There is a movement afoot to link up two of America’s longest hiking trails in order to create a new route for long distance hikers and backpackers. The proposal would unite the iconic Appalachian Trail with the lesser-known North Country National Scenic Trail, creating a route that would stretch for more than 6100 miles.
The two trails, which stretch 2170 miles and 4600 miles in length respectively, are actually just 40 miles apart at their closest point in Vermont. This has led members of the North Country Trail Association to open a dialog with the National Park Service and local Vermont hiking groups to discuss the idea of linking the two routes. Those discussions have proven fruitful and hikers could soon see that 40-mile gap closed by a new trail.
Almost every hiker is familiar with the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Maine to Georgia, passing through 14 states in the process. It is considered a true American classic and millions flock to it each year to walk all or a part of the route.
In contrast, the North Country Trail crosses seven states between New York and North Dakota and has remained a work in progress since it was first conceived back in 1980. Sections of the trail are still being developed and unlike its more famous cousin, the NCT is often lacking in campsites and other facilities. To date, just 11 people have managed to hike it end-to-end and it sees far less traffic on an annual basis than the AT.
Even if plans to unite the two trails come to fruition, it is likely to be a few years before they are officially connected. Once they are, however, long distance trekkers will have a new challenge and it’ll only be a matter of time before someone attempts to hike both routes end-to-end.
While trying local spirits is always a fun way to get to know a city’s flavor, the Breckenridge Distillery in Colorado has something special to offer. Not only do they make small batch bourbon, vodka, whiskey, liqueurs and infusions, they’re also the highest distillery in the world.
Their hooch is made at 9,600 feet, using snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains. If you visit their distillery, which is located at 1925 Airport Road, you’ll be able to take a complimentary tour, and watch as the spirits are mashed, fermented and distilled. Additionally, a trip to their downtown tasting room, located at 137 S. Main Street, will allow you to browse their gift shop of mugs, shirts, glasses and flasks, as well as taste their products.
There are three options for the free tasting: Breckenridge Vodka, Breckenridge Bourbon and Breckenridge Bitters. The vodka is very flavorful, mashed with 100% Midwest sweet corn and filtrated with coconut shell charcoal. Moreover, the bourbon has a long finish, and is mashed with yellow corn, green rye and unmalted barley, and is fermented in 100% new American White Oak barrels. The tasty concoction you’ll sample will be at least 2-3 years old. Lastly, you can try the bitters, my personal favorite. Unlike most dash bitters, this version is meant to be sipped. Likewise, it has a neutral grain base featuring 13 herbs, spices and fruits, giving it a delicious tea flavor.
For more information, visit their website by clicking here.
It’s hard to imagine the Fourth of July without fireworks, but for drought- and fire-stricken regions like Colorado, that’s the way it’s going to be this year. If you happen to be living or traveling in a no-fireworks zone, don’t despair. There are still ways to celebrate our nation’s birth without setting it ablaze.
Since I’m in Colorado right now, I brainstormed with a group of rangers at Boulder’s Chautauqua Park (which is adjacent to the now 90%-contained Flagstaff Mountain blaze). Our ideas, below:
1. Organize a block party
2. Go to a laser show (or hold your own; those PowerPoint things are for more than just entertaining cats)
Of all the wildlife in the animal kingdom, killer whales really get a bad rap. First of all, only about 20 percent of them even eat other mammals such as harbor seals or sea otters, with the remaining 80 percent simply dining on fish like so many other marine species do.
You know who else eats fish? Dolphins. And nobody is scared of a dolphin.
Speaking of dolphins, killer whales are actually just that – dolphins. Belonging to the Delphinidae family of oceanic dolphins, killer whales are hardly even killers, and they aren’t even whales. Their entire nomenclature is virtually a farce.
Nevertheless, when a pod of them is passing somewhere beneath your sea kayak, all technicalities are thrown out the non-existent window. Such was the case outside of Aialik Bay in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park.
Occupying the southern reaches of the Kenai Peninsula, Kenai Fjords National Park is a haven for outdoorsy kayakers and those looking to escape into the confines of nature. While the protected waters of Resurrection Bay offer breathtaking paddling set beneath hanging glaciers, outfitters such as Miller’s Landing in the town of Seward offer overnight trips into the fjords of the park where the adventures really get wild.
How wild?
How about strapping a bear canister to the front of your kayak, packing some food and something warm, and paddling into the wilderness hoping for the best. In a world all too filled with congested freeways and bustling slums it truly feels like the end of the Earth.Stroking the paddle through frigid waters, our small group of kayakers paddled in an awed and collective silence. Bald eagles soared overhead as we all scanned the shorelines in hope of a foraging black bear. Paddling amongst emerald green waters, which teem with plankton and all forms of life, hungry cormorants repeatedly executed high-speed dives in an effort to snipe an unsuspecting fish.
Life, it seemed, was happening all around us.
Not to be outdone by the copious amounts of wildlife, even Aialik Glacier itself was rumbling with life in the distance. A massive glacier, which is steadily retreating, the crevasses and pockets of mighty Aialik frequently come calving down into the sea in a thunderous display of ice meeting water. In case you’ve never seen the video of surfer Kealii Mamala surfing a calving glacier, do yourself a favor and go watch it now.
To give a better idea of what Aialik Glacier looks like as it completely falls apart, however, it’s easier to simply show you:
Aside from the surprisingly loud noise, the calving ice continues to float amongst the waters of Aialik Bay as it undergoes the slow and laborious process of melting back into water. Many of these icebergs can extend up to a mile away from the glacier, thereby creating a frozen obstacle course for the handful of kayakers plying the waters.
The experience, to say the least, is entirely surreal.
For obvious reasons it is ill advised to paddle directly up to the face of the glacier and all paddlers opt to stay at least half a mile away from the collapsing wall of ice. Death by calving glacier, after all, would really be a unique albeit unfortunate way to go.
Weaving our red, yellow and orange colored sea kayaks around the Jurassic-sized ice cubes now floating out in Aialik Bay, our small nucleus of adventure paddlers turned away from the glacier and stroked back towards where the protected Bay of Aialik merges into the tempestuous Gulf of Alaska.
As serene as gliding amongst the open fjords can be, it can also be somewhat disconcerting since, as you might expect, thar be animals down in them waters.
Sure enough, in what is admittedly a rare sighting, a pod of resident orca suddenly surfaced from beneath the placid waters, the towering dorsal fin of a male bull confirming the reality of their presence.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I breathlessly stammered in a whisper meant only for myself.
Obviously on the same page, my fellow paddlers had likewise stopped paddling and opted instead to simply sit and stare. Granted, the orca were not directly beneath our kayaks, but they were close enough to hear the spouts of air as they surfaced to breathe, which already was a distance near enough to become wary.
With the initial surprise having come and gone, the awe turned to a fear-based reality check where it suddenly became apparent the only thing protecting me from a pod of killer whales was a thin layer of plastic and a pathetically blunt paddle.
Another eagle soared overhead. A large spout preceded the eruption of a dorsal fin from the pea soup colored water. A gentle gust of frigid wind caused the hairs on my neck to stand up straighter than they already were, and just as quickly, it seemed, that the pod had announced their arrival they similarly had turned away to depart into the open sea.
A fleeting moment in a frozen fjord, we all knew that this had been our lucky day.
Throw on a thick flannel, build a campfire, drink some whiskey, grow a beard, look at the stars and chalk it up to another day in the magical backcountry of Alaska.
Want more travel stories? Read the rest of the “Vagabond Tales” over here.
We might think that being rescued by a cruise ship, after floating in the ocean for days or weeks, would be a good thing. Cuban refugees, commonly found on or close to routes traveled by cruise ships, are brought aboard to be cared for. Cheering passengers feel good about it all but for the refugees, a hot meal on a cruise ship is about the last thing in the world they want.
It’s called the “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy that allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil on their own to take a fast track to permanent residency. But if they get picked up by a helpful cruise ship, they most likely go back to Cuba.
“The cruise line usually takes them on the ship, calls the U.S. Coast Guard who sails out to the scene, and the Coast Guard processes the refugees and sails them back to Cuba where they end up in Castro’s jails,” says maritime attorney James Walker on his CruiseLawNews website.
Friday night, some floating refugees apparently knew all about the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy, refusing to be rescued by Royal Caribbean’s giant Oasis of the Seas. On board was our friend @NomadicMatt who tweeted, “Our @royalcaribbean cruise ship just stopped to help rescue Cuban refugees in raft that was stranded at sea.”But it did not take long for refugees to take on food and water then continue on their way, trying to leave before the U.S. Coast Guard arrived.
“There is a lot of yelling on the raft and at times they look like they are trying to get away as they know the coast guard was called,” tweeted @NomadicMatt.
Odds are, the Coast Guard found the refugees, picked them up and will send them back to Cuba. But in the cover of night, they might have eluded authorities and made it to shore on their own.
“Let’s hope the winds and currents and the grace of God bring the refugees ashore tonight and they plant their feet on U.S. soil and can begin free lives here in America,” concluded Walker.