Fresh Fruits and the Nude Beach of Sauvie Island, Oregon

by Iva Skoch on

Portland, Oregon, is home to some wonderful sights and is a terrific, vibrant town nestled in some of the best scenery in the country. But, however picturesque the city is, you might still need to “get away from it all.” One of the best places to go is a small alluvial island near the convergence of the Columbia and Willamette (pronounced will-A-mit, sounds like “dammit”) rivers, called Sauvie Island.

It’s actually minutes from the center of town, but it’s worlds away. Here, the lovable hippie-grunginess of the Pacific Northwest meets the quaintness of Tuscany and the vistas of Switzerland. You can find ‘u-pick’ farms growing vegetables and flowers, along with dairy cows, horses, and a big wildlife preserve. There are camping locations, nature trails and beaches.

Right now is the time to head there to grab your late-summer-harvest fresh foods. Make sure to try the different berries indigenous to this region, such as the marionberry, which even grow wild on the roadsides. If you are not afraid of starches, test your orientation skills in the Corn Maize, an annual maze cut through a farmer’s field. A tip for runners or cyclists: the paved portion of the island is a scenic 12-mile loop of good, flat pavement.

The best time to go is early morning, when the quiet little rural island is still waking up. Clear days offer gorgeous views of both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood and very little traffic. It’s common legend that it has Portland’s only nude beach; but this, I can neither confirm or deny. I can confirm, however, as a former resident, that the legendary Pacific Northwest “Pillsbury-doughboy tan” can be spotted here, in the wild.

The Utterly Unique Telluride Film Festival

by Neil Woodburn on

Telluride is one of the best places in the world for skiing and for one weekend of every year, seeing movies.

The Telluride Film Festival, which kicks off tomorrow, is unique among film festivals according to the LA Times. It is not swanky and full of celebrities elbowing each other for the paparazzi, but is instead low key and a little more grassroots. The films tend to be more on the artsy side and few major studios are invited to participate. In addition, there are no VIP passes (celebs and mopes alike have to stand in line) and the festival refuses to announce which films will be playing in advance. Film fanatics show up based simply upon “blind faith” and their love of cinema.

The great news is that if the films really suck, you’re conveniently located in the beautiful mountains of Colorado so you can duck out of the theater and enjoy plenty of hiking and fresh air.

Sex and Violence, Elk-style

by Iva Skoch on

With a goal to get some exercise in during a gluttonous trip to San Francisco, friends took us for a hike in the striking Point Reyes National Seashore Park, only an hour northwest of the city. After eyeing us, the jovial ranger suggested we take the Tomales Point hike. “It is about 5 miles each way, sandy but moderate, and there is a good chance to see some sex and violence along the way,” he said. We were sold. Yes, cheaply.

Hiking is not for everyone. However, throw in the possibility of viewing live sexual acts, and urban dwellers pour into the woods by the Jeep-loads. OK, when you get there, you realize the only participants are elk. But still, if you are into viewing fellow mammals procreate, hiking Point Reyes might be for you.

Although we did not plan our trip with elk (or sex) in mind, last weekend we found ourselves in the middle of the elk mating season, which usually runs from the end of July through October. Literally hundreds of elk surrounded us along the sandy path with magnificent views of the ocean. The mating process itself is every feminist’s worst nightmare. During the mating season, elk bulls gather females into harems. Each harem has about 20 or so females, or as many as a bull can defend from competing males.

Still, scientific curiosity aside, it was slightly disturbing to see all the tourists, photographers, and experts set up their tripods and telescopes to see exactly what is going on, hoping to document the act first-hand.

Without completely giving away the details, there is a lot of elk sniffing-around and bugling going on. While the males seemed very much into it, the females stayed blasé, if not bored. An on-looking photographer summarized the scene: “This is like the worst pick-up bar ever!”

East Coast Retreat

by Erik Olsen on

For those of us who live here, New York can sometimes seem like its own world, and gazing out cross the river to New Jersey is like staring into the open void of an unknown world…albeit a world with large buildings, factories and a rather odd smell.

Ahem. The point is that living in New York is wonderful, but it can often be very difficult to get off the island. You can sometimes feel like you’re trapped here, caught in a narrow miniverse of your office and apartment. But there is hope on the horizon…literally. Venturing into Tony Soprano’s New Jersey you can find all manner of captivating, lung-expanding activities that will make it seem like you’ve been transported out West, where you can camp among towering pines (or at least, well, trees) and spend a day hiking or paddling a smooth-flowing river.

One place we recommend is the Mohican Outdoor Center (MOC), located in the vast, wooded Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The Appalachian trail passes through here so you can follow the blazes and catch site of black bears. Or take the 12-mile round-trip trek to Sunfish Pond that takes you along the jagged spine of Kittatinny Mountain where you can fill up your memory card with great views of the valley. If you can nab a spot in the MOC’s lodge, you might find yourself singing campfire songs with fellow weekend escapees wielding acoustic guitars. All that within a few hours drive from the big city.

On the River with the Family

by Erik Olsen on

Tell me if you can’t sympathize with Tom Bol. Here he was, gallivanting around the country doing odd jobs, climbing, hiking, biking, basically living at the moment’s whim, when the next thing he knows, he’s married with kids. As Kurt Vonnegut might have written: So it goes. So now Tom has a son named Skyler, and as he writes in this wonderful story about tackling a river trip with his family in tow, things can be more complicated, but not necessarily less fun. The Bols headed to Moab, Utah and then to Mineral Bottom, where the trip would begin. Then, after five days of paddling, they’d find themselves at the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. The rapids were small, but the floating life was easy. A blissful retreat from the day-to-day suburban drudgery. If you’re in serious need of some outdoor bliss and are worried about having the kids in tow, give Tom’s article a read. It might help make the whole idea seem a bit more possible.