Our Nomadic Experience

22/12/2024

With Susan getting more mobility returning, we were able to take in the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Gardens in Vancouver.

Our son joined us and we enjoyed seeing all the lights. (Over a million lights according to the brochure)

Susan walked almost 2 kms with her cane, a great accomplishment given that six weeks ago her primary method of getting around was a wheelchair.

16/11/2024

Hello from Vancouver, BC, Canada. This will be our home for at least the next three months, possibly longer.

We have paused our global lifestyle for the time being. On the evening of October 17th Susan suffered what one of the doctors described as a “catastrophic health event”. At 7:00 PM, Susan was perfectly fine. By 10:00 PM, she had lost most feeling in the lower half of her body and by the time we reached the hospital, she could no longer walk.

She spent three weeks in Vancouver General Hospital, and a week ago, was transferred to Holy Family Rehabilitation Hospital where she is expected to remain for the next four to eight weeks with weekends at home. We are unsure of how long rehabilitation will take and how long we will remain in Vancouver.

The doctors don’t have a firm diagnosis. Leading theories include a very rare spinal stroke or another rare condition, spinal inflammation. She is getting better and is slowly regaining strength and mobility.

This was certainly unexpected, but there are many things we are grateful for:

- it happened 15 minutes from one of the top hospitals in the province rather than at the bottom of Grand Canyon, top of Half-Dome in Yosemite, or one of the many remote places we have hiked in the past two months or in some of the less developed countries we have visited with limited health infrastructure
- we are surrounded by people we love: 10 minutes away from our son, my parents and siblings are a short drive away, we have a church family and other friends nearby
- we have had some amazing adventures around the world for the past nine years. Although we expect to be able to resume our global travels at some point, we are not sure how much mobility Susan will recover nor when

We value the support and connection with our family and friends around the world.

16/10/2024

Here is our updated page of where we have been. Our previous update was back in March, so there is quite a lot of ground that we have covered.

In a few weeks we will be resuming global travels heading to Panama on November 6.

We have had a great time back in North America since May 21st visiting friends and family and having some amazing hikes and experiences in national parks and other wilderness areas.

Our time in the USA and Canada is always more expensive than our typical living expenses living abroad. Accommodation expenses have been reduced this time since so many people opened up their homes to us. To those people, thank-you. We are very grateful.

Six continents, thirty-six countries, and five territories (US Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Macau, Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia) since January 2016. (Carey 51 countries total in his lifetime, Susan 44) One hundred and thirty-six UNESCO World Heritage Sites in our lifetimes. Seventy churches since....

30/09/2024

Our final national park this trip was Arches NP near Moab, UT. A very popular park, the only way you can get in between 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM is by purchasing a timed entry pass in advance. We booked ours for 9:00 AM many months ago. However, we ended up entering at 6:30 AM to beat the heat and the crowds. We are glad that we did.

As the name implies, there are many rock arches in the park and we got to see quite a few of them. Our main hike was 13 kms (seven miles) on the Devil’s Garden trail. We also did a few short jaunts on some other trails.

29/09/2024

Canyonlands is the largest National Park in Utah by area. Some of the areas are only accessible by permit and a four wheel drive. There are a couple of hikes that we want to come back and do one day.

We spent the day doing a number of small hikes in the Island in the Sky District.

28/09/2024

Capitol Reef National Park is the least visited of Utah’s “Mighty Five” national parks. We are glad we spent a couple of days exploring and hiking here.

Outlaw Butch Cassidy hung out in this area and even has an arch named after him.

24/09/2024

Today we completed the most adventurous hike we have ever done, Coyote Gulch via the sneaker route.

What made it adventurous? First of all, it was an hour and a half drive on a gravel BLM road (Bureau of Land Management). Second, you need to bring your own 200 foot (70 meter) rope to tie off and drop into the canyon. Third, a good portion of the hike you are wading through the stream.

It was worth all the effort. Take a look at the photos. About 15 km round trip (9 miles). We only saw one other couple the entire time.

23/09/2024

Hoodoo you love!!

Just spent a couple of days in Bryce Canyon National Park. The park contains the largest collection of hoodoos, spires of eroded rock, in the world.

The landscape is beautiful and unique. We enjoyed a couple of 10 - 12 km (6 - 7 mile) hikes as well as a few shorter ones and driving by a number of viewpoints.

18/09/2024

Today we started our Utah National Parks tour and completed our final hike that required an advanced permit: Angels Landing, Zion NP.

The Angels Landing hike isn’t that difficult, the primary reason a permit is required is that the last couple thousand feet (kilometer) of the hike is very narrow with sheer drop offs on each side. It can only accommodate so many people at a time. We saw a few people that chickened out, and I must admit that for the first time in a while I got the heebie jeebies looking down a few times.

The views are spectacular! Some of the best we have experienced.

16/09/2024

Yesterday we visited Lower Antelope Canyon near Page, AZ. We have seen photos of slot canyons before, but nothing compares to experiencing it in person.

We took dozens of photos, here are just a few.

16/09/2024

We have wanted to visit Mesa Verde for years and finally got to spend two days there.

For about 700 years, until about 1200 CE, the Ancestral Pueblo people made their home there. The 600 or so cliff dwellings are some of the best preserved North American archeological sites and what Mesa Verde is best known for.

There were actually more people that lived on the mesa top than in the cliff dwellings. A few of those areas have been preserved and are open to the public.

10/09/2024

We are having a great time in Gallup, NM visiting dear friends. We have been treated to Navajo tacos and diced mutton.

Today we traveled from Gallup through Buffalo Canyon to Monument Valley. Some spectacular scenery!

08/09/2024

After our hike to the bottom of Grand Canyon we spent one night camping on the South Rim.

We had a pretty chill day and used the park’s shuttle buses to go to view points ranging from the far eastern and far western ends of the canyon.

We saw quite a bit of wildlife.

The main water pipe bringing water to the facilities on the South Rim was broken. All hotel rooms had been closed for a week. The showers and laundry at the campground were closed. There was water for the flush toilets at our campground and water in the sinks for a sponge bath.

06/09/2024

Another successful hike. From the south rim of Grand Canyon down to the Colorado River. Spent the night at Bright Angel Campground. Sixteen km one way down and back up the next day (10 miles one way, 20 round trip), 1400 meters elevation gain (4600 feet)

This was probably our most “painful?” hikes. We have done longer, more elevation gain, etc. What made this painful are two major factors:
- the heat (Grand Canyon gets hotter as you descend, rising about 20 deg F hotter than the rim)
- packing a tent, sleeping mats, and enough food and water for twenty-four hours plus. I have never carried a pack that heavy for a hike of this length.

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful hike. I highly recommend it, maybe just at a cooler time of year.

03/09/2024

We made a brief visit to the largest national park in the continental USA, Death Valley. Yeah, I didn’t know it was the largest national park either.

Yes, it was hot. The hottest spot according to the car temperature gauge was 114 degrees F (45 C) this. Was at sea level at the Mesquite Sand Dunes. I got out of the car to snap a few photos.

We did a short walk at Dante’s View at about 5500 feet above sea level, it was cooler at only 95 degrees F (34 C)

If it were a cooler time of year, we would have liked to have done some hiking. We were really just driving through on our way from Sequoia National Park to the Grand Canyon.

We are spending a couple of nights in Las Vegas to sleep in real beds and catch up on laundry before heading to the Grand Canyon.

02/09/2024

We are back in cell phone and internet service after spending two nights in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.

Of course, we saw many sequoia trees. Sequoias are the largest trees in the world by volume, redwoods are the tallest.

In addition, we did the Lakes Trail - 21 km with 876 m elevation gain (13 miles, 2900 feet). Quite a beautiful hike.

30/08/2024

Day two in Yosemite, National Park. Although I have been to the park five times, (this is Susan’s second time) there are many areas of this large park that we haven’t been to.

We started the day at Tuolumne Grove. There is a small stand of Sequoia trees here. Then we drove the Tioga Road to Tuolumne Meadows with a couple of stops along the way. Only 12 km (7 miles) of walking today after our 30 km (19 mile) hike the day before.

28/08/2024

Half Dome completed! We were able to get a permit in the three day lottery. It was a long and strenuous hike, but worth it. Perfect weather. Susan said, “I’m glad I did it. Once is enough.”

Nineteen miles round trip, 5520 feet of elevation gain (30 km, 1686 m).

This was Susan’s first attempt. My third.

1981 - spur of the moment trip, cables down, no water, no food, no gloves, just the energy and naivety of an 18 year old. Successful summit.
2008 - attempt with our son, I made it to the sub dome but couldn’t make the last half mile.
2024 - success! Thirty pounds lighter than 2008 attempt.

It took us longer than average.
- added a couple of miles since we walked from our camp site, not the trail parking lot
- I sprained my ankle a few weeks ago so no conditioning for the past couple of weeks, a little sore during the trip.
- we are in our mid-sixties

Yosemite is a beautiful place. I highly recommend it and the Half Dome hike.