Japan’s roots go deep. Stemming from a volcanic foundation surrounded by turbulent seas, the character of both the land and those who live upon it is entirely its own. It is widely recognized that, along with Ethiopia and Thailand, Japan is one of the few world cultures to have never been colonized. As such, it is uniquely intact. Even as the country steps forward and leads the way into an emerging technological future, there remains a thread connecting the modernizing…
Every year, as the calendar flips from August to September, the flow of tourism that descends upon Canada’s natural wonders retreats back to urban comfort. As the wild returns to the wilderness, so do I for my annual shoulder season adventure. This has become an annual pilgrimage for me over the years. With all the wildfires that have been tearing through western Canada this year, my plans were more fluid than usual…and by fluid, I mean that backcountry plan after plan…
Guatemala is a vibrant country. The people and their culture are as diverse as the land and animals that they live with. It is a relatively small country, but sharp elevation changes between sea level and the highest peak in Central America translate to an incredibly varied set of ecosystems and a density of life that few other places can boast.
There is a lot of history in Guatemala; from its role as the heart of the ancient Mayan empire to the civil war that ended…
Happy holidays to you and yours!
Wherever you find yourself today, I wish you warmth, peace, and safety. We are snowed in at home right now and our original plans for the day have been scrapped in the name of safety, but I am grateful to be able to say that these three things are still checked off today: we are warm, we are peaceful, and we are safe. My wish is the same for you, your loved ones, and every single person out there.…
It’s shoulder season again – my favourite season – and we’ve just been chased down from the alpine of the Canadian Rocky Mountains by bad weather. The sky had been threatening all morning, but in the mountains such threats make no promises one way or another so we went ahead and hit the trail up to Sentinel Pass. Hours later, the weather finally materialized overhead and a cold wet snow blew heavy in our faces with the summit of the mountain pass only a few steep switchbacks…
Hello from Kananaskis!
After experiencing the hoards of people that flock to the Canadian Rocky Mountains during July and August last year on my Pedal Powered to the West bike tour, I swore I would never go back in the summer. Shoulder seasons are much more my thing.
But as life would have it, an off the cuff idea from a friend turned into a spontaneous whirlwind of a road trip across four provinces to the Rockies. Having never spent much time in the mountains, it was …