Paddle Kake, Alaska

by Erik Olsen on

Having done some paddling in Alaska
myself, I was eager to post about this quick,
but useful blurb about
kayaking in Alaska over at National Geographic Adventure
(one of my favorite magazines).

They talk about paddling out of a lesser-known town of 700 called
Kake. It is a place of uninhabited islands along the
fjordian coast of southeast Alaska’s Inside Passage. The area is far too rugged for roads, so for people to get around,
they mostly have to travel by plane or a ferry. The area is teeming with bald eagles and humpback whales. I highly
recommend Alaska as a paddle destiination, and this area, off the beaten track for sure, sounds like an amazing
spot.

NOW: No Opportunity Wasted

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s a new show I was unaware of…it’s called No
Opportunity Wasted and jumps on the whole “Lifelist” concept that is so popular now. I think Men’s Journal had a
big series on Lifelists recently.

The point of the lifelist, if you don’t know, is to sit down and thoughtfully put together a list of all the things
you want to do in your life, from learning another language to climbing Everest. This is true gadling kinda stuff. In
fact, very soon, today perhaps, I’m going to start a lifelist feature where we highlight one cool thing to add to your
lifelist. I should note that the lifelist concept was largely popularized by a friend of mine,
John Goddard, who lives in my hometown. I’ve visited
Goddard and can tell you he is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. A true hero of mine.

Now that said, thiis new show does exactly that. Sort of. The host Phil Keoghan asks people what they would do if they
had 72 hours and $3000 and could do something they’ve always wanted to do. Then they follow them as they do it. I
haven’t seen the show yet, but apparently it airs on Fit TV and Discovery HD TV. I’ll try to tune in and will post a
review.

Paddlers Killed by Falling Rocks

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s a very sad story.

A paddler in Norway was killed and a bunch of
his friends injured when a rockslide occurred in a popular fjord and the stones crashed down on them while they were
paddling. Rescue crews rushed to the group near the scenic Geiranger Fjord and some famous waterfalls known as The
Seven Sisters, but they could do nothing to save the one paddler. This is one of those awful things that is the stuff
of nightmares. I’ve paddled near glaciers before and definitely had the fear in my head that they could calve at that
moment and come down on me, but rocks breaking free and making a direct hit on you. Well, that’s just really bad luck.
You have to feel sorry for these folks, but we should all make the mental note to stay aways off the coast when rocky
cliffs loom above.

Paddling for the Birds

by Erik Olsen on

Everyone has their reasons for paddling…that is,
paddlers have their reasons. Some like to see a place from an entirely new perspective. Some do it for the exercise.
Others see it as a kind of transcendatal experience…getting in closer touch with one of the earth’s key elements. But
in this article by Tamia Nelson, she argues
that she does it for the birds. She first got hooked watching birds when she ventured into the fields and woods behind
her grandparents’ old farmhouse. But then she took it to another level, and started to paddle in search of our
fine-feathered, warbling friends.

The experience, she says, is extraordinary. Something about approaching birds in a boat seems to bring the birds to
her, she says. And certainly the quiet approach of a boat on water, as opposed to crunching through underbrush, has
something to do with it. But either way, I thought the article was a nice little paean about the reasons people paddle.
Check it out.

Paddling Manhattan

by Erik Olsen on

Here is something I have ALWAYS wanted to do. Ever since moving to Manhattan
I’ve seen the island as paddle haven. Slipping along the waterfront and checking out the old piers and warehouses, the
broken housing projects and the roar of the FDR. It’s an island, after all, which means you can make your way
around it if you’re determined enough. It’s a 26-mile circumnavigation, but people do it all the time. So far, however,
I have not.

But this article in the NY Times this morning
talks about the Manhattan circumnavigation and goes so far as to suggest it is relatively easy. Which I understand it
is, if you’ve paddled before. But for many of the folks on this trip, it was their first time on a boat, or at least
the first time they’d ever tackled a trip as long as a marathon.

It’s a very cool trip that I will do someday soon. In fact, it would be doubly cool to hold a kind of Ironman
Biathlon, run a marathon and then paddle the island, both being the same distance.