The Tidal Wave Mixtape

If y'all aren't daily readers of Aquarium Drunkard, then that means you probably missed the Mondo Boys' Tidal Wave Mixtape last summer. We listened to the mix while driving to the AT two weekends ago (hugging tree part of hike pictured above), and despite the awful (awesome) sound system of my 1999 Subaru, the tunes were just about perfect. Download it here. Comes with the S.E. Rogie jam below.MP3: - S.E. Rogie - Please Go Easy With Me

Western States 100

Above is Anton Krupicka, ultra-marathon runner, two-time winner of the Leadville  Trail 100, and graduate student in Boulder, CO, my home away from home. Along with Hal Koerner, Geoff Roes and Kilian Jornet, Krupicka is the subject of a new film that documents the events leading up to and following the 2010 Western States 100. I won't give away what happened, so you'll have to watch the film (or look on the internet), but it was an exciting race. The 2011 race is on June 25th, and although Krupicka, who reminds me of Fred Rohe, author of Zen of Running, usually running with nothing but a pair of short shorts and his New Balance shoes, won't be racing this year, the Western States is always an interesting event to follow, even if you're not a closet fan of the so-called "Grand Slam of Ultrarunning" like Cold Splinters is. And in case you don't know what the Western States 100 is:

The Western States 100 is a 100-mile ultramarathon that takes place on trails in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains annually on the last full weekend of June. The race starts at the base of the Squaw Valley ski resort and finishes at the Placer High School track in Auburn. Runners climb a cumulative total of 18,090 feet and descend a total of 22,970 feet on mountain trails before reaching the finish. Because of the length of the race, the race begins at 5:00 AM and continues through the day and into the night. Runners finishing before the 30-hour overall time limit for the race receive a bronze belt buckle, while runners finishing in under 24 hours receive a silver belt buckle.

Watch the trailer for Unbreakable: The Western States 100 here.

Great Lakes Surfing

I (Geoff) grew up 40 minutes from Lake Michigan, and that's where I remain today (Grand Rapids, MI). Last fall I bought my first surfboard, a 6'1" made-for-the-lakes shortboard and stumbled into the 14+ foot swells that the cooling lake offers as winter's winds approach. It's tough, lake waves are choppy, inconsistent, usually mushy, and for that reason, require unprecedented attention to conditions to get that real good day. A "swell" (see: storm) can mean driving 8 hours north to Lake Superior to catch a 3 hour window of clean, surfable waves, some of the same that snapped a 730 ft. freighter in two. That said, I've paddled out into waves that were far too big and blown out for me to surf, without fear of being pounded into the hard-packed sand bottom (beats a reef I guess) or into the concrete pier. I've seen onlookers swept off said pier with recorded 20 foot waves, the wind tearing at your board as you trudge head-down from each iron support to the next to pull your way towards the lighthouse.Surfing the Great Lakes is still an oddity. People will see you walking in from surfing, wrestling out of your sandy 6/5/4 wetsuit (with hood, mitts, and booties), shivering in the parking lot at the state park and kindly inform you "you can't surf on a lake". Lucky for them, conditions are best in the fall and winter of the year, which require surfing in snowstorms, and searching for breaks in the ice shelf along the shore to paddle out to open, slushy water. The oddity of surfing the lakes is one of it's pulls for me, all egos aside.I'm not good. Watch the documentary Unsalted (2006) to see people who are, surfing some of the cleanest, biggest waves filmed on the lakes. You can catch the trailer here. Cruise the local lake surf forum, watch this, this, and this.

Nemo Letters

Everett Ruess (NEMO) (1914-1934?) was a young artist and poet that explored, wrote about the high desert, and captured the lust of Utah and the High Sierra in linoleum block prints (with which he traded with Ansel Adams). Jon Krakauer likens Christopher McCandless to Everett Ruess in Into the Wild, in a gripping, harsh retelling of Ruess' escape to the wilderness and proposed fate, leaving only his pen-name "NEMO" scrawled on the stone walls in his wake. In 2009, it was thought that Ruess' remains were found, being believed by some that he was attacked and killed by Ute indians, an assumption that was taken back by a Utah archeologist after thorough DNA analysis. If you haven't read the book Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty, a book written in 1983 about Ruess' life, buy it this morning.Cruising eBay an hour ago I ran across these gems that an antique seller recently grabbed from a California estate sale: newspaper clippings about Ruess, 2 photos of Ruess (one with an American Indian mother and child), as well as handwritten letters/poems by Ruess (!), all found in a dusty leather case (included).More resources about Ruess and his life can be dug through here.

Crazy Guy

Crazy Guy on a Bike is "a place for bicycle tourists and their journals." What Trail Journals is to long-distance hiking, CGOAB is to bicycle touring. Super bare-bones site, with over 5500 journals, ranging from college grads cycling around the world, drifters living off their bikes, to retirees "credit card touring" from each bed & breakfast to the next. Takes some digging to find the really good ones, but almost all inspire you (at least me) to get out and do something great. Start with Heidi Domeisen's 2004 journal documenting her solo self-supported ride from North Carolina to Alaska and back.

Weekend Cabin

One of our favorites, Steve Casimiro's Adventure Journal, has a feature called Weekend Cabin, where, yes, you guessed it, he chronicles pictures and stories of people's backwoods getaways. AJ explains it like this: 

Weekend Cabin isn’t necessarily about the weekend, or cabins. It’s about the longing for a sense of place, for shelter set in a landscape…for something that speaks to refuge and distance from the everyday. Nostalgic and wistful, it’s about how people create structure in ways to consider the earth and sky and their place in them. It’s not concerned with ownership or real estate, but what people build to fulfill their dreams of escape. The very time-shortened notion of “weekend” reminds that it’s a temporary respite.

Top pic is Novotny Cabin, Decatur Island, Washington. Bottom pic is in Criehaven, Maine. See more here.MP3: Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - Two Women (thx AD)

23 Feet

From 23feet.org ..."23 Feet is film about a community of people who make the conscious choice to live simply to do what they love in the great outdoors. Three women set out across the west in their 23 foot, 1970 Airstream to search for the stories of people who have turned their backs on the creature comforts of society to live in school buses, vans, and other small spaces. From an inspiring campfire chat with legendary Yosemite climber Ron Kauk, to hearing the powerful story of a woman who changed her whole life for surfing, 23 Feet gives an intimate look at the ups and downs of dedicating your life to your outdoor passion."Help these gals out and shoot 'em some funds over at their Kickstarter page, and watch the trailer a few times. Excited for this.

DOMMY NO MATES

For 2 years and 2 months, Dominic Gill rode a tandem bicycle with racks, panniers and a trailer from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to the tip of Argentina. This ride has been done before, but Dominic rode a tandem, alone for more than 50% of the trip. He set off knowing that he wanted to make a documentary, inviting people he met along the way to ride with him, whether it was for a few days or through Main St for a quick chat. In the end, Dominic rode nearly 20,000 miles with 270 different 'mates'. Dominic's book about the ride, Take a Seat, was released not long ago and is available everywhere. The documentary is in the works, so check out the trailer after the jump.

CIRCLING ALASKA

Adventurer Andrew Skurka returned last September from a 4,679 mile hike, ski, and packraft around virtually the perimeter of Alaska. The trip took him through 8 national parks, over dozens of mountain ranges, and through some of Alaska's roughest and most scenic waterways. The guy is no joke, having finished the trip solo in 176 days (less than six months). Along the way Skurka kept tabs with us all over at his National Geographic Adventure Blog and Nat Geo wrapped up his trip with an article in the March 2011 issue. And he's definitely not new to trips like these, check out his rap sheet.See some amazing Nat Geo pics from Andrew's trip here and here.

The Ridgerunner

As stated before, over the summer of 2009 my girlfriend Sarah and I rode our bicycles from Grand Rapids, MI to Portland, OR via the Transamerica Trail. During this trip, we rode through Northern Idaho, which unbeknownst to me is one of the most beautiful, remote places in America. We rode alongside the Lochsa River coming down off Lolo Pass, and into the Bitterroot Wilderness. We didn’t see a gas station for days, and in the thick of it met a man named Stacey who has been living off his bike for years (by choice), drinking water from these same rivers, fishing for his meals, sleeping on BLM land, and drifting where the fair weather does. We stopped at a small stand of cabins, and camped one night at the adjacent National Forest Campground. The cabins were packed, teaming with excited white water rafters and guides, the Lochsa roaring just across the road. In the morning we grabbed breakfast at the mess hall, and I bought this book in the lobby.The Ridgerunner: Elusive Loner of the Wilderness by Richard Ripley:“During the early 1940s in Idaho’s expansive Selway-Bitterroot wilderness, a few items disappeared from a tent camp, a lookout tower, and a ranger station. Eventually, the continuing loss of food and supplies at such isolated sites confirmed the presence of a mysterious solitary. For years no one saw him, even though he entered Forest Service quarters while employees slept. In the winter, when he did leave tracks, they were found on the most inhospitable ridges and earned him the regard of locals who appreciated the cost of survival under such circumstances. Once apprehended, the Ridgerunner proved to be both witty and ornery - a man who said he simply wanted “to live like a coyote,” and who was so woodswise and contentious that he vexed the government and a major timber company for the next 20 years.”I’m just about to read this book for the fourth time. Grab it.Photo: Moreland (The Ridgerunner) raising the flag in front of his shelter at Milk Creek.

LARRY HAMMAR

In researching for the Transamerica bike trip that I took a couple years back, I ran across this guy's flickr and was floored. Larry Hammar (hammarhead2) was a cycling tour guide (and maybe still is?), leading groups across the country, through Canada and the Yukon, to Alaska and everywhere in between, from the Bikecentennial '76 onward. It took me probably 30 minutes to choose this photo above because they're all so good. When we were on our trip out west we still saw a few of those original 76 Bike Route signs. Some things really don't change all that much, and trips like these remind you of that. Check out all the photos, then start planning a bike trip with your friends. That groundhog didn't see his shadow, you know.

The Zen Of Running

Thank you to KIKI COLORE for pointing out the downloadable version of The Zen of Running, Fred Rohe's 1970s "classic" meditation on moving our legs to get from one point to the next. I was unfortunately sidelined last season due to some IT problems, and it's been a bummer finally getting back into it on a treadmill. The roads and sidewalks out east just won't allow for the real thing. Yet. But thank the lord for the foam roller. That thing is a true blessing.I don't know much about the Zen of Running other than the reading it this morning. It's a short, meditative, picture heavy book about accepting the rewards of running in the present, feeling your body throughout the process, and starting small, conquering the feasible goals while ignoring ego. Easy, right?

WALK

Currently re-reading this 1979 book by Peter Jenkins, A Walk Across America. Perfect winter read when you're good and itchy-footed. This book was a serious bestseller back in '79 and has been reprinted a ton so there's a dusty paperback in almost every thrift store I've ever been in. Or grab one here."Five thousand miles and thirty-five pairs of shoes later..."

AMERICA RECYCLED

America ReCycled is a project by brothers Tim and Noah Hussin, drifting around the country on bicycle to document and redefine the American Dream. So far they've made three short films, one on their starting place, building their new bikes from scratch at an Asheville, NC bicycle co-op, while staying at an Urban Homestead named The Montana House. The third titled "Notes from the Road" documents their first few days of the journey. BEAUTIFUL.From their site...

"We’re two brothers riding recycled bicycles across the United States and meeting people. Lots of them.But whether they’re devout Baptists who’ve lived in a small southern town for four generations or disaffected crust punks packing themselves into a crumbling squatted building, there is a common thread that ties them together.We sense a growing movement in this country that rises above race, region, and subculture. Americans are yearning to rebuild space, community, and local culture, each in our own way. And it’s going to take a lot of blood, sweat, and ambitious insanity.It will mean different things for different people. Some are rethinking business models to facilitate more intimate and local exchange. Others reinvent living spaces to allow for more community at home. It’s coming from all different angles and from all sorts of people. Fuel and transportation, energy use, urban/suburban planning, building construction, farming and food production, public space and civic art.And it’s already started. All across the country, people are finding innovative ways to come together and make revolutionary change on a local level, to regain control of their lives, rediscover independence, and recycle the American Dream.We’re finding them. And we’re telling their stories."

Help the guys out along the way with a meal, have 'em stay a night if they're passing through or shoot them some cash for a diner meal along the way.

CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL

The Continental Divide Trail runs for 3,100+ miles from Mexico to Canada, along you guessed it, the Continental Divide. The Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA) was formed in 1995 to aid in the completion of the trail, and help maintain the miles already blazed. In 2007, Francis Tapon round-tripped the CDT, by first hiking from Mexico to Canada, then back. The trip took him 6 months to finish, and rounded out his Triple-Crown. There is a similar mountain bike trail through the Great Divide Basin spanning from Banff, Canada, to Mexico. Check out the trailer for Ride the Divide, a documentary about the "world's toughest mountain bike race". Sheesh.