Outside Magazine, Aug 2002
Stories
POSTs
Your foundation is built. It's time to tweak the beast.
Remember the lessons of Everest 1996? Nobody else seems to. The world's highest peak is more crowded than ever—and ripe for a deadly reckoning.
Something happens in the high latitudes around Cape Horn. Eighty-knot williwaws blast down from the surrounding peaks. Thiry-foot waves rear up. Ships are tossed around like ice cubes in a blender. Why embark on a wind-powered expedition in these waters? For one sailor, it's a pilgrimage to the place where his great-grandfather came to grief in 1875—an
Deep in the redwood hills near Mendocino lies the Big River Estuary, a secret cache that will soon belong to bears, bobcats, otters, and you.
The Big River's been saved—and just in time. Here's how to enjoy the northern coast's newest playground and its spectacular environs.
Kayaking, biking, hiking and gawking along the wild west's farthest shores
Thanks to smart design and engineering, today's tents deliver high-altitude performance at a low-elevation price
DOWN TO EARTH MUSIC: IT'S A HIGH, LONESOME WORLD COMPILED FOR the International Year of the Mountains, the ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF THE ALPS, together with companion CDs from the Himalayas and the Appalachians (World Music Network, each), are the first to finally unite Krishna Das…
Come to the light: Nightcrawling the Gifford Pinchot Forest for signs of you-know-who. Is there anybody out there?: Scanning the horizon for the big-footed one. The Bigfoot Hot Zone Thrown of the ape-man!: Rick Noll displays the controversial and anatomically diverse Skookum Cast. They walk among us: BFRO…
Turn-offs: Leeches, bad stylists—and spoilsports who mock Team Playboy X-treme
They walked down the aisle—now they're walking the world, retracing man's epic trek out of Africa
The strangest stuff litters the flood-sloshed banks of the Mississippi River and her tributaries: tires by the hundred, refrigerators, automobiles, messages in a bottle, urine in a bottle, and (yikes!) the occasional ice chest containing a severed horse head. When the going gets gross, the man to call is Chad Pregracke, a crusading voyager in the war against trash.
THIS DREAM OF LAND, of owning it—where does it start, how deep is it rooted? Go Stake Your Claim Ever fantasized about heading off into the country and building a little place with good views and a porch for the rocking chair? Here’s your blueprint on how to make…
It’s as American as Mom, apple pie, and the lust for elbow room: to find and purchase a slice of country heaven to call your own. A place to sleep under the stars and think wide-open thoughts. To put up a cabin. To watch the trees grow…
THIS DREAM OF LAND, of owning it—where does it start, how deep is it rooted? Go Stake Your Claim Ever fantasized about heading off into the country and building a little place with good views and a porch for the rocking chair? Here’s your blueprint on how to make…
THE STARTING POINT: What follows are six elemental landscapes—forest, desert, inland waterfront, prairie, mountain, and coast—featuring 18 blissfully unsullied locales, from Alaska to Florida, Arizona to Maine. Clear into the next state: The view from North Carolina, near the town of Tyron, into South Carolina. THE COST: Our survey…
F E A T U R E S
INTO THE SCREAMING 50’s
The seas off South America’s Cape Horn—where 30-foot waves are routine—have been terrifying mariners for centuries. But for sailors like John Rice, the mystery and power of this place are impossible to resist.
By Rob Buchanan
“SASQUATCH IS REAL!” FOREST LOVE SLAVES TELL ALL!
So far, the hunt for Bigfoot has netted only near misses, tall tales, and sarcastic chuckles. But a new generation of high-tech hunters are on the loose—and they won’t rest until they’ve nailed something big and hairy.
By Bruce Barcott
PARADISE FOUND The Outside Land Guide
Ever fantasized about heading off into the country and building a little place with good views and a porch for the rocking chair? Here’s your blueprint on how to make it happen.
NEAR WILD HEAVEN Ah, the joys and satisfaction of your own land, ornery neighbors, and a self-composting outhouse!
By Bob Shacochis
GO STAKE YOUR CLAIM Forest, desert, mountain, whatever—a primer on finding your patch of paradise.
By Mike Grudowski
PLUS: The lowdown on the best green and financially lean abodes, the choicest overseas locales, and the biggest real estate pitfalls to avoid.
DUDE OVER TROUBLED WATERS
At the relatively tender age of 27, Chad Pregracke devotes his life to ridding the Mississippi River and her tributaries of litter—from old tires to the occasional, um, severed horse head. A report from the front lines in one guy’s war against riverine trash.
By John Galvin
D E P A R T M E N T S
DISPATCHES
A stampede of 61 mountaineers rushed the SUMMIT OF EVEREST on May 16, setting a single-day record that may be broken next year as Nepal celebrates the peak’s golden jubilee. With bigger crowds—and an illusion of safety (only two climbers died this year!)—are we heading toward a deadly repeat of ’96? PLUS: Two honeymooners retrace the evolutionary FOOTSTEPS OF MAN ; gossip from the halls of America’s first ENVIRO HIGH SCHOOL ; PORTABLE SEARCH-AND-RESCUE BEACONS locate the hazards and headaches of the wilderness; THE PERILS OF SHERYL CROW ; Outside keeps its EAR TO THE GROUND ; BOOKS by Ted Steinberg, Renée Askins, and Nick Thorpe; and this month’s RADAR .
THE WILD FILE
How do you DE-STINK a skunked dog? Is it true that bats always exit left from the bat cave? And more.
By Brad Wetzler
DESTINATIONS
EXCLUSIVE: CALIFORNIA’S WILD NORTHERN COAST just got wilder, thanks to a new park along the BIG RIVER that links 60,000 acres of solitary beaches, towering redwoods, and rugged peaks. PLUS: Sea kayaking, mountain biking, and other adventures on America’s left shore.
Adventure bargains from NOVA SCOTIA TO THE INDIAN OCEAN and FRESH TRACKS across Chile and the trees of the Sierra Madre.
OUT THERE
The centerfolds turned adventure racers on TEAM PLAYBOY X-TREME used their buff bods to score sponsorship deals that other athletes might kill for. Now all they need is a little respect.
By Mary Roach
REVIEW
We’ve got you covered with the year’s most VERSATILE TENTS . PLUS: The CLASSIC HAT for gentlemen outside returns in style, and more.
BODYWORK
Zoom! In installment four of our five-part fitness plan, The Shape of Your Life, we unlock the secrets to SPEED AND POWER —Olympic-style weight lifting and plyometrics.