The One World Expedition

by Erik Olsen on

A ways back we covered the One World Expedition, a pretty ambitious
effort to make the first crossing of the Arctic Sea, via the North Pole, in summer. The expedition is the brain child
of hard-core kayakers/explorers Lonnie Dupree and Eric Larsen. The idea was to bring attention to global warming, which
in an odd kind of way, maybe they did. They set of last May, and due to unusual ice conditions, (due to global
warming?), they aborted their attempt. The two are preparing now for another attempt in 2006. You can read about them
at their One World Site.

But if you’re interested in learning more about what they are up to, you can go back and read the
Mother Jones interview with them,
one of the better interviews out there.  Also,
Lonnie has his own site where you can callow his
projects and future efforts.

“Greatest Good’ Documentary

by Erik Olsen on

First a question: under what cabinet division is the US Forest Service. If you
answered Interior (which has the National Park System, the US Geological Survey and
the Fish and Wildlife Service…well, you’re wrong). It’s Agriculture. And the DOA is an agency who’s purview is largely
an economic one, which means that when it comes to the Forest Service, the issues that the agency most often wrestles
with are ones of money, not conservation (and trust me, I worked at Interior for a few years).

But forest management issues are very complex, and over the years the agency has done a so-so job of protecting our
national forests. Some years are better than others. They themselves even refer to some periods as a shift to “the dark
side”.

If this is of interest, you might be happy to note that the agency has produced a documentary called
The Greater Good to commemorate it’s 100 years as steward of public
forest lands. You can catch a brief (very brief) glimpse of the film
here, and it will be showing at Forest Service events arond the
country. You can check out a schedule here as well.

Lewis and Clark by Satellite

by Erik Olsen on

The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition has been told so many times in books, articles, TV and Web sites, you’d
think there’s nothing more to learn about one of the greatest American expeditions of all time. But you’d be wrong. The
USGS (who’s site I really enjoy and which ought to be explored in your free time),
has got a section on the Lewis and Clark expedition where they track
L&C’s route via satellite. It’s quite interesting.

The group of twenty-two individual images in the collection are satellite scenes that provide a modern view of
historically significant stops along the expedition route. It’s an interesting, space-eye view of an epic trip.

Glorious Norway on Foot

by Erik Olsen on

The name’s Olsen, O-L-S-E-N. So yes, you might have guessed that my forebears come from Scandinavian lands. Indeed
they do. Yet while I have seen every continent except Australia, and lived in a couple of other countries, I have never
been to Scandinavia. Needless to say, this is a HUGE goal, up there high on the life list. And while I will be making a
trip to the “homeland” at some point over the next few years, for now I suppose I have to content myself with articles

like this one in the New York Times about the glories of Norway.

As you probably know, Norway is UP THERE. It is at the same latitudes as Alaska, Greenland and Siberia. So it can get
cold (hence my inclination to walk outside in the dead of New York winter without a coat). But the Norwegians still get
out a lot and explore their country. As the article says, they are avid walkers, and spend many hours and many calories
hiking through the country. And it’s fairly BIG country at that. The national park mentioned in the piece,
Hardangervidda, makes up one-third of the
Hardanger plateau, a 3,860- square-mile wilderness that is four-fifths the size of Connecticut. And the place is
teeming with wild reindeer.  One of the beauties of these place where people have been hiking for years is there
are vast networks of mountain cabins where you can crash after a long day. Norway is no exception.

So even before reading this piece I was ready to go to Norway. But as a big outdoors buff, thanks to the article, I
now have a couple of places in mind I’d want to go. A place where I can just walk and keep on walking.

National Park NZ

by Erik Olsen on

Put New Zealand on your intinerary this year, and read
this piece on
Fiordland National
Park in Kiwiland. The group of four here sets out to find some remote and dramatic spots, the kind of
untouched areas that many of us city-dwellers only salivate about. They hit the road and come across ample lakes,
rivers and sprawling open land. But also, (ugh) black flies. Camping in huts along the way, the trek sounds just
marvy. And who wouldn’t want to be in New Zealand right now?