Why hiking in iraq

But no-one died, he told us. Farther along, where the spine of the vast Bradost Mountain curves inwards and squeezes the Great Zab river into ever-narrower gorges, we walked with colleague Jawad Qamaryan from his village to a high ridge. We found out the schools had closed, but it seemed little else changed. We keep everything local anyway. Who wants to go to Erbil anyway? Surrounded by mountains and fertile land and living in a small, tight-knit community, his family could spend the days outside, working and walking the land, and socializing back in the village.

Even so, the virus altered reality in the form of wider travel restrictions and school closures, but for others, here and elsewhere, the impact on everyday life was far more dramatic. Maybe one of the few universal truths that we can take from this is that everything has changed. The second, perhaps, is that our existence is fragile. A third that when we stop moving, the earth beneath us heals. The road trip was also a reminder of our responsibilities as travelers.

Just around his village, he noticed a visible increase in the population of deer and bird species that have been increasingly threatened by poaching. The same was true for the forests of Kurdistan which have shrunk dramatically in the last 20 years, mainly due to widespread illegal logging. The oak trees had a reprieve this year, and this habitat supports healthier populations of wildlife, including the Persian leopard.

The question now, of course, is whether the positive gains can be maintained. For our friend Anwar, the pandemic made him rethink his own commitments. He previously devoted much of his time to his work in the armed forced, but told us that he now wanted more variety of experiences.

Still, "you can keep things to yourself," he admits. Sometimes I go off by myself because that's where I need to be in that moment. With Kabul falling but the forever war we both served in enduring, talk turns to the world. We're not in a VFW beer hall but at the shores of Shoe Lake, soaking up sun, listening to the sounds of a breaking day.

The three of us talk love, God, war, country. It cares about active-duty because that's when we're young, fit, healthy, can't ask any of those messy questions People need to know they belong to something. He says things like this, sometimes -- a lot, actually.

My notebook becomes full of eminently-quotable lines Akuna tosses about with the freedom of a man who's doing something he cherishes. A standout: "They say you're a thru-hiker when you finish a trail.

I disagree. I think it's as soon as you get out here. Because you've already done the hard part. Out of gratitude, manners, humility, or something else, Akuna tends to reference the trail as an active force that intervened on his behalf. It's an object, stunning and vitalizing, yes, but a physical place cultivated and stomped into being by humans.

It's, at once, greeting and statement, a strident claim that ruptures the stillness of the trail but disturbs nothing permanently. He asks us to deliver ours atop the Goat Rocks. Andy, the photographer, bellows from deep within his soul. I shout "Olly olly oxen free. Akuna's call finds utility our second morning out. A classic Northwest mist has cast Shoe Lake into in a heavy, dank gray. Visibility extends no further than ten feet, and the three of us hike up to a ridgeline to wait out the haze for photographs.

While Andy scouts out some locations and I snack, Akuna stares down into the void, in the direction of our campsite. Akuna guides a pair of thru-hikers up the correct path. I have no idea how he saw them through the gray but he did, and as the wanderers pass by, one looks grateful and the other embarrassed.

We even come across a herd of mountain goats sunbathing along a rocky slope, seeing us out of the wilderness that carries their name. We've earned our trail names, Andy and me. He's Billy Goat from all his climbing and hopping for shots. I'm Sir Doodle. To the northeast, dark smoke plumes scar the sky, the inimitable marker of a distant forest fire.

Smoke on the horizon -- a bit too explicit a symbol for returning to the world. Akuna's got plans for what's next. First, Louisiana, to catch up with his family and tutor up his nieces. Then the mile Arizona Trail in the fall, followed by a day-hike event in Huntsville, Alabama, to raise money for a local veterans' home and welcome people of color to hiking.

Next year, he's aiming to be at the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, if and when another Black hiker completes their own Triple Crown attempt. Beyond that? New Zealand's Te Araroa Trail is on his bucket list. There's the Jordan Trail in the Middle East, the Great Wall of China, over 5, miles long, which would take roughly a year and a half to hike We finish our hike and head to the Kracker Barrel gas station at White Pass.

So goes the free market. Dozens of self-proclaimed "hiker trash" have gathered at the picnic tables outside, some coming off-trail to resupply, others prepping to get back on. Boxes full of old shoes, flashlights, freeze-dried food packets and spare fuel line the side of the building, communal grab-bags for those in want or need.

Akuna spots MacGyver in his rainbow foam clogs and sits down to shoot the breeze. In the coming hours we'll learn that Hurricane Ida's inbound and for real. Akuna's flight to Louisiana gets canceled because of it. He'll fly to inland Texas to visit Dawn instead. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or is in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at TALK or at suicidepreventionlifeline. Skip to main content Skip to navigation.

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David Benavidez just wants a big fight. Kane to Man City? Conte faces fight to keep Spurs striker. In it gained autonomy from the rest of Iraq and has since become somewhat of a thriving and economically prosperous territory of the middle east. The most important thing to take out of this very brief synopsis of the history of Iraqi Kurdistan is that it is safe. Here is where Secret Compass comes in. Secret Compass is a UK-based company that specializes in travel tours to the remote corners of the world in search of adventure and areas usually unexplored.

When an individual joins Secret Compass on one of their excursions they are not just signing up to go on a guided adventure, they are becoming a part of the Secret Compass team. Together, you will as a unit achieve goals and reach heights both literally and metaphorically that you have never been to before.

That is what makes this travel company so unique. Secret Compass will be running another expedition to climb Mount Halgurd which lies in the Zagros Mountains and towers above the earth at 3, meters above sea level approximately 11, feet. There will be no snowmobiles, ski lifts, or rides of any kind up to this mountain. For you fit travelers looking to take the next step in their adventures, you have found your place.

Our group members have unified around going into nature each week. Rekan Rasool, who co-founded the popular Erbil-based hiking group Rock Ur Bones in , encourages people to go out and climb together. These hiking trips also provide opportunities to learn to appreciate and protect the natural heritage of the region. Rock Ur Bones guides begin each hike with a message about the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. The Peramagron Mountain Climbers, named after the prominent rocky massif near Sulaimaniyah, specialize in difficult mountain trekking.

Although trekking remains the predominant activity, these groups also organize mountain biking, river kayaking, cliff jumping and even paragliding excursions. Amid the adventure and other rewards, there are always dangers to be aware of when hiking. And hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan has a way of both magnifying these typical hazards and exposes hikers to other dangers unique to the region.

Just 10 years ago, three American hikers were taken prisoner by Iranian border guards while allegedly crossing the border during a trek around Ahmed Awaa, popular for its scenic waterfall and pistachio groves.

Iran and Iraq filled their mountainous border with mines during their nearly decade-long war with one another.