The Allure of Noto

by Erik Olsen on


While we’re on the topic of uncrowded places in places you least expect…

Consider Japan. Now here’s a country with a population almost half that of the United States, and yet all these folks
are squished into a country mass about the size of California. That’s crowded. But

in the New York Times, we learn about the Noto Peninsula, an area about midway along the western coast of Japan and
200 miles or so northwest of Tokyo where a “raw, unspoiled Japan” still exists.

The photos of Noto are beautiful, and a little Googling
reveals that Noto is an excellent kayaking
spot, with long rocky shore and place to pull up to walk local markets.

Wooden Boat School

by Erik Olsen on

Nick Schade is a kayak designer who’s work has been shown in the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA, to those of us
who live on the island, and favor snooty acronymns).  His boats are legendary among those in the know, but now you
can learn from the master himself.

Maine’s Woodenboat School has the Night Heron Kayak workshop where
you can learn to buld you own boat…Eyak-style…a great opportunity to really put to use what you make. As opposed to,
say, stained glass or something. It takes some time, and some cash, but you walk away with a craft you can call your
own.

Hey, if Noah did it, so can you.

Kayaking Alaska

by Erik Olsen on

One of my favorite experiences of all time was heading out of Valdez Alaska with two buddies and
paddling for six days in the vast wonder of
Prince William Sound in Alaska. The solitude of the place is dreamlike, the scale unimaginable unless you’ve
been.

A fine story by Ross Prather in Canoe and Kayak
Magazine takes a similar trip…well, similar in that they are in Alaska. In this case, the group does a
circumnavigation of Baranof Island, a very large island that would take weeks to circle by kayak if done unassisted.
They do not do it unassisted. Cheating one might call it. But that’s fine. They take their boats aboard a larger motor
boat as they paddle and have a good enough time. Hence the title of the story: Mothership Paddling. 

Go Raft the Canyon

by Erik Olsen on

Writer Mark Sundeen,
who I blogged about recently has a piece in Men’s
Journal about rafting the Grand Canyon. I just finiished Sundeen’s book
The Making of Toro
and laughed myself silly. it’s one of the funniest books I’ve read in a while (although I have to say I also just put
down Carl Hiaasen’s Double Whammy,
and that was a kick, too).

Sundeen is a great writer, and he makes rafting the canyon sound like a complete rush, which I am sure it is.
Sundeen was at one time a wilderness guide and has done a ton of rafting, so he knows what he’s talking about. And when
a guy like this says a particular trip is epic, you should take notice.

Photo of the Day: (6/26/05)

by Erik Olsen on

Wendell Phillips is a journalist and travel photographer. He’s shot all over the world, a fact clearly in evidence
by his online gallery. This photo, taken by Phillips, is
one of the best I’ve seen from Greenland, a place legendary for its icebergs and for excellent, albeit cold,
kayaking.