The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Walks and Wildlife in Rajasthan

Rajasthan, in northwest India (see map below), is a land of opulent palaces, magnificent forts and deep cultural traditions. There is an incredible diversity of landscape here, including jungle, mountains and desert. On a two-week walking holiday, our group explored this landscape and some of its communities on a collection of treks and heritage trails. We also visited Ranthambore National Park for two game drives. This post will highlight the walks and wildlife, leaving the cultural aspects for the reader to discover on her own. . .

This map (from Encyclopedia Britannica), shows where Rajasthan is located in India.

New Delhi – Lodi Gardens

In my humble opinion, smog-choked, massively congested New Delhi has little to recommend it. However, anyone traveling to Northern India will most likely begin and end their journey in this capital city. I can heartily recommend two things: a portable air purifier for your hotel room, and a visit to the 90-acre Lodi Gardens as a decompression from the stresses induced by this teeming metropolis.

A temple in Lodi Gardens
A common Kingfisher in Lodi Gardens

Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary

The Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary is a popular tourist attraction located in the Rajsamand district of Rajasthan. Encompassing more than 600 km2 across the Aravalli ranges, this sanctuary offers a variety of landscapes, plants, and animals. It surrounds the historic Kumbhalgarh Fort, also known as the “Great Wall of India,” a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We spent two days walking in this sanctuary, the hiking highlight of the trip for me.

A small Hindu temple near the start of our first day’s trek
Hayricks
Ladies, here seen carrying hay, seem to do most of the work
A vista on day 1 of the trek
A tribal village seen near the end of our first day’s trek. December is in the dry season.
Laundry day
Path-side bougainvillea
Our local guide demonstrating a water wheel on day 2 of the trek. These are used primarily for the cows, but benefit all wildlife.
A cool stream in Kumbhalgarh
Lake view with crocodilians (not clear in this photo) and birds near the end of the 2nd day of the trek in Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary

Aravalli Hills

This day walk between two tribal villages, although located not far from the Kumbhalgarth Wildlife Sanctuary, had an entirely different feel to it. A wonderful break from all the cities, nonetheless.

Some of our group on the Aravalli Hills walk, Udaipur
Ubiquitous cows
A well-made dry stone wall with steps
A local kid
A lush Aravalli hills vista

Ratnagiri Hill, Pushkar

An overnight stay in the city of Pushkar gave us the opportunity for a dawn climb – up 890 steps – to the Hindu temple of Savitri.

Pushkar city lights
A Langur monkey awaiting sunrise on the summit of Ratnagiri hill . . .
. . . and posing for her photo. I did apologize to her afterwards for the flash.

Ranthambore National Park

This national park is best known as a tiger sanctuary. Also located in Rajasthan, it covers a total area of 1,330 km2. It is named after the historic Ranthambore Fort which lies within the park. Our group went on two game drives, the first in the afternoon until sunset in a couple of small 4×4’s, and the second one early the next morning in a gargantuan truck-type 4×4. I strongly recommend only going on safari in small vehicles.

Driving in Ranthambore on the afternoon safari
Two Chital, or spotted deer
A tiger paw print. Some of the group were able to spot a tiger the next day, but I had sot settle for this print.
A Sambar deer, listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List
A Sloth Bear (perhaps the worst photo of one ever taken). Also listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation.
A panoramic view of Ranthambore in the early morning
A red-wattled lapwing
A rufous treepie
A female painted sand-grouse landing on our vehicle. Not being fortunate enough to see a tiger, the birds were the highlight of the morning safari for me.
Ranthambore morning: lake, island, and peacock. My favorite photo of this post.

Of course, throughout these two weeks we also enjoyed much of the local culture, from forts and palaces to a home cooking demo. And temples. Tons of temples. And a mosque or two. The complete itinerary can be seen on KE Adventure’s Heritage Trails of Rajasthan web page. There was even one city that I found enjoyable to visit: Udaipur. It has much to recommend it, as far as cities go – large lakes, the City Palace museum, Jagmandir Island Palace, fine restaurants and hotels, and a noticeably slower vibe than other northern Indian cities.

I will leave you with only one photo from all these cultural journeys. Sadly, unlike all of the previous photos, it was not taken by me, but by another client.

The Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, framed by the Great Entry Arch

Currently, I am in St. George, Utah, preparing for extended* overseas travel, which I promise will include many more hikes and treks in new destinations, as well as some of my favorites in England and Italy. The calendar on the home page of this blog has been updated to reflect my planned travels through September.

In the mean time, I am working on my next blog post, Trekking in Oman. Stay tuned.

The Vagabond Hiker

* – measured in years, rather than months

P.S. In case any of my readers were curious about the air quality in New Delhi, most of the time I was in the city the AQI was above 250, and often above 400, with both pm2.5 and pm10 particles the culprits. See the photo below, taken from my airport hotel in the middle of December.

Choking in Delhi

California Desert hikes

The recent (and still ongoing) wildfires in Los Angeles County reminded me of the nearly 300 photos I took last winter in the California Desert that I had yet to even look at. It’s been nearly 3 years since my last post from Joshua Tree National Park, so here are a few more recent photos. . .

The Low Desert

For two weeks in December and then again for most of January I stayed in Indian Wells and Palm Springs, in the (warmer) low desert east of Los Angeles.

Indian Canyons oasis, Palm Springs
California Fan Palms, Carrizo Canyon, Palm Desert
Folded rocks, Carrizo Canyon
Oswit Canyon pond, Palm Springs. It was wonderful to see the waterfall actually flowing!
View from ‘Peak 638’, above my Indian Wells condo.
Indio Mountain trailhead at Bear Creek. The paved path belies a challenging subsequent scramble up Indio Mountain.
Indio Mountain loop vista. My favorite photo, with the wonderful morning clouds.
Two Coachella Valley Hiking Club members scrambling up Magnesia Springs Canyon In December 2023. This canyon is closed for Desert Bighorn Sheep from January to October each year.
Desert Bighorn Sheep on the South Karl Lykken Trail, Palm Springs. One of only two photos in this post taken with my Olympus; the vast majority were taken using my Samsung A52 phone.
Tahquitz Creek park in Palm Springs. On “off” days I frequently walked here.
Wormhole loop rocks, Mecca Hills. The San Andreas fault passes through here, evidenced by the stark difference in the rock strata. Mecca Hills is in the western portion of the newly-established (14 January 2025!) 624,000 acre Chuckwalla National Monument.
Dr. Mark on the Wormhole loop. He almost single-handedly maintains most of the ladders to enable access to this amazing area.
The Vagabond Hiker at Mecca Hills
Emory’s Rock Daisy, Mecca Hills
Skyline Trail vista, Palm Springs. This trail ascends nearly 11,000 ft up San Jacinto Mountain, though I hiked “only” about 4,500 ft up from the desert floor.

The High Desert

In February 2024 I relocated to Yucca Valley and then to 29 Palms for the remainder of the winter season, focusing my hiking on Joshua Tree National Park. All photos below except the last were taken in JTNP.

An old chimney on the Lost Horse Mine loop. The rest of the cabin was demolished.
Window Arch, Wonderland of Rocks
A monzogranite formation in the Wonderland of Rocks
The “Pink House” ruins
Sand Verbena
Panorama from my traverse of Mt Minerva Hoyt
An imposing Joshua Tree near Warren Peak in March. These yuccas usually bloom in April
Joshua Mountain loop vista above 29 Palms
Pine Canyon, a fun scramble I had never done before
Desert Bells in Pine Canyon
Golden Suncup
Desert Lavender
An ephemeral pond in the Wonderland of Rocks
A possible ascent route up Spectre Peak. Over the years I’ve attempted climbing this remote peak in the Coxcomb Range of Joshua Tree four times without success.
Chia
Dawn from my Yucca Valley bungalow (taken with my Olympus Tough)

Currently I am wintering on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Morocco. As I have already posted twice on Lanzarote’s interesting hikes, here and here, I am taking a break from photography. However, before I return to St George, Utah at the end of February, I hope to post photos from some wonderful hikes I did in 2024 in that amazing redrock sandstone country.

The Vagabond Hiker

Walks and wanders in Slovenia and the Azores

As I mentioned at the conclusion of my last blog, The Traverse of the Picos de Europa, my plan in late September was to embark on a one-week trek in Slovenia’s Julian Alps, including summitting the high point, Mount Triglav. Following this trek and some cultural explorations in Slovenia, in early October I was to travel to São Miguel Island in the Portuguese Azores for several day hikes.

Unfortunately, everything went pear-shaped from the start.

A fall walking in the Picos necessitated a midnight trip to Santander hospital to suture up a finger. This injury made a high-altitude trek in poor weather imprudent, so I contented myself in enjoying easy walks around Lakes Bled and Bohinj. After returning to Britain and continuing to the Azores, running through Madrid airport in street shoes on a very tight connection (due to the usual delays at Heathrow and the absolutely predictable effects of Brexit), subsequently hobbled me to such an extent that for several days I could barely walk. Meanwhile, my luggage didn’t make the connection in any event and was ultimately delayed 5 days on a 7-day trip. My time in the Azores thus became far more sedentary and my itinerary resembled that of a typical tourist. Nonetheless, I did manage to capture a few good photos and hope to return to both Slovenia and the Azores when I can do them more justice.

Slovenia, a small country bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia, is an ex-Yugoslav republic that always had more in common with Austria and Hungary than it did with its Balkan neighbors to the south. Not only is it far more developed, but the culture and architecture clearly owe much to the Austro-Hungarian empire. I spent three nights in the capital, Ljubljana, followed by about 10 days in Bled, on the east side of the eponymous lake.

Ljubljana old town street scene
Franciscan Church of the Annunciation, Prešeren Square, Ljubljana
View northeast from the Castle path, Ljubljana. My superb AirBnb was in a quiet wood near here.
River view in the medieval town of Škofja Loka, enroute to Bled
A panorama from my first Bled condo
St. Martin Parish Church at night from my Bled condo
An autumnal view from the balcony of my Bled condo. I had to book very early to get this basic but amazingly situated condo.
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, seen through the trees, and located on an island in Lake Bled.
Bohinj path. Lake Bohinj was a 45-minute bus ride from Bled, and was MUCH less developed.
Nettle-leaved Bell-flower along Lake Bohinj. There weren’t many wildflowers this late in the season.
A colorful inlet stream (Sava Bohinjka) on the Lake Bohinj circuit path
Another view along the Lake Bohinj (Bohinjsko jezero) circuit path
Bled Lake with parish church and castle. I did the easy 6-mile circumambulation of the lake several times.
Bled Lake and Church of the Assumption view from Mala Osojnica. This was the only real hike I did, gaining several hundred feet up a steep and slick trail to this iconic viewpoint.

After my eventful flights to Ponta Delgada on São Miguel Island in the Azores, I rented a car and settled in to my amazing ocean front AirBnb, Casa da Rocha, in the village of Ponta Garça on the south coast. As mentioned, I did very little actual walking, but did capture several lovely landscape photos during three day road trips that encompassed the island.

Isle Vila Franca do Campo. Photo taken from along the promenade near my favorite seafood restaurant, the Atlântico Azorean.
Vista from my balcony at the AirBnb Casa da Rocha, in Ponta Garça. Note the Isle Vila Franca do Campo in the background.
Looking towards the Casa da Rocha. This was one of the best AirBnb’s I have stayed in yet.
Late day view from Casa da Rocha. In my hobbled state I spent much time on my spacious balcony.
Fumaroles at Caldeira das Furnas, in the center of the island.
Northeast (Nordeste) coastal vista with Hydrangeas. After visiting the fumaroles, I continued my first road trip around the eastern portion of the island.
Ribeira dos Caldeirões Natural Park, a very popular tourist attraction, particularly among the selfie-obsessed.
View south from Miradouro do Salto do Cavalo, high on a ridge. With generally southwest breezes, mist off the Atlantic was a frequent occurrence in October.
Finally, a sunny day at Vila Franca do Campo!
North coast in the mist with ubiquitous Easter lilies
Mosteiros coast in western-most Sao Miguel

Returning back to St. George Utah via London, I spent the remainder of the autumn exploring more of the amazing red rock landscape of which I never seem to grow tired. In reviewing some of my (and others’) photos, another blog post from southern Utah seems to be in order. . .

The Vagabond Hiker