Bike, Hike, and Paddle

US Bike Trails I've Biked

2011-08-19T21:27:00.004-05:00

Rails-To-Trails and other trails I've biked

Arkansas' Lake Fayetteville Trail (also here)
Arkansas' Lake Wedington Trail (Ozark National Forest)
Arkansas' Scull Creek/Mud Creek Trail (Fayetteville)

====

Alaska - Anchorage trails
Alaska - Juneau trails

====

Arizona's Buena Vista Mountain Bike Trail
Arizona's Ghost of the Coyote Trail Mountain Bike Trail
Arizona's Grand Canal Trail in Glendale and Phoenix
Arizona - Grand Canyon's South Rim Bikeway
Arizona's Rim View Trail encircling Page, Arizona
Arizona's Skunk Creek Trail in Glendale

====

California's Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail
California's Fresno Sugar Pine and Clovis Old Town Trail
California's Ojai Valley Trail
California's Yosemite Valley Trail in Yosemite National Park

====

Colorado's Cherry Creek Trail in Denver
Colorado's Glenwood Canyon Trail
Colorado's Grand Junction Riverfront Trail
Colorado's Salida Trail
Colorado's South Platte River/Mary Carter Greenway Trail in Denver area

====

Florida's Big Shoals Lands
Florida's Cape Haze Pioneer Trail
Florida's Cross Florida Greenway Trail
Florida's Everglades Loop Trail
Florida's Ft. Clinch State Park Trail
Florida's Gainesville area trails (Gainesville-Hawthorne, Depot Ave., Waldo Road, and Paynes Prairie Preserve
Florida's Gulf Islands National Seashore
Florida's Guana Tolomato Matanzas Trail
Florida's Jacksonville-Baldwin Trail
Florida's Lake Minneola/South Lake Trail
Florida's Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail
Florida's Legacy Trail
Florida's Little Econ Trail
Florida's Munson Hills Loop mountain bike trail in Apalachicola Natl. Forest
Florida's Nature Coast Trail
Florida's Paisley Lake Mountain Bike Trail in the Ocala National Forest
Florida's Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail
Florida's Pinellas Trail
Florida's Santos Mountain Bike Trails in the Ocala National Forest
Florida's Seminole-Wekiva Trail
Florida's Suncoast Trail
Florida's Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic RR Trail
Florida's Twilight Loop mountain bike trail/Munson Hills Offroad Bike area
Florida's Van Fleet Trail
Florida's West Orange Trail
Florida's Wilderness Park's Flatwoods Park Paved Trail
Florida's Wilderness Park Off-Road Mountain Biking Loop
Florida's Withlacoochee Trail State Park

====

Georgia's Augusta Canal Trail
Georgia's Cumberland Island National Seashore
Georgia's Jekyll Island
Georgia's St. Simon's Island

=====

Idaho's Bill Chipman Palouse Trail in Moscow
Idaho's Hiawatha Trail which straddles the Idaho/Montana border (through 9 tunnels and over 7 trestles in the Bitterroot Mountains)
Idaho's Latah Trail in Moscow
Idaho's Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

====

Illinois' I and M (Illinois and Michigan) Canal State Trail (Channahon to LaSalle)
Illinois' Jane Addams Trail
Illinois' Long Prairie Trail
See also my CHICAGOLAND TRAILS INDEX (30+ trails)

====

Kansas' Levee Trail in Salina
Kansas' Shunga Trail in Topeka

====

Kentucky's Louisville Riverfront Trail

====

Maine's Acadia National Park carriage road system
Maine's Kennebec Valley Trail
Maine's Lagrange Rail Trail

====

Massachusett's Cape Cod, Nantucket Island, and Martha's Vineyard Trails
Massachusett's Shining Sea Bikeway on Cape Cod

====

Missouri's Katy Trail

====

Montana's Hiawatha Trail which straddles the Idaho/Montana border (through 9 tunnels and over 7 trestles in the Bitterroot Mountains)
Montana's Missoula Riverfront Trail System (3 trails)
Montana's River Edge Trail in Great Falls

====

Nebraska's Big Papio Trail in Omaha

====

New Hampshire's Northern Rail Trail

====

Ohio's North Coast Inland Trail

====

Oklahoma City's River Trail

====

Oregon's Columbia River Trail East in Portland
Oregon's OC&E Woods Line State Trail from Klamath Falls
Oregon's Riverbank Path in Eugene
Oregon's Row River Trail
Oregon's Springwater Trail in Portland

====

Pennsylvania's Clarion-Little Toby Rail Trail

====

South Carolina's Killer 3 Trail in Manchester State Forest
South Carolina's North Augusta Greeneway Trail

====

South Dakota's Sioux Falls' Loop Trail
South Dakota's Mickelson Trail (Black Hills)

====

Tennessee's Knoxville Trails

====

Utah's Potash Scenic Road

====

Vermont's Burlington Bikeway (Island Line Trail)
Vermont's Delaware and Hudson Trail

====

Virginia's Virginia Creeper Trail in the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area
Virginia's New River Trail State Park

====

Washington's Bill Chipman Palouse Trail in Pullman
Washington's Burke-Gillman Trail in Seattle
Washington's Cedar River Trail in Renton (Seattle area)
Washington's Greenbelt Trail in Clarkston
Washington's Interurban Trail in Bellingham

===

Volunteer Vacations in the Wilderness with the American Hiking Society

2011-08-05T16:33:00.001-05:00

Summer is here and hiking is at its best, but how about "giving back" or "paying forward" with some volunteer work for our trails? The American Hiking Society offers 70+ volunteer vacation opportunities across the country. To give you a flavor of what a volunteer vacation is like, check out this video I made for AHS...

=====

Want to see more in depth what a week of trail work is like? Check out these videos of projects I've participated in over the last few years...

In 2011, we built a bridge and also built several long sections of boardwalk with volunteers of the North Country Trail Association in Michigan...

We built a 31' bridge up at 9000 feet in Utah's Wasatch Mountains in 2010...

In 2011, we rebuilt a boardwalk in South Carolina's Francis Marion National Forest...

In 2010 we worked on extending the Buffalo River Trail in Arkansas...

And here's a listing of all my volunteer trail projects.

Road Scholar (Elderhostel) Programs

2011-05-24T20:24:00.007-05:00

If you enjoy active, outdoor vacations, you will definitely find a Road Scholar program (formerly known as Elderhostel) of interest to you. The only requirement to join this free organization had been having attained the age of 55 years but now it is open to all ages. Road Scholar is a non-profit organization specializing in learning -- a sort of college for older folks -- offering an astounding array of many thousands of reasonably priced programs (either in a classroom or in the outdoors) all over the world. If you enjoy doing something or wish to learn something, they have a program covering that area!

I have participated in a number of programs (predominantly active, outdoor programs) and below are info and photos of the active, outdoor programs I've taken.

===============================================

2002-- In Scottsdale, Arizona: Adventure 101 which involved rappelling, white-water canoeing, canyoneering, hiking, and orienteering

2002-- From Chloride, Arizona: Kayaking the Colorado River below Hoover Dam in the Lake Mead Recreation Area's Black Canyon.

2002-- From Highlands, North Carolina, Appalachian Hiking and White Water Rafting (class 2, 3 and 4 rapids).

2002-- From St. Charles, Missouri, Bicycling the Katy Trail (140 miles along the Missouri River).

2003-- In Hawai'i, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, sailing, and surfing with O'ahu, Maui, and Kaua'i Adventure Program.

2003-- In South Carolina, Paddling Lakes, Rivers, and Swamps.

2003-- In Utah, White Water Rafting and Kayaking San Juan River

2003-- In Arizona & Utah, Houseboating and Kayaking on Lake Powell

2004-- In Georgia, Okefenokee Swamp Safari

2005-- in Massachusetts, Biking Cape Cod and Nantuckett Island

2005-- In Maine's Acadia National Park: hiking, biking, and sea kayaking

2006-- In Florida, Canoeing in the Ocala National Forest

2006-- In Florida, Sea Kayaking Amelia Island and Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp

2006 -- In Arizona, Adobe Photoshop Elements (a classroom program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona)

2007-- In Arizona, Biking the Border's Wild West

2007-- From Texas, Mexico's Copper Canyon by El Pacifico Railroad

2007-- In Texas, Kayaking Texas Gulf Coast Bays and Estuaries

2008-- In Florida, Canoeing Three Rivers

2008-- In Florida, Suwannee River: Canoe, Hike, and Folklore

2009 -- In Florida, Disney World: The Mystery Behind the Magic

2009 -- In Florida, Explore Wild Florida by Canoe

2009 -- In Pennsylvania, Rafting, Kayaking, and Canoeing the Delaware River

2009 -- In Maine, Exploring the Coast of Maine under Sail aboard the windjammer Angelique

2010 -- In Florida, Snorkeling Key Largo's Coral Reefs

2010 -- In Utah, Photo Workshop in Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyon North Rim

2010 -- In Arizona, Where Rock Meets Water in Glen Canyon

2011 -- In Florida, Amelia and Cumberland Islands: Nature & History

2011 -- In South Carolina, Kayaking Tidal Waters on St. Simons Island

2011 -- In Idaho, Rafting the Salmon River

2011 -- In Washington, Kayaking the Lower Columbia River

My Idea of A Diversified Portfolio...

2010-02-07T06:25:00.001-06:00

I have quite a few of the clever "Life Is Good" shirts, but this is my favorite... ...because it incorporates all three of my primary outdoor passions, and the title of this blog.

My Backpacking Locations

2008-10-04T02:37:00.005-05:00

I've backpacked these 52 locations and would recommend most of them. Some are great for beginners, others moderate in difficulty, and some just plain tough. However, rather than attempt to rank them, it would be best if you contact me regarding a specific area, since many factors enter into such a ranking.

wildernessinspector at gmail dot com

Alaska

Kesugi Ridge Trail in Denali State Park 2004 (with photos)

Arizona: Grand Canyon National Park (with photos organized by trail) 1985, 1989 (and rafted canyon 1999) Havasu Canyon/Grand Canyon West (with photos) 2001; Superstition Wilderness in the Tonto National Forest (with photos) 2002 Canyon de Chelly National Monument (2008); Arkansas; Buffalo River National Trail 1999, 2002; Ozark Highlands Trail in the Ozark National Forest (with photos) 1997; Colorado; Mount Zirkel Wilderness in the Routt National Forest (with photos)1987, 1990; The Colorado Trail (with photos) 2001; Uncompahgre/Big Blue Wilderness in the Uncompahgre National Forest (with photos) 1989, 1993, 1994; Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan National Forest (with photos organized by trail) 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999; Idaho; Targhee National Forest/Jedediah Smith Wilderness (with photos) 1998; Illinois; Sand Ridge State Forest (with photos) 1998; Shawnee National Forest 1992; Indiana; Hoosier National Forest (with photos) 2003; Kentucky; Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (with photos) 2000; Land Between the Lakes (with photos) 1996; Mammoth Cave National Park (with photos) 2001; Pine Mountain Trail (with photos) 2002; Red River Gorge (with photos) 2007; Michigan; Bay de Noc - Grand Island Trail in the Hiawatha National Forest (with photos) 2001; Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior (with photos of island and moose) 1993, 1996 North Manitou Island/Sleeping Bear Dunes Natl Lakeshore (with photos) 2009; Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (including neighboring Grand Island) (with photos) 1996; Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park (with photos) 1992; Sylvania Wilderness in the Ottawa National Forest (with photos) 1992; Minnesota; Superior Hiking Trail in the Superior National Forest (with photos) 1996; Missouri; Mark Twain National Forest / The Berryman Trail (with photos) 1997; Montana; Gallatin National Forest/Lee Metcalf Wilderness (with photos) 1998 Glacier/Waterton National Park (with photos) 1997 Bob Marshall Wilderness in the Flathead National Forest (with photos) 1997 New Hampshire; Pemigewasset Wilderness in the White Mountain National Forest (with photos) 1995; New Mexico; Pecos Wilderness in the Santa Fe National Forest (with photos) 1989, 1991; North Carolina; Great Smoky Mountains National Park (with photos) 1995; Lake Watagua segment of the Appalachian Trail (2006); South Dakota; Black Hills National Forest/Black Elk Wilderness (with photos) 1997; Tennessee; Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (with photos) 2000; Cherokee National Forest (with photos) 1998 Cumberland Trail (with photos) 2002; Land Between the Lakes (with photos) 1996; (Great) Smoky Mountains National Park (with photos) 1995; Utah; Bryce National Park (with photos) 1999; Manti-LaSal National Forest 1999; High Uintas Wilderness in the Ashley and Wasatch-Cache National Forests (with photos) 1990; Zion National Park (with photos) 1999; Virginia; Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area (Jefferson National Forest) 2003; Pine Mountain Trail (with photos) 2002; Washington Olympic National Park (with photos) 2000; Pinchot National Forest - Goat Rocks Wilderness (with photos) 2004; Wisconsin; Kettle Moraine State Forest -- Ice Age Trail (with photos) 2000; Chequamegon National Forest (with photos) 1996; Wyoming; Grand Teton National Park (with photos) 2000; Targhee National Forest/Jedediah Smith Wilderness (with photos) 1998; Wind River Range/Bridger-Teton National Forest/Bridger Wilderness (with photos) 1998 Yellowstone National Park (with photos) 1997; You can get buried in Worries of the world, But you can never Get too deep For the woods.
--Ollie Olsen--
This is a perpetually unfinished work as every year I discover new favorites.
May it ever be so!

Backpacking Info

2008-10-03T04:35:00.010-05:00

Mountain men still exist, sort of. While backpacking in the Weminuche Wilderness of Colorado in 1994, we met five mountain men, replete with 1800s gear, clothing, and single shot long rifles. Here are photos and information gleaned from them regarding their unusual variation of our sport.

Here are dozens of backpacking tips I've accumulated from that masterful instructor called "experience" -- as well as tips sent to me by other visitors of this site:

Tips about Gear Tips about Food Tips about Techniques

Annotated Bibliography: Here are lists of my favorite books related to backpacking, with comments about each book included to assist you in choosing which books might be of interest or value to you.

How-To" Books (techniques) Philosophical Books ( the "why", not the "how") True Experience Books (actual backpacking adventures.)

Need a checklist of items to take while backpacking? Here is my list. I don't take every item on every trip, but this is my starting point to guarantee no necessities are overlooked, so customize this list to your own preferences.

For centuries, poets, authors, philosophers and conservationists have struggled to capture in mere words the spiritual essence and resplendent grandeur of trees and wilderness. The English teacher within me wishes to share these literary endeavors with you, so here are presented over a hundred excerpts from works by the world's greatest authors and thinkers as food for thought. I've worked on numerous volunteer trail projects over the years, all of which can be viewed here. I strongly encourage everyone to consider volunteering for such a project, and perhaps you'll get to have a supper of deer, elk, and. moose with the crew of the long-running PBS series "This Old House" as we did in '97! See my photo of Steve and Norm.

Wilderness is inspirational to me, and its sights, sounds, scents, and scenes have enkindled within me a need to express my thoughts, feelings, and backcountry experiences in original poetry.

Backpacking How-To's for Beginners by Ryan Moulton

My Volunteer Trail Projects

2008-10-02T13:20:00.015-05:00

(Unless marked otherwise, all projects were through American Hiking Society)

--1997 Bob Marshall Wilderness of the Flathead National Forest in Montana.

--1998 Gallatin National Forest of Montana.

--1999 Manti-LaSal National Forest of Utah

--2000 Columbia River Gorge in Washington State's Beacon Rock State Park.

-- 2001 The Colorado Trail above Copper Mountain Resort.

-- 2001 Hiawatha National Forest of Michigan

--2002 Superstition Wilderness of the Tonto National Forest (Sierra Club project)

-- 2002 Cumberland Trail Conference in Tennessee.

--2002 Pine Mountain Trail Conference in Virginia and Kentucky.

--2002 Buffalo National River in Arkansas

--2003 The Palmetto Trail in South Carolina's Wateree Swamp

--2003 Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area in Virginia

--2003 Apache Sitgreaves National Forest on northern Arizona's Mogollon Rim

--2004 The Florida Trail in Osceola National Forest along the Suwanee River

--2004 Goat Rocks Wilderness of the Pinchot National Forest in Washington

--2005 Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts (Sierra Club Trail Project)

--2006 South Carolina's Palmetto Trail in the Francis Marion National Forest

--2006 Independence Grove in Illinois (Forest Preserve District of Lake County)

--2007 Spring Valley Trail in Arizona's Hell's Canyon Wilderness

--2009 Acadia National Park in Maine (Appalachian Mountain Club project)

--2010 Buffalo National River in Arkansas

--2010 Manti-LaSal National Forest of Utah -- bridge construction

--2010 Rafting Canyonlands NP & Cataract Canyon/Tamarisk removal in Utah (Sierra Club project)

--2011 Boardwalk Reconstruction for US Fish & Wildlife Service in South Carolina

--2011 Manistee National Forest Boardwalk and Bridge Construction in Michigan

==================

I also put together a slideshow/primer here on how a trail is built, using photos from various projects.

I strongly encourage you to consider volunteering for a project if you can spare the time. (Maybe you'll get to have a supper of deer, elk, and moose with the crew of the long-running PBS series "This Old House" as we did in '97! See my photo of Steve and Norm.)

Chicago Area Bike Trails

2008-10-02T08:57:00.011-05:00

Blackwell Forest Trail in DuPage County.

Busse Reservoir Bike Trail in northwest Chicagoland

Centennial Trail of southwest Chicagoland

Chicago Lakefront Path

Danada/Herrick Lake Trail in DuPage County

Deer Grove Forest Preserve Mountain Bike Trail of northwestern Chicagoland

Des Plaines River Trail in Lake County (Northern section)
Des Plaines River Trail in Cook County (Southern section)

Fox River Trail in western Chicagoland.

Grant Woods Trail in Lake County

Great Western Trail of western Chicagoland.

Green Bay Trail of northern Chicagoland

Hebron Trail of McHenry County

Illinois Prairie Path of western Chicagoland

I & M Canal Trail of southern Cook County

I & M Canal State Trail (Channahon to LaSalle)
Kenosha (WI) County Bike Trail of Wisconsin

McHenry's Prairie Trail of northwestern Chicagoland
Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve of northern Chicagoland

Millennium Trail of Lake County

Moraine Hills State Park in northwest Chicagoland.

North Branch of the Chicago River Trail in northern Chicagoland

North Shore Trail of northern Chicagoland

Old Plank Road Trail of southwest Chicagoland

Palatine Bike Trail in northwest Chicagoland.

Poplar Creek Forest Preserve Trail in northwest Chicagoland
Robert McClory Trail in northern Chicagoland

Rock Run Greenway Trail in southwestern Chicagoland
Skokie Valley Trail of northern Chicagoland

Veteran Acres/Sterne's Woods mountain bike trails in Crystal Lake

Virgil Gilman Trail in western Chicagoland

Waterfall Glen Forest Trail of southwestern Chicagoland

Backpacking Colorado's Big Blue/Uncompahgre Wilderness

2008-10-01T09:19:00.002-05:00

View up Big Blue valley at Uncompahgre Peak, sixth highest in Colorado at 14,309 feet. This is taken from the trail which begins near the forest service campground and follows the Big Blue Creek upriver a dozen miles to reach this location. From here, a spur trail takes you up 3000 feet in about 3 miles to the top of Uncompahgre Peak.

View from Uncompahgre Peak looking to the north. The valley between the two ridges is the trail from the Big Blue Trail to Uncompahgre Peak trail.

Camping above Big Blue Creek near intersection of Big Blue Trail and the spur trail up to Uncompahgre Peak Trail.

View from Uncompahgre Peak looking west at Matterhorn and Wetterhorn Peaks.

========================================== The wilderness, located north of the quaint Colorado town of Lake City, comprises 99,490 acres in the Uncompahgre National Forest (established in 1905) with elevations ranging from 8400 feet to 14,309 feet. Over 75 miles of trails are available, and because about half of the wilderness is above timberline (11,500 feet at this latitude) the vistas are spectacular. Alpine flowers bloom in late July and August. Elk, bighorn sheep, ptarmigan, and marmots reside here. Uncompahgre, a name given by the Ute Indians to the area around Ouray, Colorado, has been translated variously as "red water spring" and "hot water." A public hot springs pool still exists in Ouray. The area is also known as the "Switzerland of America." Several years ago I hosted an American Field Service foreign exchange student from Carpi, Italy, which is in the extreme northern part of Italy. Luca, upon seeing this area of Colorado, remarked that it did indeed resemble the Alps of Switzerland. The Big Blue Wilderness includes two of Colorado's famed "14ers," Uncompahgre Peak (14,309 feet high, the sixth highest in Colorado) and neighboring Wetterhorn Peak (14015 feet in elevation.) A trail, which climbs nearly 3000 feet in 3.5 miles allows access to Uncompahgre Peak. The first known ascent of Uncompahgre Peak was achieved in 1874, but the climbers discovered that grizzlies had preceded them. Also adjacent is the "13er," Matterhorn Peak. The two Swiss names recount the area's nickname, "Switzerland of America." Slide Lake, created by a rock slide into Big Blue Creek in the 1940s, is called a fisherman's paradise, and considerable fishing can also be found along the Big Blue. Good fishing is also found in the four other main rivers in the wilderness, Fall Creek and the three forks of the Cimarron -- Middle, East, and West. The Big Blue valley, which extends 11 miles to Uncompahgre Peak, is the most magnificent valley I've ever seen, bar none. I've backpacked here three times and will return more times to enjoy the incomparable beauty of the area. Seeing a herd of over two dozen elk circling around us while we labored over the pass by Silver Mountain is a sight I will never forget. Their beauty, agility, and grace are beyond words. FOR INFO: Uncompahgre Forest Headquarters 2250 Highway 50 Delta, CO 81416 (303) 874-7691 Exploring Colorado's Wild Areas by Scott Warren; The Mountaineers, Seattle, WA; 221 pages. Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado: A Guide to the San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests by Paul Pixler; Pruett Publishing Company; Boulder, CO; 214 pages.

Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza is gone...

2008-10-01T05:43:00.000-05:00

Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza is gone because after 13 years, AOL has stopped hosting websites. My replacement site is now Bike, Hike, and Paddle. I appreciate AOL's sponsorship for these 13 years and for having allowed me to create Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza way back when websites were quite new, but the way AOL simply stopped hosting has many users extremely angry. I happened to notice AOL's announcement a month ago while visiting Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza because a banner had been placed across the top of the page. AOL stated they'd notify everyone by email but never did, so many users were caught unawares and lost all their pages and photos yesterday and now are up in arms. I spent dozens of hours over the last 4 weeks revising 200+ pages and re-uploading the pages of Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza as well as 500 photos to another host. We all wish AOL had at least allowed a re-direct so people who had bookmarked Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza over the last 13 years would be sent to the new Bike, Hike, and Paddle, but such is not the case. So please forgive my constant repetition of Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza but I am posting this message (and its many uses of the name Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza) hoping search engines pick it up and re-direct those looking for Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza's to its new location at Bike, Hike, and Paddle.

Paddling Locations in the USA & Costa Rica

2008-09-28T09:41:00.024-05:00

Arizona

While twice backpacking the Grand Canyon, I longed to experience the entire canyon by raft. In 1999, I finally had the opportunity to raft all 277 miles and 160 rapids of the Canyon. Here are the photos and comments!

Scottsdale Adventure 101 which included white-water canoeing on Verde River below Bartlett Dam.

Kayaking the Colorado River below Hoover Dam in the Lake Mead Recreation Area's Black Canyon.

Houseboating and kayaking Lake Powell

Arkansas

Canoeing the Buffalo National River (105 miles) 2010

Alaska (2004)

Kayaking Misty Fjord National Monument

Rafting Nenana River (Denali NP in Alaska)

Rafting Mendenhall River (Juneau, Alaska)

Rafting Placer River (Anchorage area)

Colorado

Rafting the Arkansas River

Rafting Glenwood Canyon

Costa Rica (2010)

Rafting 18 miles on the Pacaure River

Florida

Kayaking the Suwannee River (2003) (60 miles)

Canoeing Juniper Run in the Ocala National Forest

Kayaking and camping Canaveral National Seashore

Canoeing Rivers of the Ocala National Forest

Kayaking Cedar Keys Natl. Wildlife Refuge

Explore Wild Florida by Canoe (Ocala National Forest)

Kayaking Greatest Rivers and Springs

Kayaking Little Econ, St. John's, and Wekiva Rivers

Canoeing Hillsborough, S. Withlacoochee, & Weeki Watchee Rivers

Canoeing Suwannee and Ichetucknee Rivers

Georgia

Sea Kayaking Amelia Island and Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp

Hawai'i

Kayaking, canoeing, sailing, and surfing with O'ahu, Maui, and Kaua'i Adventure Program.

Illinois and Iowa

The Great River Rumble 2003: Paddling and camping 140 miles down the Mississippi River

Maine

Kayaking Frenchman Bay in Bar Harbor near Acadia National Park

Michigan

Kayaking Pere Marquette National Scenic River

Montana

Canoeing/camping Missouri (River) Breaks for 151 miles (Lewis and Clark)

Pennsylvania

Rafting, Kayaking, and Canoeing the Delaware River

North Carolina

Appalachian White Water Rafting (class 2, 3 and 4 rapids)

Kayaking in the Shadows of the Great Smoky Mountains (Fontana Lake) (entire perimeter)

Rafting the Nantahala River

South Carolina

Paddling Low Country Lakes, Rivers, and Swamps

Texas

Kayaking Texas Gulf Coast Bays and Estuaries from Galveston

Kayaking the Guadalupe River

Utah

Whitewater rafting and camping the San Juan River

Canoeing/camping the Green River (2006) (120 miles)

Canoeing/camping the Green River (2008) (120 miles)

Rafting Moab's Colorado RiverColorado River

Rafting Cataract Canyon and Canyonlands National Park 2010 (100 miles)

West Virginia

Rafting the New River Gorge

Wyoming

Rafting the Snake River

Chicago Area Paddling Locations

2008-09-27T09:50:00.002-05:00

Busse Reservoir of northwestern Chicagoland.

Des Plaines River in northwestern Chicagoland.

Des Plaines River Canoe Marathon

Fox River in western Chicagoland.

Independence Grove of Lake County.

Long Lake of Lake County

Skokie Lagoons of northern Chicagoland.

Elderhostel/Road Scholar Adventures

2008-09-26T07:26:00.021-05:00

If you enjoy active, outdoor vacations, you will definitely find an Road Scholar program (formerly known as Elderhostel) of interest to you. The only requirement to join this free organization had been having attained the age of 55 years but now it is open to all ages. Road Scholar is a non-profit organization specializing in learning -- a sort of college for older folks -- offering an astounding array of many thousands of reasonably priced programs (either in a classroom or in the outdoors) all over the world. If you enjoy doing something or wish to learn something, they have a program covering that area!

I have participated in a number of programs (predominantly active, outdoor programs) and below are info and photos of the active, outdoor programs I've taken.

2002-- In Scottsdale, Arizona: Adventure 101 which involved rappelling, white-water canoeing, canyoneering, hiking, and orienteering

2002-- From Chloride, Arizona: Kayaking the Colorado River below Hoover Dam in the Lake Mead Recreation Area's Black Canyon.

2002-- From Highlands, North Carolina, Appalachian Hiking and White Water Rafting (class 2, 3 and 4 rapids).

2002-- From St. Charles, Missouri, Bicycling the Katy Trail (140 miles along the Missouri River).

2003-- In Hawai'i, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, sailing, and surfing with O'ahu, Maui, and Kaua'i Adventure Program.

2003-- In South Carolina, Paddling Lakes, Rivers, and Swamps.

2003-- In Utah, White Water Rafting and Kayaking San Juan River

2003-- In Arizona & Utah, Houseboating and Kayaking on Lake Powell

2004-- In Georgia, Okefenokee Swamp Safari

2005-- in Massachusetts, Biking Cape Cod and Nantuckett Island

2005-- In Maine's Acadia National Park: hiking, biking, and sea kayaking

2006-- In Florida, Canoeing in the Ocala National Forest

2006-- In Florida, Sea Kayaking Amelia Island and Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp

2006 -- In Arizona, Adobe Photoshop Elements (a classroom program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona)

2007-- In Arizona, Biking the Border's Wild West

2007-- From Texas, Mexico's Copper Canyon by El Pacifico Railroad

2007-- In Texas, Kayaking Texas Gulf Coast Bays and Estuaries

2008-- In Florida, Canoeing Three Rivers

2008-- In Florida, Suwannee River: Canoe, Hike, and Folklore

2009 -- In Florida, Disney World: The Mystery Behind the Magic

2009 -- In Florida, Explore Wild Florida by Canoe

2009 -- In Pennsylvania, Rafting, Kayaking, and Canoeing the Delaware River

2009 -- In Maine, Exploring the Coast of Maine under Sail aboard the windjammer Angelique

2010 -- In Florida, Snorkeling Key Largo's Coral Reefs

2010 -- In Utah, Photo Workshop in Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyon North Rim

2010 -- In Arizona, Where Rock Meets Water in Glen Canyon

2011 -- In Florida, Amelia and Cumberland Islands: Nature & History

2011 -- In South Carolina, Kayaking Tidal Waters on St. Simons Island

2011 -- In Idaho, Rafting Idaho's Salmon River (coming this Fall)
2011 -- In Washington, Kayaking the Lower Columbia River (coming this Fall)

Sierra Club Outings

2008-09-25T09:54:00.005-05:00

John Muir, founder of The Sierra Club, strongly believed that America's finest natural areas could best be protected by taking members out into these areas, for after having experienced them, the people would willingly work to preserve and protect these areas. The Sierra Club therefore sponsors a wide variety of outings each year and I have participated in several.

2002 -- Trail Service Project in the Superstition Wilderness in Arizona's Tonto National Forest

2003 -- Kayaking the Suwannee River in Florida

2003 -- Backpacking Indiana's Hoosier National Forest

2004 -- Kayaking Canaveral National Seashore in Florida

2004 -- Alaska Autumn Sampler (hiking, camping, and backpacking)

2005 -- Trail Service project: Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts

2006: Kayaking Florida's Greatest Rivers and Springs

2006: Kayaking in the Shadows of the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina

2008: A Naturalist's Kayak Trip in Florida

2008: Hiking Arizona's Canyon de Chelly

2010 Rafting Canyonlands National Park's Cataract Canyon/Tamarisk removal and campsite rehab in Utah

Scenic Railroads in the USA

2008-09-24T10:05:00.004-05:00

Colorado's Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (which can take you to and from one of the greatest backpack destinations in America, the Weminuche Wilderness.

Colorado's Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

Colorado's Georgetown Loop Railroad

Colorado's Pike's Peak Cog Railway

Colorado's Leadville, Colorado, & Southern Railroad Company

Colorado's Royal Gorge RR

Arizona's Verde Canyon Railroad

Alaska's White Pass & Yukon Route

Alaska Railway

Arkansas and Missouri Railroad

New Hampshire's Mount Washington Cog Railway

Scenic USA Highways

2008-09-23T10:13:00.005-05:00

Want to drive one of the most scenic highways in the world? Try the Million Dollar Highway in southwestern Colorado, running through the San Juan Mountains from Silverton to Ouray.

Four wheel drive roads allow access to remote backpack trailheads and also lead to scenic areas not seen by drivers of two wheel drive, low clearance vehicles. Here are a few photos of some 4 wheel drive roads in Colorado I drove as part of the 2001 "Gathering of Xterras II."

The Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina, a linear park is often called "America's Favorite Drive" as it wends its way non-stop for 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park down to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Alaska Highway (AlCan) through Canada's Yukon and British Columbia Provinces

The Alaska Marine Highway (ferry system)

Skyline Drive (The Razor's Edge) in Canon City, Colorado

Highway 141 in Colorado (Unaweep Tubeguache Scenic and Historic Byway)

Utah's Mt. Nebo Scenic Byway is a picturesque 38 mile drive that rises from 5000 feet to over 9300 feet in the Wasach range.

North Cascades Highway in Washington State.

Lewis and Clark Highway (US Route 12 in Idaho and Montana).

Chuck's Backcountry Poetry

2008-09-06T08:46:00.001-05:00

Chuck's Original Backcountry Poetry

WanderLust

Curious to know what's over that rise
or around that bend?
What's a mile beyond here,
or a minute beyond now?
Courageous enough to scale that intervening rise
and round that obscuring bend?
To venture that further mile
and live that eternal minute?
What education may the side canyon confer?
What treasures may the endless trail unearth
or the infinite night sky reveal?
What headwaters of new-thought await?
Wilderness is home to the soul,
and its sights and sounds and scents
vital to the soul's nourishment,
beckoning one's spirit.
Abandon inertia and reap Nature's bounty:
moments to savor,
memories to share; both
mementos to save.
Travel both diverging paths
within yonder yellow wood.
Be one traveler who avoids
the sorrow of the road not taken.
Curiosity kills neither cat nor man,
but bequeaths adventure and mission and exultation
to otherwise humdrum existence.
Acquiescence kills.
Yet few Dare.
Even fewer Do.
But none who Do
ever regret.

--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--

Backpacking

Backpacking is Mother Nature's laxative,
purging civilization's discontentments and
jettisoning society's cloying accouterments,
roughage for cleansing our psyche.

Backpacking simplifies existence,
relaxing Life's pace,
opening eyes to mind and soul
and conferring intimacy to all that is observed.
A mountain climbed becomes a mountain earned
just as a burden conquered is a burden mastered.

Backpacking requires Time,
and taking Time elongates Life,
turns Life elastic and
stretches Life to meet the horizon,
or perhaps not meet it.
It matters not,
for that which is stretched
e x p a n d s
amplifies
proliferates
and understanding surges in to possess
the newfound space.

So backpack,
and grow as you go.

--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--

Atop Uncompahgre Peak, Colorado
(14,309 feet above sea level)

Not the top of the entire world
but certainly tops in mine.
On the ground yet scraping the clouds,
exaltation and vistas immeasurable,
simultaneously pebble-small and redwood-tall.

Where does one go from the pinnacle?
Other than root and stagnate,
there is nowhere but down.
The peak, as all of life's highs,
ephemeral, fleeting, impermanent,
only to be relished, remembered, revered,
as life inevitably fast-forwards.
For descend we must to the valleys
to explore, experience, survive,
ever yearning for new endorphin highs
and praying life conspires us to soon rescale the heights.

--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--

There

Seek diligently to find your There,
ever sentient of There places
which furnish personal pleasure and
meaning and comfort and sanctuary,
where irrelevant time
passes more slowly than childhood summers.

There is where you belong,
your wellspring of self-sustenance,
your headwaters of joy and peace and
infusor of oneness.
There wallow and exalt,
blossoming in intimate verdance.

Do not defend or elucidate your There,
for only self may define personal geography.
Words prove insufficient tools
to construct explanation,
as inept as describing spiral staircases
without the use of hands.

Once There is found,
flee There often and linger.
Roost, extend roots long and strong and deep
and suck There's nourishment.
Plant forever body and soul
so none may pluck you from There.

For There is yours alone,
even when willingly shared.
None can remove you from There or There from you.
Go There.
Be There.
Become There.

--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--

Trekking

Vibramed toes crush dirt
and scale boulders,
chewing miles as they transport
eyes and soul to paradise.

Transport?
Or trespass?

If a tree falls with none near,
is there sound?
Does a seeker of solitude
destroy solitude in the seeking?
Does the quest for peace
destroy that peace?
Does beauty pursued
become beauty corrupted?
Is Nature's perfection blemished
by observation?

Do solitude and peace and beauty and perfection
exist only when experienced,
nonexistent but for man's appreciation?

Does infinity end when I stop counting?

--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--

Haiku

Mankind longs to fly.
Simply scale the mountains tall
and your soul shall soar.

--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--

Premature Eulogy for Yellowstone National Park

This photo, taken along the south shore of Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, is representative of the "look" found all through the park in areas hardest hit by the fires of 1988. The poem below the photo was inspired by such sights.

Mute, charred stilettos ineffectually stab clouds,
silent sentinels weeping above fallen comrades,
eloquent, stark testament to lush glory
which for generations had been.

Murdered by the conflagrations of 1988,
experts promptly delivered Yellowstone's eulogy:
Six of every ten acres destroyed.
Soil base scorched beyond revival.
Wildlife annihilated or homeless.
Nothing would live there again.
A pity. Man destroyed Nature
through carelessness and
shortsighted mismanagement.

Yet the canyons' grand waters still plummeted the falls,
lakes shimmered with majestic sunsets,
geysers spewed towering columns of vapor and water
as fumaroles fumed and mud pots oozed.
And Man still visited that which he had murdered.

But the scorched, inhospitable volcanic soil,
endeared only by the unfinicky lodgepole pine,
dutifully harbored generations of pinecone seeds
awaiting only heat to explode into life.
The forest floor, revelling in long unfelt sunlight,
burst joyously into verdant profusion,
with seedlings and wildflowers and grasses,
the ultimate recycling of new life from blackened earth.

Man's infinitesimal stature and foresight
ignorantly declared death upon new life,
again overestimating self and
shortchanging nature's healing power over
Man's destructiveness, as
mute, charred stilettos ineffectually stab clouds,
silent sentinels weeping above fallen comrades,
eloquent, stark testament to lush glory
which for generations had been,
and which in generations
shall be
again.

--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--

Give God All The Glory

Mountain peaks engineered with precision,
Majestic creation only God could envision,
Oceans of breadth and depth so profound,
Only He could excavate the ground.
Clear mountain stream and high waterfall,
God's own perfect Eden do recall.
Skyscraper tree and dainty wildflower
Indelibly proclaim God's inimitable power.

Give God all the glory,
Give God all the praise,
As He daily illumines
Our lives with His ways.

Invisible atoms and infinite skies,
Man discovers, but God designs.
Wonders which man could never erect,
Declare God the master architect.
He runs in the rivers, surges in the sea,
Melds with the mountains, yet inhabits you and me.
We are nothing without His hand,
As man's earthly life-course navigates His plan.

Give God all the glory,
Give God all the praise,
As He daily illumines
Our lives with His ways.

--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--

Wilderness

Wilderness invades your bloodstream,
roiling through your vessels
and rampantly invading all body parts
with sensuous primordial urges.

Osmose its grandeur
into every fiber of your being.
Fabricate kaleidoscopes of mental confection
whose endless iterations renew and revitalize
every civilization-weary cell,
patching holes in your soul and psyche.

Harken to Nature's susurrus sounds
with all your senses,
feel its stirring vibrations
within and without,
observe the birth of sounds,
taste and smell the crisp, unsullied air,
hear the deafening silence.

Bite off muti-acre portions and
swallow its miles voraciously,
digesting its beauty
and garnering strength
from its rejuvenating nutrients.

Obey
as wilderness impels you
to enter its escape.
Surrender your soul to
redevelopment,
renewal,
rebirth.
And finally, fully,
become alive.

--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--

Life's Rocks, Roots, and Ruts

Rocks, roots, and ruts,
storm-downed trees,
mud-slopped holes,
all temporary speed-bumps
to the mountain biker.

Rocks, roots, and ruts,
landslide-covered trails,
storm-swollen streams,
two-day thunderstorms,
all minor hindrances to the backpacker.

Insignificant trifles compared to
Life's rocks, roots, and ruts --
a relationship's end,
the loss of a friend,
a child's passing,
a despot's gassing,
a job's demise or
an unwanted surprise --
life-altering stumbling blocks for Life's travelers
to detour around, succumb to, or overcome.

Sidestep those rocks,
hurdle the roots,
refuse entrapment in the ruts.
Transform Life's roadblocks
into stepping stones to success,
ever living Life as you wish,
not as Life directs.

--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--

Conformity

This photo was taken from the seaplane dock on Isle Royale National Park as we watched the mother merganser teach her brood how to dive for food.

Very proudly, Momma merganser duckpaddled,
her wake peopled by seventeen newborn
obediently trailing like strung popcorn.
Then Momma dove, completely submerged, and resurfaced
fifteen feet downstream in a perfectly straight line.
The tykes emulated, reappearing five feet downstream
and splayed to the compass points,
from whence each scurried
to recreate the popcorn string.

Amused, I chuckled as this comic pedagogy
replayed a dozen times before me --
of dive, resurface, scurry, regroup --
until I saw myself in the lesson,
ever toeing the line,
subserviently following orders,
religiously adhering to rules,
striving for adulation for conforming,
getting all my ducks in a row.

Required conformity remains
a recurring, necessary lesson in youth,
taught, indoctrinated, daily.
Useful to family and society
for order, safety, convenience, peace of mind,
but at monstrous cost: unnatural; anti-individualistic;
stifling creativity and curiosity;
obliterating divergent thinking;
calamitous to invention.

Yearn for individuality.
Evade the harness. Shuck the uniform.
Avoid the lock-stepped. Avert the unvarying.
Shun the identical. Eschew the expected.
Abstain from standardization.
Invent. Innovate. Create. Produce.
Thirst. Investigate. Inquire. Pry.
Diverge. Contrive. Concoct. Swerve.
For conformity must be judiciously practiced in moderation.
Don't let dreams simmer, make them boil.
Live instead of follow,
for you can only lose yourself
when you give yourself away.

--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--

Squaretop Mountain
Wind River Range, Wyoming

This photo of Squaretop Mountain was taken from the northern shoreline of Upper Green River Lake.

It's there, imprisoned by the fog,
but I know it's there.
For four days I've admired it as it soared free.
I've studied it, photographed it,
hiked beside it and slept beneath it.
Now the enshrouding haze
envelops it, obscures it,
removing it from visual perception.
Still I sense it, feel it.
I know it is there
and soon will soar freely again.

Like my future, my destiny, my fate
similarly ensnared in an impenetrable fog,
revealed bit by bit, moment by moment.
Often imagined, prayed for, believed in,
but as uncertain as one's next breath,
unknown until it occurs,
imprisoned by the future
until released by the present.
Peer though I might, wish though I may
I can neither discern it nor predict it,
any more than I can now see Squaretop,
but can only await its revelation
as each day's revealing sunlight washes away the fog.

--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--

Lake Powell Reveries 2003 Early morning thoughts after five nights of sleeping under the stars

Atop the hillside, red sand my bed,
blazing stars enshroud my head,
houseboat below on lapping sand,
Gregory Butte commanding the land.
Eyes weary, I fight sleep off
for awesome firmament engenders thought
of places distant, of adventures near,
of family and friends, of love, of fear,
of earth's great circle spinning here
amongst this starry cosmic sphere,
until thoughts cease and sleep takes hold
in wafting breeze and pleasant cold,
and dreams supplant what eyes today gazed
as kayak and houseboat toppled waves,
of Glen Canyon's glory, long concealed,
by multi-year drought, now newly revealed,
its soaring, timeless, sheer-wall cliffs,
canvas for ageless petroglyphs,
its sandstone flats where dinosaurs trod,
its slot canyons choked with boulder clog,
till sunlight rises and full moon sinks
below azure waters etched with pink
and dazzling sunshine casts its sheen
painting red rock aglow and white rock agleam,
bathing Navaho Mountain in morn's new gold,
reminding of tales the ancients told,
flaunting coyote tracks ringing my bed,
testament that wildness is not dead.
My rousing mind celebrates all it sees,
till swarming gnats end my reveries,
and back to the houseboat I retreat
to forever relish Lake Powell memories.

Copyright 2003 by Charles Morlock

Groovin' Down the San Juan River

To answer the oft asked query after returning from a river trip, this is how! It is called "the groover" because in early river-running days, an ammunition box (like the white box in front of the toilet) was used to accumulate and carry feces out of the canyon, and sitting on the ammunition box left grooves on one's butt-cheeks. Mike and I volunteered to set up and pack up the groover each day as one of our camp chores, something much appreciated by all the others who therefore didn't have to do it, and in recognition of our experiences, I composed the following poem:

The job that no one else wanted to do,
Fell to the stalwart groover crew,
So the first thing set up when we beach the boat
Is the groover box, carried by Chuck and Goat.

A scenic view and some level land
Are the basic needs of the groover can.
We remove the lock and install the seat
And give them scenery that can't be beat.

Place the paddle where all can see
And if it's there, you've got the key!
They're as happy as punch that the job is done
And all traipse the groover trail, one by one.

Relief is only a short stroll away
So mosey on over without delay,
Lighten your load and put on a smile,
Please close the lid, then walk back with style.

But leave only solids, no liquids, you see,
Use the brown river when you pee,
And don't worry about any pollution,
'cause it's all taken care of by San Juan dilution.

Everyone contributes their weighty concerns
Before launch time arrives as our canyon world turns,
And just before shove off we pack away
the groover's accumulation of the remains of yesterday.

Copyright 2003 by Charles Morlock

Homage to Alaska

A rugged, demanding land, vaster even than man's ego,
the epitome of wilderness,
as teeming with wildlife as it is bereft of trails,
possessed of a beauty as staggering as its immensity:
mountainsides a vertical patchwork quilt celebrating autumn,
vibrant sunsets bloodying clouds
as evening shadows morph into darkness,
innumerable vistas screaming for attention
as Nature's palette displayed broad stroke
overwhelms mere mortal senses,
a mind quake attempting to seize the unattainable,
yet compelling sight and smell, taste and touch
to gulp and digest for spirit nourishment.

An enigmatic land of immutable contrasts:
exhilarating and exasperating,
enticing and foreboding,
invigorating and enervating,
terrain which can thrill and kill,
cloudless azure skies and smoke choked heights,
shallow silty beaded rivers and hundred fathom translucent fjords,
sea level and continental apex,
glaciers and wetlands,
rock solid mountains and trembling earth,
rainbow tinted daysky and Aurora highlighted nightsky,
towering forests and diminutive lichen,
unyielding boulder fields and mattress soft tundra,
ever sun and never sun.

For eons peopled by hearty souls
toughened by climate and topography
like iron made into steel,
the Tlinket and Athabascan,
Haida and Tsimshian,
the Stampeders and mountain men,
miners and trappers,
all blessed by this land, not broken,
relishing, not relinquishing,
thriving, not succumbing,
exemplars embodying values of fierce independence,
self-sustenance, and personal accountability
as each struggled for life and livlihood.

Just as surely as a people form a land,
the land forms its people,
and just as surely
this land and people transform visitors,
captivating, edifying, mystifying,
and like an alluring, magnetic mistress,
Alaska attracts and compels all to revisit
and once again become intimate with this bewitching lover.

Copyright 2004 by Charles Morlock

Spirits of Canyon de Chelly

Ancient Ones,
Anasazi and Hopi and Navajo,
beckon us --
come visit our once-stately homes
and view our fading rock art --
envision our way of life
and respect our life ways.

Many come, look, and leave,
but the spirits urge lingering,
whispering to all --
remain a while.

Hear the echoes of our voices,
feel our canyon winds,
smell our sweet desert fragrances,
taste our falling raindrops
and watch our arid sand
briefly harden, then billow again.

Feel the shade of our cottonwood
and marvel at our sudden waterfalls,
discern the wild presence
of our unseen mountain lions and coyotes,
then rest beneath our shade houses
and find respite from heat and troubles.
Camp within the embrace of our spirits --
so long departed
yet ever-present.

Osmose our culture emanating from cliff dwellings
petroglyphs, and pictographs,
absorb through every pore the presence
of Anasazi and Hopi and Navajo.
Revere our land as we did
and become briefly, joyfully,
one with our canyon,
our canyon that vibrantly
resonates our culture,
reveals our spirit
regales our history --
of good life lived
and good living yet to come.
Join in it.

Come toss your dream coins
into our de Chelly wishing well.
Contemplate as your ripples
grow ever outward,
broadening and deepening,
as knowledge of our ways
broadens and deepens
your understanding.

Then feel your spirit dreams soar
on our canyon breezes.
Feel our moods change
as it frenzies from breeze into fury,
lashing rain torrents from towering cliffs,

and feel us suddenly retreat
as blue skies and billowy white clouds
just as quickly replace
ashen skies and lightning.

Revel as our ancient spirits
exit our ruins
and invest you with
new-thought.

Traverse our canyon paths,
descend our Twin and Crack-in-the-Rock Trails,
labor up Yei Bi Shei and White Sands Trails,
trod where we trod
and sense us smiling
as you honor our ways.

Cherish the pony whinnies and coyote howls,
trace the circling flight of majestic golden eagles,
delight in our profuse bouquet
of cacti and wildflowers.

Tuck into your heart our stories and songs
and infinite wisdom --
of Mother Earth
of Father Sky
and Great Spirit --
hurdling you backward in time
but forward in personal growth.

And come back. Return often.
Bring others.
And begin your life anew,
now copiously enriched.

copyright 2008 by Chuck Morlock

Quotes re: the Outdoors

2008-09-05T05:46:00.001-05:00

Quotes from Literati Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.

(Anonymous)

Why wilderness? Because we like the taste of freedom; because we like the smell of danger. --Edward Abbey in Beyond the Wall Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed. --Wallace Stegner Wilderness is "the very stuff America is made of. Aldo Leopold Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. --Raph Waldo Emerson I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed Against the earth's sweet flowing breast ... Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. -- Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918) American poet He that plants trees loves others beside himself. --English proverb-- Away, away from men and towns, To the wild wood and the downs -- To the silent wilderness Where the soul need not repress Its music. --Percy Bysshe Shelley If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt....we must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it. President Lyndon B. Johnson, upon signing the Wilderness Act, 1964 We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to go there.... We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope. --Edward Abbey He who plants a tree Plants a hope. --Lucy Larcom (1826-1893) American poet In wilderness is the preservation of the world.... We need the tonic of wildness.... At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed, and unfathomed by us... We can never have enough of nature. --Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher, writer, and naturalist The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time. --Henry David Thoreau It's not easy being green. --Kermit the Frog Those green-robed senators of mighty woods, Tall oaks, branch-charmed by the earnest stars, Dream, and so dream all night without a stir .... --John Keats (1795-1821) English poet I remember, I remember, The fir trees dark and high. --Thomas Hood (1799-1845) English poet As the leaves of the trees are said to absorb all noxious qualities of the air, and to breathe forth a purer atmosphere, so it seems to me as if they drew from us all sordid and angry passions, and breathed forth peace and philanthropy. There is a severe and settled majesty in woodland scenery that enters into the soul, and dilates and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations. --Washington Irving (1783-1859) American writer What does he plant who plants a tree? He plants the friend of sun and sky; He plants the flag of breezes free; The shaft of beauty, towering high; He plants a home to heaven anigh For song and mother-croon of bird in hushed and happy twilight heard - The treble of heaven's harmony - These things he plants who plants a tree. --Henry Cuyler Bunner (1855-1896) American writer How still it is here in the woods. The trees Stand motionless, as if they do not dare To stir, lest it should break the spell. The air Hangs quiet as spaces in a marble frieze. Even this little brook, that runs at ease, Whispering and gurgling in its knotted bed, Seems but to deepen with its curling thread Of sound the shadowy sun-pierced silences. --Archibald Lampman (1861-1899) Canadian poet ...branches float on the wind more than they yield to it; and in their tossing do not so much bend under a force, as rise on a wave, which penetrates in liquid threads through all their sprays. --John Ruskin (1819-1900) English writer and critic That delicate forest flower, With scented breath and look so like a smile, Seems, as it issues from the shapeless mould, An emanation of the indwelling Life, A visible token of the upholding Love, That are the soul of this great universe. --William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) American poet Deep in earth's opaque mirror, The old oak's roots Reflected its branches, Astrologers in reverse, Keen-eyed miners Conned their scintillant gems. --Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973) American poet One summer afternoon, you find Some lonely trees. Persuade your mind To drowse. Then, as your eyelids close, And you still hover into those Three stages of a darkening doze, This side the barrier of sleep, Pause. In this last clear moment open quick Your sight toward where the green is bright and thick. Be sure that everything you keep To dream with is made out of trees. --Harold Munro (1879-1932) English writer The trees throw up their singing leaves, and climb Spray over spray. They break through time. Their roots lash through the clay. They lave The earth, and wash along the ground; They burst in green wave over wave, Fly in a blossom of light foam; Rank following windy rank they come: They flood the plain, Swill through the valley, top the mound, Flow over the low hill, Curl round The bases of the mountains, fill Their crevices, and stain Their ridges green.... --Harold Munro (1879-1932) English writer To the edge of the wood I am drawn, I am drawn. --Sidney Lanier (1842-1881) American poet In some mysterious way woods have never seemed to me to be static things. In physical terms, I move through them; yet in metaphysical ones, they seem to move through me. --John Fowles (1926- ) English writer It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. --Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish writer Let me stand in the heart of a beech tree, with great boughs all sinewed and whorled about me. And just for a moment catch a glimpse of primeval time that breathes forgotten within this busy hurrying world. --Stephanie June Sorrell (1956- ) English poet We have nothing to fear and a great deal to learn from trees, that vigorous and pacific tribe which without stint produces strengthening essences for us, soothing balms, and in whose gracious company we spend so many cool, silent, and intimate hours. --Marcel Proust (1871-1922) French novelist Like two cathedral towers these stately pines Uplift their fretted summits tipped with cones; The arch beneath them is not built with stones, Not Art but Nature traced these lovely lines,... Enter! the pavement, carpeted with leaves, Gives back a softened echo to thy tread! Listen! the choir is singing; all the birds, In leafy galleries beneath the eaves, Are singing! listen, ere the sound be fled, And learn there may be worship without words. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1870-1882) American poet One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good Than all the sages can. --William Wordsworth (1770-1850) English poet Forest could keep secrets Forest could keep secrets Forest tune in everyday To watersound and birdsong Forest letting her hair down To the teeming creeping of her forest ground But forest don't broadcast her business No forest cover her business down From sky and fast-eye sun And when night come And darkness wrap her like a gown Forest is a bad dream woman Forest dreaming about mountain And when earth was young Forest dreaming of the caress of gold Forest roots sing with mysterious eldorado And when howler monkey Wake her up with howl Forest just stretch and stir To a new day of sound But coming back to secrets Forest could keep secrets Forest could keep secrets And we must keep forest. --Grace Nichols (1950- ) Guyanese writer I want to head into the woods with my hands open. I want to look down into a canyon dusted in white With birch trees rising among the pine Like plumed arrows shot from the ridge. I want to live on the river and hear ice coming. I want to slow into the hollows of logs, smell The cold woods, bark and glacier. I want to hear Storms shake sound from the sky, let it boom around me! I want to hear the trees speak of snow While I stand in my doorway, listening. --Nancy Cheery (1955- ) American poet Why are there trees I never walk under but large and melodious thoughts descend upon me? --Walt Whitman (1819-1892) American poet In the country it is as if every tree said to me, "Holy! Holy!" Who can ever express the ecstasy of the woods? --Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) German composer I robbed the Woods - The trusting Woods. The unsuspecting Trees Brought out their Burrs and mosses My fantasy to please. I scanned their trinkets curious - I gasped - I bore away - What will the solemn Hemlock - What will the Oak tree say? --Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet (Above Excerpts from The Forests: A Celebration of Nature, in Word and Image compiled by Michelle Lovric for Courage Books, Philadelphia, 1996.) If you would measure the quiet majesty, the beauty, the sanctity of the woods, do it with a two-foot rule. Automobiles, snowmobiles, trail bikes, ATVs or whatever, will get you to the woods and through the woods, but to be a PART of the great sanctuary -- walk. And when you walk, observe, and think. Look thoughtfully at all of the things about you. Ponder over them. They are beautiful, silent. And above all things on earth, they are honest. And they are at peace. Let them remind you that you owe your allegiance not to you and your kind, but to them and their kind, for they are nature. -- Unknown One learns to make-do. One learns to make the best of very little. I use sticks to hold my hair bun together, large smooth leaves for toilet paper, baking soda for deodorant and tooth paste; and glowing candlelight in place of electricity. I actually SEW my underwear...mend the elastic, patch my pants, darn my socks. Nothing is thrown away. Even when my clothes literally fall off me, I recycle it and use it as rags. My washing machine is a stream and my dryer the sun, as my clothes hang on the back of my pack. I can learn to make-do and do without nearly everything, except people. People who care and love me. People I can hug. --Cindy Ross from her A Woman's Journey on the Appalachian Trail There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot. -Aldo Leopold from A Sand County Almanac The key to intelligent tinkering is to keep all the parts. --Aldo Leopold *** Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountains. Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest of wilderness. Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. When one tugs at a single thing in nature...he finds it attached to the rest of the world. --John Muir *** There is a delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell of the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value. --Theodore Roosevelt Beyond the wall of the unreal city, beyond the security fences topped with barbed wire and razor wire, beyond the asphalt beltings of the superhighways, beyond the cemented banksides of our temporarily stopped and mutilated rivers, beyond the lies that poison the air, there is another world waiting for you. It is the old true world of the deserts, the mountains, the forests, the islands, the shores, the open plains. Go there. Be there. Walk gently and quietly deep within it. And then -- may your trails be dim, lonesome, stony, narrow, winding and only slightly uphill. May the wind bring rain for the slickrock potholes fourteen miles on the other side of yonder blue ridge. May God's dog serenade your campfire, may the rattlesnake and the screech owl amuse your reverie, may the Great Sun dazzle your eyes by day and the Great Bear watch over you by night. --Edward Abbey (from "Beyond the Wall") If a man walk in the woods for the love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forest but to cut them down! --Henry David Thoreau Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from the masters. --Saint Bernard The world is not to be put in order; the world is order incarnate. It is for us to put ourselves in unison with this order. --Henry Miller I'd rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth. --Steve McQueen (actor) To those who have entered them, the mountains reveal beauties they will not disclose to those who make no effort. This is the reward mountains give to effort. And it is because they have so much to give and give it so lavishly to those who enter them that we learn to love the mountains and go back to them again and again. The mountains reserve their choice gifts for those who journey into them and stand upon their summits. --Sir Francis Youngblood Did you know that trees talk? Well, they do. They talk to each other, and they'll talk to you if you listen. Trouble is, white people don't listen. They never learned to listen to the Indians so I don't suppose they'll listen to other voices in nature. But I have learned a lot from trees: sometimes about the weather, sometimes about animals, sometimes about the Great Spirit. --and-- Hills are always more beautiful than stone buildings, you know. Living in a city is an artificial existence. Lots of people hardly ever feel real soil under their feet, see plants grow except in flower pots, or get far enough beyond the street light to catch the enchantment of a night sky studded with stars. When people live far from the scenes of the Great Spirit's making, it's easy for them to forget his laws. --Tatanga Mani (Walking Buffalo) We use the word wilderness, but perhaps we mean wildness. Isn't that why I've come here? In wilderness I seek the wildness in myself and in so doing come on the wildness everywhere around me. Because, after all, being part of nature I'm cut from the same cloth. --Gretel Ehrlich (from "Waterfall") No pain here...no fear of the past, no fear of the future...no petty personal hope or experience has room to be.... --and-- The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. --and-- Coming down from the mountains to men, I always feel a man out of place; as from sunlight to mere gas and dust, and am always glad to touch the living rock again and dip my head in high mountain pleasures. --all from John Muir Within you now are divine ideas for caring for our Earth and our global family....You have everything it takes to make a difference! We are one, after all, you and I. --Teilhard de Chardin The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild: and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the World. --Henry David Thoreau ("Reform Papers") What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. --and-- The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me and I to them. --Ralph Waldo Emerson Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not for every man's greed. --Mahatma Gandhi How many wilderness areas do we need? How many Brahms symphonies do we need? --Robert Marshall Do you flood the Sistine Chapel so that the tourists can get closer to the ceiling? --David Brower The Majority already has its roads and hotels. Only a small minority enjoy art galleries, libraries, and universities. Yet no one would suggest making these facilities into bowling alleys, circuses, or hot dog stands just because more people would use them. Quality has a claim as well as quantity. --Robert Marshall If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again. If you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man, then you are ready for a walk. and I go to my solitary woodland walks as the homesick return to their homes. and I have never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. --all by Henry David Thoreau In solitude alone can man know true freedom. --Montaigne Wilderness complements and completes civilization. I might say that the existence of wilderness is also a compliment to civilization. And society that feels itself too poor to afford the preservation of wilderness is not worthy of the name civilization. and Wilderness can be defined as a place where humans enjoy the opportunity of being attacked by a wild animal. --Edward Abbey Thousands of tired. nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers but as fountain of life. --John Muir There's a song in the canyon below me And a song in the pines overhead, As the sunlight crawls down from the snowline And rustles the deer from his bed. With mountains of green all around me And mountains of white up above And mountains of blue down the ski-line, I follow the trail that I love. --Charles Badger Clark (1883-1957) -- poet laureate of South Dakota You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know. --Rene Daumal More by Edward Abbey: * The plow has probably done more harm -- in the long run -- than the sword. * The most common form of terrorism in the USA is that carried on by bulldozers and chain saws. * Concrete is heavy, iron is hard -- but the grass will prevail. * Wilderness begins in the human mind. * One word is worth a thousand pictures. If it's the right word. * Only a fool is astonished by the foolishness of mankind. * When a man's best friend is his dog, the dog has a problem. * When wilderness is outlawed, only outlaws can save wilderness. * I come more and more to the conclusion that wilderness, in America or anywhere else, is the only thing left that is worth saving. * The idea of wilderness needs no defense. It only needs more defenders. * We need wilderness because we are wild animals. Every man needs a place where he can go crazy in peace. The task before you is never as great as the power behind you. --Unknown The less there is between you and the environment, the more you appreciate the environment. --Colin Fletcher The wild places are where we began. When they end, so do we. and A world without wilderness is a cave. --David Brower The greatest joy in nature is the absence of man. --Bliss Carman Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. --Also Leopold Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. --Albert Einstein When you are close to nature you can listen to the voice of God. --Herman Hesse Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do. --Michel De Montaigne Not to have known -- as most men have not -- either mountain or the desert, is not to have known one's self. --Joseph Wood Krutch Heaven is under our feet, as well as over our heads. --Henry David Thoreau Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. --William Wordsworth I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do. --Willa Cather Solitude means altitude and thin air.... It's the way we distance ourselves from human activity- to climb to the top of the mountain.... So many things with a wild heart operate in this way. -- Rick Bass Wildness is a civilization other than our own. -- Henry David Thoreau Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the last remaining wilderness be destroyed.... We simply need that wild country available to us even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. --Wallace Stegner Wilderness can be defined as a place where humans enjoy the opportunity of being attacked by a wild animal. --Edward Abbey The knowledge that refuge is available, when and if needed, makes the silent inferno of the desert more easily bearable. Mountains complement desert as desert complements city, as wilderness complements and completes civilization. --Edward Abbey Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. --Mohandas Ghandi The woods are made for the hunters of dreams, the brooks for the fishers of song. To the hunters who hunt for the gunless game, the streams and the woods belong. -- Sam Walter Foss Life is a fatal adventure. It can have only one end. So why not make it as far-ranging and free as possible? --Alexander Eliot To the dull mind all nature is leaden. To the illuminated mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light. Ralph Waldo Emerson "Hiking a ridge, a meadow, or a river bottom, is as healthy a form of exercise as one can get. Hiking seems to put all the body cells back into rhythm. Ten to twenty miles on a trail puts one to bed with his cares unraveled. Hiking - and climbing, too - are man's most natural exercises. They introduce him again to the wonder's of nature and teach him the beauty of the woods and fields in winter as well as in spring. They also teach him how to take care of himself and his neighbors in times of adversity. We need exercise as individuals. We need to keep physically fit and alert as people...history is the sound of heavy boots going upstairs and the rustle of satin slippers coming down. Nations that are soft and sleek - people who get all their exercise and athletics vicariously - will not survive when the competition is severe and adversity is at hand. It is imperative that America stay fit. For today, we face as great a danger, as fearsome a risk, as any people in history. --William O. Douglas, Justice, United States Supreme Court (Submitted by Kirk E.) To be whole and harmonious, man must also know the music of the beaches and the woods. He must find the thing of which he is only an infinitesimal part and nurture it and love it, if he is to live it. --William O. Douglas, Justice, United States Supreme Court. from Earth Apples: The Poetry of Edward Abbey Benedictio: May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing views. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets’ towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottoes of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you –beyond the next turning of the canyon walls. So long. p. 110 Some of the above excerpts can be found in Lora Davis's wonderful guide book, Hiking Trails in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area, Pruett Publishing Company, Boulder, Colorado, 1994.

Hooray for Wilderness!

2008-09-04T09:55:00.001-05:00

"We need the tonic of wildness -- to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and meadow-hen lurk.... We can never have enough of nature." -- Henry David Thoreau --

Aldo Leopold, founder of the The Wilderness Society said, "I am glad I shall never be young without wild places to be young in. Of what avail are 40 freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" This quotation was emblazoned on an attractive poster I had on the wall of my English classroom. For a dozen or more years, I had stared at that quotation without understanding what a "blank spot on the map" referred to. How could a map be blank? Then in 1987, while on a fifteen mile day hike on the Continental Divide Trail in the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness while vacationing in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a light bulb finally illuminated within my head and I comprehended what "blank spot on the map" referred to: a roadless area, unmarred by human conveyances and civilization. That experience changed the way I spent my long summers off while I was still a teacher (there are 3 main reasons for being a teacher, you know: June, July, and August!) and I became an avid, addicted backpacker. On that fortuitous Colorado day hike, I spotted campsites situated on the shores of pristine mountain lakes, meadows ablaze with wildflowers like I had never seen before (what with growing up in Chicago, Illinois,) and vistas which went on forever. A peace and longing settled within me which still exist today. It was obvious that to reach these campsites, one had to walk in with everything one needed to survive, and somehow that appealed to me, so I began researching this thing called backpacking. I had done some in the Boy Scouts, of course, using Dad's old army duffel bag and a sleeping bag made of wool army blankets sewn together by Mom. In the intervening years, equipment had improved greatly, but there were many necessities to purchase and much knowledge to acquire. I spent that fall, winter, and spring reading and watching for sales, and although outfitting a family of four proved costly, the benefits have proven priceless. To those yet uncomprehending of the meaning of that phrase "blank spot on the map," look at a map of southwestern Colorado, at the area between the towns of Durango, north to Montrose, east to Gunnison, south to South Fork, and back to Durango. You found an immense "blank spot" which encompasses the Weminuche and Big Blue/Uncompahgre Wilderness areas. This roadless playground is accessible only by foot or horseback. Over 100,000,000 such acres are now set aside as designated wilderness area in our country. We all owe a debt of gratitude and unending thanks to the foresight of the many people who over the course of more than a century have fought to set aside land in the form of national parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, state and county forest preserves, etc. But these wilderness holdings are now under attack. There are those today who wish to reclaim these precious, pristine wilderness acres for development -- to bulldoze for roads, to clear-cut for timber, to mine for minerals or oil, or to build expensive, expansive resorts or subdivisions. They do not care about the degradation of the land, the destruction of the flora, or the homelessness forced upon the fauna. Nor do they care about the farther-reaching damage wreaked upon the contiguous eco-systems dependent upon these wilderness areas. Greed, or power, or lack of vision, or whatever compelling reasons are at the root of these selfish, short-sighted actions, the result is the same -- Land is forever lost. And as my Dad always said, "There ain't nobody printing any more of it." We must save all the pristine land we possibly can now -- or our children's children, and their children, will "never be young with wild places to be young in." We cannot -- we must not -- allow that to occur. We desperately need "blank spots on the map." The complete text of the 1964 Wilderness Act is available here. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "We abuse the land because we regard it as a community belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." --Aldo Leopold -- "Man did not weave the web of life. He is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." -- Chief Seattle -- "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." -- Henry David Thoreau --

Disingenuous Disclaimer

2008-09-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

This non-obligatory Disingenuous Disclaimer is an amalgamation of others I've found, combined with my own additions, and totals over 200 different components. It's all in fun! Check it out.

NOTICE: This notice supersedes all previously superseded notices until subsequently superseded by a superseding successor.

* No animals were injured in creating this website * Prevent forest fires * Do not open shrink-wrap until you have read and agreed to the conditions contained within * Employees and their families are not eligible * Employees must wash hands before returning to work * Stay on the trail * Slower traffic keep right * Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope * No campfires allowed * Turn off engine while fueling * Do not cut switchbacks * Use in well-ventilated area * Do not pick the flowers * Pay toll ahead * Exact change only * Make all fires dead out * Void where prohibited by law * Does not include installation * Use only in well-ventilated area * In God we trust -- all others pay cash * Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate * Void where prohibited * Please recycle * Store in a cool place * Keep out of the sunlight * All rights reserved * If condition persists, consult your physician * Best if used before date on carton * Merchandise can be shipped only upon receipt of payment * Do not drink and drive * To order, call toll-free * Flush two times -- it's a long way to the cafeteria * Your mileage may vary * Plus shipping and handling * Sign here without admitting guilt * The Province disclaims all responsibility for the accuracy of information provided * Available while quantities last * Used with permission * List was current at time of printing * Some stirring may be necessary to achieve proper consistency * Abandon hope all ye who enter herein * For research purposes only * Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental * Call for details * See store for details * This end up * Sell by date stamped on bottom * Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law * Filmed before a live audience * Driver does not carry cash * Limitations on coverage and remedies apply * Do not stamp * Edited for television * Violators subject to arrest * Formatted to fit your screen * No passing zone * Slippery when wet * Official U. S. Government System for authorized use only: Do not discuss, enter, transfer, process, or transmit classified/sensitive material * Please remain seated until the ride has come to a complete stop * You are about to enter a world of mature farce * Some assembly required * Commercial signal theft is subject to civil and criminal penalties * Offer may end without notice * No shirt, no shoes, no service * All names listed are proprietary trademarks of their respective corporations * Use only as directed * Sales tax applies * Sanitized for your protection * Restaurant package- not for resale * Pass with care * No passing * Tax and title extra * Be sure each item is properly endorsed * Eat, drink, and be merry * Made of genuine imitation leather * You must be present to win * You need not be present to win * Show night or time may vary in your market * And now a word from our sponsor * Check your local listings * Colors may fade in time * One size fits all * Keep refrigerated * Price does not include taxes * Do not write below this line * Results vary by individual * No purchase necessary * Must be over 18 * Must be over 21 * Must be under 48 inches in height * For reservations, call your travel agent * This product is meant for educational purposes only * Use other side for additional listings * Stay seated until bus comes to a complete stop * Substantial penalty for early withdrawal * Times approximate * No solicitors * Check here if tax deductible * Objects in mirror are closer than they appear * For external use only * Batteries not included * Avoid contact with skin * Contents may settle during shipment * Some optional equipment shown * Always wear your seat belt * For recreational use only * Results are not typical * May be too intense for some viewers * Post office will not deliver without proper postage * Some restrictions may apply * Do not write in this space * Breaking seal constitutes acceptance of agreement * Penalty for private use * May explode if improperly recharged * Do not remove tag under penalty of law * Do not exceed recommended dosage * Apply only to affected area * Packaged by weight, not volume * Keep away from fire or flame * Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy machinery * Reproduction strictly prohibited * No alcohol, dogs, or horses * Not recommended for children * For office use only * At participating locations only * Motorized vehicles only * No motorized vehicles allowed * Blackout restrictions apply * No postage necessary if mailed in the United States * Not responsible for direct, indirect, incidental. or consequential damages resulting from any defect, error, or failure to perform * Do not disturb * Many suitcases look alike * For off-road use only * Simulated picture * This is not an offer to sell securities * Postage will be paid by addressee * Views expressed may not be those of the sponsor * Dry clean only * Do not dry clean * This space intentionally left blank * No trespassing * Prices higher in Alaska, Hawaii, and wherever you live * No user-serviceable parts inside * Contestants have been briefed on some questions before the show * Keep out of reach of children * Illegally parked cars will be towed at owner's expense * Opened for inspection * Limited time offer so call now to ensure prompt delivery* Obey all traffic laws * Contains no artificial colors or ingredients * Tax, title, tag, and dealer handling not included * Do not attempt this in your home * List each check separately * As seen on TV * Return to sender * Drop in any mailbox * Keep cool * Minimum charge for booths * Add toner * Replace with same type * Beware of dog * Your canceled check is your receipt * Post no bills * Close cover before striking * Not for human consumption * Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money * No other warranty expressed or implied * By order * No postage necessary if mailed on the World Wide Web * Not affiliated with any other company * Contains a substantial amount of non-tobacco ingredients * Positively no smoking * While supplies last * Stop ahead * No stopping or standing * Inspired by a true story * Read terms and conditions * Some settling may occur * No running on pool deck * In specially marked packages only * If this label is broken, you must purchase this video * If not completely satisfied, return for full refund of purchase price * Buckle up! * Prices subject to change without notice * Returns for store credit only * Please come again * Y'all come back again, ya hear * 15% gratuity added for parties over 8 * Plus tax * Shut off engine before fueling * Read the fine print * Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited * Orders subject to approval * The Surgeon General has determined that cigarette smoking is hazardous to your health * Official licensee of the U. S. Olympic Committee * No purchase necessary * No foreign coins * No passes accepted for this engagement * Shading within a garment may occur * Don't even think of parking here * Shake well before using * Danger: do not shake * 98% lean * Not responsible for merchandise left over 30 days * Might not be suitable for persons suffering from weak hearts * Apply only to affected area * Your daily dietary values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs * Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car and may cause health problems * Do not use if foil seal is broken * From concentrate * Not from concentrate * For external use only * For internal use only * For best results, follow directions carefully * Reapply as necessary * Water soluble * Cleanse area thoroughly before applying * Protect from light * If redness or swelling develop, consult physician promptly * Keep out of reach of children * Do not incinerate: contents under pressure * Professional sample - not for sale * Federal law prohibits dispensing without a prescription * Avoid contact with eyes * This bag is recyclable * Misuse may cause suffocation * Swim at your own risk * No lifeguard on duty * Keep away from edge * Truckers welcome * Exact change necessary * Touch tone phones only * Blend until smooth * Requires Windows 3.1 or later * Offer limited to residents of the contiguous United States * Allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery * Parental permission required * All international orders must be accompanied by payment in U. S. funds * Available in both IBM compatible and Macintosh versions * For information, call 1-800-WHAT EVER * Contest void where prohibited by law * Shipping not included * Not responsible for typographical errors * 30 day money back guarantee minus shipping, 10% restocking charge, and 7% cancellation charge * Specifications subject to change without notice *No transfers issued until the bus comes to a complete stop * Record additional transactions on back of previous stub * Call toll free number before digging * List at least two alternate dates * Prerecorded for this time zone * Approved for veterans * No Canadian coins * Booths for two or more * Processed at location stamped in code at top of carton * Place stamp here * Slightly higher west of the Mississippi * Lost ticket pays at maximum rate * See label for sequence * Process promptly * Not affiliated with the American Red Cross * We have sent the forms which seem right for you * All models over 18 years of age * Subject to CAB approval *

Bike, Hike, and Paddle

US Bike Trails I've Biked

Volunteer Vacations in the Wilderness with the American Hiking Society

Road Scholar (Elderhostel) Programs

My Idea of A Diversified Portfolio...

My Backpacking Locations

You can get buried in Worries of the world, But you can never Get too deep For the woods.

--Ollie Olsen--

This is a perpetually unfinished work as every year I discover new favorites.

May it ever be so!

Backpacking Info

My Volunteer Trail Projects

Chicago Area Bike Trails

Backpacking Colorado's Big Blue/Uncompahgre Wilderness

View from Uncompahgre Peak looking to the north. The valley between the two ridges is the trail from the Big Blue Trail to Uncompahgre Peak trail.

Camping above Big Blue Creek near intersection of Big Blue Trail and the spur trail up to Uncompahgre Peak Trail.

View from Uncompahgre Peak looking west at Matterhorn and Wetterhorn Peaks.

Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza is gone...

Paddling Locations in the USA & Costa Rica

Chicago Area Paddling Locations

Elderhostel/Road Scholar Adventures

Sierra Club Outings

Scenic Railroads in the USA

Scenic USA Highways

Chuck's Backcountry Poetry

Quotes re: the Outdoors

Hooray for Wilderness!

Disingenuous Disclaimer