In 2008, the province of Buenos Aires banned the used of plastic bags. In 2004, the province of Mendoza prohibited the use of non-biodegradable bags. In 2005, the province of Chubut, in Patagonia, prohibited the use of polyethylene bags. The same happened in the Patagonian tourist towns of El Bolson in Chubut, (2006) and El Calafate in Santa Cruz (2007).

Yet, as of today, only the town of Calafate is …

Disclaimer - GRAPHIC and DISTURBING images (see the full entry here )

“Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.” Henry David Thoreau

It seems that lately, I have been writing more about the tragedies I am witnessing than the beauties of exploring this incredible planet. Unless you find yourself secluded in the middle of nowhere – but again, our pollution and destruction …

This land has been many things to many people. For Magellan and Drake, it was the land of giants. For FitzRoy, it was the beginning of the end. For Darwin, it was a trip that would change his life. For Jeremy Button, it was his home, then his curse. For St-Exupery, Patagonia was his muse. And for Chatwin and Theroux, it became their salvation. For me, this vast land, this …

“I had become incapable of reflection; my mind had suddenly transformed itself from  a thinking machine  into a machine for some unknown purpose. To think was like setting in motion a noisy engine in my brain; and there was something there which bade me still, and I was forced to obey. My state was one of suspense and watchfulness: yet I had no expectation of meeting with an adventure, and …

RK is the Head Technician at Sherpa Adventure Gear; which means he’s the main authority on garment construction, pattern making, as well as overseeing the quality control for production. He has an uncanny knowledge for proper garment fit and construction …

The Gore-Tex TransRockies Run is a fully supported, six-day stage race that takes participants (in teams of two) 120-miles through Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Runners start at the town of Buena Vista and run singletrack and dirt roads through Leadville and …

The Adventure Racing Season for us this year has been quite a huge feat. This summer we teamed up with GearJunkie to create Team YogaSlackers/GearJunkie. Our mission is to test the crap out of all our gear, go fast, take chances and have as much fun as humanly possible.  So far we have done all of the above… plus a little more.

After our first …

One unofficial job of a ridgerunner is playing messenger. It is a sometimes stressful (wait… who was I supposed to tell that to again?), sometimes rewarding task.

Recall a recent encounter of the adorable variety:

One morning I pass an elderly gentleman who thru-hiked way back when and is now doing a section hike with one of his old thru-hiking buddies. We stop to chat, and I find out that …

Twice the first day, and once for the following three days, ‘Mami’ prepared the local remedy for me to drink. Despite its unappealing pea-green color and potent taste, I sucked down each glass, willing to try anything that would …

My few weeks in California went by faster than ever… The memorial was fantastic and I left Santa Barbara feeling even more inspired than ever by the man who had helped me with the tools I needed to fulfill my dreams…

With the help of Patrick at North Sails in …

It’s more than halfway through the season and I’ve begun to notice a pattern: the amount of red-headed male thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail… is disproportionately high.

I find freckles cute and sunburns endearing, thus in everyday life I have found myself wondering, “Where are all the red-headed boys?” They’re not at the gas station or the grocery store, the library or the corner cafe.

And then I started work …

… I decided I’d hang out with the kids from then on. Although they still looked at me googly-eyed from time to time, they usually just wanted candy. As school was out for ‘winter break’, we held geography and eco-talks aboard Swell, rewarding good answers with “bonbon Californie” (Californian candy) as they liked to call it.

After nearly a week at the quay, the surf was fading, and I readied …

The wind was 15-20 knots hard on the nose as I beat my way 10 miles across the atoll. Sure enough, at a few miles out, I spotted masts sticking up through the coconut trees!?!

“It’s true! There really is a haul-out yard out here in the middle of nowhere!?!” I cheered into the wind. A smiling young man met me in a dinghy to guide Swell between the numerous …

The two major trail towns in Connecticut are Kent and Salisbury, and they can …

I evaded the second lunch with Jacques the following day when a customs boat circled outside the quay around midday…

They launched their tender, and a group of uniformed men came speeding toward the quay. The captain scrambled out of the dinghy, then stormed over to Swell.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in a fuss in French. “This dock is for cargo ships and official French vessels ONLY!”…

When the door to the propeller plane closed, I was alone again… but not for long. I sat under the shaded airport waiting area for less than a minute before an old man teetered over to greet me. I was used to being approached by the locals here; it was just part of being a new face in a town of less 200 inhabitants.

The old man hardly breached four …

R.I.P., boots.

 Sweet watch tan?

Trunk chaos.

Poor nutrition.

So many paperbacks.

 Thru-hiker’s digitz.

And laundromat parties.

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Throughout elementary school, I tagged along with my dad to local biathlons and triathlons where I always competed in …

I’m not the only ridgerunner in my section…

Tristan Sprenkle (a.k.a. T. Sprinkle) hails from the small town of Kramer, Pennsylvania. “We have a gas station and a pizza place,” he says. “If you want anything that’s not there you have to drive to the next town. But the pizza is pretty awesome.”

This statement illustrates Sprenkle’s optimistic, if sometimes contradictory, take on life: Sprenkle is a vegan hunter who …

1. A plastic Buddha figurine.

2. A baby blue 3-speed bicycle.

3. Half a deer (no sign of the other half).

4. A winter sled.

5. A straw sombrero, which is now the official AMC 15-passenger van driving hat.

6. … And a PUPPY!

(This is …

After rising to our great challenge, the sea rewarded us with smooth sailing through the afternoon until the wind dropped off entirely and we motored on into the calmest, starriest night I could ever remember in this wind-worn belt of the Pacific.

Rotating on 3-hour watches, I relieved Crystal just after 3 a.m. Swell plowed on into the moonless galaxy of twinkling starlight and bubbling phosphorescence. I felt Barry there …

Many people dream of the day when they will complete a successful thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, when they will look out from the summit of Mt. Katahdin and know they have traversed essentially the entire length of the East Coast on foot.

Unfortunately, as a broke college student I currently lack the time and resources to fulfill this particular dream, as well as the audacity to put my education …

We’d both hardly taken a breath upon setting the sails, when… POP!!!! The headsail let go at the mast head and tumbled down into the sea?!!

What!?

I scrambled to the bow, followed by Crystal, and we heaved the wet mess aboard. Swell proceeded to drift quietly in the light wind, while Crystal and I stood there holding the sail, rather dazed…

Upon inspection, it was clear that the threads …

With a brief window of calm winds, Crystal and I readied Swell to move east among the atolls. With the news of Barry’s passing, I wanted to check out what was rumored to be a new boatyard on an obscure strip of coral a few atolls east, plus with a swell on the way, we might arrive just in time to catch a few juicier waves before Crystal flew home……

A few days later, my friend and fellow Patagonia Surf Ambassador stepped off the plane onto the airstrip just a half-mile south of where Swell was anchored inside the atoll. A year prior, Crystal showed me two weeks of unforgettable fun at her North Shore residence, so I was anxious to give her the best of life aboard Swell. After dissolving the disbelief that she’d truly arrived, we toted her …