The Foreign Policy blog offers you Good Times in Really Bad Places. Just make sure you stay on the Iraqi side of the desert hike if you go near the Iran border – it’s no good being accused of spying and confined to lengthy imprisonment for no good reason.
Thanks Jeff
Author Archive
July 29th, 2010
Seeking a Contrarian Vacation?
July 29th, 2010
Kayakers Dream Big: Convert Old Dams into Whitewater Parks
Forget for a moment that the massive whitewater park in Charlotte, North Carolina – one of the largest parks around and an Olympic training ground – is on the verge of bankruptcy. Instead, turn your mind to the straight economics pitched by whitewater dreamers across the U.S. There are 86,000 dams in America, and [...]
Go to Kayakers Dream Big: Convert Old Dams into Whitewater ParksJuly 29th, 2010
1 Dead, 2 Injured in Yellowstone Bear Attack
One camper is dead and two injured after at least one bear rampaged through a campground near Yellowstone National Park. The animal or animals crushed tents, killing one male and injuring two others. Authorities put the campers in their cars by 6am and closed the Soda Butte campground in case the bear returns. The [...]
Go to 1 Dead, 2 Injured in Yellowstone Bear AttackJuly 29th, 2010
It’s Time to Redecorate the Dorm Room: New Ansel Adams Photos Discovered
A California teacher bought a box of glass negatives and stored them under his pool table for a decade. He joked to friends that they were shot by Ansel Adams since they were Yosemite images, and eventually his joking culminated in an investigation that verified their authenticity and valued them at $200 million. The [...]
Go to It’s Time to Redecorate the Dorm Room: New Ansel Adams Photos DiscoveredJuly 28th, 2010
Wilderness Personality Gets Frontline Practice with Charging Grizzly
Jack Hanna, the guy who used to hangout with Johnny Carson and Dave Letterman, recently filmed a PSA urging hikers to carry pepper spray instead of guns into national parks to deal with charging grizzlies. Yesterday he was able to offer some firsthand notes along with his PSA. The guy was hiking with his [...]
Go to Wilderness Personality Gets Frontline Practice with Charging GrizzlyJuly 28th, 2010
Alex Honnold’s ‘How to’ Climb Three El Cap Routes in 1 Day
Alex Honnold filed a blog post for Black Diamond on how one goes about climbing the Nose, the Salathe Wall and Lurking Fear in one day. The post is worth reading, even if you have no intentions of ever dragging yourself up a big wall. He describes it like a 24-hour marathon, complete with [...]
Go to Alex Honnold’s ‘How to’ Climb Three El Cap Routes in 1 DayJuly 28th, 2010
Backcountry.com Athletes in the Off-Season
It’s not exactly the ‘Where are they now’ VH1 special about The Folksmen, but it’s an interesting read. Ever wonder what pro winter sport athletes do when they’re not soaring over terrain parks or getting towed into secret backcountry pow runs? Andy Anderson filed a story for Backcountry.com on just what the hell all [...]
Go to Backcountry.com Athletes in the Off-SeasonJuly 28th, 2010
Border Country from Jeremy Collins & Mikey Schaefer
The short film Border Country is in its final form online. The story follows these two climbers through 70 bolts and 1,800 feet of climbing while putting up a new route in Yosemite. Jeremy Collins and Mikey Schaefer came and went on the route, until they found renewed sense of purpose in the memories [...]
Go to Border Country from Jeremy Collins & Mikey SchaeferJuly 27th, 2010
Bear Steals, Crashes Car
A black bear climbed into a high school kid’s unlocked car trying to steal a peanut butter sandwich from the backseat. He honked the horn for a bit waking up the neighborhood before he put the car into neutral and drove it into a tree. The car door slammed shut when it stopped trapping [...]
Go to Bear Steals, Crashes CarJuly 27th, 2010
Matt Hart Runs 484-mile Colorado Trail
Backcountry.com Athlete Matt Hart just ran the 484-mile Colorado Trail in 9 days, 7 hours, 48 minutes. He covered over 75,000 feet of vert and logged the third fastest time ever. He filed a post on his blog, Tales of Endurance that included the above video of having fun with mosquitoes.
after 3 days i [...]
July 27th, 2010
The Last Roll of Kodak Kodachrome
The photojournalist who shot the iconic National Geographic cover of an Afghan woman in a refugee camp says he’s down to his last roll of Kodachrome. The film made famous by Paul Simon was revered by photographers for its bright, bright colors and was known for achieving those greens of summers. You might be [...]
Go to The Last Roll of Kodak KodachromeJuly 27th, 2010
Trail Marathon Hampered by Trail Animals
Ultra marathoner Eric Strabel came in third place with a time of 2:59:41 on the mountain-pass marathon over Crow Pass Crossing. He would have done better, but a bear surprised him on-trail, causing him to scramble off the path until he became disoriented and lost. Then he ran into a moose before falling down [...]
Go to Trail Marathon Hampered by Trail AnimalsJuly 26th, 2010
Search Underway for Ship that Went Missing in 1845
In 1845 a team of explorers struck out in search of the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic. Unfortunately, it did not exist. They spent three years on the ice, slowly dying off and resorting to cannibalism by the end. In retrospect, naming one of their ships HMS Terror could have been a bit [...]
Go to Search Underway for Ship that Went Missing in 1845July 26th, 2010
VP Joe Biden Sent to Yellowstone and Grand Canyon
Being VP is where it’s at. No one gets on your case for making bad decisions. Your only job is to make the president look good, and occasionally go to a function which he (or she) is invited but has no interest in attending. Crafty ol’ Joe Biden just picked up the dream VP [...]
Go to VP Joe Biden Sent to Yellowstone and Grand CanyonJuly 26th, 2010
Vitaminwater is Actually Sugarwater, Rules Federal Judge
Coca-Cola, the makers of Vitaminwater, will be banned from marketing their sugary, non-carbonated snack food as promoting a ‘healthy state of physical or mental being.’ They will also not be able to say that it will keep you ‘healthy as a horse,’ though based on the little knowledge I have of horse racing doping [...]
Go to Vitaminwater is Actually Sugarwater, Rules Federal JudgeJuly 26th, 2010
A Photographer Trying to Get Paid by Grenade
Photographer Chris Messervey filed a blog post last week in which he details his awful experience working with Grenade Gloves. Basically, Chris says that Grenade never paid him for using his work on their website, and after loads of e-mails trying to collect the bill, Chris threw in the towel and put all the [...]
Go to A Photographer Trying to Get Paid by GrenadeJuly 23rd, 2010
Photos From Alex Honnold’s Record-Breaking Yosemite Climbs
National Geographic Adventure managed to pull down some photos from Alex Honnold’s mind blowing link-up of the northwest face of Half Dome and the Nose on El Cap. Honnold is the one in the red shirt with no rope.
Go to Photos From Alex Honnold’s Record-Breaking Yosemite ClimbsJuly 23rd, 2010
Bad News Bison
A 49-year-old woman and her 61-year-old male companion appeared to be the hapless victims of a bison attack in Yellowstone the other day. It sounded like the bison attacked them unprovoked, but a video shot by a bystander makes it clear that the duo thought they were hanging out in the Bronx zoo and [...]
Go to Bad News BisonJuly 23rd, 2010
Massive Rescue Operation on Grand Teton
Sixteen hikers were plucked from Grand Teton after a lightning strike left them in various states of injury at 13,770ft. One person was killed in the incident. The mountainside was struck with lightning six or seven times when a storm moved in kicking off the largest rescue since the late 1960s. Two park service [...]
Go to Massive Rescue Operation on Grand TetonJuly 22nd, 2010
I’m Sure This Wild Animal Will Make a Great Pet
After all, it’s very cute and furry. It will adapt nicely to life in my suburban Des Moines home where it has no natural predators. Well, family, that baby skunk you brought home had rabies. Now you all need shots, and so do 6 other people who came into contact with you. We’ve also [...]
Go to I’m Sure This Wild Animal Will Make a Great PetJuly 22nd, 2010
Photo of First Live Ocelot in Arizona
It’s tough to tell from this angle-that could be an ocelot, or it could be a liger. We won’t know until someone gets a picture of the whole thing so we can see if it has a lionhead. This photo was captured with a motion detecting camera as part of the Freedom to Roam [...]
Go to Photo of First Live Ocelot in ArizonaJuly 22nd, 2010
“Intrepid? Yeah. I guess.” Whale Crushes Sailboat
Some sailors in Cape Town, South Africa had a close encounter with a 40-ton whale. They must have been relaxing below deck while listening to some ‘Sounds of Spy-Hopping Whales.’ Fortunately there was a boat behind them that could take a few photos of the jumping whale before offering help.
Thanks Elias
July 22nd, 2010
‘NowHere’ Trailer from Absinthe Films
There’s a scene where a guy’s binding rips off with his boot. I never considered that snowboard bindings had a release mechanism, but I guess the friction between your boot and sock counts for something. New film from Absinthe: NowHere.
Thanks Colin
July 21st, 2010
Plastiki Nears Voyage’s End
The voyage of the Plastiki is near its end. The boat will finish its 8,000 mile, 127-day journey when it docks in Sydney later this week. If you haven’t read about the Plastiki or its voyage to raise awareness about the massive Eastern Garbage Patch in the middle of the Pacific, you can see [...]
Go to Plastiki Nears Voyage’s EndJuly 21st, 2010
Poaching Problem: Solved! (By Killing the Last Rhino)
Poachers have killed the last female white rhino that lived in a popular South African preserve. They used a helicopter to shoot her from the air before sawing off her tusk with a chainsaw. So basically, if you see a white rhino tusk for sale on Craigslist, use this knowledge to negotiate a fair [...]
Go to Poaching Problem: Solved! (By Killing the Last Rhino)July 21st, 2010
What Are You in For? Blowing up a USFS Outhouse.
A 22-year-old with a decision-making problem landed in jail for six months after blowing up an outhouse at a federal recreation area near Gillette, Wyoming. The man plead guilty two months ago to the crime he masterminded last summer. This guy is one of four who acted in blowing up the outhouse – they [...]
Go to What Are You in For? Blowing up a USFS Outhouse.July 21st, 2010
The Way I See It, from Matchstick Productions
Matchstick Productions rolled out the trailer for their film shot in the 2010 season a few days ago. Take a look, if you’re disappointed, not sure what else I can offer you.
via Backcountry.com Facebook
July 20th, 2010
Nah, It’s Cool. We’ll Cleanup. The Everest Cleaning Crew
God’s will to warm the earth means that the ice is melting away from Everest (among a couple other places I can think of). The snowmelt means that tons of oxygen bottles and other trash that’s been dumped on the mountain over the years is being exposed. Twenty Nepalese climbers have been at cleaning [...]
Go to Nah, It’s Cool. We’ll Cleanup. The Everest Cleaning CrewJuly 20th, 2010
Denver Rivers Too Polluted for Wading
The 100F heat has driven Denver residents to the waterways for a little cooling off, though sadly the levels of contaminants in many of them are too high for safe swimming or wading. A new study has found arsenic, ammonia, and fecal contaminants are up to 50 times higher than acceptable, and the city [...]
Go to Denver Rivers Too Polluted for WadingJuly 20th, 2010
South African Hikers Have More to Worry About Than Dehydration
A safety group in South Africa has recommended that residents and tourists stop hiking a popular Table Mountain route after more than 10 people have been mugged there since May. People brandishing broken bottles and knives set upon hikers, cyclists, and dog walkers. There are 50 full-time safety rangers in this park, but none [...]
Go to South African Hikers Have More to Worry About Than Dehydration