Text by Christopher Percy Collier
Photograph by Erich Schlegel/Dallas Morning News/Corbis
National Geographic ADVENTURE
Published: June/July 2008
WISCONSIN
Sailing: Sail a Kayak
You'd think even a minor breeze would be a major setback while paddling
Green Bay to Door County's Peninsula State Park. But the wind is
a bonus when your kayak is outfitted with pontoons and a 21-square-foot
sail. Rent a Hobie hybrid from Bay Shore Outdoor Store in Sister
Bay ($50 for two days; kayakdoorcounty.com) and head south, past
caves carved in 200-foot-high dolomite bluffs, to Nicolet Bay Campground,
beaching your craft on a shore with rocks the size of bowling balls.
At sunup paddle out to Horseshoe Island and an abandoned fishing
village for a one-mile hike, then hoist the mainsail and cruise
home. "Out here, it's like a miniature version of the Apostle
Islands on Lake Superior," says guide Casey St. Henry. "Only
a lot more accessible."
MINNESOTA
Climbing: Find a Higher Purpose
"Picture a shattered chalkboard with edges that go every which
way," says climbing instructor Peter Graupner of P.J. Asch
Otterfitters ($50 for a half-day guided climb; pjaschotterfitters.com).
That's Noah's Ark, a route at Interstate State Park—one of
the top climbing areas in Minnesota, and the most easily accessed.
Just 49 miles from the Twin Cities, Interstate (aka Taylors Falls)
has a hundred basalt routes of varying difficulty. There's Rosebush,
a blocky, 50-foot-high, chimney-shaped hunk of rock, and AC (as
in air-conditioning), a 70-foot-high crack, named for the cool air
that shoots through it off the St. Croix River. Camp at the park
and, should the rock heat up by noon, spend the rest of the day
splashing in and out of a canoe on the St. Croix ($35 for a daylong
canoe rental from P.J.).
MICHIGAN
Mountain Biking: Bomb Glacial Hills
Mountain bikers often cite the singletrack in 11,000-acre Pinckney
Recreation Area as the most challenging in southeastern Michigan.
It also happens to be some of the easiest to reach. The 24-mile
network of trails through glacial hills and hollows loaded with
granny-gear climbs and sudden turns is only about an hour's drive
from Detroit. For the park's best, shoulder an overnight pack and
pedal out from the Potawatomi Trail (or the Poto, for short). "You
go through all different types of terrain, from gravel to sand to
black swamp mud," says John Calvert, owner of Speedtrains Village
Cyclery. Pass a series of kettle ponds on a tough eight-mile ride
and camp at Blind Lake, then finish with an easy nine the next day
($30 for a two-day bike rental; speedtrainsvillagecyclery.com).
TEXAS
Stand-Up Paddleboarding: SUP in Padre
Not long ago, when the breezes died down on South Padre Island—which
they sometimes do in late July—stand-up paddleboarding (SUP)
became
the no-wind alternative for kiteboarders. "We started offering
it because we couldn't deal with all the whining around the shop
when the wind didn't blow,"
says Ken Minnotte of South Padre Island Kiteboarding. Now it's a
Laird Hamilton-endorsed attraction. Learn the sport in the protective
waters of the bay
($75 for a 90-minute lesson), then the board is yours ($35 a day;
southpadreislandkiteboarding.com). "It's not superhard to learn
on flat water," says Minnotte,
"but you'll definitely fall in a few times as you get used
to it—and certainly when you hit the surf."
