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| Virginia Falls, South Nahanni River, Northwest Territories |
My big trip this year was organized around two weeks of canoe camping along the stunning South Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest Territories. It was everything I'd hoped for in terms of raw and wild scenic splendor! However, because of lots of fun filled opportunities along the way, it took me more than two months to get there and more than two months to get back, so all together the two week canoe trip morphed into a little more than five months away from home! In those five months, I was able to spend time hiking, biking, river kayaking, kayak sailing, canoeing and/or camping in 21 National Parks (19 of them in Canada) and at least as many rivers and lakes in all 10 Canadian provinces, 2 Canadian territories, and 2 states. Along the way, I met up with old and new friends to share in one or more of these adventures. For people who are not so familiar with Canadian geography, here's a map of the routes I took on the trip.
In the rest of the year, I was able to ski and snowboard in the northern Rockies, hike and bike in Arizona, paddle, camp, and motorcycle in Florida and Arkansas, hike, bike, and paddle with friends near home, and spend quality time with friends and family in Pennsylvania, Ontario, Alberta, and Nova Scotia.
For those who keep track of such stuff, I'm happy to share that I suffered no significant injuries this year. (I hope that doesn't jinx me for next year!) I'm so thrilled to remain relatively healthy and energetic, to have the interest and ability to spend time in so many breathtaking places in North America, and to have the comfort level and desire to go to new places and meet new people without much planning or anxiety.
On a more sober note, this year was also one in which I had several friends undergo significant, life-altering health problems, a paddling buddy who died in a tragic river accident, and the death of my mom. Events like these remind me never to take health or even life itself for granted. Life is short indeed!
The coming year looks like another good one for various forms of adventure travel. The main trip will happen in the summer, when I plan to head back to the southwestern US for a couple of weeks of kayaking with friends down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in July. Since I'll be out there anyway, I'll take at least a month before and a month afterwards to paddle and explore other wild and scenic places in Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. In addition to the trip to the southwest, I'm planning visits to Central America and the Galapagos Islands in January, scenic river paddling in Florida in February and March, and whitewater paddling in the southeastern US in April and May. In the fall, I'm thinking about whitewater kayaking and multi-day canoe or kayak trips in Ontario and Pennsylvania.
Further out into 2021 and 2022, I'm thinking ahead about longer multi sport (hiking, biking, paddling) trips to British Columbia and Alaska, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nunavut, shorter whitewater paddling trips to Colombia, Chile and/or Peru, and sailing tours to Scandanavia and the Mediterranean. I'd also like to organize a kayaking tour of the Georgian Bay in Ontario, probably in the late summer or early fall of 2021. As usual, if any of this interests you, please feel free to hit me up about joining for a week or two or more along the way. And if you've got something cool going and would like some company, well, same thing. I'm flexible and available!
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| Morning light on the Grand Tetons, Wyoming |
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| The South Prong of the Alafia River, near Tampa, Florida |
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| Cliffs along the Buffalo National River in the Ozarks, Arkansas |
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| Gigi was pretty happy about her Buffalo National River run! In northwestern Arkansas |
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| Cedar Falls in Petit Jean State Park, near Little Rock, Arkansas |
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| Georgian Water Colours: The Grotto in Bruce Peninsula National Park of Canada, Ontario |
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| Flowering splendor along Fairy Lake; Georgian Bay Islands National Park Of Canada, Ontario |
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| The top of "The Crack" in Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario |
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| Superior Water Colour: Along the Lake Superior shoreline in Pukaskwa National Park of Canada, Ontario |
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| Albert's Aspens in Prince Albert National Park of Canada, Saskatchewan. |
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| Marie shows the way on the Bagwa Canoe Route, Prince Albert National Park of Canada, Saskatchewan |
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| Rapid along the Ingraham Trail near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories |
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| Spectacular Virginia Falls, my favourite spot on the South Nahanni River, Northwest Territories |
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| The entrance to Fourth Canyon, South Nahanni River, Northwest Territories |
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| Some of our paddling buddies along the South Nahanni River, Northwest Territories |
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| Along the super scenic Highway 2, between Carcross, YT and and Skagway, AK |
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| Nan paddling in Chilkoot Inlet, the deepest fjiord in North America, near Haines, AK |
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| The Root Glacier in Wrangell - St Elias National Park, Alaska |
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| Canyon and Fireweed in Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon Territory |
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| Takakkaw Falls, Yoho National Park of Canada, British Columbia |
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| Pyramid Mountain and the Maligne River in Jasper National Park of Canada, Alberta |
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| A bunch of boats on Moraine Lake, Banff National Park of Canada, Alberta |
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| Kayak sailing on Lake Minnewanka in Banff, with Andrea (l) and Mary Anne. |
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| Heading in to the Western Brook "Pond," a 10 mile long freshwater fjiord in Gros Morne National Park of Canada, Newfoundland |
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| Bonne Bay at Norris Point in Gros Morne, Newfoundland |
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| Taylor Head Provincial Park shoreline, Nova Scotia |
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| At the top of Franey Mountain, overlooking Ingonish Bay, Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada, Nova Scotia |
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| Paddling with Tim (l) and Chris on Nova Scotia's eastern coast, near the Tickle Islands |
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| The cliffs at Five Islands Provincial Park, Nova Scotia |
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| The Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia |
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| Fall shoreline at Cap-Bon-Ami, Forillon National Park of Canada, Quebec
Finally, the link below should take you to a short "Best of 2019" slideshow that I put together. It is accompanied by a soundtrack called "Days of Beauty" by Ola Gjeilo, one of my favorite modern composers. As it happens, I had the opportunity to meet him a few weeks before I wrote this, at the conclusion of a local concert mostly featuring his recent compositions. Quite a thrill for me. Love his work, and love singing his stuff! Tap on the opening image (Virginia Falls on the Nahanni) to start the video. Run time is about 2:45. Hope you enjoy!
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Ontario and the Western US: https://photos.app.goo.gl/m4dgsEcBFDEvNCUu7
Fabulous Florida: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kekcVmK7Pt8xCNfe6
Arkansas Ozarks: https://photos.app.goo.gl/RQX9svFnMW43WNLp8
Best of Spring: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tHJs14teP7bGKE7EA
Georgian Bay & Lake Superior: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QimWB2Aq2vX7jBH89
Winnipeg to the Nahanni: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kzioE22wd9qeWPtm6
The Magnificent Nahanni: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ECB22YMDAvGheoik6
Alaska, Yukon, and a bit of BC: https://photos.app.goo.gl/M81KVxopE4YjizwD6
The Canadian Rockies: https://photos.app.goo.gl/oGni6VFoz5dNs6T58
The Canadian Maritimes: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7JfbHL3RimvNXwKB9
Navigation:
Intro: https://lotsofamazingplaces.blogspot.com/2020/05/
2019: https://lotsofamazingplaces.blogspot.com/2019/12/
2018: https://lotsofamazingplaces.blogspot.com/2018/12/
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