When we’re not outdoors, we get our adventure fix by exploring social media and the web. Here are some of the best adventure links we’ve discovered this week.
Keep Your ‘Love Locks’ Out of the Grand Canyon: Grand Canyon officials have asked visitors to stop putting “love locks” on bridges and structures in the park. “Love is strong, but it is not as strong as our bolt cutters,” they commented.
The padlocks are a risk to the California condor. Shiny things draw the scavenging birds and they often try to eat the metal locks. The species is endangered, and the park wants to protect them.
The Motorcycle Queen of Miami: In the 1930s, it certainly wasn’t common to bike across the United States. Bessie Stringfield, a black woman, decided to attempt the journey. With local laws prohibiting women from riding motorcycles and very few motels allowing black people to stay, it was a dangerous undertaking. Stringfield crossed the country eight times.
Bessie Stringfield. Photo: Adventure Journal
Exhuming bodies to shift the energy
Digging up Graves to Lift Curses: Jiang Bole is a Feng Shui master who regularly visits graves and exhumes corpses. When there is nothing wrong with the fengshui in a house, but the feeling is still not right, there must be something amiss with the family’s ancestors. In Taiwanese culture, if the deceased are not buried correctly, it can bring misfortune for the living. Bole claims he can rectify it.
How I Sent 5.14 and Finished Second in a 100-Mile Run: Lucie Hanes has two passions: climbing and running. For years, she has combined her two hobbies.
It started as a way to manage her anxiety. Running gave her time to think about everything and when climbing she was so focused she thought about nothing but the climb. Together, they gave her clarity. Here, she shares her tips for both sports.
Martin Trahan canoed across France last summer. Photo: Paul Villecourt/Paddlerzine
1,500km in a borrowed canoe
France by Canoe: In May 2023, Martin Trehan and Boris Leclercq canoed across France, from the Swiss border in Geneva to the Atlantic Ocean. Over 40 days, they covered 1,500km.
This, despite the disaster that struck them on their first day. A sudden rush of water swept their canoe and gear away. The pair forgot that they were between hydroelectric dams and that the water could rise rapidly. Luckily, a nearby club let them borrow a canoe and the pair were able to restart their summer adventure.
The 2023 Summit of Excellence: The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival has awarded Andy Genereux the 2023 Summit of Excellence Award.
Genereux is a Canadian climbing legend. Through the 1980s, he opened many routes in Western Canada. His first route was at the Ghost River in 1983. In total, he has put up over 600 sport routes, 2,000 pitches, and hundreds of mixed-protection traditional routes.
Andy Genereux in the Ghost River Valley. Photo: Gripped
There’s no bad time to start climbing
New in Town: Jonny Ainslie grew up in London. Climbing was not part of his childhood, he did not grow up with climbing idols or scrambling up boulders. For Ainslie, it all started at 22 when he watched Free Solo.
For someone who had never been that interested in sport, Ainslie was amazed that the film had such an effect on him. He felt like he had found the right hobby for him. Fast forward a few years and he is living, working, and climbing in the Peak District.
Rural Mongolian Nomadic Life: South Korean photographer Taemin Ha spent months living with nomadic families in Mongolia. Over three separate trips, he photographed the four families and with no language in common, they bonded over the images.
Though the families still closely adhere to traditional nomadic life, the blending of old and new ways intrigued Ha.
