Dire Bering Straits

by Erik Olsen on

There you are, having the time of your life, in the
middle of an epic trip, and you get busted. I hate it when that happens. And it’s particularly bad when you’re busted by
the Russian cops because you know they aren’t going to treat you very nice.

And so it went with this
pair of trekkers an American and a Brit, who were venturing in the far east and got arrested after making a
"rare" crossing by foot of a frozen 56-mile stretch of the Bering Strait. Now, to me that is the more
interesting part of the story, but the article here focuses more on the whole arrest thing. To get the more intriguing
details about the crossing, you have to go to the Web site of the Brit Karl
Bushby, where there is much more information, photos and so on. In fact, I’ll be checking back on this site at some
point in the near future and will give you a heads up on the status of these guys.

On the AT, Briefly

by Erik Olsen on

We
went out to the Delaware Water Gap this weekend and did a quick hike on the Appalachian Trail. Not long, not nearly
long enough. But it is a lovely place, a wonderful way to escape the city in just  afew hours. We
"camped" a flexible term for what we did, at the Mohican Mountain House, where we hooked up with a big group
of local guitar-playing folks. Very nice.

Arizona & Utah's Wave

by Adrienne Wilson on

Talk about breath-taking! It’s scenes like the one found at the Arizona-Utah border known as "The
Wave" that make me want to toss all international travel plans aside for greater exploration stateside. The pink,
red, buff sandstone or pastel-stripped ocean wave plopped in the center of the desert, as Leon
Oliver describes for Go World Travel isn’t necessarily easy to get to and should you arrive make sure you remember
the limited access. Only 20 visitors are allowed each day, a rule enforced by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM),
where ten apply on the internet and the other ten can only pray that they win the lottery held a day before their
visit. You’ll need a trail permit as well. For all the trouble
the location sounds like an incredible spot and worth it in the very end.

If Arizona, Utah or the two combined are on
your list of potential summer vacation areas make sure you include the border/Southwest Strata on your list and plan
ahead. Oliver lists good information on getting into the area, airports, hotels and nearby cities worth looking into.

Ten Off-Season Jobs

by Erik Olsen on

Stellar Magazine, one of my favorite online
adventure mags, has gone a fine
feature on off-season jobs. No, this is not about how to be a data entry clerk or an accountant with a small
tractor parts company. These are the kind of jobs you can get your teeth into. Jobs like tennis pro, exotic dancer
(just don’t get your teeth into one of the dancers…that’ll lead to a law suit) and river guide.

Yes, they
mention office worker..why, I don’t know, but we forgive them. But I like the idea here mucho. After all, you gotta make
some dough when you’re not skiing, and what better way to beef up your cash reserves than exotic dancing…? These jobs
pay well…unless you work around the Duke campus, of course. (OK, bad joke!)

Sespe Creek California

by Erik Olsen on

While we’re talking road trips…let me quickly mention a little spot that I read about recently that is now on
my list of must dos for California. Having grown in up the state I am aware of its bounty of outdoor stuff to do on
weekends or, if you’re really lucky, a nice long week. But it was only recently I’d head about Sespe Creek. This 31-mile undammed,
(damless?) waterway is a place to go to try to spot the elusive (and endangered) southern steelhead, or to catch
yourself (for release) a couple of nice rainbows. There are ample swimming holes and hot springs hidden away so you can
go sans clothing under the stars. The key here, though, is the slot canyon gorge, which may not be as magnificent as
those in Utah, but worth the trip none the less.

And look, up there is in the sky It’s a bird, it’s a plane,
it’s…oh, yeah, it’s a bird. But a big one. Because this is ground zero for the efforts to bring back the California Condor. So get busy and head out towards Ojai and the
Topa Topa Mountains. talk to the folks at Los Padres National Forest
about a permit, and off you go.