kayaking – Page 4 – besthike.com

March 26, 2008

pedal across the Atlantic Ocean

Shout out to my old friend Greg Kolodziejzyk.

He made a fortune in the early days of the internet selling fonts to Adobe. Went on to more successful business ventures.

But these days Greg’s passion is extreme adventure. He wants “To conquer the world by human power.”

He has several sites including these two:

Adventures of Greg

Pedal the Ocean

Here’s a Discovery Channel interview describing Greg’s world record attempt to cross the Atlantic by pedal power.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

You’ll see he’s still in the testing phase of the home-made craft. Greg’s trip is scheduled to start in December this year, and is expected to take around 40 days.

He’s considering alternative itineraries, including Canada to Hawaii. Since I’m enjoying the “Garden Isle” of Kaua’i so much right now â€” my vote is for Hawaii.

Good luck buddy!

about Greg Kolodziejzyk

(via Straight to the Bar)

March 16, 2008

Radical Reels video – Banff Mountain Film Festival

I attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival in November and gave it a mixed review.

It took until February before they posted the trailer for the current Radical Reels World Tour.

But, it was worth the wait. Very well edited … even if it is partly a commercial for the sponsors.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. It features sports including skiing, climbing, kayaking, BASE jumping, snowboarding and mountain biking.

(via Sierra Blogging Post)

If you ever get the chance to see the touring Film Festival, or the touring Radical Reels festival, do it.

Related: 2007 Radical Reels trailer

March 1, 2008

exploring coastal Patagonia

Cristian Donoso, a Chilean lawyer, has been exploring the remote western coast of Patagonia for over a decade. He won a 2006 ROLEX associate Laureate award.

His latest expedition is a 5 months journey, 1250 miles (2,039 km), using kayaks to reach inaccessible waterways, glaciers, summits, caves, underground rivers, and wildlife preserves.

The climate is harsh and unpredictable.

Now this is ADVENTURE.

Scroll down the trip website and you can quickly get an idea of what they face in that part of the world: transpatagonia expedition – official homepage

(via The Adventure Blog)

This journey reminds me of the concurrent Journey on the Wild Coast now in Alaska.

November 22, 2007

how can I blog from the hiking trail?

Circumnavigate the world by bike and boat?

… better them than me.

Simon Evans and Fearghal Oâ€™Nuallain are planning an adventure called Revolution Cycle 2009. Team Geared Up has the details.

But I’m always looking for state of the art technology I might use for updating hiking trip report and blogging from the trail.

Here’s what Revolution Cycle is planning to use:

As the expedition will cover over 25,000km and last for over 14 months, durability is the key requirement for our bikes and equipment. All of the kit used en route will have to be of the highest quality as it will have to function in extreme and varied environments- from the subzero Andean passes to the baking heat of the Libyan desert and everything in between. …

Revolution Cycle – gear page

Too heavy for hiking. Ideally, I’d want to take a photo on something like a satellite camera iPhone â€” and have it automatically posted on this blog.

Any suggestions? Leave a comment.

September 29, 2007

hmm – raft for $800? Or $20?

Warren Long saw I was thinking of buying an $800 Alpacka for paddle hiking.

He offered to loan me his $20 raft.

Will a Cheap-O get me across the lake to the trailhead? Sure. In most cases.

I’m not on a 4000mi Pacific coast mega-adventure.

Well played, Warren. I’ll try a cheap raft first before buying an Alpacka.

September 27, 2007

my long awaited hiking kayak – Alpacka Raft

For over 2yrs I’ve been researching inflatable and foldable kayaks I might carry for paddle hiking. Getting to good hiking routes by paddling across the lake rather than walking around.

It’s here. But it’s a raft. (Now to find the $800. Or a cheaper used one.)

Erin & Hig convinced me. They’re using Alpacka rafts on a 4 thousand mile charity journey from Seattle to Alaska.

more Alpacka Raft PHOTOS

Alpacka rafts come in three sizes: Small (Alpaca); Medium (Yukon Yak); Large (Denali Llama). I want the smallest, lightest, the Alpacka, likely with spray skirt.

Total weight is between 4-6lbs plus paddle. I can carry that!

Always follow the packrafting rule of “don’t float it if you can’t swim it”. These boats are incredibly tough for their weight, but they can still puncture if you are not careful. Good packrafters try to avoid hitting obstacles. (A patch kit is included.)

If interested, check out these links:

Alpacka Rafts – about

Interview – Alaska businesswoman Sheri Tingey, Alpaca Raft Inc.

Alpacka packrat – June ’07 Canoe & Kayak Magazine

packraft – Wikipedia

September 26, 2007

4WheelBob – Kilimanjaro next?

I tried. I tried.

On White Mountain I tried to persuade wheelchair ~~hiker~~ climber 4WheelBob to buy a kayak.

KayakBob … I like the sound of that.

Yet Bob’s persisting in his dream of ascending the highest mountain in Africa. Bob was quoted on Marion’s blog:

“Iâ€™m not a real publicity hound by nature, so my challenge the rest of the year is to assert myself to Corporate America, hoping some businesses find some PR value in sponsoring my planned Kilimanjaro summit next summer.” …

Marion’s Blog: Kilimanjaro after White Mountain

(LL Bean should sponsor Bob. They’ve got PR problems with minorities. : )

So if you know anyone who would like to sponsor 4WheelBob, let him know.

He is strong. No one would bet against Bob on Kili.

4WheelBob – official website

4WheelBob – blog

Marangu route, Kilimanjaro – besthike information page

July 13, 2007

All-in-one Map Tool review

It’s very rare for me to add any item to my “base” hiking kit. (It’s too heavy already.)

The new essential must be very valuable. Or very light.

The All-in-one Map Tool is both. I carry it with my map and compass.

Bob Moseley from Brooks-Range Mountaineering Equipment Co. asked me to test this award winning product.

I took it with me on a solo kayak hiking trip out of Bamfield, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada. Since the weather was good, I was able to paddle directly to the Deer Island group, the closest to town.

It was a great, relaxing trip. I saw bear, seals, sea lions and nearly stepped on a baby puffin.

Normally mornings on this, the “Shipwreck Coast” are fogged in. On a previous trip to the nearby Broken Group Islands we were a number of times confused in the fog. It’s essential to know where you are on the map, have an exact compass bearing, and a good estimate of your speed and distance to the next island.

The All-in-one Map Tool is ideal in this situation as it has 6 different, easy-to-read map scale rulers to help estimate distance.

More photos from this trip – flickr

Sadly I had atypically excellent weather and did not need to do any dead reckoning in the morning.

So I’ll take it heli-hiking into the Tombstone Mountains in the Yukon in August. Certainly I should have a good chance to get lost there, having to rely on Topo, compass and map tool for survival.

All-in-one Map Tool – US$18 – Brooks Range Mountaineering Equipment Co.

June 20, 2007

looking for a hiking kayak?

FirstLightÂ® is advertised here as the world’s lightest folding kayak.

Weight is a far more important factor to me than seaworthiness. I want to hike in, paddle out. That kind of trip.

Weighing a mere 17.6 and 19.8 lbs, these amazing touring kayaks are incredibly light, yet fully seaworthy. Fast and lively, they allow excellent paddling speed & tracking.

FirstLightÂ®-380: 23â€x12â€™6â€, 17.6 lbs., 238 lbs. capacity
$3095

FirstLightÂ®-420: 23â€x13â€™9â€, 19.8 lbs., 253 lbs. capacity
$2895