Gele Mountain

AHHH, I saw the sun today!  Well, for a brief time anyway.

Everyone within sight of my windows was hanging out wet laundry, everyone except the people in my building.  I started a load, and then, the water went off, leaving me to wonder if I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on.  The plumbing work required cycles of much yelling and banging, followed by sitting and smoking, and took most of the morning.  I know all this because I didn’t have class today.

An email from Quintin, thankfully cleared up the to fan -- not fan question:   “PV=nRT => P - you can do little about; n&R are fixed.  T is measured in Kelvin thus 273K to 383K (ice to boiling) is only a 100/273 = 36% change but V (a fan) is really effective.  A small fan will more than double the V factor and thus the drying effectiveness.”  So, I put the fan on my drying laundry, and headed up the mountain.

Gele Mountain is the gorgeous backdrop to this university campus, and is actually a series of peaks along a ridge.  Most days, the ridge is shrouded in a hazy mist and fog.  Everyday I look up there and tell myself, "I should really just go up anyway, that the climb would be good for me."  A few weeks ago with one of my students, I actually did climbed through the fog following a steep, slippery trail, one of many that crisscross the mountain. 

Today, I took the stairs.  The stairs roughly follow the gondola route to a point just below the peak with an ancient temple on the top.  Where the stairs and gondola end are a hotel, a restaurant, and a ticket seller.  To go to the viewpoint or up to the temple ruin costs money.  

On the fog day hike, my student and I were able to take a “free” trail to the ancient temple.  As we walked around the ruin, violent images carved on walls eerily emerged out of the mist, giving me a very uneasy feeling.

carved wall of ancient temple, top of Gele Mountain

detail of carved wall

these creepy images appear on rock outcrops

the temple is on several levels

Gele Mountain from upper campus

in sunglasses, following the gondola stairs

lots of lush vegetation

what's not to love about a banana bench?

short dresses make it up the stairs 

this girl wore tennis shoes
(and guys carry man-bags)

banana plant?, see the sunshine?

mid-mountain noodle shop

view of the upper campus

guys just take off their shirts when hot,
no matter where they are, even downtown

full fashion on the stairs

go barefoot if hiking in heels doesn't workout

Naturally, today I was most interested in the hiking outfits on the mountain.  I really need to figure out how to take covert fashion shots.  There are so many opportunities!