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30% Discount on all AMC Maine Lodges in March

First opened as a private sporting camp in 1867, it’s hard to top the locale of Gorman Chairback, located on the shores of Long Pond in the shadows of the Barren-Chairback Range. Reopened a year ago after a major renovation by the Appalachian Mountain Club, Gorman Chairback’s locale gives you the opportunity to snowshoe and cross-country ski deep into Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness, only to return back to the lodge for a home cooked meal and a seat by the roaring fire. Gorman Chairback is one of three historic Maine lodges run by the AMC that are now offering a 30% discount on rates in March for a two-night stay. The AMC maintains over 80 miles of trails in the region during winter so go out and play. 
 

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Adirondacks’ Wild Walk, The High Line of the Forest

The Adirondack Extreme Adventure Center was the first place my family ever experienced a treetop obstacle course. Set 10 to 50 feet off the grounds amidst the tall pines and maples you have the chance to climb rope ladders, jump from section to section, walk across suspended bridges, and as a finale, zipline side-by-side. The treetop course is an innovative way to get a workout and a ride at the same time, so everyone in the family is happy. But obviously this type of experience is not accessible to all so I was delighted to hear that the Adirondacks is now home to another adventure that can lead all generations to the treetops. 

 
Last July, the Wild Center at Tupper Lake opened its newest attraction, the Wild Walk. Dubbed the “High Line of the Forest,” Wild Walk gives visitors a chance to walk among the trees on a winding trail of bridges and platforms that lead from ground level to the treetops of the Adirondack forest. The experience includes a four-story twig tree house, swinging bridges, and a full-sized bald eagle’s nest at the highest point, 42 feet in the air. At Feeder Alley, slits in enclosed walls let visitors peer out into the surrounding forest, which is planted with species known to attract birds. The Wild Walk will reopen for the summer on May 27, 2016.
 
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Climb Mount Craig, North Carolina

The Black Mountains encompass North Carolina’s highest peaks, including Mt. Mitchell (6,684 feet) and Mt. Craig (6,645 feet), the two tallest summits east of the Mississippi River. On the 12-mile (one-way) Black Mountain Crest Trail (a 2 ½-hour drive from Charlotte), Craig is just one of a half-dozen peaks over 6,000 feet climbers get to bag.  Leave the Mt. Mitchell State Park through a forest of hemlock, spruce, and pine, and within a mile, you’ll be atop Craig. This is the start of a magical ridge walk among ferns, blackberry bushes, moosewood, spruce, and fir as you climb up and down the serrated crest of the Blacks. Small gaps separate the peaks, where surging streams come tumbling down the dense vegetation. It’s best to take this path with a buddy and leave a second car at Bowlen’s Creek, the trail’s end.  
 
I’m off to Costa Rica, back August 9th. Enjoy the heart of the summer and keep climbing!
 
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Four Seasons Makes Its Debut at Oahu’s Ko Olina Resort

Two summers ago, I had the pleasure of staying at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort with the family on Oahu’s blossoming leeward coast. Part of the umbrella Ko Olina Resort (which also includes Disney’s Aulani and Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club), this is the quiet side of the island. We snorkeled with wild dolphins straight from the Ko Olina marina, saw the ring of Saturn one night stargazing through a powerful telescope, listened to live Hawaiian ukulele music on the beach, and dined at some of the finest restaurants on the island including Roy Yamaguchi and Peter Merriman’s Ko Olina outposts. After a yearlong, $500 million renovation, the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort has now transformed into the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina. The Four Seasons had a lot to work with including spacious rooms with oversized balconies that offer expansive views of the ocean at night. We left the screen door open to hear the waves rolling ashore. The beachfront locale is also home to a stingray pool and a separate building that houses a large spa and tennis courts. I’m excited to see what the Four Seasons has done with the property. 

 
While we’re on the subject of the Four Seasons, the company just announced that they would take over management of the Viceroy Anguilla, a perennial client favorite. When it reopens in October, the property will be called the Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences Anguilla. It will be the second Four Seasons Resort in the Caribbean, along with Four Seasons Resort Nevis. 
 
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Don’t Miss Van Gogh Show at The Clark

The blockbuster show in New England this summer is not at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. No, you’ll have to travel to the northwestern corner of Massachusetts to Williamstown to find the Clark Art Institute. On view until September 13th is “Van Gogh and Nature,” fifty paintings and drawings by Van Gogh from over thirty museums and private collections. We stopped at the Clark yesterday, on the way back from dropping our son off at Cornell, and, wow, was it worth the slight detour. The works from the last 3 years of his life, in Arles, Saint-Rémy, and Auvers, are spectacularly vibrant. There are wonderful pairings of sketches and oils, like two depictions of olive trees hung side-by-side. I also liked how the curator used maps to show exactly where in France these towns are located and provided large photographs to see how they would look during Van Gogh’s time. 

Inspired by Van Gogh’s work, you can take you own walk through glorious nature. Stroll through the Clark’s meadows atop Stone Hill for a wonderful vista of Mount Greylock and the town of Williamstown below. Take a breather on the bench inside Thomas Schütte’s “Crystal,” an open-sided architectural piece newly planted on the grounds. You know it’s just been built because it smells like fresh wood. Then make your way down to the Lunder Center at Stone Hill, also on the Clark property to find another gem of an exhibition devoted to “Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1 (Portrait of the Artist’s Mother),” otherwise known as Whistler’s Mother. Two small galleries of Whistler’s prints and drawings accompany the famous work. One glance at any of these works to see the mast of a ship, portrait of a niece, or buildings so small you’ll need a magnifying glass to find, and you’ll quickly appreciate Whistler’s immense talent. The Whistler show will be on view until September 27th, so make the effort to get here soon. You’ll thank me! 

Traveling the World While Staying Put in Toronto

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches

I traveled all over the world and through time this month without ever leaving Toronto. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is an annual public event in September where nearly 300 top-flight movies are shown during a 10-day period. TIFF is one of the world’s most well-attended film festivals (almost 500,000 people), and it is also among the most prestigious, moving newer filmmakers onto the big stage. Many directors, screenwriters, and actors/actresses speak to audiences immediately after their films are shown, which is an added treat. I saw 17 films this year, a huge increase from the two last year, once I understood what all the fuss was about. 

Toronto itself is an amazing city, an easy journey from both eastern and midwestern US, and full of fascinating indoor and outside activities: over 180 languages and dialects are spoken here; half of Toronto’s population was born outside of Canada; it is now the 4th largest city in North America (behind only Mexico City, NYC and LA); and the varied neighborhoods, shores of Lake Ontario, and wooded ravines of the city beckon. Walking and biking are very popular, as are a tremendous choice of cultural experiences.
 
But, back to TIFF: this month, I’ve been to India, Kenya, England, France, Sweden, Colombia, and across the US (by, for example, old-style RV, horse and wagon, classic convertible, bed of a pickup truck, and decidedly unglamorous team bus). I’ve immersed myself in wonderful stories (many of them based on fact). To me, this is similar to real travel in a small way — learning about and absorbing different ways of life, imagining different time periods, hearing different stories, and seeing different vistas (literal and metaphorical).
 
Consider a trip to Toronto anytime, and ActiveTravels can help you with a wonderful itinerary. Or plan ahead: TIFF 2018 will be held September 6-16, 2018. If you determine what movies you want to see (the list is published each August), ActiveTravels can get your desired tickets during the exclusive “pre-sale” period, held the week before the Festival. 
 
Photo: The Cast and Crew of I, Tonya, My Favorite Film of This Year’s TIFF
 
 
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Dogsled Umbagog Lake on the Maine-New Hampshire Border

Polly Mahoney and Kevin Slater, owners of Mahoosuc Guide Service have chosen a good base for their dogsledding operations. They live on the outskirts of Grafton Notch State Park in the heart of the Maine woods. Almost every weekend in winter, the couple, with 15 of their dogs, drive some 30 miles to the remote shores of Umbagog Lake. Here, guests learn the basics of the sport: standing on the back of the sled and shouting the magic words “Let’s go!” to see the dogs romp through the snow or yelling “Whoa!” to slow them down. You’ll take turns dogsledding and cross-country skiing on iced-over lakes, fringed by mountains of pines. At night, you’ll sleep in heated tents on a floor of cushiony fir needles, only to awaken to the sounds of the dogs howling in the predawn hours.

 
Mahoney breeds her own type of dog, which she calls a Yukon husky. A native Mainer, she spent a decade learning her trade in the Yukon bush. She returned home and met Slater at a nearby Outward Bound center when he was in dire need of a skilled dogsledder. Two and three-day outings start at $575 and include food, tents, sleeping bags, even cozy parkas, mukluks, and leg gaiters. If winter camping sounds too ambitious, ask about their cabin-to-cabin option in late January, where you stay at three classic Maine sporting camps now run by the Appalachian Mountain Club.
 

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