A Change In Adventures
July 22, 2010
An opportunity to trek the Swiss Alps has presented it self and I took it. I was supposed to trek across the island again, then a short seven day trek in the Cascades followed by a week on a beach on the Big Island of Hawaii – BUT the calling of an international trip was too much to resist.
I’m really excited, although short notice in regards to planning and logistics I”ve already got plane, train and bus tickets and the logistics and route are all in place.
Alps Trek
Leaving in late August I’ll be making my way to Geneva Switzerland where after a day or so I travel by train and bus to a little Austrian town called Feldkirch in the foot hills of the Austrian Alps. I’ll follow an old smugglers route up and over into the very small country of Liechtenstein. Descending into the capital of Vaduz. Continuing along the river Rhine, I’ll cross over into Switzerland again near the town of Sargans.
From there I’ll spend the next 18 to 22 days trekking through the Swiss Alps occasionally coming down to resupply and check in with the locals.
I’ve patched together 18 different hiking routes that closely follow the famous Alpine Pass Route, I added the crossing of Liechtenstein in the beginning and in the end I’ll cross over into France calling the trek finished in Saint Gingolph.
With any luck I’ll have a few days to actually rest and relax – maybe by rail to a few other countries that will let me in with just a passport and expedition pack!
Abby & Wild Eyes
June 11, 2010
I think everyone is their own Ultimate Adventurer simply because everyday people are out in the world doing the things they love. One persons ultimate adventure might not interest anyone else and that’s OK, they still do it right?.
Abby & Wild Eyes with broken rigging in the Indian Ocean. Picture taken from http://soloround.blogspot.com/
So… following Abby Sunderland’s amazing adventure and her recent troublems I felt like posting about it for those of you not familiar with her solo sailing adventure around the world. At 16 years old I believe it is amazing. Her Brother Zac did it a year ago at 17, and 16 year old Australian Jessica Watson the official record holder for the youngest sailing solo & unassisted just finished last month. Although block by the government there were plans for a 13 year old Dutch girl to make the attempt as well. (that’s a good story by the way)
My interest in sailing isn’t much, but my interest in adventures is undying, I’m always dreaming of the treks I want to do and it’s been said by many that I am most happy when planning out my next adventure. Abby has been sailing alone on the oceans of the world since January when she started her solo bid. That’s a long time to be out on a boat by yourself.
There are some that say it is child endangerment, reckless and irresponsible for her to have been doing this. I disagree! She had everything she needed in equipment and more importantly knowledge, confidence, experience and support. So right on Abby!
The Race Is Finished!
March 24, 2010
Start of the White Mountains 100 - Photo: Bob Bolton
The inaugural running of the White Mountains 100 is complete. 50 participants started, 49 finished and only 1 scratched after running (yeah running) 60 miles of the course.
The following is from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner article.
… Indeed, the first annual White Mountains 100, the brainchild of Fairbanks skier Ed Plumb, went off without a hitch. The trails were set up perfectly for the most part, the weather couldn’t have been much better and all but one of the 50 competitors who started the race finished.
“By and large, everything went really well,” he said.
Cyclists took the top six spots in the race, including Oatley’s wife, Heather Best, in third place. Best finished just 1 hour, 11 minutes behind her husband. She beat out fellow Fairbanksan Kevin Breitenbach by two minutes and Ethan Kopacz of Anchorage was fifth in 14 hours, 11 minutes.
Best surprised herself and her husband by finishing third.
“I was thinking more like 15 to 20 hours,” Best said. “I felt good and trail conditions were great.”
She also had Janice Tower of Anchorage, a multiple winner of the Susitna 100 in Southcentral, breathing down her neck. Tower placed sixth overall, less than two hours behind Best.
Said Oatley of his wife’s performance, “She was flying.”
Mike Kramer of Fairbanks was the first skier to finish, placing seventh overall in 16 hours, 10 minutes to beat Brad Marden of Anchorage by 36 minutes and finish eighth overall. Fairbanks’ Max Kaufman was third in the ski division and ninth overall in 18 hours, 11 minutes.
“Those guys were a lot faster than I thought they could ski it,” Oatley said.
Kramer skate skied the entire course, though in some places it took creative technique.
“The trail was so narrow in some places it’s hard to skate,” he said.
“I did a lot of double poling and modified skate strokes that would keep your ski tips out of the willows. Whatever the terrain would give you is what I took advantage of.”
… Plumb, the race organizer who also finished 43rd with a time of 34 hours despite not getting any sleep the night before the race while dealing with last-minute problems, was thankful everything worked out as well as it did.
Judging from the feedback he’s received from competitors, the event was a success, he said.
“People are saying it was the best race ever; the most organized race they’ve ever been in; the best course they’ve ever been on,” Plumb said.
Plumb said he plans on putting the race on again next year, assuming BLM goes along with it.
Collin Cogley, an outdoor recreation planner with the Bureau of Land Management who handled the permit application for the race, was on the trail as an observer to make sure BLM’s stipulations were followed. For the most part, Cogley liked what he saw.
“I think it went really well,” Cogley said. “Things worked well at the trailhead for parking. There weren’t big clumps of folks on the trail. The folks that ran the checkpoints were on the ball.”
Race organizers did everything BLM asked and more in some cases, Cogley said.
You can see all the pictures I took out on the course under Adventures in the header navigation at the top of the page. Or you can follow this link.
Leaving The Island
March 18, 2010
There is a fantastically scary and wonderfully special feeling when it comes to leaving the island. It’s not that kind of
Bering Sea Ice Pack Edge
feeling like you have been in prison and your finally getting out. It’s more like the feeling you get when you ask someone to marry you in a stadium with forty thousand people watching and the cameras are broadcasting it on national TV. and just before they say yes, they take a few minutes and stare blankly at you. Leaving you to wonder what their answer will be.
You never really know if your going to get out. If Vegas was looking for another event to bet on and keep odds on. I’d suggest leaving Unalaska / Dutch Harbor.
The Tordrillo Mountains
You never know what the weather is going to do. Our airport is a visual only facility. That means no flight instrument landings. The rules are very different for flying out here. If the wind is too strong, or the gusts are too high, or the visibility isn’t enough or an alternate runway is not available and don’t forget if the planes are down for mechanical. Your not getting here and your certainly not leaving.
I was lucky, yeah I say luck because really I am. Getting out, ON TIME, on my scheduled flight was lucky. With the storms we have had over the last two weeks. I woke up, the skies were clear, no wind. Oh yeah. I knew I was getting out.
I’m happy to say I’m in Fairbanks, Alaska. Its a crisp, calming 16 degrees, the skies are blue and clear. All my gear has finally arrived and I’m preparing myself for the event this weekend. Most of you know that I’m here as a volunteer for the White Mountains 100 Ultra Race.
Mt. Hunter & Mt. McKinley (Denali)
The White Mountains 100 is a 100 mile human powered race across the interior of Alaska in the White Mountains about an hour north of Fairbanks. Check out the White Mountains 100 website. There are three disciplines to choose from. You can Run, Ski and Bike. I’m going to take a snowmachine (snowmobile) and all my winter camping gear and hang out along the route keeping track of racers, maintaining the check points, assisting in emergencies and evacuations and photographing the event. Most of all I’ll be enjoying the incredible backcountry of Alaskas wilderness.
The Regiment Begins
February 1, 2010
I’m certainly not one for keeping a routine with regard to exercise. Wait, now that I think about it I’m not one for any kind of routine in
An Effort To Get In Shape
anything. Maybe I should work on that some other time.
All that aside I realized after looking down at the scale this weekend that I’ve really been putting on the pounds. I need to get back on track with my health and fitness. So in preparation for the upcoming treks and adventures (and to lean up some), I’ve come up with a plan that I think will take me back to my target weight class and improve my cardio endurance by mid March.
The idea isn’t to subject myself to a hardcore daily ass kicking regiment – rather a consistent daily exercise effort to burn some calories and improve cardio. I’ll wait until I’m on the trail to work myself to death.
Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays
Power hiking up Bunker Hill with a combined pack and body weight of at least 260 lbs.
Tuesdays & Thursdays
Cardio through bike or treadmill
Sundays & whenever I can...
Church of Scuba
Everyday
Watching the calories… eeergh
Poor Pictures
September 13, 2009
I took nearly a thousand pictures during my trip across the island. I have to say I’m not really happy with any of them. None of them stand out or seem exceptional in any way. Of course they all remind me of the different places I’d visited, but none seem well enough to frame, or enlarge or show off.
Here is the gallery with some more photos of the trek.
HydroOptix Mega 4.5 DD
August 18, 2009
HydroOptix Mega 4.5 DD Technical Mask
Yeah that’s right, DD (Double Dome) What does that all mean. It means my new dive mask is here! FINALLY. Another eBay special. I hope it’s not another eBay special that I end not being able to use… but I suspect that will be another post, another time.
So about three years ago while I was testing the diving realm, I first saw this mask on a local diver. It looked great, she liked it but Reid Brewer my instructor didn’t say much about it.
One of the things you learn in the PADI Diving Programs is to NEVER wear your mask above your eyes on your head. Why? if it falls of, its going to sink, Without a mask you cant really dive down to find it if your in deep water…. and to know more, take the class.
Why did I tell you that… well the same person I had seen the mask on, did just that. At the surface in about 15 feet of winter Bering Sea water had lifted the mask up above the eyes. It fell off and promptly sank to the bottom. – The mask retails for $215.00 – gone.
HydroOptix Mega 4.5 DD Tech Black
A year and some change later someone in our local dive group found the mask – it was beat up pretty good and is now unusable. BUT I still found it to be very interesting. So… I looked on eBay to buy one. I was out bid three or four times until I finally one one last month. Yes it arrived today. In the next few days I plan trying it out – for now I’m happy looking at it across the office.
As Brandon Hunter pointed out. Because of it’s design I may need to temporarily make myself near sighted in order to use the mask. This is advertised on the HydroOptix website and is usually done with corrective disposable contact lenses. Not that I really want to do it, BUT I have the mask and I’ve been known to do weirder things just to see if it would work.
I’ll post back with either how great the mask is, or that I’m listing it on eBay for a steal of a deal!
