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Friendships are Easily Made When Hiking Hut-to-Hut in the Whites

Once you venture beyond Mizpah Springs Hut to Mount Pierce, you’re above treeline, walking through the Presidential Range on the historic Crawford Path ridge walk. You’re entirely exposed to the weather since there’s really nowhere to hide. Perhaps it’s this vulnerability that allows people to open up as individuals, sharing secrets and stories they wouldn’t normally share with others down below. Or maybe it’s simply the chance to join in the same adventure as your fellow backpackers, partaking in a memorable experience you’ll remember for years. Whatever the reason, folks are more apt to open up when hiking hut-to-hut. During the course of the week, we heard poignant stories about people overcoming breast cancer and recent divorces by meeting a new challenge like hiking up some of the 48 peaks that are over 4,000 feet in the White Mountains. 
 
We shared sardines and travel stories with a couple from Beijing we met on the trail, went over the maps every day with two women from Quebec City who were on the exact same route as us, and yes, talked about our often harried lives with two women from Oxford and Sturbridge, Mass. With communal dining every evening and morning at the long hut tables, it’s quite easy to meet new people. At breakfast at Lakes of the Clouds, we sat next to a grandmother and her granddaughter, not more 6 years old, and it was one of the sweetest images I’ll remember. You’ll also meet folks in your bunks, tease the guy who snores all night and the one who has a bladder the size of a pea, waking up every hour to use the toilet. In the end, you’ll realize you have the best souvenir of all, friendship. You exchange addresses and hope to meet again on another trail, another hut, another experience to share together. 
 

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Bhutan or Bust

One of the biggest trends in travel right now is the increasingly popular multisport trip. Head off to a country and then try as many activities as possible, from hiking, to biking, to whitewater rafting. This has proven to be a huge success in places like Costa Rica which has a great mix of mountains, rivers, and ocean. Now Uma Paro in Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is entering into the mix. From July 6-13 and August 31-September 6, they are offering a weeklong adventure featuring rafting, biking, archery, and fly-fishing. The bike ride sounds like an incredible thrill. Guests are dropped off at the top of Chele La at 12,500 feet, Bhutan’s highest road pass. After taking in the magnificent views towards Mt. Jhomolhari standing at a mere 24,000 feet, you enjoy a 22-mile downhill run all the way back to Paro. You’ll also get to do a morning Puja (pilgrimage) to a local monastery.
 

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Hotel Vermont’s New Summer Beer Exploration Package

If you like Heady Topper as much as I do, then you’re going to enjoy Hotel Vermont’s Summer Beer Exploration Package. Offered once a month from June through October, the two-day event starts with a five-course beer pairing dinner featuring Vermont’s most highly rated breweries (Hill Farmstead, The Alchemist, Foam Brewers, Lawson’s Finest Liquids) curated by Beer Concierge, Matt Canning. The next morning, you’ll have breakfast with the team at Foam Brewers while firing up the brew kettle and mashing in the grain to start the day’s brew. Then you’ll head 10 miles south to the new state-of-the-art Peterson Quality Malt facility at Nordic Farm. The defunct dairy barn now serves as Vermont’s only craft malt house producing the base ingredient for Vermont’s world-renowned breweries. Afterwards, enjoy lunch and a beer tasting in the fields of barley, with stunning views of both the Green and Adirondack Mountains. Cost of the Beer Exploration Package, including 2 nights at the Hotel Vermont, starts at $1130 for two guests. Interested? Let ActiveTravels know and we’ll check availability. 

 
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Good News Out of Tanzania

Earlier this year, I reported on the Tanzanian government’s plan to build a 260-mile highway that would slice right through the southern part of Serengeti. The moronic move would not only disrupt one of the world’s great migrations of 2 million wildebeests traveling north into Kenya’s Masai Mara, but could have been an easy way in and out for poachers. Thankfully, after listening to numerous conservation groups and international travel operators, the government scrapped that idea. Tourism is the number one industry in Tanzania, so it seems like the government finally got wise to the fact that they shouldn’t cut off the hand that feeds them.
 

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Get into the Winter Olympics Spirit at Lake Placid

The Olympic venues from the 1980 Games in Lake Placid are still used today for national and international competitions, and are open to the public. Visitors can tour many of the Olympic sites from the 1980 Games, including the chance to skate on the Olympic Speed Skating Oval, ski at Whiteface Mountain (site of all the Olympic downhill events) and take a bobsled ride (with an experienced driver) at the Olympics Sports Complex. The FIS 2018 Freestyle World Cup aerials competition (Jan. 19-20) and the Empire State Winter Games (Feb. 1-4) are two of the events leading to the Olympic Games in PyeongChang. Or head to the Lake Placid Training Center on February 24th for the USOC PyeongChang Olympic Winter Fest. You’ll get to meet and greet with former Olympic greats like speedskater Eric  Heiden and hockey player Jim Craig, dine on s’mores, and catch a concert by Third Eye Blind. 

 
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La Samanna to Reopen on St. Martin December 10

Great news out of the French side of St. Martin, where Belmond La Sammana has just announced that they are reopening on December 10th.  St. Martin was devastated by Hurricane Irma, so the reopening is something we can all celebrate. Lisa and I know La Samanna well, having stayed in one of their whitewashed villas, only a short stroll to the pearly white sands of Baie Longue. After long walks on the mile-long beach, we sunbathed on the roof of our villa and then cooled off in our private plunge pool. It was like being at a resort built for two. The resort’s 83 rooms and public spaces have been given a refresh, awash in a sea of pastel blues, greens, pinks, and peaches, inspired by the natural tones of the Caribbean. Belmond La Samanna will also reopen its beachfront French restaurant, Trellis, and La Cave Wine Cellar, the largest private wine cellar in the Caribbean. 

 
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Top 5 Wildlife Viewing Experiences, Sitka, Alaska

Unlike Juneau and Ketchikan, where cruise ship passengers are quickly immersed in streets filled with jewelry, T-shirts, and other souvenir shops, Sitka has more of an authentic feel. Stroll through the totem poles found at Sitka National Historic Park to the Alaska Raptor Center. Every year, 100 to 200 birds of prey, including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, red-tail hawks and owls are brought to this large aviary hospital to rehabilitate. After your fill of town, splurge for the 3-hour Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest.  Not only will you view exquisite scenery like volcanic Mt. Edgecomb and the snowcapped peaks that rise dramatically from the shores of Redoubt Bay, but the abundance of marine life is astounding. Within moments of leaving the docks at Sitka, humpbacks raise their tales, followed by harbor seals, bald eagles standing in the tall spruces, a colony of more than 50 sea otters lounging in the kelp, puffins with their orange beaks, and sea lions.

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