I just came across these amazing charts that show the undersea topography of various U.S. cruising grounds in gorgeous relief. Each chart, built from layers of laser-cut birch, comes framed and ready to hang.
This particular one, of the Salish Sea, east of Vancouver Island, measures 25″ x 31″ and can be had for $248. Very nice indeed.
Link: Below the Boat
If you don’t already have a similar app on your phone, this website might come in handy.
GasBuddy maps the price of gas in your local area (if you’re in the United States). Zoomed out it gives you average prices. Zoom in and get specific prices at specific locations. Pretty cool.
Photo: Nik SchulzAfter leaving the deserts of Arizona we crossed over into the deserts of California. We’d initially planned to camp at Joshua Tree’s south entrance off of the 10 freeway, but we completely missed the exit and ended up in Indio (in the Palm Springs/Coachella area). By the time we got there it was well past sundown and the wind was blowing an absolute gale. We shelved our camping plan and headed to a hotel.
After a hot shower and a good night of sleep we ready to head into Joshua Tree and found what was probably a more interesting way in.
Spiderwoman Rock, Canyon de Chelly. Photo: Nik Schulz
After leaving Taos we headed northwest across New Mexico toward Arizona. About 200 miles into that day’s drive, something loomed up over the edge of the horizon. It was Shiprock, the massive remains of an ancient volcano’s innards that rise 1,500 feet above the high desert plain. It was an otherworldly sentinel marking our entrance into the Navajo Nation.
Update: Here’s a quick video of the trip.
Shiprock looms ahead. Photo: Natalie Menacho
For our first camping trip of the season together, my girlfriend, Natalie, and I took the canoe up to Lake Sonoma for some boat-in camping. Lake Sonoma is a man-made reservoir just east of Cloverdale, California. There are beautiful campsites around the edge of the lake, lots of shoreline to explore, and plenty of fishing — the lake contains one of California’s only landlocked steelhead populations.
We self registered for a campsite at park headquarters at the southern end of the lake then drove up to Yorty Creek to put in. With the canoe packed up, we shoved off for the 2.7 mile paddle to our campsite. It was fairly windy but, once we left the main basin of the lake, the water was much calmer. In an hour and fifteen minutes we were at Thumb Camp, Site #2. Read the rest of this entry »
