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Favorite Fall Foliage Travels—Biking the Confederation Trail, Prince Edward Island

In September 2004, I was fortunate to receive an assignment from Canadian Geographic to head to Prince Edward Island and write about their relatively new Confederation Trail. The Canadian Pacific railroad that once connected Prince Edward Island’s small villages last roared through the interior in 1989, leaving in its wake hundreds of kilometers of track. By 2000, the tracks were pulled and the line replaced with a surface of finely crushed gravel, creating a biking and walking thoroughfare called the Confederation Trail. Crossing the entire island, the trail starts in Tignish in the west and rolls 279 kilometers to the eastern terminus in Elmira. One of the most scenic stretches starts in Mt. Stewart in King’s County along the sinuous Hillsborough River. You’ll soon reach St. Peter’s Bay, a large inlet dotted with mussel farms and lobster traps. After crossing a bridge that rewards you with glimpses of the island’s fabled red cliffs, you’ll arrive at the rolling Greenwich Dunes. If you were wise, you grabbed a room at the nearby Inn at St. Peter’s to spend the night. 

 

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My 5 Favorite Fall Adventures in North America, Biking and Hiking Zion National Park

An hour’s drive northeast of Las Vegas, rows of creosote bushes and gnarly-looking Joshua trees lead to ridges of sandstone. Crossing into Utah, these walls of rock become far more dramatic, shaped into a phantasmagoric blend of towering cliff walls, slot canyons, lonely buttes, and organ-shaped mesas. It’s a harsh, rugged terrain, best suited for pioneers and as a backdrop for 1940s Westerns. You half expect John Wayne to pop out of the bush and mutter, “I’m hoping to round up a posse and you’re it.” 

 
The unforgiving rock is also ripe for adventure. October 2012, three close friends and I signed on to a 4-day jaunt with the reputable West Coast outfitter, Bicycle Adventures. The itinerary took full advantage of jaw-dropping scenery, offering two days of riding through Zion National Park and Snow Canyon State Park, and then two days of hiking on classic Zion trails, within a narrow slot canyon and atop Angel’s Landing, a precipitous perch better suited for the condors we would spot. This was not some pansy-ass undertaking, but a thigh-burning workout with sustained climbs longer than 7 miles on two wheels and a steep ascent up Angel’s Landing on two legs. The best form of therapy.
 
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Take Time to Savor the Present

Last night, I had the privilege of speaking at a travel-themed event in downtown Boston sponsored by the Scotch company, Glenlivet. It was held at the International Poster Gallery on Newbury Street, home to a glorious collection of vintage travel posters from the 1920s and 1930s. What a treat it was to talk about my life as a travel writer, surrounded by these classic posters of ocean liners, luxury trains, and airplanes, while sipping an 18-year-old Scotch. I wish all my talks were like this, instead of being stuck in some dungeoness room in a God-forsaken hotel. Glenlivet only wanted me to speak for a short time, so I simply distilled my 22 years as a travel writer down to “10 Places I’d Happily Bring a Bottle of Glenlivet.” I wanted to introduce the crowd of 50 or so people to some of my favorite off-the-beaten-track destinations, like Torres del Paine, Chile, and the Laikipia region of Kenya. If interested in seeing the entire list, shoot me an email at steve@activetravels.com and I’ll send it your way. It was the perfect way to kick off the Holiday Season with good Holiday Cheer. Hope you enjoy this month and take the necessary time to get together with good friends and family. If, like me, you’ve worked hard all year, you deserve that sip of Scotch. 
 
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$10 a Night Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne

Drive across the Rickenbacker Causeway from Miami above the waters of Biscayne Bay and you’re suddenly transported back to the Florida of yesteryear, where swaying palms and thick tropical foliage line the roadway. Welcome to Key Biscayne, a 7-mile long barrier island that feels like a Caribbean getaway, especially when compared to the glitz, glamour, and congestion on South Beach, its neighbor to the north. This is the quiet side of Miami, the place to reconnect with loved ones on a beach vacation. If you want to spend the night on this island paradise, you’ll have to book a room at the only resort on Key Biscayne, the Ritz-Carlton. With its cheery yellow facade, the 13-story building reigns supreme on the island like a queen at her court.

The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne will be celebrating their 10th anniversary in July. Unlike most resorts that would simply charge $10 a drink to commemorate the occasion, they’re offering some serious discounts. Call 305-365-4582 at 10 am EST on June 10th and you’ll have the chance to book a guestroom in July for only ten bucks a night! If you can’t snag one of the rooms, book a Key Lime Treatment (50 minutes) in the spa for a mere $10 (call 305-365-4286) on Wednesdays in July. Or a $10 three-course menu at their signature restaurant, the Tuscan-themed Cioppino (also call 305-365-4286).
 

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Paul Cyr’s Latest Coffee Table Book Now Available

I met Paul Cyr while on assignment from The Boston Globe in Presque Isle, Maine, in search of the elusive Northern Lights. Cyr’s colorfully charged photos of the Northern Lights have gone viral. His shots of Maine wildlife, including moose, bear, and this snowy owl are quite spectacular as well. In typical Maine fashion, he humbly insists he’s an amateur photographer. Yeah, and Jimi Hendrix is an amateur guitarist. Check out his magnificent work in his latest book, Northern Maine with Paul Cyr, perfect for a Holiday gift. 

 
(Photo by Paul Cyr)
 
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A World of Adventure at the Boston Globe Travel Show Tomorrow

For those of you in the region, I’ll be leading a panel at the Boston Globe Travel Show tomorrow on “The World of Adventure.” A very generic name for what many travelers are really yearning for, an authentic travel experience. A truly authentic vacation refuses to be prepackaged and is hard to emulate. Indeed, it’s the opportunity to live like a local for one hour, one day, or one week. The panel includes Rob Burbank from The Appalachian Mountain Club, Judy Allpress from The Wayfarers Walking Vacations, and Joe Luchison from Ciclismo Classico, as we discuss off-the-beaten-track locales to hike, bike, and paddle across the globe. The talk takes place from 10:15-11 am, Saturday, at the Seaport World Trade Center. Hope to see you there! If not, do something active this weekend.
 

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Visiting Yosemite National Park in Winter

Head to the Grand Canyon or Yosemite National Park in summer and “forever wild” might feel more like “forever congested.” Come winter, these same parks are virtually uninhabited, almost returning to their original state. Cold weather can add a sense of wild enchantment—a layer of frost on the Canyon’s North Rim, icicles hang from Yosemite’s granite grandeur, the mixture of fresh snow and the briny Atlantic at Acadia. So grab your hiking boots, snowshoes, or cross-country skies and check out the country’s most scenic spots the way Muir and Abbey did, alone in their own private playground.  

 
First stop, Yosemite National Park. Yosemite is a winter wonderland where you can play amidst sheer granite cliffs and domes, iced-over waterfalls, and towering trees. To truly savor the feeling of being alone in a national park, make snow angels at the roots of 200-foot sequoia trees in Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove. A 2-mile snowshoe trek in and you’re staring at these titanic trees, their shaggy orange bark a striking contrast to the frigid whiteness that envelops the rest of the forest. Cross-country skiers cherish the ten miles of groomed track that leads to 7,000-foot high Glacier Point. Here, a backcountry hut offers accommodations and a thrilling view of the Yosemite Valley. The sheer walls of the silvery Half Dome plunges some 4,500 feet down to a handful of figures swirling on the luminescent orb otherwise known as the Curry Village ice rink. The park is also home to one of the oldest downhill ski areas in California, Badger Pass, built in the late 20s in a bid to get the 1930 Winter Olympics. The bid failed but the resort, with a vertical drop of only 800 feet, is now one of the best places in the West to learn how to ski. At night, take refuge around the massive fireplace in the Ahwahnee Hotel’s Great Lounge. This spacious lodge was built of heavy timber and stone in 1927.  
 
(Photograph by the talented Benny Haddad)

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