Larry Memmott's Blog

Utah must be one of the best places on earth for hiking.  That said, there are not so many good options in the north of the state in the winter.  Looking through the book, “60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City: Including Ogden, Provo, and the Uintas,” I saw the recommended winter hike on […]

I’ve never been attracted by the “peaking” thing.  Always figured that once you had peaked, it was all down hill from there.  So, climbing to get to the top of something never mattered to me.  Actually, I’ve often found that if you bushwhacked a bit off of the beaten trail to the top (or to […]

This is the classic day trip from Bishkek. If you haven’t been, why not? Anyway, I give you a little twist here, we can make the Burana Tower trip into a very nice loop, with hiking and picnic opportunities along the way, or a yummy trout lunch. The Burana Tower is about all that’s left […]

Ata Beit is the memorial and collective grave of victims of Stalin’s repression in the 1930s. More recently, it has also become the burying place of those who died in the April, 2010 revolution. It’s an impressive memorial, if not very well maintained, and a quick and easy half-day trip from Bishkek. It can also […]

Ala Archa is the first out-of-Bishkek experience for most Expats in Kyrgyzstan.  And it should be.  Ala Archa is incredible, and it has something for practically anyone.  The hiking ranges from a paved (but closed to vehicles) walkway up the canyon (close to a mile) to technical climbing of the high peaks.  The latter is […]

This is perhaps the closest and easiest way to see the high Ala Too Mountains up close from Bishkek. The full loop is about 55 miles long and makes a nice daytrip. The fields of wildflowers are gorgeous, in season. The loop trip can be easily combined with a stop off at Ata Beit, the […]

A couple of weeks ago I visited the Bordunskiy/Krasnyy Most area near Boom Canyon on the road to Issyk Kul Lake. I’d been told to expect a Grand Canyon-type experience. Well, that’s a bit of an exageration, but the area is gorgeous, anyway, and pretty unspoilt. Definitely worth a day trip, and I’d love to […]

Alexandra, Christina and William arrived on July 1! The adventures have already started. On July 2, they came with us to the U.S. Embassy 4th of July celebration. It rained a bit, but we had chosen our spot well, and just slipped into the yurt which had been set up on the Embassy grounds. The […]

The Adigene Valley Loop Trail is one of the closest hikes to Bishkek, and yet is an opportunity to get away from it all.  I’m sure it gets traffic on a summer Sunday afternoon, yet the three times I have been up there I haven’t seen a soul.  It runs through woods and meadows, and […]

The hike to Kel-Tor Lake is one of the most rewarding, but strenuous, of the short hikes near Bishkek.  At only about three miles each way, the hike is not long, but the climb of close to 3,000 feet makes up for it – and makes some steep stretches of the trail at least as […]