kayaking

who inspires you?

Published September 30, 2013

Following a person’s FB posts or blog, can skew one’s perspective/reality – folks generally only post happy pics, happy stories, motivational moments. What is wrong with my life? Why am I stuck?

I advocate managing an Inspiration library – fill it with pics, stories, videos & quotes which inspire YOU.

95 consecutive weekends later, I haven’t taken a break. No excuses. “waiting is the opposite of living”

Camping on the Frozen Arctic Sea

AMAZING pics in this photoblog! Icebergs, breaching whales, polar bears & an Inuit guide.

Literally camping on the frozen sea in Baffin Bay, Nunavut (Canada).

After 3 flights and 10 hours of travelling, a group of nine tourists connect in Pond Inlet, a small hamlet in Nunavut, located on the northeastern shores of Baffin Island, 72° North.

Baffin Island, Nunavut (Canada)

Pittarak Expeditions

INSPIRING kayak adventure! Followed this Canadian team of 4 all summer on FB. They successfully completed their journey across Baffin Island on September 19^th.

Pittarak Expeditions, comprised of Erik Boomer, Sarah McNair-Landry, Eric McNair-Landry and Kate Breen, completed a 65 day journey across Baffin Island, the 5th largest island in the world. Not only did they kayak the 1,000 km across the island, they kayaked in traditional Inuit kayaks they made themselves!

Pittarak Expeditions

Love letter to Colorado: Thank you for bringing me home

Whereas my writing is limited to caps, action superlatives & exclamation marks, Robin Enright pens in full sentences Colorado-evoked emotions carbon-copied in my heart. Robin emigrated to Boulder from Massachusetts; I moved from New York/CT.

Follow my 6-degrees of separation — this article was written by Ashton’s Tom’s cousin/aunt Robin 🙂

robinenright.com

Pair who walked to Colorado 14ers expect to hit 58th summit Sunday

Ya’ll know I love to hike & LOVE LOVE my Colorado. Wee bit jealous these guys had 10 weeks available to hike 1,300 miles & climb all of our state’s infamous 14ers. Just means I’ve gotta dream BIGGER 🙂

The pair has been walking for 10 weeks, starting down south in the San Luis Valley. They’ve climbed every 14,000-foot peak in Colorado as they’ve ambled north, leaving what 33-year-old Dawud called a “continuous set of footprints” and forging a first-ever through-hike of the state’s high points.

The self-supported trekkers will climb the North Inlet Trail and scramble up Longs Peak on Sunday. When they descend into Grand Lake Sunday afternoon, they will have scaled the last peak and walked more than 1,300 miles, climbing about 300,000 vertical feet in a first-of-its-kind mission. (It’s “about” 300,000 vertical because the elevation-gain feature on their GPS has maxed out and stopped counting.)

Colorado14er Kings

clam rolls, kayaking & Cape Cod beaches

Published July 22, 2013

Arrived East Coast just after midnight, couple hours shut-eye, then to Boston Harbor for a quick ferry ride across Massachusetts Bay. Far faster than hours spent driving around the boot, the fast ferry sails directly across the bay in an hour half. Snoozed for an hour on the trek over while my friends soaked in sun on the deck. Vacation!

Docked, disembarked, tagged my favourite food shack just off the pier & paid $16 cash for a fresh (whole-belly) clam roll. Same Portuguese lady has worked this stand for years — not the warm n fuzzy type. She takes orders only from the ‘IN’ window (food is served from the ‘OUT’ window) & only accepts cash. That said, there’s still sand in the clams on this roll – that’s how fresh this New England treat is. So…how was it? I’ll be back – highly recommended 🙂

Changed clothes & still logged a few hours of beach time. Outdoor seating for dinner. Aw, yes – this is the life.

Started Day 2 with a run to the beach (Cape Cod Bay) & Day 3 with an even longer beach run to the Atlantic. Came back soaking wet each time — humidity on the Cape is crazy thick but loved that sea salt smell in the air 🙂

Quick shower, breakfast on the deck, then rented kayaks for a 2-mile trek to Long Point lighthouse – the tip of Cape Cod.

Long Point is a peninsula located in Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the extreme tip of Cape Cod, as it curls back in on itself to create Provincetown Harbor. The Long Point Light was built on this point in 1827. The lighthouse once shared this peninsula with a settlement of fishermen that came to be known as Long Point, Massachusetts. This Provincetown village grew and thrived from 1818 until the late 1850s.

Took 20-30 minutes to regain a comfort level but ultimately LOVE LOVE kayaking. Super fun sport.

Landed near Long Point lighthouse, snapped some amazing shots (including a pirate ship), then completed my 4 foot hike up to the cross commemorating a fallen WWII soldier. Ok, I’m using the word ‘hike’ a bit loosely here. LOL! From Longs Peak, Colorado to Long Point, Massachusetts in a week – that’s a drop from 14,000ft to just over 4 feet. What a crazy, fun life.

Different day, different beach then dinner & a show. Tea smoked duck was just as good as I remembered. WOW!

Spent Monday afternoon in Boston – fish n chips at the Black Rose, followed by a touristy stroll thru Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, the New England Holocaust Museum & Union Street (one of Boston’s oldest).

3-day weekends end quickly; sad to tell folks good bye. Quick hug, then hailed a taxi to Logan.

So long Boston, I had a wicked good time!