Rafting And Fly Fishing On The Cle Elum River, WA

Last year, while driving  cross country, and passing through Montana, I (unexpectedly ) fell in love with this beautiful state, and one of its most popular outdoor activity - fly fishing !

There is something very special about fly-fishing. The experience is not only about catching fish. Fly fishing offers the opportunity to enjoy and learn about nature, relax, spend time with friends and family and even solve problems.

Fly fishing is a great stress reliever. It's is a great outdoor activity that combines physical and mental therapy. Learning how to tie flies, cast a fly rod and hook a few fish and then going on a fishing outing , introduces people with ADHD, PTSD, and anxiety to the tranquility and fascination that fly fishing offers.

Of course I added fly fishing to my Bucket List :) And it was only the matter of time before I got to try it !

A few weeks ago, while visiting Cle Elum, WA to test drive 2014 Toyota 4Runner and Tundra, I had a great opportunity to go on a nice relaxing rafting float, followed by a brief fly fishing lesson with Troutwater, the local fly fishing guiding outfitter.

While drifting down the scenic Cle Elum River, we learned a lot about the area's geology, river ecology, wildlife, regional history, and of course, the basics of fly fishing.

The fly fishing part of the trip consisted of learning how fly and spin fishing differ, how to make the basic overhead cast and a roll cast, basic knots you will use every time you go fly fishing, how to make your own flies. You'll also learn about the bare essentials you need to get started in this fun and addictive sport.

 But as we know, knowledge without action is futile. That's why, once you've mastered the basics, the next hour or so you spend trying to catch your fish. According to our guide, the Cle Elum River is not the best place for fly fishing.  For more thrill ( and fish ! ) the Yakima River ( which confluence with the Cle Elum River at the dam ) is a batter choice.

Though there wasn't a ton of fish in the river at that time, I  still managed to hook a little one ! For me, it was truly a fun, educational, safe and successful day on the river !

Scuba Diving, Swimming And Rappelling Into Mexico's Cenotes

Mexico's cenotes forever stole my heart ! Scuba diving into Chac Mool cenote last year has become one of my greatest lifetime experiences !

 A diver explores a cenote near the Maya ruins of Tulum.

There is something magical and mystic about  cenotes. Mexican cenotes are one of the most spectacular attractions and without a doubt, one of the most interesting natural phenomenons that you can find in the Riviera Maya. 

It is estimated that more than 3000 cenotes are distributed over the Yucatan peninsula. Of those, 1400 have been discovered and mapped, the most popular being the ones found in Chichen Itzá, Valladolid, X’keken and Xcaret.

If you ever visit Mexico, visiting a cenote must be on your Bucket List ! Doesn't matter if you're a certified diver or not, there is a way to explore this one of many Nature's Wonders !

Archaeologist Guillermo de Anda descends into the Holtún cenote in Mexico’s Yucatán minutes before the moment on July 19 when the sun is directly overhead. When that occurs, twice a year, light falls vertically into the water.

Our Amazing World

... the beautiful pictures of places and spaces I'd love to visit...

Sunrise in Alaska

Paris

                                                                              Hawaii

                                                Ailsa Craig from the isle of Arran, Scotland

        Amazing Photo of The Sawyer Glacier in Alaska where the glacier meets the ocean

                                                Arches and La Sal Mountains Sundown

                                                                          Australia

Cave Of Hearts - Doi Pha Tang, Chiang Rai, Thailand

Creator Lake, OR

Hang Son Doong Cave, Vietnam

Visit The Dry Tortugas In Florida

Those few months I lived in Florida have become one of my most memorable experiences of my life ! I got a taste of life after retirement in Florida :)

That was my third time visiting Florida.

The first time I had a road trip of  the lifetime, driving from Miami to Key West on the Florida Keys Overseas Highway.

Though I spent a couple days in Key West, unfortunately I didn't have time to visit Dry Tortugas National Park which was on my Bucket List of places "to visit before I die" :).

Located just 70 miles west of Key West, the park is a beautiful historical landmark and a wildlife refuge like no other. The Tortugas Islands also offer some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving in the entire United States with the coral reef just feet from the white sandy shores of the islands.

This is one of the few places I'm definitely coming back to !

Tips On Visiting Yosemite National Park

Last summer I had an amazing opportunity to go on a road trip around Southwest. I had a privilege to visit Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. One of the goals of that road trip was to visit as many National Parks as possible.

Tip - If you're planning to visit multiple National Parks during your road trip, buy America the Beautiful National Parks Pass from REI.com ($80). It will save you money and time.

At one point, I was hesitating to  visit  Yosemite National Park, but stunning pictures like the one below changed my mind...

Also, it was quite convenient for me. Driving from Nevada/Arizona side, HWY 120 took me right through the heart of the park !

Tip - If you decide to drive to/around the park, choose off-peak hours ( before 9am, and after 7pm ). One line HWY is notorious for its traffic jams and slow driving.

Summer time is THE busiest! Quite often its hard to find an available camping spot. So, make your reservations ahead of time.

Tip - If you're ExtraHyperActive/dirtbag like me, you can pitch your tent anywhere you want, and in the morning, will be rewarded with the most amazing views !

Camping/Paddleboarding Tenaya Lake

Yosemite National Park offers an abundance of activities and sightseeing destinations. Among the most popular are : rock climbing and hiking.

Have you heard of solo climbing ? Solo climbing represents the ultimate extreme in rock-climbing. Solo climbing (or soloing) is a style of climbing in which the climber climbs alone, without somebody belaying him. What if he falls down, you ask ? He dies-- no two ways about it.

Alex Honnold has made Yosemite popular by scaling the two most popular Yosemite big walls — Half Dome and El Capitan.

Tip - I wouldn't recommend to sacrifice your life for a ( breath-taking, once in a life time ) shot like this, and would suggest to hire a guide. There is a popular wall just minutes away from Camp 4/ Yosemite Village.


Hiking

Yes, you can definitely opt for hiking Half Dome, but... can you really call it hiking ?

Tip -  If you have limited time for just one hike, make it Upper Yosemite Falls/Eagle Peak ! Why ?
Fewer crowds, and stunning view of Yosemite valley, and Half Dome !

Upper Yosemite Falls

On Top Of Eagle Peak

Fun fact : The setting sun illuminates one of the park’s lesser-known waterfalls so precisely that it resembles molten lava as it flows over the sheer granite face of the imposing El Capitan. A mid-February phenomenon!

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Hiking, Backpacking, Camping Desolation Peak

Have you been to the North Cascade National Park ?

Less than 3 hours from Seattle and about 6.2 miles (10.0 km) south of the Canadian border, the North Cascade NP is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the North Cascades National Park Service Complex.

The park is most popular with backpackers and mountain climbers. One of the most popular destinations in the park is Cascade Pass, which was used as a travel route by Native Americans.

The North and South Picket Ranges, Mount Triumph, as well as Eldorado Peak and the surrounding mountains, are popular with climbers due to glaciation and technical rock. Mount Shuksan, in the northwest corner of the park, is one of the most photographed mountains in the country and the second highest peak in the park 9,127 ft or 2,782 m.

Another popular attraction in the  the North Cascade Mountains is Desolation Peak.

Desolation Peak Trail, is a steep hike to high meadows, great views and the iconic fire lookout where Jack Kerouac spent 63 days during the summer of 1956 as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak. He wrote about his experiences in the books Lonesome Traveler, The Dharma Bums and Desolation Angels.

I read somewhere that in summer time you can still rent the fire lookout and a spend a couple nights "in solitude".

Spear Hunting On One Breath

Spear fishing and ( may be ) free-diving are among a few new adventures I added to my Bucket List.

While for somebody like me, those are just adventures, for some people around the world, fishing still remains the main way to provide for themselves and their families.

 For example, the Bajau people of South-East Asia live in stilt houses and fish underwater. Sometimes known as the sea gypsies of Malaysia and Indonesia, they are renowned natural freedivers. Traditionally, they are born, live and die at sea, and fish by diving 20m (more than 65ft) underwater for minutes at a time on one breath.

Below is an amazing video of a Bajau fisherman who free-divers to 20 meters to catch a fish.

Is BASE Jumping On Your Bucket List ?

I'm proud to be "The First Russian To Tandem Base Jump Off A Cliff !" It was an amazing, once-in-a-life-time experience !

BASE jumping is not something I'd personally do on a regular (every weekend) basis ( like skiing/surfing/kiteboarding ). In my opinion, this is the activity that is strongly influenced by location.

I'd love to do BASE jumping at different beautiful and exotic places. I'm sure, even going back to Canyonlands in winter and jumping off the same cliff would be totally different !

Have you ever considered adding BASE jumping to your Bucket List ? Where in the would would you love to jump ?

Winter Adventures In Oregon : Crater Lake National Park

...I hope to have a few days off in February, and since I'm broke ( after all that traveling ), was thinking about some local adventures ... May be Oregon ?

 Been planning to visit Crater Lake National Park for a while ( and even put it on my Bucket List ! ). Heard it offers amazing XC skiing opportunities in winter ... Also, would love to take my SUP for a long paddle around the lake !

Among other things to do:  I'd like to go skiing/riding at Mt Hood, ski-biking at Hoodoo Ski Area, and chillaxing at one of Oregon's famous hot springs !

Living In The FUTURIA

... the idea of living in RV or a trailer still seems to be exciting to me ! But why live in an old, beat up camper, when you can live in the FUTURIA !!!

The FUTURIA sports+spa is the first show truck worldwide with an integrated whirlpool on the nearly 11 m sun deck with yacht flooring. The lifestyle trailer truck also houses a roadster garage, a luxurious lounge, a berth, a powerful sound system, a fog machine and under floor illumination.

The best thing about this luxurious caravan ? It's only $ 840,000 !!!
I'm just $839,000 short :(
Can you spare some change ?

ExtraHyperActive Adventures And Achievements of 2012

The end of the year is my favorite time ! It's time to look back and reflect on your goals and achievements, and time to make new exciting plans for the upcoming year !

As you remember, last year I started using a new ( and extremely popular by now ) social site Pinterest. As I mentioned in my last year's post, "My Bucket List on Pinterest"  this web site helped me keep visual focus on my goals, dreams, and aspirations.

The more clearly you are able to visualize, the faster you will be able to get your goals achieved. If you don't believe in goal setting and  visualization, let my Bucket List on Pinterest be a living proof that whatever you can imagine, can be real !

Let's look at some goals/dreams/plans I had a year ago, and see how I made it happen :

1 - Learn to kiteboard.

Not only did I have a great time kiteboarding in Bellingham, I spent three glorious months in Florida working on my skills.

2 - Go on my first cross country road trip

I've been dreaming about taking a cross country road trip for that past 5 years (!!!).
But a goal without a plan is just a wish. All I had to do was to start visualizing it ! I created a Pinterest board " Road Trip USA ", and later this year, not only did I travel around Southwest, I drove Seattle-Florida-Seattle !

3 - Visit Mexico

After more than 10 years, I was super excited to get my US citizenship ! The one and the only reason I wanted it - so I could travel !!!

My first "foreign country" was Canada ( or British Columbia, to be exact:))
The next one ? Mexico ! 
Though, I did a lot of touristy things, I had a lot of fun ! And the highlight of my trip was .... -

4 - Try cenote diving

5 - Go Mountain Biking in Utah

Moab, Utah is considered to be the birthplace of mountain biking, and since the first time I saw a picture of a mountain biker on the rim of Canyonlands National Park, I knew I had to be there ! Not only did I visit two of the most beautiful and unique National Parks in US ( Canyonlands and Arches ), I got to go mountain biking on the iconic Slickrock Trail !

6 - Try Tandem BASE jumping in Idaho or Moab

 Honestly, this is one of my dreams I thought I wouldn't cross off my Bucket List in a long time ! :)

A few months before my Southwest road trip, I wrote a short post about tandem BASE jumping...wrote and forgot about it...
It wasn't until I was in Moab that I realized, "oh my God, I'm in Moab, one of the places I wrote about BASE jumping !!! I can totally do it right now !!!"
Long story short, here I am , standing with Mario Richards and his beautiful wife Steph Devis ( my " I want-a-girlfriend-like-this" idol :)) getting ready for my first BASE jump

7 - Try Canyoneering

You have to realize that some dreams/goals/plans take time.

I've been wanting to try canyoneering for a long time, but it wasn't until I was in Utah, that I got to try it. And you know what ? It's true what they say : "Good things come to those who wait". It was an amazing experience !

8 -  Learn how to ride a motorcycle

Just like with canyoneering, it took me two years to reach this goal ! But this year, not only did I learn how to ride a motorcycle, I got my enhanced license, and even bought my first bike !

9 - Grand Canyon: Hike rim-to-rim

Here is another weird thing about goal setting : you have to be flexible with your plans/goals.
Sometimes, what you get is not what you originally planned/hoped for. This is what happened to me when I found myself in Grand Canyon NP.

It was the middle of the summer, the busiest tourist season, and I just visited Canyonlands/Arches NP's ( which, let's agree, are mini versions of GC :)).
Hiking rim-to-rim ( or even going to the bottom of the canyon ) wasn't something I was ready to die for.

Does it count as "goal achieved" ? I don't know... what matters is that I had a great time, and I know I'll be back for more adventures in Grand Canyon ( multi day rafting trip, may be ? )


10 - Camping at Palouse State Park

This "achieved goal" actually reminds me that some of our goals can be plain disappointing. When goals turn into expectations, disappointment often results because real life gets in the way. Sometimes, what you see, is not necessary what you'll get...

But no matter what, a few things I've learned over the past few years :

“Everything you can imagine is real.”  ~ Pablo Picasso
"If you can dream it, you can do it" ~  Walt Disney
"Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe, that you have received it, and it will be yours." -Mark 11:24