Roughing it in Russia
Tears welled in my eyes twice while hiking some of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet -- once in mid-wretch gag and once in awestruck wonder. They were unexpected bookends for a journey that only vaguely resembled the trip I planned for myself and my hiking partner, Ben Yeomans. But that's how adventures often happen in Russia -- unexpectedly, with wonder, bewilderment -- and occasionally even nausea. In years past, Ben and I together have climbed, hiked, backpacked and canoed mountaintops, deserts, canyons and wilderness rivers.