REI PERU 10 day adventure trek

The next time it's a rainy, rest day and you find yourself surfing your Facebook news feed instead of your favorite seas or slopes and come across another one of those teasing, dream trip contest giveaway headlines- I highly recommend taking a few extra minutes with that second cup of coffee to enter it....You just never know, you  may end up winning.

That's exactly how I unexpectedly found myself travelling to PERU a couple of months ago, 

with a million thanks to REI!! 

 In exchange for the time it took to pick out a photo submission of ourselves hiking and a write a hundred word or less essay, 6 of us lucky contest winners received an all expenses paid trip to Peru!!   

Together we embarked on a fully supported, surreal, wonderland high altitude hiking journey, starting near Cusco on REI's 10 day adventure trek to Machu Picchu.  Through the Andes mountains we walked hours a day along ancient Inca trails, bonding with each other and our incredible guides 

as we took in the South American cultures and customs, old and new, 

lush flora, fauna and vibrant flavors every amazing step of the way.  

With World Class lodging and 5 star service as spectacular as Nature's 
impressive 20,000 foot surrounding peaks backdrop.

The Seven Serpents switchbacks sucked the air out of us on the final accent over Salkantay Pass at 15,250 feet, the highest altitude we reached

on our way to catch the sunrise over the Lost City,

as we learned Incan legends of llamas, condors and pumas

while forming friendships that will last a lifetime, 

with many more adventures trips together to come!

A videographer joined us to put the highlights together into a great promo clip for the trip. You can find it on the REI website or view it here

...and just what were those one hundred winning words, 

aka the *$6,000 adventure trip* paragraph-of-a-lifetime you wonder?!...

Some of my fondest memories as a child were the day trips with my family that began with a ferry ride…Eager anticipation would grow within like it now does the hour before a race start. I’d burst through those big old familiar doors, along rickety wooden floors to spend hours exploring every inch of clothing and gear at the only REI store in the whole world!   Gearing up was an early priority. I could paddle a kayak and climb a mountain before I could drive a car.  And now?  My two favorite lifetime adventure companions- my husband and REI!

Encounters with Orca Whales of the PNW

Encounters with Orca Whales of the Pacific Northwest from Island Paddlers on Vimeo.

Here at Island Paddlers a summer in the Pacific Northwest wouldn't be complete without spending some quality time escaping into the ruggedly remote environments of the San Juan and Broughton island archipelagos- ritualized annual expeditioning with our kayak and cameras.  Some years we'll paddle thousands of miles and see not one, while other years lucky timing on island shorelines provide the best viewing perches for exhilarating glimpses of glistening dorsals and bursting exhales. 


For us, nothing in Nature compares to time spent with our favorite sets of North Pacific Ocean resident Orca whales, the Canadian Northern Residents of the isles and channels in British Columbia's Johnstone Straits, and their 'cousins', the three pods of Southern Resident Orca whales of Washington States' San Juan islands.  *The only killer whales listed as an Endangered Species.  
Observing the different distinct behavior traits of these two whale families and the humans who interact with them in their own watery neighborhoods each years satisfies the cultural anthropologist within...  


Take a few minutes and escape with us into this wonderful world of whales- with enchanting wild Orca whale encounters caught on video, kayakers being played with by a pod of curious Northern Resident Orcas in Johnstone Straits and closely passing pods of Endangered Southern Residents along the shores of San Juan island.

*Look and Listen for surprise close ups, roll overs, a spy hop, splashes, squeaks & squeals!

Riding Capital Forest on Christmas Eve

Riding Capital Forest trails on Christmas Eve from Island Paddlers on Vimeo.

Under sunny skies and unseasonably warm, 55 degree temperatures, after a long I-5 drive and handfuls of holiday cookies later, we eagerly grabbed our mountain bikes and headed for some of the Pacific Northwest's finest single track trails in Olympia's Capital Forest to go for a muddy holiday ride...

Armed with our new Santa-delivered, action cameras fresh out of the boxes, we clicked in and excitedly mounted up to see what kind of adventures we could film over 10.5 miles of ups, downs and rooty arounds... 

*Includes fast & fun, expert rider Jim views, testing out his new Contour ROAM camera bombing down narrow sections at speeds near 20 mph! And Nadja with her new Nikon pocket waterproof camera! = :) + :) !!

Additional holiday gift appearances by a couple of our nation's most well-known volcanoes surprised us and enhanced the clear cut views when majestic Mount Rainier and neighboring sleeping giant, Mount Saint Helens appeared on the eastern Cascade mountain horizon, with possibly a sleigh and reindeer overhead...

~ Happy Adventuring Holidays 2011
from us @ Island Paddlers! ~

Kayaking at Deception Pass

Playing at Deception Pass from Island Paddlers on Vimeo.

From practicing peel outs in a tandem Necky Nootka Plus, to surfing standing waves to sea caving and then being surrounded by Dalls porpoises...

You just never know what adventures are possible until you spend a few hours playing at 'the Pass'!

Capitol Punishment 12 hour Relay Race

12 hour Capitol Punishment Race from Island Paddlers on Vimeo.
3 friends spend 12 hours mountain bike relay racing nearly 100 miles together between 10 laps over a super fun, flowy and steeply sweet technical single track course to finish 1st (and only;) in the 3 person, co-ed class. With 20 miles of 'hard time' put in by Nadja, 30 from Jesse and 50 ridden by ironman Jim... 
Lap after lap Team 'A-town Pirates' raged on, super pumped as they continued to happily escape crash and injuries in their first group endurance race together on this unusually hot fall day. 
Challenges instead came in the form of a chest cold for Nadja, a loose wheel for Jesse, and a light failure for Jim to deal with- which left him stranded alone in the dark forest for about 30 minutes after he was bombing down a super steep section of the rooty trail at speeds near 20 mph, took a jump and middair before he landed his new bright light suddenly went out!...
*Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers who come along and share their extra lights!  And great event organizers and volunteers...We're looking forward to next year's  12 & 6 hours of Capitol Punishment Relay Race race already! :)