market day, as it is absolutely worth a visit! Set in front of a large rubbish tip, it is a genuine local market, no tourists stalls, and on the day we visited, the ground was thick with mud so each step had to be taken with care. The locals trying to sell the predictable trinkets to tourists are extremely persistent, so you have to be more persistent in refusing! The butchery area was pretty amazing with carcasses laid out everywhere and many goat heads set on newspaper for sale - this may be less impressive in the heat of a Moroccan summer, as there was no refrigeration or display cases! There was also the possibility of getting a haircut or for a dollar, having your bad teeth pulled out with a pair of pliers. Then we continued to Imlil where we hiked in the foothills of the Atlas mountains, visited a house of one of the Berber people for mint tea, and lunched on tagine on the rooftop of a building with a very impressive view of the Atlas mountains.

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Spring Skiing & Snow Shoe Hiking in VAL THORENS, France

We are in Val Thorens in Savoie in Les 3 vales area in France, running a conference. The lectures have been interesting and informative and the skiing is sensational - spring skiing at its best - warm sunny days (T-Shirt skiing for some), crystal blue skies and several nights a dusting of 5cm of snow. Delightful really!! At 2300 metres, this resort is the highest ski resort in Europe, so one can expect snow here for much later in the season - in fact the resort does not close until early May, particularly this year when the season has had exceptional snow. We got a bus up the mountain from Moutiers (1.15hr transfer), which is an easy arrival/departure point by train (except for no lifts for your luggage on the platforms - I don't understand that about Europe - surely a large amount of passengers have luggage, so why do so few train stations have lifts??). Our hotel has a spectacular view of the whole front valley which is extensive and has a vast number of ski lifts which give access to the multitude of exceptionally long ski runs over the mountains to the valleys beyond. With so many ski runs, the wait at lifts is never long even though it is busy with Easter travellers.

There is also a very well organised walking group here called Raquette Nature, who, for  small fee, take half and full day snow shoe walks in a variety of different locations across the mountains. I did 2 of the half day (3.5hrs) snow shoe walks and thoroughly enjoyed them. One was focused on walking to areas where we saw local wildlife - a fox resting outside his hole, a hare, and a family of local marmot who are now just active as the weather warms. My 2nd walk took us up the cable car to 3000mtrs, then we ascended a further hundred meters to the foot of the Glacier de Peclet, then descended to the resort across virgin snow, often sinking to my knees in the untrodden snow - hard work but spectacular mountain vistas that seemingly went on for miles. I enjoy walking in the snow shoe attachments as they give incredible grip and allow one to walk on angles that would be impossible without them.

The other thing this resort offers which I thought amazing, but admit I did not try, is a 6km dedicated toboggan track! It leaves from the top of the 3000mtr cable car, and as I hiked down the mountain I watched  as people flew past with a small metal arm as the only means of a hand brake. One can even do it at night which must be rather frightening, to say the least. It looked like a huge amount of terrifying fun, an open air, natural theme park ride - one does has to leave something to do on the next visit!

The deck chairs covered in 5cm of overnight snow - once the morning warms up it doesn't last long,
but certainly looks beautiful in the meantime

I am leading the pack here as a fellow walker falls into the virgin snow. It was a thoroughly
enjoyable way to see the vistas, expend some energy and master a new sport! We are wearing the modern version of the 'tennis racquets style' attachments to our snow shoes which give incredible grip in the snow.

The foot of glacier de Peclet where we were snow shoe hiking

I took this on my snow shoe hike from the glacier - these mountains are enormous, the views went for on seemingly ever

It is hard to get much better than this when skiing - clear blue skies, warm weather and a dusting of fresh snow. 

Hiking in the ATLAS MOUNTAINS Morocco

In our quest to organise some activities for our conference here in 2013, we went with a guide to the Atlas Mountains outside Marrakech recently. We hiked in the foothills for 2hours and had a delicious tagine on the rooftop of a restaurant in a remote village called Imil. The hiking is not difficult - it goes through a Berber village where we went in the home of one family to share a mint tea, and it passes a hotel built high on a hill in this remote area - largely as a starting point for serious hikers who trek to the summit of Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa. The scenery is  quite unexpected, snow capped mountains surround the the village and yet it is warm and dry. As a designer I am always fascinated by architecture and design and how they adapt to varying climates and environments and this area had housing so different to our own. Our guide, a Moroccan man called Mokhtar was knowledgable and interesting. He told us that his parents have been nomads, spending all their life in a large camel train in the Sahara desert, but his Father saw it was not going to be a life for his 5 children so sent them all to school and university. Mokhtar now runs Arib Voyages, a tour company in Morocco, specialising in tours to the Sahara desert and I commented that was quite an amazing change in one generation - he however said "Not really, my Parents drove camels across the desert, we drive cars!" - I suppose in reality he is correct!

Except for the electricity wire going to the house, this view would not have changed much for centuries

The scenery was surprising - changing from arid dusty plains, to green fields, to snow capped mountains 

This Butcher was carrying the leg of lamb to his shop - not sure this would pass
Health and Safety regulations in Australia!

Interesting scaffold! 

Snow in Citta della Pieve!

It has been a wild past 24hrs here. Our home is on the Umbrian Tuscan border in an area which has a reasonably temperate climate. It rarely sees snow, and if at all, only in a small way, however, the past 24hrs have seen some very unusual weather. It began snowing in the village late yesterday, and we were delighted, albeit surprised. This morning we woke to a winter wonderland, reminiscent of a European ski resort. And it didn't stop all day. School was cancelled, most non essential businesses were closed, the village children were having a delightful time throwing snow balls everywhere and the whole place had an atmosphere of a festival! It was such fun and I imagine something we will not see again for awhile. Apparently a cold front has hit Italy and many places that rarely see snow are covered. We are not sure how we will get our car out to leave tomorrow for Paris, but we will worry about that one in the morning!

The tables and chairs where we had a glass of Prosecco a few days ago

Our street!

Late this afternoon it started to clear and left the whole valley covered