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Top 5 Bike Rides in America During Fall Foliage, Sedona, Arizona

Who needs red leaves when you have red rocks? Looking at Sedona’s blend of twisted monoliths, mesas, and hoodoos will get you motivated to ride, especially during the cooler days of autumn. Twenty-six miles of rarely used dirt trails wind through the heart of Red Rock Country from Boynton Canyon Road, opposite the Enchantment Resort. Once you tire of these, try the Old Stagecoach Road, an abandoned route that ventures north to Flagstaff. For a breather, hop off your bike and meditate at one of Sedona’s renowned vortices, spiritual sites that attract thousands of visitors each year. Absolute Bikes offers rentals and will work with you to map out an itinerary for the day.

 

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Luxury Train Travel to Debut in Ireland

Belmond, formerly Orient-Express, announced last week that they would introduce luxury train travel to Ireland the summer of 2016. Called the Belmond Grand Hibernian, the sleeper will consist of 20 cabins with accommodations for up to 40 guests. The train will also feature four interconnecting suites to accommodate families, two restaurant cars, and an observation bar car. The Grand Hiberian will travel throughout the island offering two, four, and six-night rail stays that include stops at Dublin, Belfast, and Cork. Daily excursions include a round of golf at a world-class resort, a literary tour of Dublin, and stops at Ireland’s classic estates. Belmond already offers upscale train travel to Scotland on the Belmond Royal Scotsman, currently the UK’s only luxury sleeper train. 

 
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Favorite Fall Outings in New England, Walking the Cliff Walk, Newport

Rhode Island’s most popular trail is perched on the rocky shores above the Atlantic, ocean on one side, the backyards of the massive Bellevue Avenue mansions on the other. In the summer months, this 3 ½-mile route is crowded with hundreds of folks yearning to see the sloping lawns and backside of those summer “cottages” the Vanderbilts, Whitneys, and Astors built at the turn of the century. Come fall, you’ll pass the occasional dog walker as you take in the expanse of the sea all by your lonesome. Park your car on Narragansett Avenue near the walk and proceed to the right. You’ll soon spot The Breakers, the Italian-style villa commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1895.  Another highlight is the red and gold lacquered Chinese-style pagoda at the Marble House. If you were wise, you booked a room at The Chanler at Cliff Walk, the only property on the Cliff Walk. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2013, the 20-room inn is best known for its acclaimed restaurant, Spiced Pear, a favorite foodie outpost in town. 

 
Photo by Eric Savage/FLICKR
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Take the Ski Bus from Quebec City to Le Massif

When I last skied Le Massif and penned a story on the mountain for The Boston Globe, I took a train from Montmorency Falls, just outside Quebec City. I learned last night at a Quebec press event in Boston that the train no longer runs in winter. However, you can still take the Ski Bus, which picks you up at your hotel in Quebec City and drops you off at Mont-Saint-Anne and Le Massif. Skiing down the trails of Le Massif, overlooking the expanse of the St. Lawrence Seaway, you feel like you’re going to plunge straight into the water. Le Massif also offers guests the rare chance to go rodeling or luging down a 7.5-kilometer trail on the northern face of the mountain. The exhilarating two-hour trip starts with a snowcat ride to the top of the trail, where you’re handed a small sled. Then you start cruising downhill, curving around banks, and sweeping over hills, all with that same glorious view of the St. Lawrence. It’s a blast! 

 
If you love Paris in the springtime, then you’ll adore Quebec City in the wintertime, where, for 17 days, the party never stops. Quebec City’s Winter Carnival is the largest in the world, attracting more than one million people. The 60th anniversary takes place from January 30 to February 15, 2015. Sled down an ice chute, view the impressive ice castle, made from 1600 blocks of ice, eat maple syrup on snow, and see some of the major events like Le Grande Virée, a dogsled race that cruises through the heart of the historic Old City. Combined with the skiing at Le Massif, it’s the ideal to experience of the joie de vivre of this French-speaking city. 
 
I’m off to see my son’s jazz band perform at his college, then spending Thanksgiving week with family. I’ll be back on December 1st.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving! 
 
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Nova Scotia Week, The Perfect Loop in Cape Breton Highlands National Park

There’s a reason Travel & Leisure magazine named Cape Breton the number one island destination in North America and third in the world. The landscape is a mesmerizing mix of rolling summits, precipitous cliffs, high headlands, sweeping white sand beaches, and glacially carved lakes, all bordered by the ocean. The Cabot Trail hugs the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the rugged northwestern edge of the island, where around every bend you want to pull over, spew expletives of joy at the stupendous vista, and take another snapshot. Indeed, it’s as close to Big Sur as the East Coast gets. Add bald eagles, moose, coyotes, and pilot whales fluking in the nearby waters and you want to leave the car behind and soak it all up. 

 
One of the most popular trails, Skyline, is a 9.2 km (5.7-mile) loop atop the ridge of a coastal headland. I took the 3-hour loop yesterday morning, when the rain that’s been following me the past two days subsided, replaced by blue skies and a trace of thin clouds. I veered right at the start to walk through a bog topped with pines and carpeted with moss. I took deep breaths of the sweet pines as I meandered over the roots and rocks on the grassy path. Eventually, the trail snakes to the left offering expansive views of the sea. At the halfway point, a boardwalk leads down the headland and wow, what a majestic stroll it is. To the left is a backbone of peaks, to the right is all ocean as far as your eye can see. I sat down on a bench and bit into my honeycrisp apple, watching a whale spout. It was hard to leave, but after having my fill, I made my way back on the loop. Within minutes, I was staring at a mother moose and her calf. Talk about icing on the cake. 
 
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Hut-to-Hut Hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains with the AMC

In 1876, 39 outdoor enthusiasts met in Boston and formed an organization devoted to exploration of the White Mountains. Several of the members had visited Europe and knew firsthand about Alpine huts, mountain refuges that sheltered hikers. They wanted to build this form of accommodation for the growing legion of avid "trampers." Twelve years later, dreams became reality when the stone Madison Spring cabin was opened in a col between Mount Adams and Mount Madison. The cost was 50 cents and you had to bring your own food. To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the opening of the AMC’s first hut, I spent last week hiking to 4 of the 8 high huts, with my wife Lisa, on assignment for The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. 
 
We started on the Gale River Trail, listening to rapids as we slowly made our ascent through a forest of birches and pines, going from forgiving soil to the unforgiving rock we would grow accustom to over the course of the trek. Thunder serenaded us throughout the day, but the skies didn’t open up until we were at the Galehead Hut. After a hearty dinner of turkey vegetable soup, freshly baked honey-oatmeal bread, and stuffed shells marinara, Lisa and I went outside to see a rainbow and listen to the birdcalls of the white-throated sparrow, black pole warbler, and bicknell’s thrush. 
 
Built in 1932 at an elevation of 3800 feet, Galehead is the most remote hut, 4.6 miles to the nearest trailhead. You’re lost in a panorama of peaks, from Galehead Mountain, perched just above the hut to Stinson Mountain, 25 miles away. Over the course of the next five days, as we hiked over 26 miles with an elevation gain and loss over 15,000 feet, that Japanese silkscreen of ridge upon ridge was never far from view, always luring us to put one step in front of another. We would face adversity from trails flooded with water, humidity, black flies, the threat of thunderstorms on ridge walks, and ascents and descents that at times felt like a Marine Corp obstacle course. But when you arrive at the next AMC hut, each a day hike apart, lemonade in hand, looking at this exquisite view atop the peaks, all is good. You’ve accepted the challenge and this is your just dessert, one of the many reasons why the huts continue to thrive 125 years later. I felt fortunate to be a part of that history. 
 
 
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Maine Huts & Trails Week: Day Four, Paddling to Grand Falls Hut

Every night after dinner at all four Maine Huts, you’re encouraged to take part in the energy tour. Sustainability is an important part of the Maine Huts credo and on the tour you’ll learn that the huts are completely off the grid. Solar is the primary source of energy, providing electricity and the heating of water. Propane gas is also used as a back-up to heat the water if not enough solar energy is produced. 80 cords of wood are used each winter at the huts to supply heating for all rooms, even the floors. The composting toilets are created by Clivus and use only 3 ounces of water per flush. All of this I learned from Nate at the Grand Falls Hut on our last night of the trip. 


We started the day with an easy walk back to the Flagstaff Hut trailhead, where we met our paddling guide Matt Rolfson. A University of Maine at Farmington student, Matt grew up in these parts and knows this neck of the woods intimately. We drove to the put-in and soon started our 6-mile paddle down the Dead River. The Dead River is best known for its whitewater rafting, but that’s after the Long Falls Dam release. This section of the river is a serene paddle on quietwater, where there were far more loons than other canoers. 

2 ½ hours later, we pulled the canoe out and hiked the remaining 2 miles to the Grand Falls Hut. This stretch of trail leads to one of the highlights of the MH&T’ network, the magnificent Grand Falls, where a wide ribbon of water rushes down the rocks. On the shores below, a fly-fisherman was trying his luck hooking rainbow trout. While overhead, a bald eagle was circling the falls. The scene was so majestic I could have started waving the American flag. We walked down granite steps and were soon at our last of four huts. To commemorate the achievement, I downed a maple frosted carrot cupcake. Tasty!  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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