Nahanni: Images From a River Trip in the Northwest Territories

April 10, 2016 by John Nestler in Kayaking, Camping, Photography, Videos

The South Nahanni is one of the most classic Canadian rivers, renowned for wildlife, beautiful canyons, and a thunderous 300 foot waterfall that puts Niagara to shame. Avery and I received a generous grant from the Ritt Kellogg Fund to explore this stretch of river, so in July of last year we embarked on a road trip from Colorado to a small town in the Northwest Territories named Fort Simpson. We quickly learned of the horrendous wildfires as we drove along smoke-filled dirt highways, and delayed our departure as the bush plane wouldn't be able to fly in with such low visibility along the river corridor. Eventually the weather turned in our favor as the smoke cleared, and rains took care of the wildfires.

A Solo Adventure in the Grand: Swims, a Loaded IK, and Artificial Intelligence

March 23, 2016 by John Nestler in Camping, Kayaking, Interview

“When staying alive is a full time job, there isn’t time for much else.” Truthfully, that’s a perfectly reasonable thing to hear from someone who soloed the Grand Canyon of the Colorado for 22 days – in an inflatable kayak (IK), no less. It’s inspiring to talk to people like Winslow Burleson, an associate professor at NYU, who manage to balance demanding jobs in the academic world with a respectable dose of outdoor adventure. After seeing a couple photos of Win paddling a fully loaded IK into the Canyon, I decided I needed to learn more about how the journey went. I also recently posted about pursuing your personal goals before it’s too late, and this journey exemplifies this perfectly. I gave Win a call, and asked a few questions about the trip.

Have a dream? Don't wait. Do it now.

February 16, 2016 by John Nestler in Life, Kayaking, Backpacking, Camping

We all have dreams. Some are acted on quickly, while others get put on the back burner as we formulate excuses: not enough money, too difficult, not enough time, etc. I’ll be graduating college soon, and I’ve had a lot of thoughts about the future pertaining to this. There’s a lot of pressure from society to achieve certain things while setting aside some of our dreams. It’s like the conundrum of retirement, where you’ll get to do some of the meaningful, carefree things that you’ve always wanted to do – but only after you’re pushing 60 years old.

Lifetime Warranties: Personal Stories with Outdoor Gear

February 09, 2016 by John Nestler in Gear Review, Camping, Kayaking, Backpacking

Not all warranties are created equal. For example, a scratched lens apparently voids Smith’s warranty, but exceptions can be made. I’m reaching out to the outdoors community to share some stories of your experiences with companies that boast lifetime warranties. How was the customer service? Did they completely back their product? Any weird caveats? A lot factors go into the purchase process, and the warranty is definitely up there for me. Go to the bottom of the post to either post your experience in the comments or email them & I’ll add it to this page. My goal is to create a little repository of unbiased feedback on lifetime warranty policies. Enjoy, and I hope you contribute!