Lazarow World-Hike-About

Sitting on the Rock of the Bay Sky lake No diving. Phew! Rest well tonight Silhouette Stump and beauty Love on the Rocks Reflections Ship Ahoy Three Black Birds

Today, Tuesday, is another somber day of the Jewish calendar so we did not hike. However, it does not mean we spent no time pondering and thinking. With the stock market losing so many points, nearly 300 on New York and more on the other exchanges, it’s a wonder anyone has money to spend. We did mention the other day that the trend looks down. Before you know it though, it could suddenly jump up again. It is not what we would term a rational mechanism for pricing securities on a day-to-day basis—but it’s the best we have. (We must give credit to Winston Churchill for this last statement although it was in a different context.) Anyway, our editor, in a show of no confidence in our tracking ability, purchased a ‘junior positioning’ device. We are not peeved by this…well , maybe a little, because after all we accept we don’t know everything. Of course, that is another of our attributes—an abundance of humility. Back to the gadget. This is not a full-blown GPS. We think our editor wants to...

Today, we turned the car around so that it faced west. Then we put the foot down and headed for the great Pacific. We calculated that we spent twelve days in New Mexico. As we mentioned previously, there are less people in this state than in San Diego. We don’t know what that means but for us, the rugged nature of the terrain was wonderful and gave us much enjoyment. We would offer a guess that the people in this state are also a little on the rugged side. However, we say this from a brief observation rather than as a value judgment. After all, we like tough people, too. We would like to see a few more in the nation’s capital. However, that may be wishful thinking on our part. We sat in the car as we journeyed towards Flagstaff, Arizona. We have spent much time in this great state. We prefer the central and northern parts. In fact, we are very fond of them. As for the southern region, we are not that crazy about it. Perhaps we should sell it back to Mexico. Sorry. That was not an appro...

Friday morning we decided to hit the trail earlier than usual. Our goal was set on the overpowering Sandia Mountain Range. It is a wonderful but intimidating sight. We have never come across a ‘low’ or ‘easy mountain’—they all need to be respected. However, this is a religious one. It requires more prayer than usual. Back to the present. The early going proves to be very tough as there is no decent trail from our commencement position. After an hour of scrambling over rocks, fighting the mosquitoes, keeping an eye out for snakes and avoiding the millions of cactus plants, we call a meeting. We learn from a local that the trail we are on will not get us to where we need to go because of various changes. Plan B calls to use the tramway as it is Shabbos later and we cannot be late. The tramway is an amazing piece of engineering—man at his best. (We can discuss with anyone who has an interest, later). We then hiked at the top and enjoyed an incredible experience. We forgot to mention th...

Business has been difficult but still enjoyable. Boston is not too busy and New York (market) is as usual, a ‘casino’. It looks like the trend is down. We enjoy sitting on the mountains when the action in the market does not fit our style. Seems like we are destined to spend much time outside ‘civilization’. We hope this is not an excuse to remain more focused on climbing than business. However, when we have to pay for accommodation each day, we remember about business. It is a good system; it keeps us focused…sort of. We journeyed to Albe, Alba, Albuk aha!, Albuquerque today after a splendid four days in Santa Fe. We enjoyed three outstanding climbs. On the fourth day, we decided to visit the town square and observe the people. At the same time, we did a little business. We bought some Microsoft, Verizon and Australian dollars. Today, we notice we got one-out-of-three correct in the short term. For us that is not bad—we have done worse in the past. We had an enjoyable time in the park...

Yes, our esteemed editor, is a WIMP! I am petrified of lightning and have been for as long as I can remember. Today, really tested me. Driving to the trailhead at the Santa Fe Ski area, the dark clouds were building and my thoughts were on anything but the hike ahead. Jeff turned to me and said, “so glad I packed my jacket”. “Oops” I replied, "the sun was shining so brightly when we left this morning that I decided to leave it behind to lighten your backpack”. My intensions were good, I thought. “Oh well”, I countered, “we have our rain poncho’s in our backpacks.” I knew that I had done wrong. If I am so scared of lightning, why did I continue this steep 3.5 mile journey up the mountain. I kept asking myself the same question but nevertheless, continued up. About ½ way, it started to rain a little. I dug deep into my backpack looking for my rain poncho. “Oops! (again!). No poncho. I hauled out the emergency blanket that looked like the poncho packet. Said ponchos we...

Simultaneously on top of the world and humbled We set off on our third hike in a row in the Santa Fe Mountains, at the ski area. We believe this hike and strenuous climb is the highlight of the current trip. Then again, that’s not important. We gained 2,300 feet over 3.5 miles, one-way. Most of the trail was a steady gain except for a couple of very steep sections. The interesting part is that we overlooked Nambe Lake from an elevation 1,000 feet above or at nearly 13,000 feet. If you remember, we sent pictures on Wednesday with Jen and me at lake level. I remember looking up from the water surface and wondering about the mountains above. Our wonderings were satisfied today. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm struck when we reached the summit, forcing us to limit our stay. Lightning flashed directly above and our editor, as courageous as she is, wisely bolted. We now have an editor without a computer and red pen. For the latter, we are thankful. When we stood at the summit and looked out...

Not a 'rock'ing chair Jenni at peak in Santa Fe Our editor breaks the pattern finally. We advance from the standard 7-mile hike to the 8-mile climb. We are happy with the ‘baby-steps’ approach. We might even be happier had she reduced the length rather than increased it. However, we are very satisfied with the efforts of our editor—she knows how to get our ‘juices’ flowing. Besides, we are the big strong male figure and should act accordingly. We are still in Santa Fe and commenced the hike from St John’s College Campus. This is part of the third oldest college in America, dating back well before our editor’s time, the late 17th century. We know we take a chance at her expense, from time to time, but we are just rebelling against the authority of the ‘harsh red pen’. We also are a bit worried about the rolling of the eyes by our editor. We have concerns that her lenses are about to pop out any minute because of her eye movements. The trail commences in a relaxed manner and...

“Am I having fun yet?” I kept asking myself as I struggled up the steep, winding series of switchbacks. They seemed endless. The hot sun baked my skin as I plodded onwards and upwards, breathing heavily. It was a solid 3-mile climb to the saddle, and another mile to reach the summit of Atalaya Mountain. At last! – My answer had to be “yes”. It was definitely worth the effort and the sweat. To look out at the whole city of Santa Fe some 2300 feet below, and Colorado in the distance, to see many varying peaks of the tree studded Jemez mountain range in the distance - mountains that we looked up to at the start, we were now looking down upon. It was beautiful. It was outstanding. A time to rest, ponder, drink and take pictures – and then to make our way back, downhill, Baruch Hashem! Another great hike, another wonderful day.

We are in Santa Fe, a city much smaller than we envisioned. Nevertheless, it is the biggest we have seen in New Mexico. In fact, we have not seen many people or towns since we arrived a week ago. It seems a great number of people remained in ‘Old Mexico’ or have emigrated to Arizona and California. The city is filled with art, artists, galleries and restaurants. Outside the city, there are mountains, trees, lakes and rivers. It is a nice combination, something for everyone or at least for us. Today our editor chose a hike that culminates at Lake Nambe just short of seven miles, but rated strenuous by the experts. The climb, in the beginning and for the last half-mile, was so steep it meant that we gained elevation at a rate of about 1800 feet per mile over those parts. This is serious stuff. I felt so bad for our editor. She is no longer a young woman and the climb must have been exhausting. However, she is showing a ‘lot of guts’. We attribute this to eating too well on the trail....