Birth of a Creek

We were in Orange County, California this past weekend with a couple of free hours; time enough for a morning hike. A Google search of nearby trails led us to Santiago Oaks Regional Park, a 1,269-acre oasis of semi-wilderness in the midst of SoCal’s urban sprawl. This secluded refuge offers […]

Honoring those who searched for the Fitz

If you’re a fan of Great Lakes freighters or if your friends are, you’re seeing many posts today about the Edmund Fitzgerald on this 40th anniversary of her tragic sinking with all 29 crew members on board. Here’s a video and song about a lesser known aspect of that tragedy. […]

Video of this year’s Door County Sea Kayak Symposium

Each year the Door County Sea Kayak Symposium (DCSKS) takes place during the second weekend of July at Rowley’s Bay near the northern end of Wisconsin’s Door County. In the 2015 edition, 170 kayakers with skills ranging from novice to advanced took part in classes and trips led by 38 […]

Some Like It Cold: Sheboygan Surfing

“From countless hours of reading surf magazines, he realized for the first time that Sheboygan was in the best location for surfing anywhere on the Great Lakes. Understanding that surfers are only restricted by geographic necessity (a coastline that generates sizable waves), he no longer saw a series of river […]

White water on the Red River

For more years than anyone can remember there’s been an organized Tuesday evening paddle on the Red River near Gresham, Wis., from early spring deep into autumn. I’ve seen anywhere from four to 17 paddlers of all ability levels join in. The great thing about the Red, compared to many […]

Island Hopping on Lake Michigan

This past weekend I paddled and camped a portion of what might one day be America’s newest national park. There’s an effort underway to place The Grand Traverse Islands — — islands and some surrounding mainland from Wisconsin’s Door County to Upper Michigan’s Garden Peninsula — under control of the […]