Jim and Deb Inflating our rafts at Lee’s Ferry

An extended stay in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Part 1

Tom McCorkle June 17, 2019

On the night of August 1st, Jim, Nate and I met up with the rest of our group for this epic journey. Plans were hatched for the following days activities, which included being shuttled to the put in, and rigging the rafts that would be carrying all of our collective gear for the next 15 days. We chose Canyon REO as our outfitter, and I would highly recommend them - they were very professional and supplied us with everything, I mean everything, that we would need for the amazing adventure ahead of us.

For my sake, and yours, I am breaking this trip up into three parts. Get ready for a lot of photos of brown water, rafts, sunsets, beer and some of the dirtiest, yet best people you can imagine. Directly below is a gallery of the first 5 days on the water, for those of you who don’t want to read about it, and just get to the good stuff. Those of you who do want to read, I’d suggest skipping the gallery, as all or most of the photos will be below.

Sunrise, day 2. Cruising west across i-80.

An epic adventure begins with an epic road trip.

Tom McCorkle January 1, 2019

You haven’t heard from me for a while, but don’t worry, I’ve still been out there having fun and documenting it - I’ve just been real shitty at sharing it. This summer I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend 15 days on the wild and wonderful river that carved one of the seven wonders of the natural world. I’m talking about the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. But first I had to get there, and that in itself was quite the journey.

Fire and ice in the dolly sods.

Tom McCorkle January 4, 2018

I decided I wanted to be in the woods for my birthday this year, as usual. So I recruited my buddy Frank to plan a return trip to the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area for the beginning of November.

OuterBanks, how I have missed you.

Tom McCorkle December 7, 2017

I haven't been to the OuterBanks since I was in college, over 10 years ago. My family, like many from western PA, spent a lot of our summer vacations in this beautifully wild, yet over developed area. We always headed for the area around Cape Hatteras, where there was a lot less development and people, and more wide open beaches. This year my parents, with the help of my brother and sister-in-law, planned a late September vacation with my father's side of the family, who would usually join us on these summer trips.

European Vacation Part 3

Tom McCorkle November 14, 2017

Our train arrived in Prague around 7:30 on Saturday. After purchasing tickets for public transportation, we walked around the train station like lost tourists (which we were), until we finally were able to get our bearings and find the correct tram stop.

European Vacation Part 2

Tom McCorkle October 18, 2017

Sloane and I were up early to finish packing our suitcases - we had a train to catch in Budapest at 830AM. We called a cab, and were at the train station with over an hour to spare. After collecting our tickets we walked across the street for some good old American starbucks - Sloane really wanted yogurt, and we knew it could be found there.

5D4_6686 copy.jpg — Buda And Pest, Two Sides Of The Danube.

Sloane and I just got back from another fantastic trip overseas to Europe. Sloane had mentioned Prague when we were planning our trip last year, so we decided to try it out this time. My family has roots in Hungary, (see our delicious family tradition here), so I was excited that Budapest was so close to Prague and easily accessible. We researched a bunch of different options: flying in and out of both Prague and Budapest, renting cars, riding trains and flights from city to city. Our plans began to take shape when we finally purchased plane tickets in late July. We found it was cheaper to fly into Budapest and out of Prague, so that gave us a starting and end point. We planned the rest afterwards as we talked to folks who had already travelled to these areas.

European Vacation Part 1

Tom McCorkle October 3, 2017

Sloane and I just got back from another fantastic trip overseas to Europe. Sloane had mentioned Prague when we were planning our trip last year, so we decided to try it out this time.

The fellas hiking up the Bald Rocks area on the aptly named Lichen Trail. It was incredibly hot, and if you look close, you can see the vulture in the middle of the frame on a  dead tree, he was keeping an eye out for dehydrated hikers. — The fellas hiking up the Bald Rocks area on the aptly named Lichen Trail. It was incredibly hot, and if you look close, you can see the vulture in the middle of the frame on a dead tree, he was keeping an eye out for dehydrated hikers.

Sweat, booze and ticks.

Tom McCorkle June 30, 2017

I recently took a trip north for a long hike through the woods of Harriman State Park in NY with my adventure buddies Loren and Frank. There were no open campsites at the limited car campgrounds - which is what we usually do on the eve before a great adventure, so everyone can meet up throughout the night at various times easily.

A wet adventure in the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area

Tom McCorkle December 2, 2016

We decided to head to wild and wonderful, West by god Virginia, to a spot known as the Dolly Sods WIlderness Area. This place looks very similar to an arctic tundra, like parts of Alaska or Canada, and it is amazing to have such a unique landscape so close to home. I had been here before, and hiked a very short section of the trail we were hiking this time, but had never done any overnight trips.

Waking the fleet up early for our adventure.  The resurrected CRV loaded down. — Waking the fleet up early for our adventure. The resurrected CRV loaded down.

Serious. Urban. Kayaking. Our circumnavigation of NYC.

Tom McCorkle August 30, 2016

We Beat Manhattan, all 31 miles of it. It was hot, windy, smelly, humid, sometimes scary and very tiring. We paddled our kayaks the entire way around Manhattan Island, in a day. My buddy Loren (who you may remember from the last post as getting his SUV seriously stuck in the mud) and I have been meaning to do this trip for a while now. I honestly don't remember who came up with the idea, but I'm going to give it to him, since he is the NYC resident.