Adventures Around the World
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Adventures around the World Christopher E. Brennen Dankat Publishing Company For my grandchildren, Quinn, Troy, Gavin and Payton Copyright c 2014 Christopher E. Brennen All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission from Christopher Earls Brennen. ISBN 0-9667409-5-5 Preface Warning It is important to stress that there is always a significant danger associated with adventures into the wilderness. Those who wish to follow the adventure hikes in this book should be fully cognizant of those dangers and take appropriate precautions. The accounts are primarily intended for experienced hikers who will exercise informed judgment and caution. The hikes requiring technical ex- pertise and equipment should never be undertaken without proper training and qualifications. Even given all this, the dangers should not be minimized. The accounts are offered with the understanding that readers will proceed entirely at their own risk. In “Precautions” we describe some of the precautions that minimize (but do not eliminate) the dangers and risks. Acknowledgments A large part of my enjoyment of these adventures was derived from the group of young people (and a few oldies) who accompanied me. I am im- mensely grateful to all of them for their companionship. I especially thank Troy Sette who was born with the instinct for adventure, Clancy Rowley whose grace and kindness shines in all he does, Mark Duttweiler with whom hiking was always a pleasure and Garrett Reisman who taught me to climb and whose friendship I shall treasure for the rest of my days. I should also acknowledge Doug Hart who was a great companion on many early hikes. It was my great good fortune to have hiked with these marvelous young men. And Carl Wass- gren, Bob Behnken, Sudipto Sur, Tricia Waniewski, Stuart Gibbs, Al Preston, Robert Uy, Simone Francis, Markus Ehrengruber, Deborah Brennen, Susan Sette, Eric Siering, Randi Poer, John Perry, Scott Smith, Ira Lewis, Nathan Wozny, Nathan Schara, Eric Hale, Ken King, Mark Fitzsimmons, Jane Fontana, Johanna Turner, Bernd Haase, Matt Maxon, Keith Goodfellow and others were marvelous company and quite tolerant of elderly eccentricities. My thanks also Alex Kirkaldy who gave us important guidance in the Big Tujunga region and to my old friends David Wales and Paul Jennings. This book is dedicated to all these fellow adventurers who so enriched my travels in the wilderness and, in particular, to Doug, Troy, Garrett, Simone, Clancy, David, Mark, Randi, Scott and John. iii About the Author Christopher Earls Brennen was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and em- igrated to California in 1969. He has lived and worked in the southwestern United States for over forty years and has spent many great days exploring the marvelous scenic beauty of that corner of the world. In this book he tells of some of the special places that he has explored beyond the ends of the trails, in the canyons and on the summits of the American Southwest. iv Contents Preface iii 1IRELAND 1 1.1 Slieve Gallion . ......................... 2 1.2MoyolaRiver............................. 7 1.3Errigal................................. 13 1.4Slemish................................ 18 1.5ChurchIsland............................. 22 1.6Rathlin................................ 27 1.7 Skellig Michael . ......................... 32 1.8ToryIsland.............................. 39 2SCOTLANDANDWALES 47 2.1St.Kilda............................... 48 2.2SkaraBrae.............................. 56 2.3Snowdon................................ 60 3MEXICO 67 3.1ElPicachodelDiablo........................ 69 3.2 Popocat´epetl............................. 79 3.3ChipitinCascade........................... 88 3.4Matacanes............................... 93 3.5ElLaberinto.............................. 98 4 COSTA RICA 101 4.1PiedraCanyon............................103 4.2PiedritaCanyon...........................107 4.3NonequitoCanyon..........................110 4.4PuenteVigasCanyon........................114 4.5PacuareRiver.............................117 5 JAPAN 125 5.1Ominesan...............................126 5.2Kurodake...............................130 v 5.3Fuji..................................136 5.4Kitadake................................144 5.5Chokai.................................151 5.6Hotaka.................................159 6 KOREA AND CHINA 167 6.1Soraksan................................168 6.2HuaShan...............................177 7 AUSTRALIA 181 7.1FraserIsland.............................182 7.2 Knox, Red and Hancock Gorges, Karijini National Park . 188 7.3 Weano and Hancock Gorges, Karijini National Park . 195 7.4AbrolhosIslands...........................200 8 TWO PERSONAL STORIES 207 8.1HejazRailway.............................208 8.2HuaynaPicchu............................214 Bibliography 221 vi Chapter 1 IRELAND This selection of adventures in my homeland begins with two of my earliest ven- tures into the wilderness, continues with pilgrimages to two of its most legendary summits and concludes with visits to four of its remarkable islands. Adventures in Ireland 1 1.1 Slieve Gallion • Hiking time: 15 hours • Estimated hiking distance: 24 miles • Elevation gain: 410 feet • Topo Map: Sheets 13 (Sperrins) and 14 (Lough Neagh), Discoverer Series, Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland • Difficulties: Marshy bog land • Special equipment: Rain gear, waterproof boots • Permit: None required Characteristics Slieve Gallion is the easternmost summit of the Sperrin Mountains in the western part of Northern Ireland. Rising to 1730ft and only the 398th highest mountain in Ireland, it would rank as no more than a small pimple in most landscapes. But the broad flat summit, a blanket bog of wet heather and continual rainfall, is world’s away from the green rolling farmland just 1500ft below for, at this high latitude, the weather changes rapidly with elevation. On the southwest, the water runs off into a lovely mountain lake, Lough Fea by name. The crystal clear water has sustained people for thousands of years for, on a small hill in the townland of Ballybriest just 1/4 mile away, there are the remains of several neolithic long cairn graves. The views from there are superb in all directions, northeast to the barren summit of Slieve Gallion, southwest to Lough Fea and far off to the western horizon of the Sperrins. Only important chieftains could have warranted such an immortal view. Growing up in the village of Magherafelt just a few miles away, Slieve Gallion and Lough Fea represented the only real wilderness within the domain of my ramblings. My father loved to explore the narrow mountain roads that snaked up into the heather and around the lake. We would often take Sunday afternoon drives to places like Carndaisy Glen, a beautiful wooded glade on the slopes of Left: Slieve Gallion. Right: Ballybriest neolithic cairn. 2 Slieve Gallion. On a warm summer Sunday, a picnic might be planned for the glen or for the shores of Lough Fea itself. We especially liked the wooded near-island that jutted out from the south shore of the lough, a mound with a symmetry that suggested some ancient human shaping. I remember one Sunday in June 1952 when my youngest brother Colin, aged six, nearly drowned and my father dived deep into Lough Fea to recover and revive him. And every few winters, as in 1955, there would be a spell of weather cold enough that Lough Fea would freeze over and we would mount an ice skating expedition. Trailhead and Hike The year of 1958 marked my last as a Boy Scout for I had found many other diversions. However, before leaving, I had striven to complete one of the more advanced “badges” or awards that scouts could earn. One of the requirements for that badge was to undertake an overnight hike in a desolate area. The obvious choice was an adventure on Slieve Gallion. Peter Burton was a class mate and a fellow member of the local scout troop and he and I formed a plan for the overnight hike. We would hike the five miles from Magherafelt along the local roads to Carndaisy Glen(54o42.77’N, 6o41.55’W) where we knew of some grassy camping spots by the stream that ran through the glen. On our way to Carndaisy Glen, I recall that we may have cheated a little by accepting a ride on a tractor for several miles. In any case we pitched our tent by the stream in the glen and cooked some flapjacks (made from flour, butter and water, I think) on the hot rock beside our camp fire before turning in for the night. In the morning, after breakfast, we set off up the lovely glen as it climbed onto the slopes of Slieve Gallion. I particularly remember the patches of iridescent bluebells. Perhaps it was they that caused me in the years that followed to associate flowers with Slieve Gallion. Indeed, when I took up oil painting many years later, my first effort was entitled “Flowers on the way to Slieve Gallion”. Though it is of little artistic merit, I still keep that painting tucked away in a closet. To return to the hike, we emerged from the top of the glen and transitioned onto the heather-covered moor land that covers most of the high ground on the mountain. Here the going got tougher for there were fewer tracks to follow and the heath land was mostly soggy underfoot. As we reached the broad summit of the mountain (54o44.21’N, 6o44.50’W and elevation 1460ft), it began to rain and the day became quite miserable. We slogged our way across