Made it to London

I have 22 hours here before getting on the flight to Croatia so I decided to visit an old friend who is here on sabbatical. After a brief nap and a strong cup of tea, we decided to go out walking. She is staying near a canal so we set out to explore the canal system. During our walk we passed Old St Pancras Church and gardens, which we decided to visit. Just stepping into the gardens was immediately peaceful and felt far removed from the city. The church is the oldest Christian site on the UK. As we were about to leave I was looking at the list of vicars dating back 100s of years-and there in 1607 was my father's name, Francis Marbury. It felt so strange to see it there even though I'm sure the relationship is distant. We also saw the grave of Mary Wollstonecraft, a 1700s feminist who wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Women". I love the unexpected that always happens when you travel.

Rock Climbing and Yoga in Joshua Tree

The new airfare search engine

You may have herd of Bing, MSN's latest attempt to take some of the search engine business from Google. Of more interest to travelers is Bing Travel (http://www.bing.com/travel/), their new travel search engine. The interface is very similar to www.kayak.com - very flexible and intuitive, allowing you to search many options without having to start over (e.g. using different airports, leaving before or after a certain time, acceptability of red eyes and number of connections). I find myself using these options all the time so I have come to depend on them. What Bing adds, however, is integration with Farecast, the website that predicts whether airfares will go up, down, or stay the same. I would guess that their predictions may have been a little off this year because no one foresaw the precipitous decline in airfares coming. But still, they claim 75% accuracy and that seems better than tossing a coin. They also have various attempts at creating "community", the latest marketing buzzword, with blogs and Facebook and Twitter - this is less appealing to me because who has time to read blogs unless you have a specific reason to (on the other hand it would be totally cool if your search for specific flight itineraries or hotels brought up relevant blogs). In any case I will probably continue to compare kayak and bing for awhile but it is likely that bing will become my travel search engine of choice if I don't find any bugs with it.

Havasu Canyon and change

I was updating our Havasu Canyon trip description today. If I ever need a reminder that geology is as constantly changing now as it was a million years ago, this trip provides it. The Canyon's Navajo Falls was one of my favorite places in the U.S., an absolutely spectacular curtain waterfall that seemed unknown to the larger population who visit the Canyon. It was an absolutely magic place to swim, jumping from the walls, standing under pounding water, sitting in travertine concavities and letting the water sweep past. Mooney Falls and Beaver Falls are pretty nice too - actually they are also amazing - but Navajo was the best. Last August one of the periodic flash floods, this one worse than usual, ripped it out. Something will replace it- like everything else the canyon continues to change - but I'll miss it.

Geology Musings

Geology is a fairly recent topic of interest for me. One of the big impediments was finding books that talked about it at my level, and didn't immediately make my eyes glaze over with chemistry and physics. One of my favorites is the Geology Underfoot series, where they the authors talk about specific landscapes of specific places, and why they are the way they are. I even finally understand what a syncline is!
But aside from the lack of good books, I think it had something to do with my living mostly in the east and midwest. When I finally got beyond my hike further faster phase and wanted to spend more time learning about the environment I was hiking in, it was the trees and wildflowers I first learned (I'm definitely one of these people that finds being able to name things makes me feel more at home there). It was only when I started doing more hiking out west that my curiosity about the geology of the area got aroused. And clearly it's because the geology is so compelling there- LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT HOW AMAZING AND UNPREDICTABLE I AM! Or at least that's how it seems to me. And it made me wonder if all geologists were born or lived out west.

Hiking in Joshua Tree National Park

I spent much of today working on the only new trip we're offering in winter 2010: a hiking trip in Joshua Tree National Park. The idea first came when I was there for our annual rock climbing trip this past spring. It was the first time I'd been there in several years and I realized once again what a truly unique place it is, with its granite boulders erupting in all sorts of unexpected ways. Over the past 20 years I've backpacked and hiked there, but mostly rock climbed. But there is so much more there than climbing! And not only is the hiking varied and fun, it is a wonderful place to camp. The campsites there are beautiful and, other than on weekends, largely deserted. And while we always have tents for everyone, it is a wonderful and bug-free place to sleep outside. There is something about snuggling in a sleeping bag under a star-filled sky that is cozier than the warmest bed. Working on finalizing the itinerary made me excited about it all over again!