Cool Mojave

by Erik Olsen on

Woke up this morning and it was, for the first time this season, cold. Hoo wee, it got nippy allasudden. And even
though I know it’s time, meteorogically-speaking, I do feel the need to register a complaint with Mamma Nature: 
Dearest Madame, please give us just another week or so of Indian Summer. Please! I promise I will harm no more harp
seals.

Well, when it gets cold, the best way to deal mentally is to think of warmth. And so I am thinking about the warmest
places in the country right now…during the day, that is. I am thinking about the 1.5-million-acre
Mojave National Preserve, a pearl on the necklace of the Park Service that sees
very few visitors, relatively-speaking. And yet, it is a lovely, sprawling place where you can hike and bike and make
the trek to the top of Kelso Dunes, a field of 700-foot high sand hills that offer glorious views of the surrounding
park. 

Visit the Other Jersey

by Adrienne Wilson on

Show of hands for those who can honestly tell me where Jersey is located. I’m not talking about
our beloved New Jersey presently suffering from identity issues as
Kelly kindly put it yesterday. The Jersey I’m speaking of
is the tiny nine by five mile island situated in the English Channel, northwest of France. It truly felt
as if I had made this huge discovery finding the detailed tourism website devoted entirely to the
island. And perhaps I just need to peel my own eyes open a bit more, but why is it I never read about this other
Jersey with incredible day walks,
cycling, and
fishing in mags or newspapers? Obviously someone is aware of the
tremendous amount of history, activity, and culinary delights to be found in Jersey.  Who are they? Where do they
come from? Where do they go?

 

For those of you (like myself) just tuning into the island, I point you to La Fete de Noue
Christmas Festival running from November 26 – December 11, 2005. There are several other events listed on the
festival page, but this one sounds best for the holidays. The streets of St. Helier become illuminated with white
lights, paving an almost magical path for late night shoppers searching for  perfect holiday gifts.
During this time visitors can also take guided walking tours to learn about the history and natural landscape of
Jersey. The walk includes stops at historic castles, old graveyards, and dark country lanes. Sounds a little spooky,
but for the most part I imagine it to be quite dreamy.

Mongolia: A Last Place?

by Erik Olsen on

There really aren’t too many great last places left. Maybe steamy chunks of the Amazon. Or
swaths of Siberia. Perhaps a deserted island here or there. Well, MSNBC will have you beleive that one of the
last great places is Mongolia. And I tend to believe them.
Mongolia conjures up images of Ghengis Khan ravaging villages
and breeding like King Rabbit. But of course, you must
also think of the tribes of nomadic herders who trundle across the steppe, lashing their stubborn livestock
about the buttocks. I confess I also think of golf, because since I read the story, I’ve never been able to get
out of my mind the story of Andre Tolme who did Mongolia as a par 11,880.
That was fricken brilliant.

Sherpa Power

by Erik Olsen on

If you’ve ever done a trek and had a porter lug much of your gear up steep mountain sides, then I’m sure you asked
yourself, How do these guys do it? I can hardly carry my knapsack, you tell yourself, and these guys are carrying the
weight of a small family on their backs. Well is it any surprise that Nepalese porters (or sherpas, which is actually
the name for a specific indigenous group in Nepal that became synonymous with porter) are
actually more efficient with
their expenditure of energy. It makes a lot of intuitive sense in a Darwinian way, of course, but scientist have now
shown it to be a fact…or at least a more solidly documented theory. Scientists discovered, for example, that a
typical Nepalese porter carries nearly his own weight as a load, but when doing so he burns less energy per
pound than a backpacker would need to shoulder about half the same weight. Fascinating, eh?

TWINF in Hawai’i

by Adrienne Wilson on

Looks like Lee & Sachi from The World is Not Flat or TWINF have made it over to Hawaii just as I
start to think about unpacking from my weeklong trip. Having lived on the
island before, Sachi has pointed them to some great spots like this one in
Maunawili Falls. It appears the
trail was quite muddy and from the way Lee describes things, no walk in the park. Provided you’re ready to skip the
tourist filled beaches and also ready to do a belly-flop into the falls, they make Maunawili sound like it’s worth the
trip. Reading their experiences makes up for the hike to Manoa Falls I longed to make, but didn’t for other
reasons. There’s always next time.

If you haven’t made it over to TWINF yet, you’re really missing out on one of the best travel blogs I’ve seen in a
long time. The pair really looks to the world to share their experiences as they begin to embark on a huge journey
around the globe, which in return they’ll share some experiences of their own. Really good stuff and if you missed
Erik’s initial spill on the site you can read it
here.