by Alexa Trotta The thought of wading through murky waters surrounded by dark, slimy cave walls didn’t impress me at first. In fact most things that involve the word “slimy” don’t particularly excite me. So when Matt told me we were going cave spelunking in an underground dwelling of glowworms and who knows what else,…
by Becca Fitch Last summer at a backpacking camp in the Trinity Alps I went on a choice hike called Gonzo. Gonzo is defined as a slang term meaning fiercely advocative or partial without regard for balance or objectivity. This definition is not far off. Gonzo was on of the most emotionally and physically intense…
by Julie Ferro Aletch Glacier, high in the Swiss Alps. With both trepidation and excitement, I allow myself to be tied to eight other people, single-file, about three feet apart from one another. Our guide, the very experienced and well-known Art Furrer, ties himself at the head of the line to form a ten-person dragon….
by Marcie J. Bushnell Over 500 kinds of lichens and moss blanket the lava fields. It’s nature’s way of softening the rugged, mostly treeless “moonscape” that greets us as we exit the sleek Icelandair aircraft in Keflavik, Iceland. My twenty-six-year-old daughter and I exchange glances and smiles as we pass through the modern, minimalist airport…
by Maureen Stone I love calypso music and I love Trinidad, the land of calypso! From the time of my first visit to Trinidad in 1966, however, I have been warned about how dangerous this beautiful island is—certainly not the sort of place where a woman should go hiking on her own. Yet at four…
by Sharyn Smith I have returned from Mount Everest relatively unscathed, if not unaffected. The trip was brutal: driving for two straight days there, and two more back, in a luggage truck with three chain-smoking, butter-tea drinking, yak-eating Tibetans who spoke no English, and were apparently unable to understand my Tibetan. All attempts at communication…
by Sharon Spence Lieb Turquoise Lake Beauvert dazzles from every cozy corner of our Jasper Park Lodge cabin. “Turn off that TV,” she demands. “Don’t answer your cell. Forget email. Come. Someone wants to meet you.” We ignore the pretty lake. Read on the couch, nap in bed. Flip through fifty cable channels of bad…