I love the Northwest. Having lived in Seattle for 5 years, I often bristle at fellow New
Yorkers who dis the city and region for its excessive gloominess and excessive rain. Folks, I’ve been in New York now
for almost six years and I can tell you that the weather here ain’t much better than Seattle. But maybe that’s for the
best. After all, the last thing Seattle needs is more people. OK, that is now off my chest. So onto this fine article
on Vancouver Island. Give this one a read and if you don’t want to
pack up and go there, well, something’s wrong with you.
Slot Canyon Hiking
I’m always on the lookout for places to shoot great
photographs and especially
panoramics. And while I’m at it, I often like to get a good workout in. For
years now I’ve had my eyes set on the slot canyons of Utah as a place to take great pictures. I haven’t gotten there
yet, but maybe this summer I’ll be heading to Zion.
When I go, I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and will post like crazy about it. But in the meantime,
here’s a solid piece on Utah’s slot
canyons that will get you in the hiking mood. By the way, if anyone has been, I’d love to hear more. Maybe post a
comment or two about where you went and what you thought.
Strange Days on Planet Earth
While I have complained in the past about celebrities and their causes, I thought that this
new program was worth mentioning in a positive way. Strange
Days on Planet Earth is a new series showing soon on the Nat Geo Channel that tries to raise our green awareness.
And Ed Norton, whose attorney father is director of the Nature
Conservancy China Project and played a role in the development of the film, is the host of the series. Norton has
some “credibility heft”, as I like to put it, since he has been an environmenal advocate for a long time and, thanks to
his father, is fairly well-versed in the issues he’s talking about. He’s also a fairly avid outdoorsman.
A few months ago I went to the Explorers Club film
festival and actually got to see several of these films. I also spoke
with Mark Shelley, the Executive Producer
who told me that the films, lavishly produced, were almost like feature films in their complexity and production value.
And to be honest, they are excellent films. Amazingly shot and wonderfully told. You may not agree with the various
theses: that we have serious environmental problems when it comes to global warming, deforestation, etc., but you can’t
deny that the films do a good job making their point. Tivo these shows.
Trekking Lake Baikal
I have to admit that when I read the title of this
article I became very curious. Trekking Lake Baikal? I didn’t even know Lake Baikal was trekkable. What I do know
about the lake is that it’s the oldest and deepest lake in the world, but that over the last decades it has
become something of an environmental disaster with serious pollution problems among others. While this article
doesn’t really take on the environmental aspects of Lake Baikal, it’s still an interesting read and definitely
furthered my curiosity about the Baikal region.
Help Out on Hiking Trails
Vacations tend to be somewhat selfish affairs. After all, you’ve been slaving away for
months on end, serving the Man, and when it comes time to bail and do you’re own thing, you’re like “sayonara” to
anything with the foul reek of work.
But consider this. Consider taking a vacation where you actually do give back a little, where you…ok,
let’s not call it work…let’s call it “exert”…where you exert to help build trails in the wilderness, to improve
campsites and cabins. That’s kind of cool, I think.
Well, you can do these things. If you want. Check out the
2005 volunteer schedule on the
American Hiking Society Web site, and consider how you might lend a fist
full o’gravel to the American trail system. The site singles out several ”exciting
new projects” in
Alaska, Georgia, and Nevada.