Once upon a time an enterprising rock climber launched a line of clothing for extreme sports. He named it “Patagonia,” a word that triggers a visceral reaction in adventurers and wannabes. Even the armchair traveler experiences a shiver visualizing one of the wildest regions on earth, a faraway place with strange creatures, rugged terrain and […]
Simply Grand: Rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon
I’m sitting just inside the lobby of Las Vegas’ Paris Hotel to escape the sweltering heat that seems to radiate from the sidewalks and buildings as well as the sun. I would like to cover my ears to block out the sounds of slot machines, sirens, traffic, and raised voices. I feel as if I’ve […]
Peru: So Many Mysteries, So Little Time
Machu Picchu, Peru’s “Lost City of the Incas,” made my life list when I was in junior high school. Now, at the end of my sixth decade, I’ve focused more intently on my “must see” goals — Egypt’s pyramids, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, China’s Great Wall, the Rwandan mountain gorillas, etc. With the turmoil in the […]
Exploring Alaska’s Glacier Country by Small Ship
The underwater microphone beneath our skiff picked up the whoosh of bubbles and the sound of whales chattering like children at recess. But we knew the humpbacks circling under us were on serious business—the pursuit of dinner. As if at a conductor’s signal, all sound from the hydrophone ceased and Pavarotti began his solo. […]
Close Encounters in the Galapagos Islands
Like most nature lovers, I have dreamed of close encounters with wildlife that don’t make me feel like a stalker. A Dr. Doolittle experience–short on actual conversation, of course, but long on trust and peaceful acceptance. Last spring I found a place where this is a reality–the Galapagos, an isolated 28,000-square-mile archipelago straddling the equator […]
West Virginia’s New River Gorge National River
If you’re a Baby Boomer (born 1946-1964), mention of the New River brings to mind intense whitewater adventures under Spartan conditions. If you didn’t experience it, you heard about it from friends who rafted or kayaked the Lower New in the 60s and 70s. They talked of paddling Class III-V rapids, eating soggy baloney sandwiches […]
Nature’s Roller Coasters
Nature makes the best roller coasters. Rafting is wet, wild and exhilarating—and no two rides on a whitewater river are ever the same. Today’s upscale outfitters won’t guarantee that anyone will stay dry—or even stay in the raft—but they do promise indulgences at the end of the day. In the 1970s whitewater rafting was a […]
