Outdoor Adventure Reflections for 2019

Outdoor Adventure Reflections

I’m thrilled to look back over the last year of outdoor adventure travel and share it with you.  I’m an experiential educator which means I’m all about reflection.  Therefore, here is my list of 2019 outdoor adventure reflections through the seasons.  I hope they will inspire you to seek outdoor spaces to add beauty and joy to your life.

Lodge to Lodge Cross Country Ski Trip, Maine

I finally experienced hut to hut outdoor adventure journeys this year. The first one, in February, was a cross country ski trip in the remote 100-Mile Wilderness in Maine.  Staying at Appalachian Mountain Club lodges was super deluxe for me.  L.L. Bean flannel sheets, field stone fireplaces, and roast duck and flourless chocolate cake for dinner that someone else made! My friend Alison and I skied 6-9 miles every day, staying in Gorman Chairback and Little Lyford Lodges along the way.  Snowmobile sleds ferry your luggage to each lodge.  Did I mention deluxe?

Zion and Bryce Canyon Hiking, Utah

Spending 10 days in Utah national parks in the spring promised desert wildflowers and warm slickrock.  Yet, only the first part was true as the snow goddesses had their way and dumped so much snow we had to flee the national parks and retreat to the amazing Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.  Fortunately, we had a couple of spectacular hiking adventures in Zion and a pretty (intense) traverse of the Bryce Canyon hoodoos in a raging snowstorm.  The vertigo-inspiring climb of Angel’s Landing and 12-hour canyoneering trek up Subway canyon in Zion were highlights.  I’ll let the pictures be worth a thousand words.

Burlington Bayou, Vermont

Lake Champlain was at flood level for most of this spring.  Therefore, I took advantage of the high water to explore the “Burlington Bayou” areas of the Winooski River floodplain.  Sneaking a canoe through narrow channels and under hanging branches brings you into the fascinating wildlife world of swamp paddling.  Read more about my reflections on this outdoor adventure here.

Warren Island, Maine

Warren Island is a place where everybody knows my name.  That’s because this Maine island state park and I share my last name. The first time I ever visited was in the 1970s when I led a windjammer trip for high school kids. Picture 20 squirmy teens on a space-efficient (read cramped) three-masted schooner for a week.  Debarkation on Warren Island was for everyone’s sanity.  

Warren Island is special because you have to boat over to the island—there is no access by car. We paddled over and camped there with a group of friends in August.

 There are spruce-lined hiking trails and uninhabited islands nearby to explore.  Warren Island is a welcoming place to take kids.  Therefore, our friends brought their active 3 year old’s.  Sue taught them to catch crabs off the pier. I built fairy houses and beach forts out of driftwood with the youngins.  Hence, we all built Sense of Wonder memories.

Bold Coast Sea Kayak Trip, Maine

There is no better way for me to experience mother-daughter adventure bonding than sea kayaking on the coast of Maine with my daughter.  The Bold Coast is the remote stretch of Maine coastline that extends to the Canadian border.  As a result, the area has 20-foot Bay of Fundy tides, unpredictable marine winds and fog, icy cold seas, and limited sea kayak landing areas. Yet, I can’t imagine anything more connecting to do with my daughter than attempting this bucket list paddling trip. So we did.  You can read about the adventure here. Above all, the fast ride on the downhill “escalator” of the Bay of Fundy incoming tide was a mind-bending outdoor adventure.

Triple Ferry Bike Loop, Vermont, and New York

Ever since I heard of the 3-ferry bike trip I’ve been itching to do it.  The route runs from Burlington north along Lake Champlain to the Causeway bike path across the lake. The Cut for boats to pass through in the Causeway creates the need for ferry #1: the bike ferry across to South Hero Island.  Ferry #2 is from Grand Isle, VT on South Hero across to Plattsburgh, NY.  After biking down the coast of Lake Champlain on the New York side, ferry #3 goes from Port Kent, NY back to Burlington.

While you can ride this 40-mile cycling journey in a day, I wanted to stretch it to two days so I could see the sites along the way. So I packed my tiny tent in my sea kayak drybag impersonating a pannier and made it an overnight.  Peddling the backroads of Vermont and New York stopping at a sculpture park, a birdhouse forest, stone castles and a concert in a vineyard made me happy I took my time.  You can read more outdoor adventure reflections about the South Hero part of the journey here.

Row Venice, Italy

It’s easy to think that there is not much outdoor adventure in a big city.  However, our time in Venice this fall was a remarkable exception.  One outdoor highlight was taking the oars at Row Venice, a women-run company that offers lessons on the traditional way of rowing used by the gondoliers on the canals.  Using a hand-crafted wooden boat called a bateline, our patient instructor Nan taught us to propel ourselves like a gondolier through the canals and out on the lagoon.  We sang some very bad versions of Italian songs on the way back. Don’t miss this experience if you go to Venice.

Hut to Hut in the Dolomites, Italy

The Dolomites, a mountain group in the Northern Italian Alps, was the location of my second hut to hut trip of the year.  Wandering through alpine meadows past mountain lakes with massive rocky pinnacles constantly over my shoulder, I felt like I had stepped into the “Sound of Music” movie ending. 

Each afternoon, the rifugio (mountain hut) appeared in the distance and called us in for luscious meals and a warm bed.  As the sun set each day, alpenglow would ooze over the surrounding peaks. Then the cheerful conversation or Tyrolean singing of hut mates would fill the dining room. Repeat the next day!

Cinque Terre Sea Caves, Italy

There was so much to love about the 5 towns of the Italian coast— coastal hiking, spectacular viewpoints, gelato, the aqua blue Mediterranean Sea, pesto covered focaccia and limoncello. But my favorite outdoor adventure reflection has to be sea kayaking along the unpopulated coast and discovering sea caves.  Inching the kayak into the darkness of the cave is at first a little daunting.  But the water lapping against the walls is mesmerizing.  And then to see the gleam of the stalactites unfold in my iPhone light swept away all apprehension.  You can read more about my outdoor adventures in Cinque Terre here.

Biking in Tuscany, Italy

The wine country under the Tuscan sun is as gorgeous as promised in all the brochures.  However, it was extra fabulous to do a bike trip through the rolling hills of Tuscany this fall.  Did I mention E-bikes?!  My first experience with these electric road steeds left me wanting more.  I was particularly fond of the “turbo” gear on the bike when I approached the big hill up to Pienza.  Everything comes with a cost though, as I ran out of juice about three hilly kilometers away from trip’s end.  The E-bike pulled a Cinderella move and turned into a very heavy beast of a bike.  Well, I guess I needed the exercise after all that gelato.

Hiking and Hot Springs in the Canadian Rockies

I believe that hiking and hot springs just go together. In November, I was able to test out the theory in the Canadian Rockies.  Banff, Canmore, and surrounding areas are superb in the off-season with fewer people on trails, snow-dusted peaks, and steaming hot springs.  After every hike in the mountains, I found hot water in outdoor pools to cure muscle aches. I visited Banff, Fairmont, and Radium hot springs along with Luccier River, a wild hot springs in the heart of the mountains.  Conversely, my favorite hot spring in Banff didn’t allow dipping except for hands.  Cave and Basin National Historic Site in Banff offered a fascinating story of how the national park system began in Canada.  Plus, I learned about an endangered snail that lives in the hot spring.

If you are a hot spring lover like me, please check out my friend’s post on an amazing hot spring in Israel.

Backyard Outdoor Adventures, Western Massachusetts

As much as I like to explore new cultures and countries, I believe adamantly in finding amazing natural areas in my own backyard of Western Massachusetts.  Here are a few outdoor adventure reflections from the backyard this year:

Swift River Canoe Trip

This was the last outdoor trip I led for Hampshire College before I retired. So I went out with a bang on a backyard favorite.  The Swift River is a cold, clear trout stream that runs out of the Quabbin Reservoir.  I never tire of seeing the trout hiding in the watercress of the crystal clear water.

Cross Country Ski Trips

The thrill of fresh groomed and tracked snow with my skis zipping along so fast they sing is high on my list of cherished things.  You can read about my favorite ski places here. 

Also, if you want to ski in Vermont, my blog post of free skiing near Burlington is worth a look.

Wild Edible Walks

Folks who know me will tell you about my passion for foraging wild foods.  It was a great year for collecting and preparing wild edibles.  It’s a topic I’ll explore more in the new year in blog posts.  Satiate yourself with the photos for now.

Outdoor Adventure Reflections

Looking back on the past year, I have lived a very packed year of venturing outdoors and exploring the wonders nature provides. Please join me in the new year to be inspired by new adventures, view my beloved natural areas, and learn new outdoor skills through the pro tips I offer in my newsletter. You can subscribe to my non-spammy newsletter.