The Debut of Canada Goose Adventure Trips
Luxury tour operator, Butterfield & Robinson, has just announced their new partnership with warm-weather fashion apparel designer Canada Goose. Called Canada Goose Adventure Trips, these small group adventures will head to Iceland and Newfoundland to snowmobile, hike on glaciers, snorkel between the continental shelf, and soak in the renowned Blue Lagoon, all while wearing the latest Canada Goose garb. The six-day Iceland adventure runs March 5-10 while the 4-day Newfoundland trip to Fogo Island runs June 8-10. Nine miles off the northeastern coast of Newfoundland, Fogo Island is best known for its ultramodern, dramatically colored amorphous art studios that have garnered attention from numerous publications, including The New York Times.
I spent Memorial Day Weekend in the White Mountains with family and friends, finally bagging Mount Chocorua. Standing 3,478-feet high, it doesn’t make the 4,000-foot club and therefore many avid climbers blow it off. They shouldn’t. This is a classic New England climb with an exquisite panorama of the southern Presidential range and enough granite to leave your quads burning by the end of the trek. We took the Champney Falls Trail, named after the artist who painted the distinctive rocky summit of this peak. Within an hour, we reached picturesque Champney Falls and watched the rushing water stream down a series of ledges. Two hours later, after scrambling through rock, we reached the summit, initially socked in a cloud. Once it started to clear up, we were treated to glorious views of the lakes and green valley below, the snow-covered trails of Mt. Washington in the distance. 
In the mid-90s, I was hired by Art & Antiques Magazine to write a story on the period of time painter Georgia O’Keeffe and her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, lived on the shores of Lake George. This was to coincide with a photography exhibition of Stieglitz’s work at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. I knew renowned abstract sculptor David Smith lived in Bolton Landing, but I honestly had no idea O’Keeffe lived in Lake George, since she’s far better known for her New Mexican motif. From 1918 to 1934, O’Keeffe would spend a good portion of her summer at the lake. She would return to Lake George for the last time in 1946 to spread Stieglitz’s ashes at the foot of a pine tree on the shores of the lake. Today, those ashes lie on the grounds of the Tahoe Motel. Next door, the house they lived in, Oaklawn, is still standing at The Quarters of the Four Seasons Inn. On a wall next to my desk, I have a poster of a dreamy mountain and lake landscape simply titled Lake George (1922). My brother, Jim, purchased this for me at the San Francisco Museum of Art, where the original O’Keeffe oil still hangs. 
Yesterday, United Airlines issued a waiver to change all flights for free to St. Thomas, St. Martin, and Providenciales, Turks & Caicos through December 31, 2017. Word is starting to trickle in from the islands and it’s not good. Most resorts on St. Barts, St. Martin, and St. John have structural damage. Anguilla, St. Thomas, the British Virgin Islands, Turks & Caicos, and Cuba were also hit hard. 
In March 2015, I had the privilege of traveling with Rob Barbour around northern Tanzania, with stops in Arusha and Arusha National Park, the southern Amboseli plains, Mwiba Wildlife Reserve, Ngorongoro Crater, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Kusini Camp in the southern Serengeti, the Grumeti Wildlife Reserve, and the Lamai section of the northern Serengeti, where the legendary wildebeest migration takes place across the Mara River. Rob not only serves as director of African operations for the safari operator, 
Maine’s midcoast mountains reward hikers with views of the Atlantic, picturesque harbors, and three-masted schooners sailing on open waters—all for an hour or two of effort. The Maiden Cliff Trail strolls through hemlocks until it comes to a junction at the half-mile mark. Turn right onto Ridge Trail, and the ledges open up onto Megunticook Lake. The view only gets better when you turn left at the Scenic Trail and continue to the summit. Follow the white blazes, and you’ll find a huge, white cross. This marks the spot where 11-year-old Elenora French plunged to her death on May 7, 1864. She was running to catch her hat. It might be the fastest way down, but not recommended. To get to the trailhead from Camden, take Route 52 West 3 miles from the intersection of Route 1. There will be a small parking area on the right-hand side of the road just before Route 52 borders the lake.
The abundance of snowfall this winter bodes well for whitewater rafting this spring, when rivers will be bulging at the seam with the high volume of water. Join the adrenalin junkies in the Adirondacks at Hudson River Gorge or the Moose River, where you’ll be plummeting down rip-roaring Class IV and Class V rapids. If you want something a wee bit mellower to bring the kids, check out the Middle Hudson or Sacandaga Rivers. To make it even more tempting,