National Geographic Adventure magazine's latest issue has a great article on the "Snowman" trek in Bhutan. It was a fascinating article, and honestly, I would be seriously interested in doing this trek. The referenced article link looks like it is the full article from the print magazine, but I'm not certain. Regardless, it's a very good read.
Over the last about two years or so, my interests in the kind of events or adventures I do has shifted from being more adrenaline oriented towards that of being a really great "journey" or "adventure", or "experience". This really centers around mountain biking (or road riding as well), but I've been doing a bit of hiking, and my wife and I are discussing a backpacking trip this summer (we have never done a true backpacking trip (plenty of camping though)). I've been enjoying longer rides, and have been itching to do either a hut-to-hut trip again, or some other multi-day journey.
Some friends and I have been starting to consider a multi-day, full backcountry mtb trip. We've been looking at everything from a trip designed completely by us, fully self-sufficient, to things like the Ride the Divide, a 3 day, 100 mile mtb event in Colorado. My interests have really gone towards it being minimal people, very backcountry, as well as a very relaxed attitude (which doesn't mean we won't be doing big days or tough terrain, just that the people are relaxed and have the right attitudes). Unfortunately the two guys most likely to want to do this are both laid up with injuries at the moment.
Likely independant of that, I am working on a small Oregon tour for myself and friends this summer. Camp-based, and riding in a couple spots: North Umpqua, MRT, and Waldo are probably the requisites, and hopefully this one epic day in Bend (70 miles from what I hear).
March 2008 Archives
First off, a huge congratulations to Jill, for finishing the Iditarod Trail Invitational! Second, she wrote about her experience, and wow, what a story! This is a must read - great writing, great journey, certainly some crazy, and well, just go read it.
There is a great thread over on SlowTwitch.com about a guy who loaned his rear wheel to Bobby Julich during the Tour of California this year, and the whole ensuing story. It's a long thread, but a great story, and has a good ending. Check it out.