RECAP - DESTINATION: COLORADO

Red Rocks - Photo: HSA

Colorado is Adventure Paradise...

In our last post, Destination: Colorado, my girlfriend, my son, and I embarked upon an extremely long road trip from Corpus Christi to Denver CO.

As with any road trip, it had it's pitfalls. We started out early Saturday morning. Since an arctic front had blown into Texas, we had the rare opportunity to drive South Texas roads that were covered in ice. Originally being from Albuquerque, I was fortunate enough to remember how to drive in these conditions. We drove for 10 arduous hours, not making near the headway that we should have. Ice, holiday traffic, and a 40 MPH headwind slowed us considerably. Around 5:00PM we had to settle in at a cheap hotel in Plainview TX for the night. Rooms were full at all of the better hotels due to the road conditions, so CHEAP was all we could find. I spent most of the night sipping on wine and worrying if I would contract lice and bedbugs...

The next morning we awoke early and got back on the road.

MORE STORY AND PHOTOS AFTER THE JUMP

DESTINATION: COLORADO

Destination: Colorado... Epic Adventure Awaits

So my girlfriend, my son, and I have decided to take a little road trip for the Thanksgiving holiday. Our destination... Colorado.

My girlfriend has family there and badly wants to see them, and being adventurers as we are, we decided it would be great to take a little road trip. Little is an ambiguous term as it is about 1100 miles one way.

Aside from seeing her family, we look forward to hiking, skiing, and mountain biking, as well as other potential adventures in and around the Denver area. Not to mention, the adventure of the road trip itself. I am particularly looking forward to hiking and/or biking the Red Rocks/Dakota Ridge area. Living in Corpus Christi at sea level, there is no real way to prepare for the possibility of altitude sickness, so all safety precautions will be in place and we will save the strenuous stuff toward the end of the trip.

We depart Corpus Christi on Saturday November 23 and plan to return on Sunday December 1... I will try to provide updates as we go, but will definitely have a recap of the adventure when we are done.

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!!!

EXPEDITION: LAGUNA MADRE - UPDATE

Expedition: Laguna Madre - Update

In our previous post we gave a few more details about the upcoming kayaking expedition in which HSA could be involved. We now have a few more (See flyer below).

This event is in dire need of a "Title Sponsor" as well as other sponsors if it is to get off the ground. As previously mentioned, it is a paddle for charity. 

That charity is the Volunteer Services Council for the Corpus Christi State Supported Living Center. This charity is in support of people with intellectual disabilities such as autism, Downs Syndrome, and other mental health issues. For over 40 years, the VSC has been improving the lives of those who reside at the Living Center (formerly known as Corpus Christi State School). 

The monies from this charity go to various things for those with the disabilities like purchasing Christmas presents, trips to the local fishing pier, and trips to the movies... as well as countless other things.

For more details or to sponsor/donate contact:

Judy LaPointe - Community Relations Director

361-443-5184

Jalapointe76@gmail.co

Check out the flyer below, and please pass it along to anyone who may be interested in donating or sponsoring... it is for a great cause.

 

EXPEDITION: LAGUNA MADRE

Image courtesy of Leftray.com

Expedition - Laguna Madre

In our last post, "Expedition: Preliminary Talks", we hinted at an upcoming kayaking expedition in which HSA could be involved. The time has come for a few more details.

The concept of this yet-to-be-named expedition is a 120 mile kayak trip through the Laguna Madre in South Texas (see map below). HSA Founder, Joe Vulgamore, will paddle the three-day trip on a SOT touring kayak, camping at certain points along the way.

Still in the very early preliminary talk/planning stages this expedition is a paddle for charity event. The early concept is to raise funds for persons with intellectual disabilities. Until certain legal aspects are taken care of, we are not allowed to use the name of the charity in this post.

Basically though, the idea is for people to donate money for each mile paddled. The charity's Community Relation Director is working out the details on that, as well as trying to line up sponsors for equipment and gear, as well as a Title Sponsor for the adventure.

Plans are also in the works to obtain media partners. Everything from planning meetings and pre-expedition training to resupply points and POV video, will be video documented along the way and eventually put together as a full-length documentary.

The preliminary date for this expedition is early April 2014.

At this point, we can't say any more about the trip other than we, as well as our founder, are stoked and honored to be asked to be a participant in this event!

 Below is a map of the Laguna Madre with the tentative start and stop points, as well as the route through the Lower Laguna, the Intercoastal Waterway land cut (Saltillo Flats), and into the Upper Laguna.

Stay tuned for more info my friends!!!

EXPEDITION: PRELIMINARY TALKS

Expedition - Preliminary Talks Underway

Human Spirit of Adventure was lucky enough today for our founder to be involved in preliminary talks of a major expedition...

We cant release any details at the moment, but it is safe to say that with the proper funding and sponsorship, this will be an off the chain journey.

At this point in time, all we can say is that the expedition involves one of these***. 

More Details to come as time goes by... Stoked!

Image courtesy of Malibu Kayaks

*** Brand of kayak to be decided

VIDEO: "LIFE RECLAIMED" Trailer 1

Here it is! The first trailer from the HSA Documentary "Life Reclaimed". "Life Reclaimed" is an inspirational adventure documentary based on the premise that "Nature is Greater than Therapy". It covers the story of a man who lost everything he worked a lifetime to aquire and his fight to reclaim his life from depression, devestation, and lonliness by getting back to his roots in adventure sports.






 
HSA Trailer1B from Sirfur Productions on Vimeo.

DESTINATION: ADVENTURE - Recap

Photo: HSA

HSA Expedition Recap

Our adventure to the Oklahoma outback was exciting, fun, beautiful, and at times, quite grueling.
We started off leaving our home in Corpus Christi at about 2:00PM on Friday June 14 and drove straight on through to our destination in the Arbuckle Mountains.

We arrived at approximately 1:00AM and slept for a few hours in the jeep waiting for first light to set up our camp. As the first signs of light began to glow, just before the yellow ball peeked it's head above the horizon, we sat up our base camp and prepared for a long hike to the waterfall.

After several hours of hiking we reached our destination. There we found a beautiful 77' waterfall with an inviting natural swimming hole. As it was extremely hot out, I took a dip in the hole while 2 of my companions waded in the shallow stream created by the overflow.

After the swim, we ate lunch and began the trek back to base camp... all the while capturing footage for the HSA documentary. The hike back to camp was equally grueling. Once we were back, we sparked the fire and began cooking our dinner before laying our weary heads to rest.

The following morning, I sat out on an extreme hike to find the source of the creek that eventually lead to the waterfall. It was an arduous journey, full of rugged and steep cliffs, rocky ledges, and thick overgrowth that I had to climb and bushwhack my way through. The end result was worth the 3 day round trip as I was left with a sense of accomplishment, blessed with beautiful scenery, and the euphoria that can only come with being at one with nature.

On the 5th day, it was time to restock supplies and recharge the electronics. Shooting footage for a documentary deep in the middle of nowhere poses certain challenges, like hiking certain areas 2 or 3 times in order to place cameras, get the proper footage and angles. Afterward a break was much needed With my Dad living in Oklahoma, it was a natural choice to rest at his house before embarking upon the second part of the adventure.

READ MORE (and see photos) AFTER THE JUMP...

DESTINATION: ADVENTURE - Update

Photo: Human Spirit of Adventure

After 4 long days in the rugged backcountry, we are back to civilization for a day. We need to restock supplies and recharge all of the electronics... shooting footage for a documentary deep in the middle of nowhere poses certain challenges. It has been a great experience so far and looking forward to the rest of the journey.

Thus far we have hiked miles and miles of rugged terrain, done 4 river crossings, and been bitten by every bug known to mankind. Tomorrow we should reach our final destination and enjoy the serenity and watersport action of Lake Eufaula.
We will have a full journey update upon our return, so stay tuned...

DESTINATION: ADVENTURE... 5 DAYS AWAY

5 Days and Counting...

In five days, we here at HSA will set of on a week long adventure. An adventure that will encompass multiple adventure sports.

On the agenda is miles and miles of rugged backpacking,  hiking, climbing, cave exploration, and freshwater snorkeling... topped off with rivers, waterfalls and spectacular views.

This adventure will be filmed on GoPro cameras as part of HSA's upcoming documentary tentatively titled "Life: Reclaimed"

We are gearing up and beginning the final week of preparation for this adventure. We will try to post some photo's along the way on our Facebook page and have a full blown recap right here on the blog upon our return.

See you then!

RACE ME TO THE POLE - Wrap Up...

Photo provided by Hannah Rollings

Race Me To The Pole - Wrap Up

BY: HANNAH ROLLINGS

Ahead of relaying the final installment on Gavin's trip, we want to thank all supporters of Gavin and Moving Mountains Trust throughout this expedition on behalf of Gavin himself and all of the Moving Mountains staff and beneficiaries.

100% of the donations will go towards projects in Kenya, Nepal and Borneo so make sure you follow Moving Mountains in the near future to see the fantastic projects that these funds will help support. 

The last re-supply checkpoint was at Cator Harbour on Sherard Osborn Island, right at the Northern Tip of Bathurst Island and at the 310km mark of the journey. Gavin and the team made it here on the 21st April. The re-supply plane picked up one of the guides, Steve, who unfortunately suffered from frostbitten fingers. As a precaution he was flown back to Resolute to have it checked out and we since hear he is doing fine. The re-supply plane brought extra food and fresh sat-phone batteries. These phones have been one of the only links between Gavin and the outside world, allowing us to exchange brief conversations, and relay information by text. In addition, the Yellow Brick GPS tracker unit has allowed us view his position at hourly intervals on the interactive map and also extract accurate Lat/Long coordinates. READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP

Race Me To The Pole - UPDATE...

Photo provided by Hannah Rollings

"Race Me To The Pole"  - Update

By: HANNAH ROLLINGS

Thanks to unseasonably good weather and high pressure over the Arctic, Gavin was ahead of schedule at an impressive 88km after just four days of skiing. However, there were indications that the spell of good weather would change, with low pressure moving over the Arctic. Sure enough, the bad weather came and conquered, with the team were camp-bound for 60+ hours. Let’s hope that the low pressure heading to the Arctic doesn’t cause too many disruptions on the Race to the Pole.

On the 10th of April Gavin had a 24hr stop-over at Polaris Mine. The once functioning mine produced 21 million tonnes of lead-zinc worth over $15 billion before closing in July 2002 after 20 years of production. At one time 250 people lived and worked there. Although the site is now closed and deconstructed, it still serves as a convenient checkpoint and re-supply point for adventurers and expeditions on this classic Polar route.

This was also the first opportunity Gavin has had to change his base layer of clothing after 6 days of skiing! The team were re-supplied with food and drink and also met some of the Canadian rangers who have been on patrol in the area. The Rangers warned of a female Polar Bear and cub in the area. Needless to say, the team gave a very wide berth to such a potentially dangerous animal. Luckily, they didn't come into contact. READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP

"Race Me to the Pole" Says Adventurer Gavin Bate...

Adventurer Gavin Bate (Photo courtesy Hannah Rollings)

‘Race me to the Pole’ says adventurer Gavin Bate

STORY BY HANNAH ROLLINGS -

Tomorrow my boss and friend, philanthropist and adventurer Gavin Bate, aims to ski more than 550km from Resolute Bay in northern Canada to the magnetic North Pole. As part of the expedition, his aim is to raise £22,000 for the Moving Mountains Trust, an international development charity that he founded more than 10 years ago.

The ‘race’ to the pole will see donors pitted against Gavin in his journey across the thinning Arctic sea ice toward the Pole. Every pound donated by the ‘Donation Team’ is worth 25 metres of Gavin’s trek, and as he gets ever closer to the finish line the Donation Team will race to achieve their target of £22,000 worth of donations. Importantly, all of the money raised via donations associated with this expedition will go towards Moving Mountains Trust which supports sustainable development projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal and Borneo. Gavin covers all overheads himself via profits from his ethical adventure company, Adventure Alternative. It’s well known that tourism is one of the most over-exploited industries, especially in the developing world. Breaking the mould, Adventure Alternative was formed on a strict ethical policy, employing locals and offering them a fair wage, with benefits.

Moving Mountains’ primary aims are to provide aid for the relief of hardship, poverty, suffering and inequality through education and vocational training, medical treatment, sport and employment. Most importantly, in my mind, all projects are developed over a number of years with the local community; the community’s voice is actually heard! After completion, they are handed over to the community to manage alongside the Moving Mountains committees in each country.

Everyone can follow the daily progress made by Gavin and the Donation Team via the constantly updated race record at racemetothepole.com and via a host of other social media streams. Thanks to Yellow Brick tracking we will receive Gavin’s location every four hours. It’s near impossible for the team to carry any other form of (functioning) electronics due to temperatures that often reach -35C. 

To join the donation team in the Race to the Pole, text ‘POLE13 £1’ to 70070. You can substitute the £1 with £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10. To learn about more about the expedition and to find out other ways to donate, visit the campaign website at www.racemetothepole.com

I’ll be back soon to update you on Gavin’s progress!



Dates: 

• Gavin left the UK on March 27, 2013 flying via Ottawa and Iqaluit to Resolute Bay. 
• Several days will be spent at Resolute Bay, packing and testing equipment. 
• Gavin is due to leave Resolute Bay on April 6, 2013 to begin the trek to the pole. The team are expected to reach the Pole on May 4, 2013. 

Social Media: 

Facebook Facebook.com/racemetothepole

Twitter @MMTrust #racemetothepole

LinkedIn Moving-Mountains-Trust

Contact: 

www.racemetothepole.com
Hannah Rollings
Moving Mountains Trust
info@movingmountainstrust.com

PO Box 14
Portstewart
Northern Ireland
BT55 7WS

+44 (0)28 708 31258

Summit On The Summit... Climbing Kilimanjaro

There is a major crisis going on in the world today... we're not talking about wars, politics, or conspiracy theories. We are talking about an issue that is life-threatening and robs people of a basic human right... We are talking about a global clean water crisis.

In so many areas around the world, water is not clean enough to drink. This threatens the lives of many people across the globe.

Enter the Summit On the Summit.

"What is Summit on the Summit", you ask?

According to their website, the Summit On The Summit is "An initiative designed to drive awareness and change to the global clean water crisis while engaging a community through raising awareness, supporting education, inspiring advocacy and activating fundraising. By taking cultural influencers, educators and high profile individuals to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, SUMMIT is able to support organizations in bringing clean water to the 1 billion people living without this basic human right."

The Project: 

(From the SUMMIT Website) Our project will consist of a 7 day climb up Mount Kilimanjaro with internationally recognized influencers as well as men and women who have either made an exceptional global impression around the water crisis or proven to be a leader in youth activism. These two groups represent Influencers and Educators. They will climb Kili as a team; communicating about the issues around access to water, learning of solutions to the problem, discussing how to improve social awareness and embracing the idea that they are now the example for showing ways to take action and give back to those with little or nothing. Through our efforts, we will directly support nonprofit organizations providing safe, clean drinking water to struggling communities...giving future generations the chance to thrive.

Who is involved:

There is a long list of celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs  and activists who are participating in this climb to raise awareness. 

You can find a list of them on the SUMMIT website at http://www.summitonthesummit.com/climbers

Human Spirit of Adventure is closely following the climb. We are sharing updates and video from the climbers daily on our Facebook page. So follow along and show your support for bringing clean drinking water to the world!

Extreme Adventure Vehicles Pt. 2

Photo courtesy of globalxvehicles.com

In keeping with our series on Extreme Adventure Vehicles, we come to a group of vehicles that are truly built for adventure.
These vehicles are extreme! If you are trekking across South America or the African Savanna then one of these might be for you.
These vehicles are not for the Weekend Adventurers... they pack a serious punch and are built for the literal long haul.

Built by Global Expedition Vehicles, these will definitely get you wherever you want to go...

Check out their website HERE

GoPro HERO 3: The Ultimate Adventure Camera...

Photo courtesy of GoPro.com

When looking for the ultimate adventure camera, you can't beat the new GoPro Hero 3.

I'm not just saying that either... I'm not endorsed or sponsored in any way by GoPro, but I know what those cameras can do, and the new HERO 3 can do even more!
I mean this thing is totally cool... It can shoot 1080 HD video at 60fps or 720 at 120fps. It can shoot 12MP photos with a 30fps boost.

No matter what sport you are in to... surfing, kayaking, snowboarding, skateboarding, rock climbing... this thing is a must-have for documenting your adventure. You can mount it on your board, to your head, chest, wrist, or just about anywhere.

See all of the Specs HERE

Check out this video shot 100% with the HERO 3...

EXPEDITION: Big Bend - Pt. 2 - Trail Fitness

Photo Courtesy of National Park Service

Trail Fitness... Before taking on an expedition such as Big Bend National Park, it would seem that trail fitness is a must.
Big Bend has such a wide variety of landscapes, from the mountains, to the rugged deserts, to the river canyons, it is obvious that this land can break you if you aren't ready for it.

About 2 months ago, when I decided that I wanted to take on a hiking expedition, I knew that I needed to ready myself for it. Even though I did not yet know my destination or the timeframe, as an experienced hiker, I knew it was best to start preparing myself early.
I had put on a couple of pounds from sitting behind the desk too long, so I began my fitness routine by putting myself on a diet and cardio training. As I knew that hiking would be by adventure, instead of running or jogging, I decided to train for the actual event. I began a regimen of Power-walking. At first I was doing a 2 mile flatland hike at a power-walk pace, gradually increasing the time as well as distance. I am now completing a 3 mile flatland hike/power-walk in 38 minutes, so now it is time to add a weighted pack into the mix. Since I live in a relatively flat coastal area, I will add dune-climbing and stair climbing to the regimen also.
I also began a series of stretching exercises to increase my flexibility as well as strength training focusing mainly on lower body, core, shoulder, and back strength.

The diet has been... fun? No, seriously it has been interesting. I gave up all fast-food sources and junk food. I have also given up red meat and cut the starches to a minimum. It has been basically chicken, fish, turkey, and whole fresh vegetables. every once in a while there is some white or brown rice and even more rare is pasta.

The fitness routine is working... I've lost almost 20 pounds of fat, added 5 pounds of muscle, and feel better than I have in a long time. Fitness is crucial for a back country expedition... I plan to be ready for whatever Big Bend can throw at me.

EXPEDITION: Big Bend - Pt. 1 - The Destination

Photo courtesy of: Texasexplorer.com

OK, for the last month or so I have been trying to decide the destination for my next expedition. I have known for awhile that I want a multi-themed adventure but not entirely sure what I wanted to do, nor where I've wanted to go.
The foremost thought on my mind has been a hiking expedition. I'm talking about a rugged, nasty hike that will sap the strength right out of you... maybe throw in a rock climb or two and viola... the perfect getaway.

I have finally chosen the destination and set the time frame for such an excursion. I have decided that Big Bend Natl. Park shall be the destination, and the week of March 10, 2013 will be the time.

The main reason that I have chosen Big Bend is because of diversity. Big Bend has a multitude of choices for hiking. From desert hikes, to mountain hikes, to river hikes, Big Bend has it all. According to research from the National Park Service's website, "Elevations range from 1,800 feet along the Rio Grande to 7,832 feet on Emory Peak in the Chisos Mountains. Elevation changes produce an exception variety of plants, animals, and scenic vistas. Generally, hikers can expect a 20°F temperature difference between low and high elevation hiking areas." There are more than 150 miles of trails in a large desert expanse, each filled with adventure, just waiting to challenge me..

Yes... I do believe this will be a most glorious adventure. I will provide regular updates on planning the trip, preparing for the trip, and much more. Stay tuned for EXPEDITION: Big Bend!