Ask Susan,
Your Personal Travel Counselor
Tell me how you really feel about paddling through gorges, water-dancing around boulders and portaging log jams. How about dropping cliffs on your mountain bike or hiking knife ridgelines? I see. Perhaps you are perfectly content paddling flatwater or mountain biking old logging trails? Do you need gourmet meals? Does your exhausted body require a comfy bed? Lie back on your couch with a glass of wine and let me help you solve your trip planning problems.
I am a journalist with 15 years of experience researching and writing about travel, with special emphasis on “soft” adventure travel such as hiking, paddling, biking, camping, skiing and snowboarding. The Internet has made it infinitely easier to research and book travel, but with all the information resources out there, it’s difficult to sort through the conflicting messages and choose the right vacation. My “travel counseling” services can rescue you from the abyss.
Wildlife Conservation Areas:
Abundance of Birds, Creatures Delights Patient Paddlers
As we paddled our sea kayaks unobtrusively through the reeds, twigs and shrubs of the Vermont wetland, we watched several osprey soar overhead, hover with rapidly beating wings, then dive with a splash into the water to snatch up a fish now wiggling between their talons.
During our paddle in Maquam Wildlife Management Area in the northern part of the Lake Champlain Basin, we counted five osprey nests. Over the course of several hours, it became clear that each provided a current home to a pair. We also spotted some migratory ducks, including a bufflehead meandering along the shore and a greater scaup scooting across the open water.
It was the first week of May, the weather was sunny and fairly warm, and we jumped at the chance to get out...
New Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge Offers Alaska Adventure in 2009
New for June 2009, Alaska Wildland Adventures, which has provided outfitter and guiding services since 1977, unveils its latest endeavor: Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge. The new wilderness eco-lodge, surrounded by Kenai Fjords National Park, is the only lodge within the park.
The rugged beauty of Alaska's spectacular seacoast is balanced with the creature comforts of private cabins, an elegantly rustic main lodge and hearty groumet meals. With only 16 cabins surrounded by the 1,700-acre Pedersen Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary, the Glacier Lodge offers a unique and uncrowded perspective of Kenai Fjords National Park. Guest cabins were designed to be minimally visible from the adjacent Pedersen Lagoon, while still commanding stunning views from within. The private cabins feature on-demand heat and electricity as well as full bath amenities.
Departing from Seward, a stay at the Glacier Lodge begins and ends with a marine wildlife and glacier cruise...