Yosemites Vintners Holidays sessions include a welcome reception with vintners, multiple wine-tasting seminars and a five-course gala dinner YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif.July 18, 2013The Ahwahnee, a AAA Four-Diamond hotel nestled in the heart of scenic Yosemite Valley, today announces the lineup for the 32nd Annual Vintners Holidays event series showcasing more than 20 of Californias best wineries. Vintners Holidays runs over a series … [Read more...]
Hiking the Grand Canyon
Recently I learned something intere sting from my friend’s uncle. You can hike the Grand Canyon! I’m not talking about just going out to canyon and hiking the outskirts. You can hike the whole thing – from the south rim to the north rim AND you can do it in a day. Of course, not everyone does hike the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim, and there are actually many warnings on the internet not to do this, but my friend’s uncle (who is in his 60s) said he … [Read more...]
Sacred Guides
The eighty degree weather we’d had at breakfast in a California border town transitioned sharply into the fifties by lunchtime at the Grand Canyon. I exchanged my flip flops for socks and hiking shoes, threw a jean jacket over my summer dress, and donned a beanie, the only warmer things I had easy access to. My dress whipped around my legs in the chilly wind. The weather was unexpectedly far from ideal for sightseeing, but we couldn’t drive past … [Read more...]
Down The Colorado River, Through The Grandest Of Canyons
Hiking out of the Grand Canyon — 8 miles, 5,000 feet — felt like re-emerging from a quiet haven inside the earth to stand again atop the soil of civilization. Back up here it's a hot and crowded mess. Everything feels excessive. Everyone seems oblivious. The chaos is distinct after having been so deeply peaceful and disconnected. It feels like I’ve been gone for months, yet it's only been seven days. We saw so much in those 90 miles rafting … [Read more...]
What Makes Me Get Up and Move
I have been married to a wonderful man for 25 years. We got married very young so as he said we could: "have our children and still play with them." We had three children in 4 years - worked hard and played hard. My husband Wes worked 2 jobs when the kids were little so I could be home with them. Life was not always a bed of roses but we managed to get 3 children into college, two of which also became soldiers. When our youngest … [Read more...]
Yosemite National Park Celebrates National Park Week and Earth Day
National Park Week April 20 April 28 Earth Day April 22 YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif., April 9, 2013 DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc. celebrates Earth Day and National Park Week in Yosemite National Park beginning on Saturday, April 20, through Sunday, April 28, 2013. Special events and activities are being sponsored and organized by DNC, the National Park Service (NPS), Yosemite Conservancy, and The Ansel Adams Gallery. This … [Read more...]
Traveling in the North Country Fair… Part 1 Adirondacks & Catskills
Part 1 Even though few therapists would agree, sometimes neglect paths to the best possible outcome. Such is the case with the Adirondacks, whose fierce geography, unproductive soil, and hard weather diverted early American settlers to more benign plots. As a result, a state of raw wilderness maintained into the 19th century. Some credit the turning point to William H. H. Murray’s book, Adventures in the Wilderness, extolling the freshness … [Read more...]
Traveling in the North Country Fair… Part 2 The Spirit of the Catskills
Before arriving at a new place we all carry the luggage of pre-conceptions. There are usually holes in this kit; we’re almost always wrong, at least to some extent, about our notions. My idea of the Catskills came from two very different periods, the live television run of the 1950s; and the Summer of Love in 1969, the year of Woodstock. As a young boy I would run home from school every day to turn on the TV and drink in whatever show or … [Read more...]
National Geographic Announces Student Photo Contest
Opportunity to Win National Geographic Student Trip to London WASHINGTON (March 5, 2012) - National Geographic announces the kickoff of the first National Geographic Student Photo Contest to win a trip on a National Geographic Student Expedition this summer. This contest invites high school students to submit a photo and a short statement describing the photo and how it captures the essence of what exploration means to them. The grand prize … [Read more...]
Richard Bangs: Global Explorer, Author
Richard has enjoyed an enviable travel career - over the past 30 years he's explored much of the world, made a number of first river descents and founded or was an integral part of several major travel companies. Recently we had a chance to ask Richard about his travel philosophy, career accomplishments and recent projects. Q. Tell us how you became an adventure traveler and what still fuels your appetite for this type of travel? I … [Read more...]