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GreatOutdoors.com: inspire, equip, connect and GO
Creates a all nodes RSS feed- Video: Art Wolfe Previews The Episode on the American Southwest
As part of his ongoing collaboration with GreatOutdoors.com, photographer Art Wolfe previews another segment from his award-winning PBS series, Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe. This time, Art takes us to the American Southwest. - Art Wolfe Photographs the American Southwest
In this episode of Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe, Art visits the geologic time capsule of the American Southwest. Its bizarre and beautiful rock formations are the result of eons of erosion. In Utah’s Zion National Park, Art explores surreal slot canyons carved from wind and water and encounters the strange rock spires—hoodoos—that punctuate the landscape like giant exclamation points. In Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly, he goes by horseback with a Navajo guide to discover petraglyphs hidden in tribal lands. With its brilliant light, red desert rock, cobalt blue skies, golden cottonwoods and white-barked aspens, the American Southwest is a photographer’s playground. See Art's video introduction to this program. - Hiking the Teton Crest Trail
Early on the second day of the Teton Crest Trail, there comes a moment that defines this extraordinary hiking route. As you climb out of the cirque that holds pretty Marion Lake and work up to the low crest known as Fox Creek Pass, suddenly the magnificent bulk of the Grand Teton fills the forward horizon. And for the next several days, the Grand leads the way, dead ahead, looming larger and grander, as the hiker moves along past iconic Teton features such as Death Canyon Shelf, Alaska Basin, and Hurricane Pass. The Teton Crest is a route so distinctive that any serious American backcountry traveler who has yet to do it must view it as unfinished business. The Tetons themselves, rising abruptly and improbably high from the plain of the Snake River, are potent symbols of the West. One wonders that the national park that protects these mountains is by some people considered second banana to Yellowstone, it's larger sister park just to the north. But none of the parks in the West can rival scenery like sunrise on the Teton Crest as it rises above Jenny Lake. Grand Teton National Park is a place that demands some time to be appreciated, not a quick drive through. Unique among classic routes in the West, the Teton Crest Trail continues to evolve. With the opening of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort's new tram in 2009, the backcountry here became more accessible. And whereas the route was once generally thought to begin at Teton Pass near Highway 22, it now is universally considered to begin at the Top of the Tram above Teton Village, creating a 32-mile route, more or less. But one of the unique qualities of this hike is that it can be shortened or lengthened, or modified in creative ways, to fit almost any schedule or style of backpacking. read more - Luxury Adventuring on BC's Sunshine Coast
Amber expertly paddles her kayak out of Malaspina Strait and into the narrow north channel of the aptly named Secret Cove. This is a complicated coastline, with islands, inlets and hidden channels nestled among the rocky shore and forest, and finding this passage requires local knowledge. So I leave it up to Amber, and follow along just enjoying the moment, focused on working through the narrow channel. It’s the kind of day on the British Columbia coast you dream about: blue sky, bright sun, and only the slightest texture put on the surface of the water by a gentle north wind. In fact, this stretch of shoreline has honestly earned it’s moniker Sunshine Coast: just far enough north of Vancouver to enjoy a rain-shadow effect, but close enough to make for easy access. And there’s no better way to enjoy this landscape than to explore it by sea kayak. Amber and I paddle out of the sheltered waters of expansive Secret Cove, past Turnagain Island, and back into the straight before turning south to cruise along the small islands and inlets of Smugglers Cove. read more - Images of Jordan
Mary Beth Kratsas is an award winning photographer and artist who in over twenty five years of work has captured images of everything from revealing portraits and corporate boardrooms to the red carpet events of Hollywood. Earlier this year, Pennsylvania based Kratsas was invited by the Jordan Tourism Board to photograph scenes of her choice throughout the Kingdom during a three week expedition. Some of her images are below, and a larger collection will hang in the Jordanian embassy in Washington, DC, during a show in September 2010. And don't miss GreatOutdoors.com editor Peter Potterfield's story on the epic 50 mile hike from Dana Reserve to Petra. - Jordan: Cultural Treasures, Sophisticated Living and True Wilderness
Catherine Porterfield of the Jordan Tourism Board accompanied GreatOutdoors.com editor Peter Potterfield and noted Jordanian backcountry guide Yamaan Safady on their recent 50 mile treking journey from the Dana Reserve to Petra. Here is her video of the both the trek and some of her favorite places in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. And don't miss GreatOutdoors.com editor Peter Potterfield's story on the epic trek from Dana to Petra. - Jordan's Jewel: A Trek to Petra
We contour along cliffs of red sandstone, moving gradually higher as we follow the tilted topography as it cuts in and out of shallow drainages. Looking around at the complicated network of canyons sprawling below, I’m thinking, this could the Colorado Plateau of Southern Utah, not southern Jordan. But the Bedouin man crouched by a small fire making tea, his red and white keffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress, tied in the flowing style of the region, reminds me we are most definitely in the Middle East and not Canyonlands. As we work our way upward, there’s one little fourth-class rock climbing move, easy but exposed, then more sandstone slabs before an elaborate staircase carved in the stone appears before us. It’s a hot day. The storied Khamasin, a wind that originates in North Africa and blows across the deserts of Saudi Arabia, is stirring. Tomorrow will be a scorcher, and already we sweat through our clothes as we ascend the rocky slope. At the top of the ancient stairs we follow a narrow defile around a sharp bend. Suddenly, we are stopped cold as we emerge into the open. There before us the exquisite carved façade of Al Deir, better known as the Monastery, perhaps Petra’s grandest monument, rises into the blue sky. It’s a stunning sight, made more so by the abruptness of it, and the fact there isn’t a human to be seen. Incredibly, we have Al Deir to ourselves.
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