The Ozark Highlands of Missouri and Arkansas offer a surprising abundance of world-class rivers for paddling… Continue reading at Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine!
Category: Paddling & Whitewater
Strange Encounters of the Canyon Country Kind
The encounter at Water Canyon was the strangest of all. Two friends and I were floating in an eddy on the Green River, deep inside Stillwater Canyon. It was six pm on a weekday in early June, with only a few more hours of daylight to find a camp for the night… continue reading at NRS.com!
Riding the Tide on Low Country’s Awendaw Creek
It was a warm and sunny morning in early spring when we arrived at Awendaw Creek Canoe Launch, the type of day when better-known put-ins across the country would be swamped with paddlers. But we were the only two boaters in sight… continue reading at Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine.
Escape to Nebraska’s Niobrara River
Upon reaching Nebraska, I exhaled in relief. Every direction offered nothing but rolling hay fields, plots of corn, and patches of wildflowers. I drove through the occasional rural town, mostly empty except for a few locals chatting around pick-up trucks in the shade of grain silos… continue reading at Duct Tape Diaries blog.
Creative Paddling Closer to Home
Have you ever driven past a certain body of water—possibly for years—without giving it much thought? Here are some lessons for finding creative paddling options closer to home… continue reading at Duct Tape Diaries blog.
Exploring Carolina Bays
Carolina Bays are elliptical lakes with a mysterious geologic origin: Driving into Bladen County, I catch my first glimpse of why I’ve come. Brief gaps in dense vegetation reveal the inky blue waters of mysterious lakes that have baffled observers for centuries… continue reading at Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine.
Following Midwestern Adventurer John Wesley Powell to the Grand Canyon
The middle part of this story is the best known. Learn what happened before the 1869 expedition led by John Wesley Powell down the Colorado River to the Grand Canyon… continue reading in Terrain Magazine.
A Little Grand Canyon in the San Rafael Swell
Things didn’t look promising. We’d left pavement behind and I was—not exactly driving—sort of skidding my truck through a mud trough in the rain. Up ahead, a soiled hatchback made like wet clay on a pottery wheel and spun around, slogging back toward the interstate… continue reading at Duct Tape Diaries blog.
Awendaw Creek Switches Direction: Paddling in South Carolina’s Low Country
The first time I spotted a sign for Awendaw Creek was a few years before we went paddling there. We were doing what most visitors do in this part of South Carolina’s Low Country, zipping 70 mph down Highway 17 through a box canyon of longleaf pine trees… continue reading at Duct Tape Diaries blog.
Going Boating to Go Hiking
We considered it more of a hiking trip,” said the mysterious raft guide. “We looked at the river as an obstacle to going hiking.”
“Wait,” I said. “Did you just say hiking?”… continue reading at Duct Tape Diaries blog.