Getting there

Carstensz Pyramid, is in a remote part of Indonesia.  There are no roads to base camp and the hike in takes 6 to 8 days.  The mountain is located in dense jungle, surrounded by primitive native tribes near the world's largest gold mine.  The area is poorly mapped, and the Indonesia government requires lots of permits which are costly and hard to obtain.  Periodically, the mountain is  closed to all outsiders.  The last time it was closed was from 1995 to 2005.  For this adventure Dan and Laura used an outfitter Adventure Indonesia.

Staying with locals

Today, Dan & Laura met other climbers in Denpasar and flew to Timika where they will be spending the night in the home of a local resident. They had their gear weighed and had to remove some items since the maximum weight a porter can carry is 19 kgm.  Dan loves to bring lots of extras just in case.  Tomorrow they go to Sugapa.

The Plane Dropped Several Feet

Laura sent me a vox this morning letting me know about their flight.  Sometimes technology is wonderful. 

En route from Hong Kong to Jakarta Indonesia, they ran into some bad weather and had to detour to another airport to refuel and wait out the storm.  Laura said the plane dropped several feet at one point and the landing was really rough.  Thankfully, they have safely arrived in Jakarta.  

Another Adventure Begins

For the past week every surface in our condo  has been covered with hiking/camping/climbing gear.  Laura had her room and the living room and Dan took over the dining room, den, our bedroom, the front hall and any other space he could find.  He likes to see everything before he packs. The puppies had problems finding a space to lie down and sleep.  Unfortunately, a lot of the mess is still here but I will deal with that over the next few days.
On Saturday I drove Dan and Laura to the airport to catch a 1:20 a.m. flight to Hong Kong.  The adventure has begun.

Another mountain

There are really 2 lists for the 7 summits.  To be on both lists Dan has decided to climb another mountain.  He and Laura will leave for Indonesia in November. 

The highest mountain in the Australian mainland is Mount Kosciuszko which Dan and I climbed several years ago.  However, the highest mountain on the Australian tetonic plate which includes Australia and New Guinea is Puncak Jaya also know as the Carstensz Pyramid at 4,884 m (16,024 ft) above sea level.  It is in the Indonesian province of Papua on the island of New Guinea which lies on the Australian continental shelf. 

New Fifth Ocean - Southern Ocean

If you went to school in the dark ages like me you know that there are 4 oceans - Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic. In 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization created a new ocean the Southern Ocean which surrounds Antarctica. It was created because the waters surrounding Antarctica are a unique ecosystem mainly due to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. However, several geographers disagree about its boundaries and even its existance since its northern boundary does not touch any land mass. Is it the southern part of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans or a new ocean - the Southern Ocean? The debate continues.

Mallory news

I have been very lax with writing the blogs.  Life for us has been very busy but then life for most people is very busy these days.  It is all about the choices you make.
The news:
Dan Laura and I moved to a condo in Barrie.  A huge change for us.  Lots of things to get rid of.  I think you should move every 5 years or at least pretend to so you can create space around you to breathe again by purging all the extra stuff you collect.  We are still working on that.
Alan and Natalie had a beautiful baby girl this summer.  Dan and I are now grandparents.  We have entered another stage in life.
Adam married Marie-Pierre in a lovely ceremony in Quebec.  He said his vows in French which was a huge challenge for him but he did it.
We are truly blessed.