Mountain Biking the Annapurna Trail in Nepal

Chill rain saturated the mountains of Vermont, drumming heavily on our backs as Dave and I pedaled toward Saint Johnsbury. Three miles from town, we passed a flooded campground inches underwater. We laughed and I remember saying, “It would be horrible to spend the night there.”

The rain intensified as we rode into town in late afternoon and started looking for a place to stay. Just days into our ride across the United States, we already recognized this challenging ground — it’s rarely easy to find a cheap and convenient place to sleep in a new town. Huddling in a leaky phone booth, we scanned the listings for a campground but found nothing. We could have gone to a hotel, of course, but we set a goal to camp every night and were determined not to give in, especially this early in the trip.

“I know,” exclaimed Dave, “Let’s get arrested!” [Read more →]

Text and Images Copyright Nathan Ward – All Rights Reserved

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
- Chinese Proverb

“Trespassers will be shot on sight” threatened the weather-beaten sign hanging on the gate that blocked our path. Brad and I looked down the closed road and saw it passed a ranch house where smoke curled from the chimney. “Let’s try to make the next road” I urged, not wanting to argue with such an ominous warning. Plus, I wanted to make more miles.

In falling light we pedaled into 6 miles of difficult Colorado singletrack with less than 45 minutes of light left. Like a modern day Hansel and Gretel (or Hansel and Hansel), we followed the bright stones that marked the path until darkness came suddenly, like someone pulling a shade over a window. We were still 2 miles from our destination.

The night became inky black without the hint of a moon and visibility dropped to nothing. We carried on, pushing our bikes with one hand and waving the other in front of us to ward off branches. Things started to go sour as I walked face first into a pine tree. “I don’t think this is the trail” I said. The darkness became so pervasive that I couldn’t even see my bike below me or Brad in front of me. It was like the darkness had crawled inside us, and besides sound, we ceased to exist.

Brad Goettemoeller riding on the Rainbow Trail above Salida, Colorado

[Read more →]

Salida Singletrack: Mountain Biking in Colorado

Salida Singletrack was the first mountain bike guidebook to the excellent singletrack trails of Salida, Buena Vista and Leadville. It details trails for beginners all the way through expert with maps, mile by mile descriptions and elevation profiles for each trail. [Read more →]

Long the Queen of the Himalayas, the siren song of Nepal still compels adventurous travelers. I love this mountain country and over the last few years have traveled here again and again to mountain bike the Annapurna Circuit, fly fish the Karnali River for Mahseer, trek the high Himalayan trails, pursue amazing photography and ride the back roads on a classic Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Stay tuned for great stories on my adventures in Nepal. Namaste!