Hydro Flask

We are giving away some sweet 18oz. Hydro Flask vacuum-insulated stainless steel water bottles. So how do you get your hands on one? Simple! Get your friends to subscribe to Adventure Insider Magazine (and make sure you subscribe yourself if you haven’t already) and at the end of April we will pick one subscriber at random. That person will win one Hydro Flask for themself and one for the friend that pointed them our way. It’s that easy. So head over and Subscribe and then send your friends. Hopefully we’ll be sending you a brand new Hydro Flask in a couple weeks.

Shenandoah NP

Last week I spent a few days backpacking in Shenandoah National Park. I came away with rather mixed emotions on the park and a new feeling on the national park system in general. First let’s talk about the good. I was fortunate enough to visit Shenandoah in the fall and the colors of the foliage are amazing. Shenandoah is quite an oasis in the hustle and bustle of the east coast. Shenandoah has a nice feature on their website that lists backpacking trips by experience level and nights spent on trail (found here: http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/campbc_trip_plans.htm). However, make sure you find a trip and print out the PDF to take along with you. The ranger I dealt with at the visitors center was obviously a front-country ranger and was of little help in planning my trip. I am used to having a ranger with intimate knowledge help me do some planning. None the less I managed to find a trip that seemed interesting and got my back-country permit. The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (http://www.patc.net/) publishes great topographical maps of the area that you may find very useful planning and during your trip.

So what’s not to like? Well first off let me start by saying I realize this is simply a function of the size of the park and there is not much you can do about it. There are over 500 miles of trails in a park that, although is about 70 miles north to south only measures about 7.5 miles wide. What that leads to is such a network of trails that the word back-country becomes a bit of a misnomer. Again, there isn’t much you can do about that but if you are looking for true solitude Shenandoah may not be the place to look. In fact looking outside of the National Park system altogether may be the best bet. Keeping that in mind, when planning your trip using the Shenandoah trip planners, the trip may be easier than the title of ‘experienced’ ‘intermediate’ may lead you to believe. And in my opinion the worst part of it is doing loops just for the sake of making miles. I prefer to use my miles to put distance between other people and myself. I do, however applaud Shenandoah on allowing dogs on most of their trails. Other parks should take notice. Although Nixon couldn’t join us (read about his cancer) I have no doubt he would have enjoyed himself.

Skyline Drive, Shenandoah NP

Now comes the real kicker. Apparently Shenandoah has received a sizable chunk of money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (stimulus bill passed last year) and is putting that money into Skyline Drive (the road that runs the 70 miles from end to end) and refurbishing their overlooks. There are of course a few downfalls with that. Traffic, delays, and the noise can be heard even after being on trail for a while. But those are just inconvenient. The real question is that of the sustainability of what I have taken to calling the ‘development in the name of conservation’ policy. Does it make sense to find a place you want to protect and build a road right down the middle of it sprinkled with tourist shops where you can buy silly t-shirts, hamburgers and refuel your RV? It doesn’t seem that logical to me.

I look forward to hearing what you think about this. Please post in the comments below.

Our intention with this column was to offer pet gear reviews and share stories of our own canine (mis-)adventures with our well-travelled and sweet Chocolate Lab, Nixon (and his four-legged companions).

Two weeks before this issue was finalized our K-9 editor, Nixon was diagnosed with cancer. Canine Osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, is a very aggressive and painful cancer that originated in Nixon’s right hind leg. Five days after the diagnosis Nixon had his leg amputated. While this will impact his ability to hike, backpack, and swim it will not diminish his love for the outdoors. Nixon will be undergoing chemotherapy over the next few months, but sadly, the prognosis for this type of cancer is still quite bleak. Nixon’s a trouper, though, and we’ll all fight this together.

We would be remiss if we didn’t take this opportunity to encourage those of you with pets to look into pet insurance. Not surprisingly, the cost of the amputation and chemotherapy is astronomical. And, although Elizabeth and I had considered purchasing pet insurance as recently as a few months ago, we put it off. A big mistake we are now regretting. Learn from our mistake, if you have a pet, look into pet insurance.

That said, our first concern is getting Nixon back in good shape and that includes getting him back on the trail and in the water. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on his progress.

Our first adventure was trekking to the Salto de Limon (Limon Waterfall). This was our view!

The waterfall! The cool pool of water was welcome on a hot day!

We had a traditional Dominican meal when we got back from the falls.

The next day we visit Los Haitises National Park by boat and rode through the mangroves.

This is one of the caves we explored.

Day 3 was our favorite activity - waterfall cascading! We climbed up to the 12 waterfall and then and then slid and...

...jumped our way back down!

The next morning we got up bright & early to get on the teleferico (cable car) to the top!

At the top of Mount St. Isabel

The last day was my first snorkeling experience!

More snorkeling. So glad I had a waterproof camera!

Look for a full length feature on why the North Coast is the new destination for adventure travelers in the debut issue of Adventure Insider mag in a few weeks! Make sure you subscribe to Adventure Insider Magazine