Summer is Coming!

This is definitely on my to do list.  My to do soon list.

It's not for inexperienced paddlers, but what I love about it is all the permutations.  From the head of the Cape Cod Canal you can get to four or five inns or b&b's in less than ten miles of paddling.  

I haven't done this trip yet, except for the loop from Woods Hole out to the Cuttyhunk Bass Club and back.  (I didn't stay at the club, but with a friend on the island...)  But it's part of a larger plan to finish circumnavigating the entirety of Cape Cod.  I've done from Massachusetts: Inn to Inn Along Cape Cod, and from Provincetown down to Wellfleet.  So though this gets a bit sidetracked--I'm going around the bay rather than through the Cape Cod Canal--it's part of a piece.  

The only downside about this trip, and sea kayaing inn to inn trips in general, is how much the weather can play with your plans.  So flexibility is the key.  Even in the relatively sheltered waters of Buzzards Bay, if the wrong wind kicks up you could be in for a hell of a push.  Or, if your smart, a lay in day.  

...

On this magnificent cultural hiking adventure on the largest island in the Mediterranean we’ll start with a visit to Segesta Archaeological Park en route to the enchanting, mountaintop medieval city of Erice, our first base.  From Erice we’ll set out by van to hike in a lovely coastal nature preserve. We’ll then transfer to the quaint Madonie Mountains, where our base will be a luxury hotel in a former abbey surrounded by olive groves and a vineyard. Here we’ll hike among giant holly trees up to dramatic vistas, and will also visit the port city of Cefalù with its ancient alleyways and dramatic Rocca towering over the town, which we’ll ascend.  We’ll wind up this amazing adventure with a stay in Taormina, the cliff top mediaeval city with views of Mount Etna, the highest volcano in Europe.  We’ll visit the Greek theater and Taormina’s many piazzas and palazzos, and hike to the hilltop village of Castemola.  On the last day we’ll hike on Mount Etna, Sicily’s greatest natural attraction. We hope you will join us on this travel event in Sicily, a world apart! We are offering this guided tour April 22 - 28, 2013 or by special arrangement for your gorup.  Please visit http://www.bredeson.com/sicily for further details.

Join Bredeson Outdoor Adventures (www.bredeson.com) for a four day, three night guided hut to hut snowshoeing tour in the wilderness region of Western Maine. By day we’ll snowshoe from one hut to the next through a lovely and varied countryside. Our adventure takes place in a region where a system of people-powered trails connects backcountry eco-lodges. When the network is complete, it will stretch nearly 200 miles from near the New Hampshire border to the Moosehead Lake region. At night we’ll stay in three different cozy and beautiful huts, enjoying delicious home-cooked meals prepared with local organic ingredients, warm comfortable beds and showers. Our bags will be shuttled and will be waiting for us when we arrive at the next night’s hut.  Full details are posted at http://www.bredeson.com/maine-snowshoeing.

This self-guided hiking trip crosses three linguistic and cultural borders and allows you to explore two of the most beautiful areas of Switzerland:  Wengen in the Bernese Oberland, and Pontresina in Grissons.  Those who have vacationed in the Wengen area describe the addictive quality of hikes based in and near this car-free village high on a hillside beneath the imposing trio of the Jungfrau, Eiger and Monch mountains. In recognition of this incredible beauty, the area, including Switzerland’s Aletsch Glacier, has been designated a World Heritage Site.  Midway through the trip you’ll ride the justly famous Glacier Express across the Swiss Alps to Pontresina and the Engadine Valley in the canton of Grissons near the Lake District of Italy to the south, and Tirol in Austria.  Four major passes lead up to this high alpine valley, which runs for 60 miles along a southern terrace of the Alps and has blue skies for over 300 days a year.  The Engadine combines crisp, dry air, forests, lakes and glaciated peaks. This high-alpine area is famous for its flora and fauna, and superb views.  This adventure is a big hit with all ages, including kids and adults.  Also available on a guided basis.  Full details are posted at http://www.bredeson.com/switzerland.

 

This guided September 15 - 22, 2013 hiking trip crosses three linguistic and cultural borders and allows you to explore two of the most beautiful areas of Switzerland:  Wengen in the Bernese Oberland, and Pontresina in Grissons. (This tour is also offered at other times by special arrangement for your group.) Those who have vacationed in the Wengen area describe the addictive quality of hikes based in and near this car-free village high on a hillside beneath the imposing trio of the Jungfrau, Eiger and Monch mountains. In recognition of this incredible beauty, the area, including Switzerland’s Aletsch Glacier, has been designated a World Heritage Site.  Midway through the trip you’ll ride the justly famous Glacier Express across the Swiss Alps to Pontresina and the Engadine Valley in the canton of Grissons near the Lake District of Italy to the south, and Tirol in Austria.  Four major passes lead up to this high alpine valley, which runs for 60 miles along a southern terrace of the Alps and has blue skies for over 300 days a year.  The Engadine combines crisp, dry air, forests, lakes and glaciated peaks. This high-alpine area is famous for its flora and fauna, and superb views.  This adventure is a big hit with all ages, including kids and adults.  While the September 15 - 22, 2013 departure posted here is adults only, custom family tours can be scheduled throughout the summer.  It is also available on a self-guided or private guided basis.  Full details are posted at http://www.bredeson.com/switzerland.

The Hiker’s Haute Route is one of the world’s classic, and challenging, treks.  The Route was established almost a hundred years ago, first as a ski route. It was later developed into a high-level hike. This July 16 - 26, 2013 hike links the two famous birth places of mountaineering in the Alps, Chamonix and Zermatt, each with its own fascinating history. (This guided tour is also offered at other times by special arrangement for your group.) The Route connecting these busy Alpine centers of activity contains numerous quaint and quiet villages, which you’ll pass through.  You’ll have glimpses into two countries (France and Switzerland), as well as into two linguistic areas (French and German) of the Swiss canton of Valais.  You’ll get to see an amazing array of over four thousand meter peaks on this trek, starting with Mont Blanc in the Chamonix Valley and culminating with the Matterhorn in Zermatt, that most hypnotic of mountains.  For complete details visit http://www.bredeson.com/haute-route.

Please join Bredeson Outdoor Adventures (www.bredeson.com) for this amazing guided hiking adventure from July 15 - 22, 2013 in Glacier National Park, the undisputed “Crown of the Continent” and one of the world’s most awesome wilderness parks. (This guided tour is also offered at other times by special arrangement for your group.) Its glaciers accent steep cliff edges, where mountain goats prance as the Walendas of the animal kingdom. Glacier is full of dramatic mountain ranges, alpine meadows replete with wildflowers and sculpted glacial valleys reflected in lakes. Acres of lush green parklands plunge down jagged red pinnacles, exposing some of the world’s oldest stones. Waterfalls roar, ice cracks, and rock fall echoes in scenery being changed and formed before our eyes. In this rugged one million acres, you’ll catch sight of bighorn sheep grazing in alpine meadows while pikas shriek close by.  A total of 62 species of mammal live here, ranging from the tiny pygmy shrews to the grand mountain goats, grizzly bears and elk. Welcome to rugged and remote Glacier National Park!  Additional details are posted at http://www.bredeson.com/glacier.

 

Join Bredeson Outdoor Adventures for a magnificent self-guided hiking vacation in the European Alps. Two of its most spectacular and beautiful areas are combined on this trip, from the high mountain peaks and traditional huts of the Austrian Tyrol to the fairy tale castles and forested mountains of southwestern Germany’s Bavaria.  We are also offering a guided tour from June 29 - July 6, 2013 departure, or private guided tours according to your family or friends' scheduling needs.  Additional details are posted at http://www.bredeson.com/austria.

Join Bredeson Outdoor Adventures for a magnificent guided hiking vacation in the European Alps. Two of its most spectacular and beautiful areas are combined on this trip, from the high mountain peaks and traditional huts of the Austrian Tyrol to the fairy tale castles and forested mountains of southwestern Germany’s Bavaria.  In addition to our guided June 29 - July 6, 2013 departure, we offer also offer this tour on a private guided or a self-guided basis. Additional details are posted at http://www.bredeson.com/austria.

What better cure for the wintertime blues than a place that calls itself the Sunshine State? Try cycling the Pinellas Trail: 47 miles of car-free, paved bikeway connecting northern and southern Florida. Start out in Tarpon Springs, and at your own pace head south to inviting destinations like “Honeymoon Island” and “Clearwater.” Conclude your trip in downtown St. Petersburg, a fresh and festive city overlooking Tampa Bay.

For a weekend trip, plan your halfway point in Downtown Clearwater and lodge at the Residence Inn or Gangelhoff’s Summerside Inn. Dining options from sushi (Chiang Mai Thai and Sushi Bar) to Mexican (Los Mayas Mexican Restaurant) are available around every corner.

 

...

Start along the shore in Santa Barbara and take the coast bike route through Montecito (stop in at the Four Seasons Biltmore for tea and jaw dropping views). This route meanders along Channel Road next to Butterfly Beach. Keep pedaling or walking to Summerland (about eight miles) spend the night at the Inn on Summer Hill, and come back the next day.

Hey Bulwinkle, is that You?

Type	Wilderness
Mode	Walking
Lodging	Rustic Mountain Lodge
Distance & Duration	It's the Appalachain Trail, but..ten miles
Difficulty	Moderate to Strenuous
Highlights	waterfalls and wildlife

We just missed it. The evidence was below our feet, imprinted in mud. Ben brushed the cleft, heart-shaped depressions with his fingertips. “They look pretty fresh," he said. I nodded silently, but I felt more exhilarated than disappointed. The tracks meant they were here. They were around. Perhaps if we hadn’t been looking in the other direction, if we hadn’t been talking so loudly, we might have seen one.

But our seven mile hike between the AMC Maine Wilderness Lodges had just begun. We'd scarcely left the first lodge, Gorman Chairback, and we had an entire day of hiking ahead before another night at Little Lyford. Cue the exhilaration. If we were on to sign this early, we were almost guaranteed a sighting.

Who wants to go? Cycling in the heart of the heartland.

What do you think, maybe four weekends? 

View WeekendWalk.Com Boston Outer Web in a larger map

We have long had this idea of urban spiderweb walking routes, connecting the endpoint of various public tranportation options.

Nantucket Sound? Sounds good.

View Coast of Summer in a larger map

Many years ago I took this trip with Paul Schneider, who was writing The Enduring Shore: A History of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.  I can't say enough good things about this trip, or the book, for that matter.  In places, it's incredibly beautiful and wild seeming; in others oddly suburban.  But when you get to Chatham, you'll feel like you've DONE SOMETHING.  

We Need You

This is part of a larger project to map out inn to inn routes along the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.   Please help us if you are familiar with this stretch of the river either as a paddler, walker, or cylcist.  

Inn to, er, Riverhouse, along the Allegheny River: Coudesport to Salamanca

Location	Pennsylvania and New York
Type	Inn to Inn
Distance	50 miles (but this is just the first leg...)
Mode	Paddling
Highlights	Incredible scenery, small towns, great B&B's (some places), Funky Hotels (other places).  History, Adventure...

Note:This is the first part of a grand project to map out an inn-to-inn route for the entire Allegheny and Ohio River.  Please feel free to contribute if you know stretches of the river(s).  

The idea was simple.  Start as high up on the Allegheny River as I could float my kayak and hope to find lodging in the towns along the way.  I was prepared to camp a night or two if it came to that,  but as usual I hoped to find a bed with sheets and a shower with hot water.

How's a Bayou?

Type	Rural, Small Town
Mode	Paddling
Lodging	Historic Inns and B&Bs
Distance & Duration	Up to 120 miles/3-7 days
Difficulty	Moderate to Strenuous
Highlights	Food, Music, Architecture, Wildlife

There are all sorts of places you can transport yourself into a different experience, but a bayou has to be among the oldest, tastiest, and most Spanish-moss bedraped places do it. Slow moving water deep in the delta has nurtured a distinctive ecosystem and culture for a long time. Stir it with a paddle and you’ll get your roux.

Oh the Er-i-e was a rising, and the gin...well, that's personal.

Location	Upstate New York
Type	Paddling
Distance	14 miles a day
Duration	Two Days
Highlights	Good Food, Fun, and the possibility of going all the way to...

Actually, it was more than fifteen miles on the Erie Canal. Much more when you factor in headwinds.  But now you have that song stuck in your head, don't you?

Day 1: Fairport to Macedon to Palmyra: 12.5 miles
Day 2: Palmyra to Fairport: 12.5 miles

I didn't have a mule whose name was Sal, but I had my husband whose name is Barry, and we needed an adventure for our 10th anniversary, so we planned a trip paddling inn to inn and town to town along the Erie, East of Rochester. You might know that the Erie has recently been designated a National Heritage Pathway; an (ambitious) paddler could travel hundreds of miles from north of Saratoga Springs to Tonawanda, near Niagara. I think of myself as ambitious, but also pretty lazy. I like adventure by day, but I don't want to camp after paddling 15 miles. But neither do I want to pay thousands of dollars for guided inn-to-inn adventures offered by established companies such as Backroads or Butterfield and Robinson.  So my husband and devised our own route from Fairport, NY up to Palmyra (about 13 miles) and back, staying in inns and B&B's. There are several areas of the Erie along which a couple or family of casual kayakers could make such a trip.

REPOSTED FROM BOUNDARY COUNTRY CATALOG

3 to 7 Nights Lodging/Breakfast and bag trail lunch

Spend a few days hiking the Superior North Shore through lush forests, past scenic waterfalls, over scenic ridges and along river gorges. After your day's hike, enjoy dinner and then sleep in comfort at a different lodge each night.

Featured in "1,000 Places to See in U.S. and Canada Before You Die." The rugged natural beauty of Lake Superior and the civilized touches of the Lodges, Inns and Bed and Breakfasts of Minnesota's North Shore bring you one of North America's finest hiking experiences, Lodge to Lodge Hiking along one of the continent's finest trails, the Superior Hiking Trail.

Reposted from the Classic Journeys Catalog:

 

It's amazing. An adobe wall changes colors constantly…amber at dawn, fiery at sunset, powder gray in moonlight. That trick of light and nature drew Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams and generations of other artists to New Mexico. But it’s just one of the reasons we love it here. Every view seems to have a backdrop of mountains.

REPOSTED FROM THE CLASSIC JOURNEYS CATALOG

The wildly popular book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has inspired any number of pilgrimages to the coastal South. But our journey digs deeper than the guidebook landmarks. Of course, we walk our fair share of moss-draped lanes—but instead of admiring fine restorations of prosperous homes from the outside, we go in for private tours and even dinner under the chandelier. We meet up with the Gullah culture, too, with its strong West African traditions and visit the country's most unique living history museums. On the sea islands and in the tidal estuaries, nature has always nibbled at the edge of civilization down here. And you'll see just how close it is on our forays onto barrier islands and lazy floats on streams populated by dolphins and woodstorks. To our mind, there's just no other region in America with such a distinctive meld of history, climate and way of life, and we'll share it all with you in gracious style on our walking tour of Charleston & Savannah.

RePosted from The Country Walkers Catalog

Re-Posted From the Great Freedom Adventures Catalog:

By Kate Williams Have you ever paddled under a hotel? How about along a river that was once completely full of logs, but now runs free? And if "almost roughing it" describes your preference, have you considered a multi-day inn-to-inn paddling trip? All of these scenarios are possible on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. And several lifetimes of equally enticing human-powered experiences are available in the Northern Forest Region, which extends from the Adirondacks to northern Maine.

Whether you are a paddler, a hiker, a birder, a biker, a history buff, or all of the above, this region is full of unique and wonderful opportunities. As Executive Director of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, I am fortunate to get to learn about these opportunities and meet the energetic and visionary people who steward and share them. I’ll be writing in this space every couple weeks, and look forward to connecting you with these special places and people, and hope my words will inspire some of you to pick up your paddle or lace up your shoes and start exploring. That hotel you can paddle under? It’s the Clyde River Hotel, in the village of Island Pond, Vermont. Visit www.northernforestcanoetrail.org. See more on “Paddles Needed” in our Plan a Trip section. [caption id="attachment_122" align="alignright" width="221" caption="Kate Williams"][/caption] Kate Williams, Executive Director of NFCT has worked in the fields of outdoor recreation, education and conservation for fifteen years. She served an instructor with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).With the Trust for Public Land, she sought to expand the conservation community's ability to connect land and people in meaningful ways Kate and husband Rob are avid Nordic skiers, runners and hikers, and live with their two children in Waitsfield, Vermont.

Pioneering the Little Illinois Trail 

Type	Prairie, Woods, Suburban
Lodging	mixed (note: the writer chose to do the route in sections.)
Distance	150 miles
Duration	Walker's Choice.  Epic, or just a day trip.
Difficulty	easy

“But it is so flat” is the usual response that I get when I suggest walking in the Midwest. The response is even more incredulous when I suggest that there is great hiking to be found within the Chicagoland area. No one believes that there are any decent hiking trails close to such a major city. But there are!

The Endless Beach

Location	Gasparilla Island, Florida
Type	Seaside, village
Distance	14 miles, walking and biking, plus strolls to good food
Highlights	Beaches, shells, great food, jumping manta rays, and family time
Duration	Three days, two nights, or keep walking 'round and 'round.
Difficulty	E

Ever walked on a beach and wanted to keep on walking? No turning around to retrace your steps? On an island, you can do it.  And on Florida’s pristine Gasparilla Island, you can do it on gorgeous white sand, stop to snorkel in crystal clear gulf waters, sort through 

obscenely big piles of shells for prime specimens, watch marine biologists document sea turtle nests, and catch glimpses of leaping manta rays, dolphins, and giant tarpon.  Once you make it to the island’s town of Boca Grande, you can shop at hip boutiques, eat real cuisine, not to mention home-made ice cream, and stay in a roomy ol’ downtown inn.

Exodus to "Little Egypt"

Day 1	Chicago to Carbondale, via Amtrak
Day 2	Carbondale to Golconda
Day 3	Golconda to Paducah, KY
Day 4	Paducah, to Cairo & back to Chicago

Most people think of the Land of Lincoln as Chicago plus pancake-flat prairie, but Southern Illinois is completely different. Just a trainride from Chicago, (with bikes on board) is a loop that reveals the area's unique history and culture.

All the Way Around Paradise

TYPE:	Beach, Woods, Rural
MODE:	Bike, Walk
LODGING:	Inns, Hotels, B&Bs
DISTANCE:	30 miles
DURATION:	3-8 days.
DIFFICULTY:	easy
HIGHLIGHTS:	Ocean views

Islands make for great inn-to-inn adventures because you never have to retrace your steps if you don't want to. They provide the perfect loop trails. Despite an unconscionable proportion of "private beach" signs, Martha's Vineyard is pretty much the ideal island for a two or three or eight-day walk. It's not only because we are partial to the place that we believe this. At 112 square miles, the Vineyard is laced with waterfront bike trails, wooded walking paths, white sand beaches, and towns conveniently placed about six miles apart, each with a different vibe.

Sunrise to Sunset on Sunset Boulevard

Day 1: Echo Park  to West Hollywood, 7 miles.

Day 2: West Hollywood to Santa Monica, 8 miles.

Day 3: Santa Monica to Malibu, 9 miles.

The weather is fantastic on this lovely Sunday, and my feet don't hurt at all, even though instead of some sort of athletic shoes I am wearing my brogues.Then again, I've only been walking four miles since my starting point, Echo Park and Sunset. Three more to go until my first evening destination- Sunset Plaza Hotel. But I still have the legendary West Hollywood to explore. First, I need food. XAI Verandah Lounge just recently opened for lunch, and is known for great sandwiches, comfy chairs, and... a hookah lounge.  After an amazing egg sandwich and a complimentary puff of a flavored hookah, I hit the pavement.

A long winter walk in the Sunshine State

Location	Florida
Type	Walking or Cycling
Distance	46 miles total
Duration	2-5 days depending on speed.
Difficulty	Moderate, especially for bikes.   No hills.
Highlights	being the first to report on this trip for Weekendwalk

What could be wrong with a forty-six mile trip on a rail trail running parallel to the moss draped, orchid festooned Withlacoochee River.  Walk it, paddle it, bike it, wheelchair it...your pick.  Stay in funky Old Florida towns like Citrus Springs, Floral City, Istachatta, and Trilby, eat at....

Okay, we haven't done this walk yet, which is why we call it a Feet Needed Trip: specifically, your feet.   Read more,  see the map and details, leave a suggestion...

If you walk the Withlacoochee, or have already done it, send us your best travel writing and photos using this simple form. You never know, we might publish them and help pay for your next adventure!

Travels with Charley in the Maine Woods.

Location	Greenville, Maine
Type	Lodge to Lodge
Mode	Cross-country skis, shoeshoes
Distance	19 miles
Difficulty	Moderately Strenuous
Highlights	True wilderness, animal tracks, blazingly bright stars, good home cooking.

This was not in the plan.

We have just pulled into a snow-covered parking lot in the woods 11 miles outside of Greenville, Maine.  It’s time to unload the car, slap on our skis, and take off on a four-day ski adventure through the wilderness.  This is a remote part of Maine my wife and I love; I took her on her first wild canoe trip not far from here, produced a bottle of champagne and a diamond ring beside a lake devoid of buildings or people, and while she now probably regrets this, she said yes. This is our first trip to such hallowed ground with our two boys.  The plan is to ski a few hours to a heated lodge run by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), where they will feed us fabulous meals and provide us with a heated private cabin for the night, while someone snowmobiles in our luggage so we don’t have to.  Then tomorrow we’ll ski to another lodge, stay an extra day doing nothing there, and ski back to our car on day four. 

Oh yeah, this looks good...you go first.

Location	Black Hills of South Dakota
Type	Wild Wild West
Distance	109 Miles
Difficulty	Epic on Foot, Moderate on a Bike
Highlights	Being the first to report on this trip for WeekendWalk, for which we might even pay you!

We can't wait for spring to come so we can check out the George S. Mickelson Trail  in the Black Mining Hills of Dakota.It goes though 109 Miles of the best of South Dakota, from Edgemont to Deadwood.  On a bike it's relatively easy to go fully inn to inn.  On foot, however, you may find yourself occasionally sleeping under twinkling stars between evenings you walk into town and book a room in the local saloon and check in only to find Gideon's Bible.

He Just Keeps Rollin'

TYPE:	Rural by the River
MODE:	Bike, Walk
LODGING:	Inns, Hotels, B&Bs
DISTANCE:	50+ miles a day
DURATION:	2-5 days.
DIFFICULTY:	Moderate
HIGHLIGHTS:	History history history, and the wide Mississippi.

When most people think of traveling across America they envision going from salt to salt--Atlantic to Pacific or vice versa.  But America's newest cross-country cycling route is neither of those.  The Mississippi River Trail (MRT) follows the river as closely as is practical from its pristine headwaters at Itasca State Park in Minnesota, to the southernmost point in Lousiana, on the Gulf of Mexico.  Whether you travel down from the Big Woods to the Big Easy, or up from Cajun country to the land of the Cheeseheads doesn't make much difference: the Mississippi is the big muddy heart of the heartland, and any trip along it is bound to be memorable.

A Tale of Two Cousins

Location	Southern California
Type	Inn to Inn along the Beach.
Distance	Walked 65; biked 30
Duration	3-5 days depending on route and rigor.
Difficulty	Strenuous, 18 miles a day, but could be broken in to smaller segments.
Highlights	Sun, Sand, Spa, Food, Drink, Life

After reading an article in Westways magazine about two women who had walked from Hermosa Beach to Topanga Canyon, my cousin & I decided WE could do this.  Each year we try and do a trip together and for some reason we seem to make them a challenge. Could it be because we are both competitive? So we started to plan our trip and thought why not start in Laguna where I live and go to Santa Monica where we could enjoy a spa day at the end of our trip.

 Slip Sliding Our Way

Location	The White Mountains of New Hampshire
Type	Snowshoes up and down mountains.
Distance	16-25 miles; 5 to 8 miles daily
Duration	2-4 days depending on route
Difficulty	Strenuous; snowshowing is always aerobic.
Highlights	Incredible views of the mountains in winter.  Crisp air.  Sore calves, well earned dinners.

“The technical term is glissade,” said Erica Marcus with a smile.  “That’s what you probably want to call it when you get back home.” 

My friends and I took to the new word with alacrity, trying it out and rolling it around on our tongues with approval as Ms Marcus bade us farewell and disappeared around the corner in front of us.  

Need a little Christmas?

Kate Hooper takes a weekend stroll around a festive New York City and finds some magic along the way.

Location	New York City
Type	Quintessential Urban
Distance	Just a few miles
Duration	Two days, one night
Difficulty	Easy, slow and steady. Because you just can't window shop at warp speed.
Highlights	The delicate holiday windows at Tiffany's; the painterly winter sun bathing the skyline in a warm orange glow; watching a young man drop to one knee on the ice at Rockefeller Center to propose, and the joyous roar from thousands of passersby when she said "Yes!"

Granted, the holidays were busting out all over, and New York City had been tarted up with lights for weeks, but my holiday mojo, like Santa, hadn't yet come to town. The prescription? Get off the couch, connect with my inner Auntie Mame, belt out, "We need a little Christmas, right this very minute," and set off on some holiday spirit-inducing strolls. 

...we did the requisite, let’s-go-take-a-quick-look at the Rockefeller Center Tree, expecting the usual postcard view with flapping gold and silver flags, throngs of tourists and giant toy soldiers standing guard over the skating rink. The view was, 

as ever, lovely, but not all that special ‘til we spotted a young man on the skating rink drop down on one knee and propose to his skating partner. A slight hush came over thousands of passers-by as they realized what was happening, followed by a joyous roar when she nodded and said yes.

Location	Fairfield County, CT., and a little bit of NY
Type	Village, countryside
Distance	Just under 30 miles, (or 20 miles if you take the train partway)
Duration	Three Days, two nights
Difficulty	Easy to moderate (second day was 14 miles)
Highlights	Small towns, historic inns, great food and drink

: 

It's easy to travel inn to inn along Fairfield County's trails and mainstreets. This walk, from the Silvermine Tavern in Norwalk, to Ridgefield's Stonehenge Inn crosses into New York state for a stretch. Though it was late fall when Anne Lutz Fernandez (author of the recently published book Carjacked, The Culture of the Automobile and its Effect on our Lives) trekked the twenty-something miles from inn to inn and back, this is an ideal walk for (almost) any season. And  it's a cinch to hop on the train if you only want to walk in one direction.

Location: Beaches skirting the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Santa Cruz, Capitola, Moss Landing, Monterey (California)

Type: Seaside, mostly beaches

Distance: 40 miles; 7.5 to 12 miles daily

Duration: Five days, four nights

Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous; soft sand and terrain can be strenuous on Monterey County beaches

Highlights: Incredible beaches and dunes, both populated and remote; inns, great food and drink (s'mores on the beach)

 

I’ve taken countless strolls on the beaches in the twenty plus years I’ve lived in Santa Cruz County, but I did not appreciate nor truly understand the Monterey Bay until I walked inn to inn along 40 miles of its beaches from Santa Cruz to Monterey.

This is a walk, timed for low tides, that transports you from bluff to dune, from surfer’s paradise and the screams of the boardwalk to the solitude of nothing but the surf and your feet upon miles of untracked sands. Flip off your phone and you are practically alone in this universe, save for your companions and a perch fisherman or two.

A Long Walk in the Big Woods

Location	Mackenzie River Oregon
Type	Walking, National Forest
Duration	3-5 Days
Lodging	Mixed.  Primitive shelter, Luxurious Inn
Difficulty	Strenuous.  20 mile days, but with a layover.
Highlights	Incredible scenery, and a great rustic inn and the end.

Editor's Note:  This report comes from our new friend John Aebi-Magee, who regularly puts in fifteen to twenty miles a day.  It appeared previously at his site, Walking Inn to Inn, and he has kindly given us permission to republish it.  A multiple award-winning environmental entrepreneur,  John is the moving force behind the Sustainability Store, Earth Care Paper, Ultralight Living, and Wool Revolution.  Please visit them.  --PS

 

{cptags}

Guides and Package Tours from Around the World. 

Bike Inn-to-Inn with Butterfield and Robinson, islands of British Columbia

Location:  British Columbia Islands

Type: "Bespoke" Biking trip- you design your own Spa to Inn to Lodge biking, stopping at wineries, going by boat from island to island.

Duration: variable/customizable

Endurance: moderate

Luxe Level: way up there.

Price: Very expensive to even more expensive, depending on length and stops.

Highlights: Wine, spas, swimming holes, forest canopies, islands.

Outfitter: Butterfield & Robinson

Location: Colorado and Utah

Duration: 6 days

Endurance: Moderate

Price: $2,598 per person

Outfitter:  Country Walkers

Location: Yosemite

Duration: 6 days

Endurance: Moderate

Price: $3,698 per person

Outfitter:  Country Walkers

Location: Yellowstone Park

Duration: 6 days

Endurance: Moderate

Price: $2,898 per person

Outfitter:  Country Walkers

Location: Bryce and Zion Canyons, Utah

Duration: 6 days

Endurance: Moderate

Price: $2,698 per person

Outfitter:  Country Walkers

Location: Grand Canyon

Duration: 6 days

Endurance: Moderate

Price: $2,998 per person

Outfitter:  Country Walkers

Location: Alaska: Kenai Peninsula Duration: 6 days Endurance: Moderate Outfitter: Country Walkers Price: $2500+

 

Adirondack Idyll

Location	Saranac Lake, New York
Type	Lake, Mountain, River,
Distance	30 miles, give or take, depending on your propensity to zizag.
Highlights	Mid-summer in the Adirondacks.
Duration	3-5 days
Difficulty	easy, with the exception of the rapids at the end, which can be skipped or portaged.

We paddled out onto Middle Saranac Lake on a breezy summer afternoon with no other plan than to revisit the scene of some happy voyages I had undertaken during the writing of my first book, The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness, and to fill in a few blanks in our personal map of the park.  The route we had in mind was part of the magnificent Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which officially opened in 2005. It’s kind of like an Appalachian Trail for paddlers, linking rivers and lakes from the middle of New York State to the top of Maine, but we had no intention of going even a tenth that far.  We were just out for a leisurely paddle, mixing a night or two of camping with a couple of days in town.

September on Puget Sound

 Overnight Over There

 

Location	Marin Headlands,CA
Type	Seaside/Mountain
Distance	About 10 miles
Duration	Around 4 hours
Difficulty	Moderately easy
Highlights	Unbeatable views of the Pacific

From San Francisco, you can walk over the bridge...to the Marin Headlands and Fort Cronkhite. An intersecting series of trails afford some of the most beautiful views you will ever encounter. For a while you’ll be able to see San Francisco—on a clear day it glints white in the sun. After a while the city disappears. Except for other hikers, you’ll be alone with your companion, the sea, the sky, and occasional glimpses of wildlife.

Walking Into the Past. And Beer.

Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Type	Inn to Inn Walking or Cycling
Distance	roughly 24 miles
Duration	Three days/two nights
Difficulty	Moderate
Season	Spring
Highlights	Historic sights, backyard gardens, great beer, great food

In recent years, a non-profit group called the PATH Foundation has been carving out trails for walkers and bikers around Atlanta, and one of those starts right down the street from the Martin Luther King Center and continues 18 miles east all the way to Stone Mountain, a massive granite dome emblazoned with icons of the Confederacy that nod to a past the progressive city would rather forget (and these days often does).

Walking or Biking The Kettle Valley Railway Trail

Location:	Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Type:	Rural/Village
Distance:	10 miles
Duration:	Two days/one night
Highlights:	A glorious walk in Wine Country (railtrail)

The Kettle Valley Railway (trail) heads up along the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake toward the village of Naramata and beyond. Climbing steadily, but never steeply, it takes you ever higher, until the views of the lake, vineyards, and orchards look increasingly as they do to the many eagles that fish the blue waters below.

Check out the cover of this month's issue of Westways Magazine. That's our founder, Jamie Stringfellow, on the cover, with her story about walking from Hermosa Beach to Malibu. For Westways Magazine, Jamie walked 34 miles from Hermosa to Malibu. There’s a shorter walking adventure you might like and an invitation to share your best Southern California tips in our Plan a Trip section. Click here to read Jamie's article in PDF format (warning: it's a big file and takes a minute to load the entire article) You can also view the article on the Westeways site at www.aaa.com/westways. A note about that link: Before you can view the WestWays Magazine site, you have to enter your zip code into the AAA.com site. If you enter a zip code, such as 90210, that falls in the circulation area, you'll see the article. If you enter a zip code outside the WestWays distribution area, the AAA national office directs you to the corresponding regional site.

Uptown, Downtown, Around Town.

Location	New York
Type	Urban/New York City
Distance	30 miles
Duration	2-4 Days
Difficulty	Traveler's Choice
Highlights	Spring, great food, music… ummm – IT’S NEW YORK

“It occurred to me as well that for all the walking around I have done in the quarter century I have either lived, or wished I was still living in New York City, I had never really walked AROUND Manhattan. Never gone to the river and turned left or right and not stopped until I got back to where I started.”

Keep the sea on your right and you'll get there.

Moon Over Marin

Location	Marin County, California (Mt. Tamalpais, Stinson Beach, Muir Beach)
Type	Seaside/Mountain
Distance	Trail to Muir Beach about 3.5 miles
Duration	An hour, maybe a bit more
Difficulty	Moderately easy
Highlights	Great food, great bed, full moon
Bike Trip	This trip can be done as a 12-mile bike trip
Duration	2 days, 1 night, with time-outs

One of my favorite-ever overnight hike/bike excursions took place in and around Mt. Tamalpais in southern Marin County, California.

At the time I was living in Berkeley, so my biking buddy and I traveled across the Bay together, parking at Mt. Tam’s Pan Toll Ranger Station. From there we took off on our bikes, wheeling down the mountain to Highway 1 and heading north along the coast. We stopped at some point, spending time on the beach—yes, oneof those Northern California beaches, with high cliffs and pounding waves and lots of driftwood—before turning around.

Go ahead try them all....you're the designated walker.

 

Location:	Sonoma County California
MODE:	Bike, Walk
LODGING:	Inns, Hotels, B&Bs
DISTANCE:	15 miles
DURATION:	2 days.
DIFFICULTY:	Moderate
HIGHLIGHTS:	Fine Wine, Fine Food, Fine Friends and Fine Lodging.

My fantasy getaway involved lots of time spent on bucolic mountain trails and to be within walking distance of good eateries, fun activities, and a winery or two. Our destination: the tiny Sonoma Valley hamlet of Glen Ellen.

A family finds itself in the big city

Location	Texas
Type	Urban/Dallas
Distance	15 Miles
Duration	3 days/2 nights
Difficulty	Wheelchair Accessible
Highlights	Great food, great bed

We were nervous and excited at the same time. When my little family of four stepped away from our car to begin our three-day walk across the big city of Dallas with nothing but our backpacks of clothes, we felt like...well, pioneers.

We’d driven in from our home in Shreveport and left our car at SMU, but I bet even a full-time Dallas resident might feel the same trepidation, stepping off the DART train at the Mockingbird station and setting off without even one horsepower of locomotion.