A little walk around the Etang de Sault (Lake)

This is a chateau d'eau (water tower) put at the top of a hill to collect water for local habitants.

This walk in the woods gets us close to the lake.

ANDREA IN FRANCE !

Finally ! After this month apart dealing with papers and all kind of logistic troubles, Andrea made it to Charles-de-Gaulle airport !
I cannot tell you how impatient and anxious I was, waiting on the other side of the 'Arrivals' door. Until she went through...


Not so much luggage, for a lady...

Alaska - Hiking in beautiful landscapes

Alaska - Cooking and Washing

A stove and a collection of dehydrated food and nut bars was our main deal in terms of filling up the bellies. Ramens are good, but 5 days of them made us dream (and argue) about the best burger in portland...





To balance the fact that Andrea cooks a lot in portland, I tried to master the pots while hiking. Easier with dehydrated food you will say. Well, you're right.

Not to forget : the heart-warming potion :

Washing :

well, in 5 days in complete natural outdoors (not even a trail for hiking, only map and compass), we had exactly zero shower. That is not counting that experiment with the water bottle :

Our hair-styles also took a big hit :

Alaska - Animals

Owls :


Bears :



Caribous :




Dall Sheep :


Sled dogs :

Alaska - Camping

Alaska is cold, we all know that. Denali Park is not far from the Artic circle. Weather forecast was predicting some showers and some nice sunshine. We indeed got both.

The night, despite being very clear (20.5 hours of daylight per day) is of course even a bit colder, hence a good tent and a good sleeping bag. Well, it became a bit challenging when one of the bone structure of the tent broke, giving our protective dome a silly shape not quite waterproof.

Once again, mister duct tape saved the situation. Our following nights were more comfortable. We changed camp every night. Appreciate the location of the camp of our 3rd night and the beautiful view.

Andrea and I in ALASKA !

On june 7th, and for a week, Andrea and I will be in Alaska. This is a special adventure we wanted to do for a while, and it could be an official goodbye to the US.

We will be heading to the Denali National Park, north of Anchorage, which hides amazing fauna (such as the well known Alaskan bears), and high mountains. Mt McKinley is the highest mountain of northern america, at 20,000 ft. We intend to go hiking and camping wild in this beautiful area, hopping bears wont be crossing our path from too close.

At the solstice of June, which is just a few days after we will have left, Alaska sees 24hours daylight.

We are so excited by this trip.

En francais :

Andrea et moi partons le 7 juin pour l'Alaska, pour une semaine. C'est un projet que nous avions en tete depuis un moment, et ce sera probablement notre au-revoir aux US.

Nous irons au Parc Denali, au nord d'Anchorage, ou se trouve la faune exceptionnelle d'Alaska, a compter les ours bruns et noirs. Nous y verrons aussi la plus haute montagne de l'Amerique du Nord, McKinley, qui culmine a 6100 m. Pas aussi haut que le Mont Everest, mais d'une hauteur relative bien plus importante car si l'Everest a une hauteur de 3350m depuis le plateau tibetain, McKinley offre une grimpette de 5480m.

Au solstice d'ete, qui est quelques jours apres notre retour, le jour dure 24h, ce qui va etre un peu confus. Je suis curieux.

A bientot pour les photos.