Hiking the Natural Way

Okay, this story falls under the Chuckle and Snort category.

Leave it to the Germans to take hiking and make it an activity without clothing.  Anyone who has spent time carrying a pack longs to lighten the load.  The Germans with there engineering genius have decided to skip the genius and just remove the weight of the clothing. 

Apparently naked hiking is more popular among the men then it is the women.  The trail is approximately 200 miles southwest of Berlin and there are signs warning all visitors to the area about the extra bear, err, bare types along the forest path.  The whole concept brings a new meaning to getting back to nature. 

This also brings up another question, how much extra suntan lotion and bug spray would be required to prevent mosquito and tick bites.  Without clothing these particular trail hazards have more access to those secret places.  This trail will go on the must miss.  Besides the first man an woman, Adam or Eve, were covered up because of their sin why should we break with that tradition.

Kayaking South Dakota

I just found a wonderful blog about a man who is recording all the lakes he is kayaking in South Dakota.  This is what I am always looking for is people who are looking for Adventure in the place they live.  Jay Heath lives in a state where the major water ways do not include large lakes or oceans, South Dakota.  His blog is called Kayaking the Lakes of South Dakota.

Hiking in Thuringia

I always seem to have more dreams than time or money.  Hiking the Rennsteig trail in Germany sounds like an interesting adventure.  According to The Local, Germany's News in English, the Rennsteig runs through the Thuringia hills past historic castles along an old Medieval Trade route.  The Rennsteig is the oldest known trail in Germany extending 170km or 105 miles. 

Being in Europe there is always a beer hall or hotel close to the trail with fairly easy access.  The Local also mentions how simple it would be to take a pack with a few changes of clothes and still stay at what I would call luxury accommodations, a hotel, and eat something more substantial than trail food.  

This five or six day hike will go on my dream list, meaning, I will probably never get to it due to the afore mentioned time and money.  But if you have time plan a trip to Thuringia for a trip along the Rennsteig trail.

Naked Rowing

Here is a story that caught my attention today in the news.  An Irishman, Keith Whelan, is rowing from Australia to Mauritius naked.  Keith wanted to be the youngest Irishman to complete this trip but while out at sea he ran into a rather riotous storm which caused him to bang his head on a bolt inside his sleeping compartment.  The injury required a Japanese Cargo ship to reroute and rescue him.

But I know that is not why you are reading this story, you want to know about the naked part.  Keith is rowing naked because he thinks that while at sea his clothes will accumulate salt and cause some serious chaffing.  So my question is which would be worse the chaffing or the sunburn?  I leave the answer up to you.

If you would like to read about more details you can read The Austrailian.

The Cascade Challenge

Greg Stafford, Will Fain, Cole Iverson, and Rex Shepard have set their sights on something they call the Cascade Challenge, a 1000 mile Multi-event trip; biking, skiing, and climbing over 14 mountains in the Cascade range. 

The four young men are currently getting all of the logistics together, how to transport all of their support gear, what equipment they will be using along the way, how their bike are set up, etc... It is actually amazing how much is required in pre-event planning, layout out of routes, setting time schedules, getting the necessary gear and making sure you have some reasonable means for transporting your gear, and last but definitely not least, training for all of these events.

This sounds like a very exciting adventure and I would love to be joining these fearless four, I wish them clear skies and trouble free riding.

To read more about their trip visit the First Ascent blog.

Kayaking the Missouri River

I found a blog by a man who plans on kayaking the Missouri River from Montana to the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi in the state of Missouri.  Denis Dwyer will be heading out from Clark Lake, Montana sometime in May, which was last month, and finish in July.  This honestly sounds like a lot of fun floating down the same river Lewis and Clark followed on their way to the Pacific Coast.  The only thing that might make it more interesting is reading the Journal that Lewis and Clark kept as they travel west.  You can follow Denis on his blog, Kayaking the Missouri River, when he gets an opportunity to put up photo's and thoughts.

Kayaking around Ireland

Jasper Winn set out to solo paddle around Ireland.  It took him about 3 months to do so.  Jasper did not set out to set a speed record only to explore the islands and the Pubs.   

Jasper is an Irishman who has lived in various places about the island including Dublin and you can read a more extensive account of his adventures Dailymail website, an Irish online newspaper.  

A little background on Ireland.  It is an old country populated by Celtic tribes.  They were fierce warriors both men and women and notorious raiders before the time of St Patrick.  In fact St Patrick was capture in a raid and made a slave.  He escaped back to Britain but felt that God was calling him back to Ireland to reach the unsaved.  If you would like to learn more about the time of St Patrick I recommend the book How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill.