Photo of the Day (10/3/07)

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a part of me that hates when summer is over until I think about the fall days up ahead that will look like this one. Not quite like this one–this is on the Snake River in the Grand Teton National Park, a far piece from Ohio. I love the soft dreamy quality of the reflections in the water contrasted with the brittle look of the foliage. The kayakers are the transition between the two. Very cool. Looking at this also makes me feel still, calm and golden. Great job, Bonne Bowne! She took this one the end of September. If you go to the Grand Teton set, you’ll find scads more she’s taken over the last few years. Stunning.

If you’d like your photo to be considered for a Photo of the Day post, head over to Flickr and post it at Gadling Flickr Pool.

Scuba Dive and Play Tennis in a Cave

by Jamie Rhein on

We’ve written about how you can mail a postcard in a cave, stay the night in a volcano cave–or some other caves, bungy jump in a cave, paddle in a cave, and go to church in a cave. There’s a whole lot more you can do in a cave and I’m sure one of us have mentioned it, but these will do for now. Missouri is the place to go for even more cave fun. It’s not called The Cave State for nothing.

The reason Missouri has such cave wealth has something to do with mining. When you dig sand, limestone and lead from underground, huge caverns are the result. These left behind caverns make for terrific underground recreation facilities since the temperature stays constant year round regardless of what the weather is doing above ground.

Here’s what you can do in Missouri’s caves besides walking through them. You can:

And in the future, hopefully, you will be able to ice-skate and kayak at Crystal City Underground, once a sand mine.

Swimming With New Zealand Fur Seals

by Brett Atkinson on

I’ve just come back from a couple of days in Kaikoura on the South Island of New Zealand. I’ve been whale watching by helicopter and staying in a luxury tree house, (more about that tomorrow), but the coolest thing was bobbing about in the ocean with a colony of New Zealand fur seals.

After being poured into an essential winter weight hooded wetsuit I ventured with Sealswim Kaikoura to a local landmark called Barney’s Rock, about 300 metres off the coast. A layer of kelp surrounds the base of the rock and adolescent seals were spinning and diving amidst the tangled marine forest. My guides, father and son Graeme and Matt Chambers, provided an essential tip to maximise the experience. “Imitate the seal, and mimic whatever they’re doing.”

It was excellent advice and by just floating on my back in the gentle swell, the seals didn’t regard me as threatening. Out of the water it would have been a different story for the territorial older bulls, but joining them in their own environment I was regarded as just another benign species.

The younger seal pups swept recklessly towards me, made underwater eye contact, and then darted playfully away. On the rocks a few older seals kept sleeping in the sun, and I got the idea that none of the younger ones in the water felt the need to wake up their dozing uncles and aunties.

Thanks to Sealswim Kaikoura for the pic.

Paddling Near St. Helens

by Erik Olsen on

Having spent a god chunk of my life in and around the Seattle area, I confess I was a little surprised to learn about the solid paddling opportunities at a place called SIlver lake near Mt. St. Helens.

Yes, THAT Mt. St. Helens. The one that blew her top way back when on May 18, 1980 (my birthday, btw, for those playing at home). Now when most people think about paddling in the Northwest, they think of drawing strokes through the cool, crisp waters of Puget Sound, or perhaps up by the San Juans. That was me as well, so imagine how pleased I was to find some new waters to try out. This piece in the Seattle Times takes you there. By the way, since we’re talking volcanoes, this one might blow soon. Just a heads up.

Crossing the “Ditch”

by Erik Olsen on

Ask any seasoned explorer and he/she will tell you that there are few “big firsts” left to do. Sure, the bottom of the ocean still holds a lot of promise since, as scientists say, some 70 percent of the deep ocean has never been explored. But up on the surface, there are few places man has not trod, and few big accomplishments he has not already made. Well apparently one of these firsts is crossing a stretch of nasty water known as The Ditch. The Ditch stretches between Australia and New Zealand, and according to this site, it has never been crossed in a two-man, human-propelled boat (aka kayak).

In late 2007, James Castrission and Justin Jones will kayak over 1000 miles across the Tasman Sea, from Australia to New Zealand. If they pull it off, it will be the first ever crossing and the longest two man kayak expedition ever undertaken. The pair have loaded up a finely-tuned, state-of-the-art two man kayak that looks more like a pace ship than a boat. They’ve got GPS and communication devices and have trained intensely for the effort. All the details of their prep can be seen here. Sounds like an amazing, perilous journey. We wish them well.