Capturing the Moment

Sailing into the sunset on Lake Champlain. You never know what kind of weather to expect from the last weekend in September in Lake Champlain, but we scored an amazing one for our end of season trip with the family out to Stave Island. Nestled in the middle of Lake Champlain, between Vermont and New York, Stave Island is the perfect getaway for the kids. There is miles of shoreline to explore, a bog with a secretive snapping turtle, stories of hidden treasure, a beach, a tower to climb, and acres of woods to play in. With no shows or tablets, it is the perfect place to commune with nature and get in touch with the wild. Every sunset is appreciated, usually with a sundowner cocktail in hand, and the night sky can be absolutely brilliant. Running into Fall at the Stave Island farm house We soaked up every minute of this weekend, knowing that it could be our last until we open the island back up next Spring. Catalina, Fisher, and I even managed to get a circumnavigation of the island in o...

Young black bear down the driveway, Vermont    It has been a wild couple of weeks here in Vermont with high temperatures and lots of wildlife. The snakes are out at Stave Island, fawn are running around with spots all over them, a mystery animal on the island, and both monarch butterflies and their caterpillar counterparts have been seen. But the biggest wildlife sightings of the summer have both come within the last few days.    First we had a young black bear sighting right down the driveway. It was munching away on some of the grass and flower in the meadow before crossing the road and darting off into the trees. We figured it was headed towards the berry bushes that have been prolific this summer. We were pretty excited so we grabbed the trail camera and set it up down near the woods hoping to get a shot of the bear. But when we retrieved the camera the next day we were in for shock.   We didn't get the bear, but in one night vision video we cap...

  After seven weeks leading adventure trips aboard the Safari Quest in Alaska's Inside Passage I am back in Vermont for a little rest and relaxation with Heidi and Neka the puppy. It has been a rainy first week here as summer comes to an end in the Northeast. However I did score this one beautiful day out at the right spot, on a island in the middle of Lake Champlain called Stave Island. Look up the lookout tower   It reminds me of my childhood days on another island off the coast of southern Georgia called St. Catherines Island where my dad was a zoologist. It was an immense playground for a young kid as I am sure Stave Island was for Heidi and for Neka now. The kids cottage where Heidi and I stay Heidi and Neka   Next time I come through Vermont will be late October and the summer will be officially a memory. The trees are already starting to change colors as we shift into Fall. It was nice to get the last bit of summer in such a beautiful place with...

This post will be like my ' year in reviews ' but instead will feature one season of running trips up in Alaska's Inside Passage and all the 'best of' highlights of the season. Best Ice Encounter : Top Left- Huge calving events at Dawes Glacier   Top Right- Ice sculptures stranded on the rocky shoreline at the Le Conte Ice Garden     Bottom Left- Standing inside a cave under a glacier made entirely of dense glacial ice  Bottom Right- Skiffing into a lake of ice at Baird Glacier Read about these events here: Witnessing a Calving Glacier with video , Le Conte Ice Gardens , Skiffing into an Ice Lake ,     Mendenhall Ice Caves   Best Polar Plunges : Left - Family from Savannah about to feel water slightly colder than their normal 85 degrees   Right - My crewmate Shannon took this picture at the perfect time capturing my backflip on the second deck in front of Dawes Glacier. You can read about it here: Polar Plunge...