More than 85,000 acres of magnificent desert are open for off-highway exploration and recreation within the boundaries of Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area. Ocotillo Wells SVRA is operated by California State Parks. To the south and east large tracts of BLM land (U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management) are also open to off-highway vehicles. The western boundary and part of the northern boundary of Ocotillo connect with the half-million acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which is closed to off-highway recreation, but open to exploration by highway-legal vehicles along established primitive roads.
A free tool from Helicon Books, the online EPUB validation, aims to save writers time and money when publishing eBooks by offering them a full review and report of critical errors in their document ensuring a smoother process to market, including quality assurance against iBooks and Kobo specific guidelines.
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California sea kayakers are getting up-close and personal with humpback and grey whales, Tom Stienstra reports for SFGate:
The kayakers floated on a calm sea, quiet and nearly motionless – and yet were edgy at what might happen next.
In the next moment, a 40-foot humpback whale rose up through the surface alongside the paddlers, its open mouth gushing with seawater and dripping with anchovies. The whale then crashed into the water with a giant splash that drenched the paddlers.
Jeep Jamborees are two-day, family oriented four-wheel-drive adventures. They’re for every level of expertise from novice to veteran and everyone in between.
From Jeep Jamboree’s website:
Any Jeep vehicle with a 4-LO transfer case can participate – that includes everything from showroom stock all the way up to highly modified rigs. Experienced guides help navigate you through scenic switchbacks and some of the most challenging off-highway situations you never thought your Jeep vehicle was capable of. And, perhaps best of all, you’ll be meeting and making new friends along the way.
This year’s registration opens on Sunday, December 1st at 12:00am (EST) (that’s 9:00pm (PST) for us west coast folks!). These events can fill up fast, so DON’T FORGET TO SET YOUR ALARM!
Pam LeBlanc has penned a story in the Miami Herald about her adventures along the High Sierra Trail. If you’re thinking about venturing out for a nice long walk, make sure you read about her adventures! From the Miami Herald:SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Not all vacations should involve high thread-count sheets, gourmet meals served on fine china or soapy baths.
This one sure didn’t.
Six of us traded such luxuries for sleeping bags, tents, dehydrated meals and hours spent plodding the High Sierra Trail in central California with 25 pounds on our backs.
Everything got distilled to the basics: Walk. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
No smartphone. No Internet. No deodorant. The same set of filthy clothes worn hard, six days in a row.
Backpacking lets you see the land up close, in slow motion. The owls hoot at night. Storms brew and rain falls. You get wet. And smelly. Blisters form. Muscles ache. Toes get dipped in icy streams. Freeze-dried food never tasted so good.
It’s the most magical way to travel.
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