TA
Latitude:31.47648
Longitude:-6.38754
GPS location Date/Time:09/24/2013 13:45:59 NDT
Message:Mountains of Morocco: This is TA and team’s location on their expedition to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco
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The long ridgeline of l’Ighil Mgoun takes us to the summit of Mgoun at 4068m. After enjoying the sensational views we make a quick descent to Oulilimt, close to the springs of the Mgoun Assif. Camp is at 2800m.
DO YOU KNOW: The Arab word for Morocco is al-Mamlakat al-Maghribiyyah which refers to Morocco’s location on the map of Africa. What does the Arab word translate to?
ANSWER: The Western Kingdom
DID YOU KNOW: The area surrounding l’Ighil Mgoun consists of a solid chalk mass morphologically dominated by tabular zones reaching an altitude of 2,500 m extending from Azilal to Ouarzazate. Here, the contrasting landscapes remind visitors of the Grand Canyon in Colorado, USA with its high plateau, its gorges, box canyons, and its peaks sometimes splintered by erosion.
TA
Latitude:31.53104
Longitude:-6.51224
GPS location Date/Time:09/23/2013 12:08:10 NDT
Message:Mountains of Morocco: This is TA and team’s location on their expedition to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco
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We follow the Ikkis river to the cirque at Tiwawakyhe. The ridge offers a remarkable view of Mgoun’s north face and the high valley of the Tessaout River. We stop in an ideal camping place close to the source of the Tessaout (2990m).
DO YOU KNOW: In March of what year did Morocco gain independence from Spain and France? Hint: It was the same year Melbourne, Australia hosted the Summer Olympics.
ANSWER: 1956
DID YOU KNOW: Berber or the Berber dialects are a family of similar and closely related languages and dialects indigenous to North Africa. In 2011 Berber became a constitutionally official language of Morocco, making it a bilingual nation (Berber and Arabic) much like Canada (French and English).
TA
Latitude:31.56979
Longitude:-6.48309
GPS location Date/Time:09/22/2013 15:40:20 NDT
Message:Mountains of Morocco: This is TA and team’s location on their expedition to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco
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Today we will drive 4 hours to the Bougmez valley in the Central Atlas. We meet with the muleteers at Arous and walk for 2 hours to our first camp close to the Azibs n’Ikkis at 2500m.
DO YOU KNOW: From yesterday do you remember what the capital of Morocco is? Did you know that a major news network ranked Rabat, Morocco as second place in the “Top Travel Destinations of 2013”. What was that news network?
Answer: CNN
DID YOU KNOW: Newfoundland and Labrador has a community named Happy Valley. The Bougmez valley is commonly nicknamed “Happy Valley” as well which describes the pleasant nature of its inhabitants.
Today in the souk we learned how to put on scarves for times in the desert and for times in the city. We saw the area of the central souk where they dye silk and wool. We’re off to the mountains tomorrow.
One of the joys of travel is paying attention to what is new and different and what is the same, and perhaps universal. When we saw our first stop sign here, we remarked that it looked like some folks riding a bobsled. Just the other day I visited Bishop Abraham Grade Fours and showed them a stop sign from Chile that said PARE and they knew immediately by its shape and colour it was a stop sign.
Today was another day filled with a rich diet for the senses. New colours, scents, and textures overwhelmed us by day’s end after exploring the souks again. Off to meet the team.
Welcome to our Mountains of Morocco expedition. Today is a very exciting day where we meet our entire trekking/climbing team in Marrakech and prepare for departure to the High Atlas Mountains. Each day you can check out our SPOT tracker post to see where we are and listen to an audio update about our adventures. When we can, we’ll try to upload pictures as well. In the meantime, there will be some “Did you Knows” posted each morning so you can learn more about Morocco and the High Atlas Mountains. We’re glad to have you along on this expedition.
DO YOU KNOW: What is the capital city of Morocco?
Answer: Rabat
DID YOU KNOW: Marrakech was founded in 1062. Its nickname is “Ochre City”. Why? Because the red walls and various buildings of the city, built by Ali ibn Yusuf in 1122-1123, were constructed in red sandstone. Some even call it the “Red City”.
Not to be done by all the M’s, the second post of today will be about the Tajine. Tajine of one of two dishes that Moroccans have for lunch. It involves vegetables, meat, and spiced stock cooked together in the earthenware Tajine slaoui. We had chicken tajine, vegetable tanjine, fresh flat bread, and roasted eggplant.
You’ll notice that tanjine begins with T.A. no wonder I like it so much!
We also sampled fresh figs, dates, apricots, and almonds. The Moroccon eating fest has begun!
This trip is being brought to you by the letter M. Marian, Mike, Morocco, Marrakech and mint tea are our M words for today. After a long 24 hours of traveling we got settled into our hotel which is called a Riad, a former house that is organized around the garden so there’s much tile: tile on the floor, tile on the staircases, tile in the bathrooms and a wonderful plants to enjoy while you’re sitting out on almost every level. Currently we’re sitting relaxing after a big day. We’re up on the rooftop and enjoying the view of the local mosque, blue sky, and we even have palm trees. We have heard the call to prayer twice already and found ourselves “swimming” upstream against the flow of men leaving the nearby mosque earlier today. We spent much of the after exploring the labyrinth-like alley ways of the souks in the Medina. Off to hit the shower and early to bed to time the pump for more exploring tomorrow.
TA
Latitude:31.61860
Longitude:-7.98840
GPS location Date/Time:09/20/2013 14:44:38 NDT
Message:Mountains of Morocco: This is TA and team’s location on their expedition to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco
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Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.
― Terry Pratchett
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
― Marcel Proust
This was early last evening…
This was mid evening…
This was the end result…
The bags are packed for Morocco. Happy Adventure Eve. We’re ready to go after seemingly endless to-do lists (why is it that everything left undone for the past several months suddenly needs to be done right before we go?).
I had a great visit yesterday at Bishop Abraham School with a fresh group of grade Four Explorers who will be virtually coming along on the expedition. There will be a daily “Did you Know” post, a SPOT location post, and an audio update post to the website (technology willing). It was fun to field all of their questions about all aspects of being an explorer. You are also invited along to learn and share our trip and please feel free to invite others to come along as well.
There are eight folks coming from Newfoundland and Labrador and one from the United States. We’ll be trekking and climbing in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. After climbing the 4th and 1st highest peaks of Morocco, we’re headed to the Atlantic coast for some trekking there. I was so excited today to learn we’ll have camel support for the coastal trekking piece. I’ve ridden a camel once before but haven’t spent a great deal of time with them.
We fly tomorrow via New York City and Zurich, Switzerland to Marrakech where we will all meet up and head out to the mountains. Bon voyage to the team and happy Adventure Eve to all! more to come once we reach Morocco or perhaps from some spots along the way!
I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.
― Mary Anne Radmacher
Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.
― Gustave Flaubert
I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there.
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.
― Michael Palin
The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.- E. Joseph Cossman
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.- Lao-tzu
One of the more unique activities you can do in Twillingate is searching for root cellars. Thus far, 232 root cellars have been found and recorded; many are easily spotted from roads and others can be found in further-flung locations. I’ve lost track of how many we’ve spotted thus far but looking for them combines hiking, geocaching, culture and history.
Twillingate.com offers a photo gallery with GPS coordinates to get you started in your search. Root cellars, as a source of sustainable refrigeration, are making a comeback. The root cellar above is within hiking distance of the Anchor Inn and Suites.
As we’re taking the potatoes and beets out of our garden this weekend, I wish I had a root cellar to put them in. There is even a typology of root cellars for Newfoundland and Labrador. I think the ones I’ve captured here are “hillside cellars.”
Elliston is known as the root cellar capital of Newfoundland and Labrador but with 232 of them in Twillingate, there are plenty to be had and found on your next visit. Root cellar spotting is a great family nature/get outside activity that I highly recommend for your next visit to T-gate (as I like to call it).
Laughter is the sound of the soul dancing. My soul probably looks like Fred Astaire.
― Jarod Kintz
Butterflies are self propelled flowers.
–R.H. Heinlein
With all of our travels in and around Twillingate, we’d never hiked the Hospital Pond Trail until today. What a delightful walk! The pond is just behind the Notre Dame Bay Memorial Hospital and the trail starts with two entry gateways welcoming you whichever way you want to begin to walk around the pond.
The 1.3 kilometre trail is rated easy and is quite level and wide all around the pond. It is perfect for walking, running, or rolling strollers. I think it may be possible to wheel a wheelchair around the trail as well (though the trail is gravel so might require a hardy pusher). Three people could easily walk side by side.
There are lots of sights and sounds to be had as you walk around the pond.
There are many memorial benches, trees, scrubs and even a memorial bird house.
All of the wonderful plants and flowers had attracted this visitor to the trail as well.
There are amble stops to stop and enjoy the view. Time is nature is perfect for de-stressing and renewing one’s energy.
I appreciated the trail’s proximity to the hospital knowing how crucial nature is to life quality. Much recent research is showing that green spaces near hospitals are good for patient healing, staff morale, and preventive medicine. I saw several hospital staff taking a post-work stroll and/or power walk.
There is even an unsupervised swimming area with change rooms and washroom.
Many flowers were still in bloom and we loved all the colour and beauty surrounding this walk. It’s super convenient, easy to find, and comes with my recommendation as a Twillingate experience not to be missed.
We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.
― Anaïs Nin
After a fine weekend at the Newfoundland and Labrador Mushroom Foray on Fogo Island, Marian and I dropped in to see our friends, Deb and Wilma, the innkeepers at the Anchor Inn and Suites. We stole them away from their duties for a foraging walk on the Top of Twillingate Trail and then along the coast. Our bucket, though not nearly full, was filled with a great variety of wild edibles.
Our first container was filled with the classic Newfoundland blueberries and partridgeberries. I love partridgeberry jam so much I had to be sure to bring enough berries home to make some. The blueberries were a bit sparse where we were, so we may need to work a bit harder to get off the beaten trail to find a place that hasn’t already been picked.
Around the back of the marsh on the low mist trail, we found a few squashberries and rose hips. The squashberries also can be made into jam and are a bit tart to eat right from the bush. Rose hips make a lovely tea and can also be made into jam. A few partridgeberries and raspberries snuck into the picture.
Also on the tea front, we picked a few Labrador Tea leaves. Steeped in hot (not boiling water), they make a delightful hot beverage that soothes the soul. It’s important to only take a few leaves from each plant. Labrador Tea is recognized by the orange fuzziness under the leaves.
Finally, down by the rocking and rolling sea (it was super windy today), we picked some sea rocket, sea peas, beach orach, and two raspberries. The sea rocket is spicy and can be made into a kind of wasabi. The sea peas (the ones in the picture are a bit past their prime) can be eaten like regular snow peas. The beach orach is another beach green that you can forage for…so a great bit of fun picking for the pot this afternoon in T-gate!
Note: please learn to identify all of the above from expert instruction rather than the photos and commentary above (a wee small bit of risk management).
No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away.
― Haruki Murakami
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We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.
Henry Ward Beecher
Dream Big and Dare To Fail
–Norman Vaughan
This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues.
–Diana Nyad
Congratulations to Diana Nyad on completion of her extreme dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage (fifth time was a charm)! You are one of my heroes! The picture above is of Sheilagh O’Leary completing her dream of swimming from Portugal Cove to Bell Island which she did the day before Diana finished her swim. Strong and inspiring women both!
I remember, after returning from my climb on Everest in 2010, doing a presentation and referring to my position as a “public dreamer” or as someone who shares her dreams in public. With the advent of social media, we are exposed to and inspired by so many who dare to dream in public. This weekend, I have been deeply inspired by two such dreamers: Sheilagh O’Leary and Diana Nyad. I’ve cheered both of them on from both near and far.
As both took to the ocean this weekend to swim to their dreams, and to do so in full public view, I am struck by their courage to do so. To put your dream and your struggle/challenge to achieve it out where all can see can leave you open to scrutiny, derision, full-on haters, and the likelihood that all may observe you “fail” to reach your dream. The reward for this courage, however, are the heaps of love, support, and care that a community can bring to you and your dream.
Dreaming in public also brings pressure and accountability…I know, for me, it deepens my commitment to my own dreams and helps me take both the necessary small steps and the big leaps to try to achieve them. Watching Diana Nyad emerge from the water today after 53 hours and 110 miles of swimming from Cuba to Key West Florida (on her fifth attempt to do so), tears rolled from my eyes, streaked down my cheeks and I hung on her every word:
1) Never give up
2) You are never too old to chase your dreams
3) It may look like a solitary sport but it is a team effort.
I thought those same thoughts as Sheilagh O’Leary swam from Portugal Cove to Bell Island yesterday. I was moved by both women’s determination, perseverance, and willingness to dream (and therefore inspire) in public. To all who inspire us to be/do all that we truly want to be/do, thank you to those who dare to dream in public-I am humbled and inspired by you.
The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.
― C. JoyBell C.
My own prescription for health is less paperwork and more running barefoot through the grass.
― Leslie Grimutter
There wouldn’t be a sky full of stars if we were all meant to wish on the same one.
― Frances Clark
My training program currently has three kinds of work-outs: strength, endurance, and work capacity. Today was work capacity or as I now feel, “worked capacity.” The goal of a work capacity workout is to increase one’s capacity to work. I once had a swim coach who said, “If you want to swim faster, swim faster.” The corollary to today is “If I want to have more capacity to work hard, I have to work harder. And work harder, I did.
Sand-bag get-ups often show up on work capacity days, which at least for these first three weeks, has been on Tuesdays. Small graces. Early enough in the week to still have energy and near enough to hump day to work hard. 40 pound sand bag. 10 minutes. Held onto one shoulder. Go down to the mat. Get up any way you can. Go down to the mat. Get up. Go down to the mat. get up. Go down to the mat…etc. I’d hoped to set a PB but wasn’t sure if I could do that for the third week in a row. I went out fast.
“Too fast, you’ve gone out too fast,” I thought to myself. I already felt worked at 25…one third of the way to a new record for me.
“Oh oh,” I declared to the empty field house.
“Keep on keeping on and don’t look at the time,” I say to myself.
Up. Down. Up. Down. 50! Change shoulders.
Breathing hard. Wondering how much time. Up. Down. Getting up is getting harder. Much harder. 55!
The temptation to sit on the mat and catch my breath is ever tempting.
60! Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. 65! Change shoulders. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. 70!
“Five more, you need five more,” I implore. 75! Steal a glance at the watch. Still more time. Coax my body to move.
76!
77!
78!
79!
80!
I drop the bag on the mat and the beeper goes and I collapse in a worked heap. 3200 collective pounds of get-ups. Smile. Momentary celebration. Rest 5 minutes. On to the next part of the workout.
TA Loeffler's Adventures that Move 