Bicycling the Véloroute des Bleuets – Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Canada

Looking for a hassle-free bike holiday with a French flair? The Véloroute des Bleuets is a 256 km cycling path that loops around Lake Saint-Jean in the heart of the Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. Where the heck is that you may ask? The region is an easy drive north-east of Montreal and Quebec City. For avid train aficionados, hop aboard a VIA train in Montreal with your bike and voilà, before you know it (ok, it takes a few hours!) you can be on the bike path and cycling your way along the scenic lakeshore in the heart of wild blueberry country. The Véloroute offers a great way to experience a bit of French Quebecois culture while enjoying a hassle-free biking holiday. A well organized infrastructure of rest areas, accommodations, bike repair centres, restaurants, and tourism sites ensures a great few days on the road. You can also rent a GPS Cyclo Guide to attach to your bike for extra video and audio info on tourist sites and services along the way. To make your trip... Read More →

An Introduction to Dogsledding in Western Greenland

The typical Greenland West Coast sled parked for the night, with brake ropes, harnesses, reindeer furs, rifle and peripherals strapped to it. Other gear has already been taken into the hut for the night. Photo: Søren Madsen, Destination Arctic Circle “A person looking to hunt for subsistence cannot live without a sled and dogs, which is a very common means of transportation during the winter. The sled accessories should therefore be good and durable so that everything which is wearing down is constantly renewed”. Not much has changed since a Greenlandic hunter told his listener this 40 years ago. Tuning and updating your sled gear is still as important a feature of today’s dogsledding as it was in the 20th century and as it most likely also was in the 12th century, when the first dogsleds arrived in Greenland. The keyword here is: accessorize! Since without the proper gear you have no sled. Furthermore, without good dogs you have no team to pull you, your stuff, and your... Read More →

Introduction to Mountaineering

Taking Your First Steps Toward Stepping Up High While we all love being outdoors, some of us have a little more hunger, a little more drive to seek more of a test, a deeper sense of accomplishment, and a little more of the edge. This primal call comes from the alpine, the land of wind and rock that shuns both trees and human alike. But even for those of us with a confident mastery of backpacking skills, the jump to mountaineering can certainly be intimidating, if not outright daunting. The following suggested course of action takes you from looking up from the valley floor at distant peaks to standing atop those peaks, drinking in the view of that same valley and the horizon beyond. You will need to expand your skills, knowledge, and gear but, like most alpine climbs, it is best taken one step at a time. Step #1: Master Backpacking Almost every good mountaineer began as a backpacker, which offers a good introduction to managing your food, fuel, and water as well as packing, hauling, and... Read More →