Back in December Rebecca and I had an amazing meal at the Metropolitan Museum of Art thanks to Asheville native Jason Huang.
Final Pictures
The day we were riding into one of the largest Mayan sites in Middle America, Tikal, my camera that I had bought right before this trip quit working. Several hours were spent trying to fix this to no avail.
The rest of the trip consisted of
The end.
Xunantunich
On New Years Eve we stopped at the Mayan site Xunantunich, near the Belize/Guatemala border.
From Wikipedia:
Xunantunich’s name means “Stone Woman” in the Maya language (Mopan and Yucatec combination name), and, like many names given to Maya archaeological sites, is a modern name; the ancient name is currently unknown.
West From Belmopan
If you ever go to Hopkins I would advise against staying at the Kismet Inn, despite their abundant and enticing homemade signs.
Groceries were actually a bit expensive in Belize and we were happy to be sold some ‘well-baked’ meat pies for 50 cents out of a 5-gallon bucket from a local as we were leaving.
We road about 20 miles to Dangriga and took a bus back to Belmopan, stayed the night there, and then headed for the border of Guatemala the next day.
Biking in Belize: To Belmopan and Hopkins
We rode from Belize City to the capital, Belmopan. The roads in Belize were way more rugged that what were were on in Mexico. The scenery reminded me of western North Carolina, with palms replacing the deciduous trees.
After a night in Belmopan we went back east on the Hummingbird Highway, probably the most picturesque riding of the trip. Relatively hilly at first, then you are in a valley passing numerous small villages. Lots of locals were hanging out near the highway. We probably hollered at a few hundred people. At the advice of a local we rode to Hopkins, a small town on the beach.
San Pedro Again
We woke up beside the ocean. We snorkeled. It rained. We slept in a hotel. We left for Belize City on a boat the next day.
Into Belize
3 days of biking south in Mexico and we ended up in Chetumal. Most of Christmas Day was spent catching a boat to the island of San Pedro, Belize.
Mexico: Akumal and Tulum
For the holiday season Jeff and I went where it is warm. These pictures are from 2 days at the condo of his awesome aunt Carol in Akumal, and one day of biking south where we stopped at the Mayan ruins in Tulum.
Cedar Rock with Steve
Met my friend Steve in Brevard and spent a day a sunny day at Cedar Rock. It was my first time climbing there. Lots of water coming down but we managed to find some parts that were (mostly) dry. Steve was a big factor for me getting back into climbing after moving to Missoula and it was great to meet up with him in the east.
Red River Gorge in November
3 days at the Red with Tucker.
The first day we got our butts kicked trad climbing, ending with my first rappel in the dark after starting some adventure-chimney route near dusk. The start was a small roof where you are hanging from 2 hand jams after scrambling up a little ways, pretty serious for 5.8 I thought.
By the third day we left the trad-rack in the car. (gasp)
All the climbers we met were friendly, the sandstone was solid and varied, and the woods had a welcoming deciduous forest softness to them.
Shakespeare Ghost Town
While I was driving from NC to CA with my friend Val in August we stopped at Shakespeare Ghost Town outside of Lordsburg in southwest New Mexico on I-10. Out of dumb luck we arrived just in time for a tour, which only happen on 2 days out of every month.
