December Potluck and Potpourri

 
The December meeting of the Los Alamos Mountaineers will feature its annual “potpourri,” a special meeting featuring a potluck dinner and a collection of short presentations from Mountaineers who took a notable trip in 2014 and have stories and photos to share.
 
The Mountaineers will provide barbeque from Bob’s Bodacious and cake from the Chocolate Maven. Others are asked to bring side dishes, desserts or main course alternatives as they like.

The special meeting starts at 6:30 pm Wednesday, Dec. 17, at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos. Following dinner, the meeting will present updates on upcoming LAM-sponsored trips or reports on recent ones, followed by the featured potpourri presentations.
 
This year’s potpourri includes the following:
 
Kicking off his retirement tour, Larry Earley visited seven Arizona climbing areas in eight days during March 2014. Over 1300 miles of non-stop driving enabled him and Don Taylor to climb at Paradise Forks, Oak Creek Overlook, Granite Dells, Isolation Canyon, Superstition Mountains, Isle of You and Sheepshead in Cochise Stronghold. Earley will describe what he calls a “once in a lifetime adventure.”

Also roughing it, Sherry Hardage and Joyce Nickols spent a month this Autumn in France, visiting ten cities and towns. As budget-minded travelers they stayed mostly in apartment rentals, shopped in local markets and cooked many meals. But they also sampled French dishes in Michelin-starred restaurants, made their way through 17 bottles of wine and enjoyed some of France's most beautiful parks. With the exception of a two-day car rental, the entire trip was accomplished using public transportation.

Kevin Holsapple will recount the great hikes, beautiful scenery, nice people and excellent beers he encountered while hiking in Bohemia and Franconia during the past Summer.  Getting off the beaten track revealed all of these pleasures in great abundance.

Botswana and Zambia drew Jean Dewart and Colleen Olinger for a two-week camping safari in September, where they saw endangered wild dogs, watched elephants communicate with each other and marveled at 4,000-year-old Baobab trees.  The tour, arranged through a South African company, included Okavango Delta, Moremi National Park, and two sections of Chobe National Park before finishing at Victoria Falls in Zambia.

Momo Vuyisich will piece together a half-dozen weekend trips he did from Los Alamos this summer, climbing several high peaks – including three 14ers -- and visiting other beautiful places in the Rockies. He also will get to show off his photographic talents in his presentation.

And in honor of Thanksgiving, why not a little Turkey? Annette Weyrauch and Mari Jorgensen will describe their hiking adventure in Cappadocia, Turkey, and some of the history they learned while there.

The Los Alamos Mountaineers, founded in 1952, promotes a variety of outdoor-oriented activities. For information on the Mountaineers and upcoming trip opportunities, including skiing, hiking, biking and horse-packing, please visit lamountaineers.org