Author: melmalinowski

  • Superstition Wilderness, Arizona April 2017

    After 11 flights, I hit a day where all the instructors were fully booked, so I got a day off. I decided to head about an hour northeast to the Superstition Wilderness area and take a hike in the desert. There are various explanations for why these mountains are called ‘The Superstitions’. One is that some Apaches believe that the hole leading down into the lower world, or hell, is located in the Superstition Mountains.

    Cactus blossom season is a great time to walk in the desert. In the morning, the temperatures were pleasant, around 60°F early, up to a maximum of 85°F by noon, but a nice breeze.  I hiked a nine mile loop. If I want to penetrate further in to this very big wilderness, I had better arrive at dawn and bring 2-3 liters of water. Winter or spring is best, as in summer, this area sizzles!
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    The wild flowers in the desert are unusual and spectacular. Likewise the rock formations, very dramatic. This was a fun hike.

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    I have decided to pay more attention to birds (the flowers of the sky, as reef fish are the flowers of the sea). I am now carrying around a good pair of binoculars. Today I saw what I think is a Cardinal here:

    Beautiful!

    There were a few days where it was too windy to soar comfortably, so I gave myself 2 days off to hike.

    My next hike in The Superstitions was to the highest peak, Superstitions 5057. I started a bit late in the afternoon, and had to turn back before the summit to avoid being caught up there in the dark. Here are some pictures from that hike.

     

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    An ‘Iron Cross Blister Bug’. Secrets a chemical that raises big blisters on your skin. Look but don’t touch!

    One of the smallest owls, a ‘Burrowing Owl’ that lives in holes in the ground dug by other critters.

    Possible future hike: Flatiron Peak, the most prominent peak area in the western Superstitions.

    Flatiron Hike

  • Learning to soar, Maricopa, Arizona April 2017

    In New Zealand, I began learning to soar in gliders with the Matamata Soaring Club. I have long wanted to learn to fly. I enjoyed my first seven flights in NZ.

    Judy felt that private motor flying was an overly expensive, hazardous hobby, and so I respected her wishes and did not take up flying. Inexperienced private pilots fly at much greater risk than professionals.

    Now that I am older and on my own, I began to consider pursuing this dream. A professional pilot friend suggested I look into gliding rather than motor flying. If you own a plane, and have somewhere to fly regularly, such as a vacation cabin, motor makes sense. Otherwise, all most private pilots can do is rent a plane, fly somewhere and have lunch, then fly back. They call it the ‘$100 hamburger’. Now, it probably is a ‘$200+ hamburger’.

    Gliding, on the other hand, is largely done through a multitude of soaring clubs located all over the world. Motor pilots must wear headsets because of the motor noise, but gliders have only the sound of the air rushing by. Soaring strikes me as a rather peaceful activity, circling around like a hawk. My flights in New Zealand confirmed for me that soaring is as about as close as we can come to flying like a bird. Modern soaring planes are also a safer way to do this than parasailing or hang gliding.

    Arizona has some of the most consistent good conditions for soaring. Gliders have no motor, and must rely on rising air (thermals) to stay up. A particular ‘sailport’ just south of Phoenix, Arizona has become a major training center, and that’s where I will be getting my flight instruction.

    This might seem an odd spot for a glider airfield, but it was chosen by experienced soaring pilots. The nearby Estrella mountains provide favorable lift winds, and it is free of the air traffic complications of Phoenix.

    This is my home base for the next 4 weeks.

    The Estrella mountains rise up in the distance.

    AZ Soaring owns 15 sailplanes based here.

    This is their favored training glider. It is not as sleek as what I flew in New Zealand, but apparently is easier for beginners to learn in. Tomorrow, I will find out.

    Gliders like this are what I want to fly eventually. They are higher performance, but also require more skill to fly.

    Learning to become a glider pilot is a bit like learning to drive a car. You must practice and practice until much of the co-ordination required becomes automatic, so your attention is freed for other tasks such as seeking thermals to climb in, planning where you will fly, keeping track of where the airfield is that you will land later, and avoiding colliding with any other planes.

    In the hangar, a mechanic/soaring pilot was working on his higher tech glider, one that can pop up a propeller and launch itself without a tow. Simpler gliders cost as little as $60-70,000, not more than a premium car. This lovely plane is closer to a quarter million dollars.

    It has elaborate avionics instruments.

    This propeller pops up to enable the glider to take off on its own, or also fly a limited distance back to a landing place if the thermal lift fails. It then folds back into the glider.

    Fortunately, it is not necessary to own your own glider. Soaring clubs around the world will allow licensed pilots to rent and fly club gliders of many types. My goal is to be able to do this when I am in any areas with especially good gliding opportunities.

     

    Glider tow launch at Estrella Sailport from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

    I’m now two days and eight flights in. The second day was windy and gusty, which was harder. This is not so easy! I have to have faith that I can rise to this challenge. I really enjoy being up there. My first flight instructor is a retired airline pilot.

    The most southerly rail line in America passes through Maricopa, running from New Orleans to Los Angeles close to our southern border. Mile long freight trains can be seen running along the line that I overfly while training at the Estrella Sailport. This picture is of a ‘dome car’ that ran on this line as the ‘California Zephyr’. When I was 10, I rode in such a dome car from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco.

    It’s time to move on. Soaring is a lot of fun, and in four weeks I made 100 flights. A few days were lost when weather fronts passed by and caused windy, turbulent conditions. I’ll have to make the Flatiron hike next time I am around this area.

    One of my great surprises is the delicacy of control of a glider. There is a control ‘stick’ between your legs, which will move about 6″ in any direction. Most of the time, however, you move it very little once you are skilled. I was taught to hold it very lightly between my thumb and just two fingers. The major obstacle is learning to not over-control and oscillate. With time, you come to fly instinctively, which is essential, as you cannot react fast enough to correct as you should if your brain is in the way. You fly like you drive or walk, using ‘muscle memory’. My ability to do this improved greatly during my training in Arizona.

    Soaring is a lovely experience, unlike any other I have every had. I’m very pleased to be able to get up there and fly.

    Learning how to control the glider as you take off and land is the biggest challenge. I am getting better at this, but still need more practice. I hope to be able to fly gliders occasionally when I am near a soaring club wherever I travel.

    Time to visit New York City again. Any new pictures and stories will be added to my previous New York post. Next up: hiking in the Sierra mountains near Lake Tahoe, California.

  • Tainan, Taiwan April 2017

    Sometimes you have to make adjustments. Two days ago I apparently pulled a muscle in my back (or injured a disc) lifting my motorcycle onto its stand the wrong way. Yeah, I should know better!

    Since I could barely stand up without severe pain, I decided I must alter my plans. Fortunately, train travel in Taiwan is inexpensive and trains are frequent. Even on a holiday weekend, I was able to get seats all the way from Yuli to Tainan. Lucky I did. On some of the trains, people without seat reservations were standing in the vestibules. It took 4 ½ hours to get to Tainan.

    Tainan is the second largest city in Taiwan, and is older and more traditional than Taipei. It was the capital of Taiwan for more than two hundred years, ending about 100 years ago. There are 15 major temples here. It sounds like a great place to hunker down for some R & R.

    I reserved a very nice apartment in the old town area via AirBnB.

    A light, airy room on the third floor, a comfy bed, deep bathtub and fast Wifi. Just what the doctor ordered. Above a very modern coffee shop:

    While having lunch while waiting for the train, I saw a couple of girls with their bikes having a lunchtime snack. Pretty in pink with a Taiwanese twist. Very stylish! You see this level of style in Shanghai. The prosperous modern Chinese like to dress well.

     

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    Tainan is reputed to have great food, so I shall set about sampling as much as possible. Here’s today’s lunch:

    And dessert from “Maison the core”:

    I came to learn that the Tainanese love sweet desserts, and there are many dessert cafes.

    My apartment overlooks a temple, dedicated to the Monkey God. He in his many forms appears in the main area. Elsewhere in the temple are pictures of two rather fierce looking warriors, Chinese Generals. Incense is in the air. Those who honor the Monkey God donate money to maintain the temple, and come to pay their respects and pray.

     

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    I found an interesting traditional street snacks restaurant across the street:

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    Now that my back is feeling better, I start to get out more and walk the streets of Tainan. My hostess here graciously invites me to join. her and friends for lunch at café run by a friend of hers. We had a delightful lunch.

    Tainan, Taipei from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

    Today, I walked over to Anping Fort, about 5 km. On the way, I stopped by a ‘cut fruit’ shop to sample a popular Tainan dish, sliced tomatoes in a special soy sauce.

    This is a ‘take out only’ shop (no tables to sit and eat). So I took my snack for later.

    Several km later, I walked by this impressive temple:

    I walked in to see the interior, and a group of Taiwanese men sitting drinking tea invited me to join them. How kind! They proceeded to give me tea and cherry tomatoes, and a slice of pastry. We communicated with a mix of my minimal Mandarin, plus help from Google Translate.

    What fun! After awhile, it was time to do prayers, and they insisted I come with them, and then eat with them. We went upstairs, and they prayed. I asked if it was honoring their ancestors (common in Asia, as they say that if it were not for your ancestors, you would not be here!) But they said they were praying to the gods of Heaven.

    After a series of prayers, we went to a community room upstairs and ate together.

    I was touched by the generousity and friendliness they showed to me. I was sent off with a bag of tomatoes and snacks.

     

    Tainan Snack from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

    A Tainan street vendor snack being made. A sweet nut wrapper, with an herb center.

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    I was told that the weekend Night Market was a ‘must-see’ and that I could try a traditional dish called ‘stinky tofu’ there.

    Night Market is very popular. It was jammed with local people, shopping and eating.

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    And the ‘stinky tofu’ was good. It has a crispy skin, and the sauce is just a little ‘stinky’ but flavorful. I liked it.

    Tainan has a nice rental bike program. You can just put in a credit card, and pay 33 cents US per half hour, maximum $3.30 a day to take out a nice 3 speed bike. So I set off to bike around Tainan.

    Robotic flagman from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

    The robots are coming. I’ve seen these in several places in Taiwan.

    Bikes give you more range than walking, of course. I did 32 km. One mistake: Taiwan must be closer to the equator than I was thinking. I should have worn long sleeves and gloves, and as a result of not doing so, got a nice red sunburn on my arms and legs. Ugh. When will I learn to cover up ALL the time?

     

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    On my last day in Tainan, my local hostess, Kay, took me out to lunch at a restaurant that she is especially fond of. It serves very interesting and well done Tainan style dishes. It was yummy! Here are some pictures from today:

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    Kay suggested I visit a nearby shop run by two American girls. They moved to Tainan seven years ago from Tucson, Arizona, and created a popular fancy cupcakes shop that caters to Tainan’s considerable sweet tooth. I stopped and had a nice chat with Mary B about living here in Anping and the excitement (and hazards) of riding around on a scooter. It appears I have been perhaps a little optimist and even naive (??!?) about the safety of this. This young woman knows of many scooter accidents among tourists, especially in Thailand and Vietnam. I must be extra-careful!

    Ah, but now the time is here to pack up and take Taiwan’s ‘Bullet Train’ to Taipei, and fly to Seoul on the way back to America.

    Taiwan’s High Speed Rail system is impressive. The stations are modern with dramatic architecture.

    The trains are one of the Japanese ‘Shinkansen Bullet Train’ models, sleek and aerodynamic.

    This train is the 10th fastest in the world. Temper your American Exceptionalism here: none of the ten fastest are in America. They’re all in Asia or Europe. We mostly were cruising along at about 170 mph, and topped out at 186mph. The ride was very smooth and comfortable, very little swaying.

    In less than 1 ½ hours, I was up to the stop near the Taipei airport. There, you walk over to the regular subway train for Taipei, and take it 6 stops to the terminal. Nice organization. I wish we had rail service this efficient and fast. This service is so fast and reliable that nobody flies on this route anymore, and you don’t have to go through all the lengthy security checks that airports have now.

    Taiwan is quite an interesting place to visit. The excellent and inexpensive train system makes it quite practical to circumnavigate the island. The many mountain parks have well-developed trails, and Taroko NP in particular has world-class attractions worth a special trip. The food is ample, tasty, and moderately priced. The people are exceptionally friendly to visitors. It’s been fun!

    (I asked local people about the question of whether they want to become part of mainland China. I was told that by and large, young people feel they are Taiwanese, rather than ‘Mainland Chinese’, and want to stay an independent country. The older folks more often have connections on the mainland, parents or grandparents, and are more inclined to accept unity with the mainland. This may be the cause for conflict that could draw the USA in eventually, as the mainland considers Taiwan to be only temporarily separate, and is determined to annex it eventually.)

    After a brief stop at home base in Washington State, I will be off to Arizona for glider flight training. More on this coming up next.

  • Yuli, Taiwan March 2017 (Yushan National Park)

    Next stop: Yuli, near Yushan National Park. I rented another ‘Yamaha Breeze85’ scooter, and headed up to my accomodations at the Wisdom Garden Homestay, created by a Buddhist. I slept by myself in a large meditation room.

    My hosts. May is a very good cook, and made us sumptuous breakfasts.

    Lovely hillside setting. I think I’ll do some TaI Chi practice right here! Nice rain sounds all night. When it lets up this morning, I’ll go hiking.


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    After obtaining my mountain hiking permit for tomorrow, I relaxed in the public hot springs pools at Antong. The locals there were welcoming, but directed me to rinse off first. This pool is simple but about 104°F and pleasant.

    Today I will do a very long hike, 30 km round trip plus a lot of altitude climb, in Yushan National Park

    This historic trail goes all the way across Taiwan from east to west. There are simple cabins along the way where you can  sleep with your own gear, water to wash dishes, and toilets.

    Shanfong Suspension Bridge. 400 foot span, seems like 600 feet above the river or more, 2 ½” cables. Wow!

    Very rugged mountainside trail, often carved out of the rock. On my way back, I watched a troop of macaque monkeys in the treetops, and saw two Swinhoe’s Pheasants.

    Not my picture, I could not get this close! Shy but beautiful pheasant.

    This was a maximum (for me) day hike. 8.6 miles x 2 = 17.2 miles, plus 2320 foot climb. Our trip planning formula at NOLS Wyoming (National Outdoor Leadership School) was that climbing 1000 feet adds as much time/energy as walking 3 miles on the flat. So 2.32 x 3 = 7 miles. Therefore this was the equivalent of hiking 24 miles. Long day. Most hiking is at 2.5-3 mph. As the hiking took about 8 walking hours, those calcs look pretty accurate.

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  • Taroko (Gorge) National Park, Taiwan March 2017

    Train transportation in Taiwan is excellent and inexpensive. Today I took a two hour train ride from Taipei Central Station to Xincheng station, closest to Taroko (Gorge) National Park, for $14.

    Train reservations are easy in Taiwan. I went online, and in an English version of the website, was able to fairly easily book and pay for a series of train tickets around Taiwan. High Speed Rail was an exception, as their site does not have an English version. I had to go over to the central train station to book those. You also must go there to pick up the tickets, which is quite easy.

    Comfortable seats that recline. Nice train. Quite a lot of very long tunnels along this rocky coast. I wouldn’t call the ride especially scenic.

    I rented a very nice motorcycle (‘scooter’) for $14 a day. Overall, a higher quality scooter than I was getting in Vietnam for $7. I like it! But the gas tank only holds 2 liters, have to be careful to not run out. I’ve decided that the advantages of a scooter outweigh the obvious risks. Car rental here costs perhaps 4x that in New Zealand, and several time that in the USA. Rates over $100 USD per day do not appeal to me.

    (picture soon)

    Tomorrow, I go to the park, apply for a permit required for one hike, and begin exploring Taroko.

    It is tomorrow. Beautiful sunny day. Time to head up into Taroko Gorge.

    Spectacular narrow high gorge cut in the marble by the Li Wu river.

    Marble is very interesting. It is formed when limestone (which are deposits of calcium marine shells formed at the bottom of oceans) are subject to great heat and pressure under the earth. The calcium carbonate crystallizes, and if the limestone is very pure, forms white marble. If there are impurities, other colors are created.

    Crushed white marble is one of the best antacids, and is used in Tums and Alka-Selzer. Marble is rather soft, and easily carved, as the river has done here at Taroko.

    How to view photo collages as a slide show

     

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    Taiwan is at the juncture of the Euroasian and Philippine tectonic plates, and this gives rise to a lot of earthquakes and also hot springs. In 1957, while a section of road was being built, including a bridge over the Ludan River where it enters the LiWu River, a major earthquake struck overnight. The chief engineer went out to inspect the damage at 6am, and was killed by a landslide. The bridge was subsequently named Jinheng Bridge in his memory. But the fates have not been kind to this bridge. In 1997, a typhoon destroyed it. It was replaced. In 2000, another typhoon destroyed the replacement! Tough weather. The current bridge has now survived for 17 years.

    A Buddhist temple is in the higher area of the canyon:

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    On the way back, I stopped to explore a suspension footbridge. It turned out to be to Wénshān Hot Springs. Officially, the trail was marked ‘closed’ but I noticed that the gates were not locked. Apparently someone was injured and sued, so they ‘officially’ made the hot springs ‘closed’ so anyone who goes there does so at their own risk. My guess. And locals go.

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    Onw of the loveliest outdoor hot springs I have been at, and free. Just two locals were there when I arrived. The water is very hot, Japanese-onsen hot, about 44°C (110°F). My favorite temperature. The natural hot water just gushes out of the back wall into this natural canyon cave.

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    A Taiwanese and a Polish woman at Wénshān. Ah, I’d love to go back there if I have time. Tomorrow, I will hike up the ‘old road’ built by the Japanese with lots of local slave labor during their occupation of the island of Formosa (Taiwan). Isla Formosa it was called: “Beautiful island”

    The Old Road over Juilu Cliff trail requires a police permit (as do a number of the high country trails here). A cheerful Taiwanese policeman promptly issued one for me the day before (a list goes out each day of who is permitted to hike these trails). He is pictured in the collage.

    You start by walking over a dramatic suspension bridge above the Liwu River.

    I was looking forward to seeing some of these, but alas, none showed up. Perhaps this is intended to discourage people from wandering off the trail, as if that were an option in these rugged mountains!

    As I walked up the steep trail, there were butterflies of at least a dozen types and colors along the path. I managed to get a few pictures, but they flit about so much, it is not easy.

    Along the path, I saw this big  ‘grasshopper’ munching away on a leaf:

    grasshopper from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

    Big lizard, about 10″ long!

    After toiling up several thousand feet in altitude, I arrived at the exciting part, where the ‘road’ (I’m not sure how you can call a path that varies from 2′ wide to a maximum of 4′, averaging 3 feet, a road) cuts across Juilu Cliff. This path was carved into the cliff face 100 years ago by local tribespeople under the kind supervision of the Japanese occupying forces.

    I have been a rock and mountain climber my whole life, and still, the sheer exposure was breathtaking. There is a cable along the cliffside that you can hang onto for security, but it is impossible to forget that if you stumble or faint, you would simply roll off the edge and fall nearly 2,000 feet to the river below. It is sobering and spectacular. I have seen few trails with this kind of exposure ever. This could be why they limit access.

    You can look down the sheer cliff and see the river and road below. Later, I tried looking up to pick out the trail on the massive cliff, and could not make it out.

    I could hear and see monkeys in the treetops in the distance, but never up close. They must be Formosan Maquaques. There was a picture posted on the trail of one of the giant Formosan hornets, but I did not see any. I met fellow hikers on the trail from Germany and San Francisco.

    After this strenuous hike, I went back and spent a couple of hours soaking in the hot pools of Wénshān hot spring for my second time. Ah! I will miss it, but there apparently are more ahead.

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    I picked a challenging all day hike for my last day in Taroko NP. The Shakadang Trail was carved out of the canyon wall by the Japanese in order to facilitate building of a hydro dam upstream. It is now a park trail. My goal was to hike up it, and on up to the very high village of Datong, then to the village of Dali, and back.

    This tributary of the main Li Wu river still has massive boulders. You see boulders the size of small cars, then ones the size of large cars. As well, ones the size of small houses, and then ones the size of large houses!

    The water is a marvelous teal color, and the boulders of marble have amazing folds, bends and twists.

    On the way up the river, I looked over and saw a Formosan Maquaque looking at me (my first up close). As soon as he realized I was watching him, he disappeared.

    Audio Player

    As I climbed up the mountainside, at times I (thought) I could hear distant monkeys. I later found out that this was the warning ‘bark’ of a small ‘deer’, the Reeve’s Muntjac. I never saw one, so this is not my picture.

    The trail soon left the river, and began a two hour steep climb up the mountainside, on an old tribal trail about a foot wide. Spectacular subtropical jungle garden on the hillside, ferns, banana, mosses. Quite primeval. I was all alone out there on that mountainside, the way I like it. Good thing I carry a PLD (personal locator device), as if I sprained a knee out there, no one would find me for weeks.

     

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    I have found some secrets to hiking far: take good care of your feet with proper socks and boots. They are my weakest point for long hiking. I have been wearing thin inner socks that have five toes (available at REI) and help prevent toe to toe blistering. Pay attention to how your feet feel, and adjust how your foot strikes the ground. If the ball of your foot begins to get sore, strike with your heel more. And just keep walking! A one hour rest in the middle of the day does wonders. On steep climbs, if necessary, take one breath per step as mountain climbers do.

    Now, time to take a train south to Yuli, my base for 3 days.