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.

Leaving Point Judith on the Ferry to Block Island

Memorial Day in Rhody

Tom McCorkle August 19, 2016

This is another adventure that has been stuck in the pipes, I was finally able to get it out for you all to see. At the end of May Sloane and I took a trip up to her home state of Rhode Island to visit with our family - and enjoy the first days of summer - New England style.

Stuck in the mud, CheatFest and Spring Crick 2016

Tom McCorkle August 6, 2016

Once again, I am really late posting images, but better late than never.

First up - a return to spring crick in early April, for the annual gathering on the first day of trout fishing season in Pennsyltucky. I did not spend a lot of time with my camera this trip - I was too busy hiking, eating and drinking most of the time - but here are a few choice shots from the weekend. We had amazing weather yet again, so good, I am positive it will snow next year. It was sunny, warm and dry in the Allegheny National Forest the entire weekend. I think some people even caught fish - once again I didn't bother to bring my fishing gear.

Car camping at its finest.  Tables, hatchets, comfy chairs, tarps to make garages with and gourmet food. — Car camping at its finest. Tables, hatchets, comfy chairs, tarps to make garages with and gourmet food.

From hammocks to room service, and everything in between.

Tom McCorkle April 13, 2016

We had a great hang in the Pinebarrens recently. Frank got to use his new hennessy hammock and 0 degree bag, Loren tested out his new underquilt, and I got to try out the aquaquest tarp that I modified to use with my hammock for foul weather, it now has doors.

Morning (iphone) low-country view from Barb's balcony, through the bug screen.

Southern Fried Holidays

Tom McCorkle January 12, 2016

Sloane and I packed the car and headed south for some sunshine and warm weather this holiday season (not that it wasn't warm up north). First stop was our old home in Charleston, SC - I apologize to the folks we didn't see while in town - we wish we could have stayed longer and seen everyone. We arrived in town on Saturday evening, before Christmas. On our way into Charleston we were able to swing by our friend's amazing new design studio and pop-up shop and surprise them.

Paddling the Pine Barrens of New Jersey

Tom McCorkle November 26, 2015

Plans to spend my 33rd birthday on the water were thwarted by work this year, but I still managed to get out paddling with some good friends the days leading up to it. The original idea was to paddle and camp at Assateague Island this time, but finding a third sea kayak for the group was proving to be a challenge. Loren had suggested a trip in the pines earlier this fall, and I had been intrigued by the giant green spot on google maps in southern Jersey since I had moved north, so we decided to make the flat water rivers of the pine barrens our adventure.

The total lunar eclipse on september 27th, as seen from our bathroom window in Baltimore, MD.

Fall

Tom McCorkle November 16, 2015

This past month I had the opportunity to travel all over the state of Maryland, and even PA. From the eastern shore of MD to the south west corner of Pennsylvania, I experienced the best that this amazingly short season has to offer, and of course I brought my camera with me so I could share it here.

Sunrise during our departure from Bmore and Maryland.

Summer ends, fall begins

Tom McCorkle October 8, 2015

Sloane and I took a trip to the Adirondacks at the beginning of September to attend an amazing wedding with some friends from Sloane's college. Although we were too early for any fall colors and the sun hid from us most of the time, the Daks still offered up some incredible scenery.

The crew in search of a campsite on the first day on the water.

Paddling the Delaware River

Tom McCorkle August 24, 2015

Some friends joined me on a river trip in early August to paddle 34 miles of the Delaware River - it was a fantastic time, on a beautiful river. Five of us met up on a Thursday evening at the Worthington State Forest campground, so we could get an early start Friday. We decided on this river mostly because it was less than a four hour drive for everyone. Adam and I drove together and were the first ones to the camp Thursday.

Relaxing in the hammocks, it was a bit toasty for the hot tub in the afternoons.

We took a vacation.

Tom McCorkle August 4, 2015

Sloane and I have not been on a vacation, where it is just the two of us, for 4 years. It was way past time to treat ourselves. We found out the evening before our departure that the property we had originally booked, in Cape Charles VA, was occupied by someone else - which was mostly our fault - it is a long story. We scrambled on air b&b to find anything open for the next 5 days, and found a ski house in Canaan Valley WV. A rapid unpacking of beach items, and repacking of hiking gear consumed our evening, and by noon on Saturday we were ready to head for the mountains. We were lucky enough to find a nice place, with a hot tub and a community pool to make up for the lack of beach.

October 7, 2021

Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area, Gunnison Gorge and the Chukkar Trail

A paddle trip down the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area, the Gunnison Gorge and the Chukkar Trail.

March 30, 2020

An extended stay in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Part 3 - Hold my beer.

As a self employed photographer, it is sometimes hard to find time to write these blog posts. It’s been 18 months since I returned from this epic trip, work and travel this past year and half have kept me very busy, in a good way, but it’s finally time to show y’all how this trip ended. Spoiler alert, it was amazing. I just read an article in the NY Times about a group who recently (March 14th) took off the Colorado river after 25 days of isolation, to find out about the chaos that is going on in the world. It took me back to the day we got off the river and returned to life above the rim. Before we re-live that experience, let’s enjoy the last few days of river life together. Hopefully a welcome distraction from the Covid-19 virus that is bound to go down in the history books. Thanks to all the folks working in the health care industry right now, including our trip leader Anna, Deb, Heather, Gaylin, Pat, Michael and Brian.

October 11, 2019

An extended stay in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Part 2

I will be forever grateful to this team for putting enough trust in me to literally row their shit down the big ditch. Let it be known that I had some amazing instructors, supporters and words of encouragement from every member of this crew. I went into this journey understanding how to read water from my kayaking experience, but not knowing a thing about rowing an oar rig, other than point it down steam and hope you chose the proper line. The combined experience of our group, young and old (wise), was the only reason I did not flip this beast of a raft. Scouting rapids with the other boatmen, and listening to the way they saw their boats reacting to waves, eddies and holes, gave me the confidence that I could do it, I just needed to be in the right place at the right time. This was usually much harder than it sounded.

June 17, 2019

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

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.

January 1, 2019

An epic adventure begins with an epic road trip.

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.

April 30, 2018

Late winter and early spring adventures

I've been traveling a bit the last few months, here is a quick rundown. In late February I headed down south to visit the family in sunny Florida, and to celebrate my Grandfather's 91st trip around the sun.

March 16, 2018

Late winter hang in the pine barrens.

This was a very last minute trip, but definitely one of the more memorable hangs we have had in Wharton state forest. For the past 2 years we have planned a winter trip here in February to experience some snow and colder temperatures, only to be thwarted by mother nature and global warming.

January 4, 2018

Fire and ice in the dolly sods.

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.

December 7, 2017

OuterBanks, how I have missed you.

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.

November 23, 2017

A Campfire Feast Prepared in the Pine Barrens.

My buddy Matteo and I have been talking about getting together in the woods and cooking some serious food for quite a while now. Last month, on an oddly warm late October weekend, we finally made it happen.