On June 3, 2012, Jon “JB” Boling died while rafting the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. Among the many facets of JB’s life, he had a particularly strong love for whitewater rafting and his friends in the whitewater community. On the weekend of September 22, 2012, many of his closest river friends […]
kayak, photos, stories
It has been a year since my first foray into Gore Canyon which also marked my 100th day of kayaking last season, and on Saturday, 9/15/2012, I had my second opportunity to paddle the majestic canyon. An abysmal snowpack and extreme drought resulted in the worst kayaking season in a decade, so when we began […]
GoPro, kayak, outdoors, stories, video
Although the 2012 drought has been less than ideal for kayaking, the upshot has been that I’ve been able to get out on my mountain bike more this year than in the past several years combined. So when my good friend, Scott, suggested a Labor Day weekend bike trip from Buena Vista to Crested Butte, […]
digital, gps, mapping, photos, stories
The grass is always greener on the other side. No where does this expression hold more truth than Antarctica where grass has not existed for eons. Not surprisingly, visitors to the white continent spend much time daydreaming of their return to a place where the grass is greener both literally and metaphorically. And since Christchurch, […]
Antarctica, New Zealand, photos, stories
For the first time during my 6 week stay in McMurdo, the phone in our dorm room rang to life. Awaking from a deep, restive sleep after our Ross Ice Shelf adventure, I noted that the time on the digital clock read 9:00am. In my groggy state, I overheard a conversation with none other than […]
Antarctica, New Zealand, stories
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf not only in Antarctica, but the whole world. In contrast to sea ice that is formed when sea water freezes on the surface of the ocean, ice shelves are created when glaciers flow from their land-borne origins to the sea. Upon reaching the sea, they maintain […]
Antarctica, photos, stories
There has been a distinct change in the air around McMurdo the past few weeks. While the cracks in my dry skin have been racing those in the sea ice of McMurdo Sound, the arrival of the Russian ice breaker, Vladimir Ignatyuk, advanced the break up of the sea ice in a way that I […]
Antarctica, gps, photos, stories
While there are many unique aspects of the Antarctic environment, one of the most interesting that it shares with the northern pole is its preponderance of sunshine during the summer months. For the majority of people who have spent their entire lives in the mid-latitudes with its daily cycle of light and dark, it is […]
Antarctica, digital, photography, stories, video
My anticipation for this moment had been building for 6 months, yet I found myself in a panic ridden state as the whine of the rotors increased in pitch directly over my head. The immense bulk of my Big Red parka and the Lilliputian dimensions of the cabin restricted my motions while the multiple legs […]
Antarctica, gps, photos, stories
I awoke to silence and an oddly blue linear pattern of light above my head. Within moments I realized that I was buried under 5 feet of snow and was thousands of miles from civilization on the Ross Ice Shelf, but panic did not set in. Rather, I was filled with satisfaction knowing that I […]
Antarctica, photos, stories