The Intrepid Traveler

A weekly column devoted to adventure, alternative, and affordable travel

The Winter Wolves of Yellowstone

- "We're going to follow that bald eagle up the river," said Leslie Quinn as we watched the magnificent bird flap past. Leslie threw into gear his bright yellow Bombadier vintage snowcoach and crunched up the snow-packed road into the heart of the world's oldest national park....

The Wild Side of Panamá

- I knew I’d gotten too close to the wildlife when the white-faced capuchin monkey I was trying to photograph started playing tug-of-war with my camera...

Shark Bait on Curaçao

- The main thing to remember when feeding a shark is to keep your fingers balled up in a fist...

Fake Cowboys, Real Indians

- I want to get one thing clear: I did not spill my frybread burger on an Indian princess. It was a frybread taco, I spilled it on myself, and she wasn't technically a princess. Miss Oglala Nation 2006 was merely dressed as an Indian princess...

Up the Nile Without A Paddle

- When my felucca captain, chest-deep in the Nile, fixed me with a gaze that clearly said, "Maybe it would help if you got out and pushed, too," I started questioning the wisdom of bargaining for the cheapest boat available...

Going Native for a Day in Panama

- Olmedo poled our dugout canoe into the shoreline of the Upper Chagres River, leapt lightly off the prow with a muted plastic jingle from his beaded ambura skirt, and scampered into the Panamanian rainforest....

Nomads of the Sahara

- A dozen Berber horsemen thundered toward me across the Sahara sands. Their pale blue drâ'a robes billowing behind them, they rode with their rifles raised in the air, ululating a war cry...

Leaving Las Vegas...On Two Wheels

- I think it was the second time I was launched over the handlebars—or maybe it was the third—that the wisdom of wearing protective gear while single-track mountain biking really hit home...

Biking Vieques and Kayaking the Bio Bay

- I've learned never to argue with a man holding a machete. So when Mark Franco, Jr. whipped out his blade and said, "Hey, you want to see something neat?" I hung my helmet on my handlebars and followed Mark into the jungle...

An Aboriginal Songline through the Outback

- I had to walk three days through the bush for this view, but it was worth it. I stood at the edge of a red sandstone cliff. Beside me, the zigzag of 17 Mile River thundered over the precipice into the monsoon forest far below...

Hiking the Continental Divide in British Columbia

The Unsung Parks of Western Canada - "You guys want to take the shorter, easier trail over that low pass, or the longer, harder one straight up that way?" As soon as I asked, I knew I had sealed my fate. Also, John Agnew's. No way six teenage Boy Scouts were going to let their adult leaders take the easy way over the Continental Divide...

On the Rocks

- Every time we stopped, it began sleeting. Sometimes, it became tiny hail or freezing rain or fat snowflakes, but in any form it was marvelous incentive to keep moving down the trail...

Treasures of the Olympic Peninsula

- When I glimpsed the naked hippies through the trees, I knew I was on the right track...

Hiking the Hills of Hong Kong

- Hong Kong is not a city. Oh, sure, it's got towering skyscrapers, tony mega-malls, and thronged street markets. But that's just Hong Kong's type-A side. A full 70% of Hong Kong is open green space criss-crossed by 180 miles of hiking trails...

Hidden Lagoons and Jungle Treks on Thai Isles

- I was in a Southeast Asian jungle, waist-deep in stagnant water and having Vietnam-movie flashbacks, when something slithered past my leg...

Horseback in the Andes

- Tomas Alarcon trotted his horse up to ride beside mine and pointed to the vertical layer cake of limestone and shale that rose above the ugly scar of a mining road across the valley. "I climbed those cliffs when I was a child," said my Chilean guide...

Paris for Free

- The Louvre is free. No, really—and I don't mean by sneaking in the back door...

Fishing for a room to call your own in Europe

- Each time I've been adopted, I've had the time of my life...

Choose Your Own Adventure

- When you tire of sightseeing tours or veg-on-the-beach holidays and are looking for some excitement from your next trip, it's time for a specialty tour...

Biking Vieques and Kayaking the Bio Bay

Sailing the Florida Keys

- Somewhere on the far side of midnight I awoke to the unexpected sensation of flying horizontally through the air...

Rafting in Montana

I was probably underwater for only 45 seconds, but it felt like five minutes. Partly this was because I was unable to breathe, and partly because I was unsure if the violently churning water would ever stop battering my body against the rocks and spit me out of the 18-foot-deep sinkhole at the bottom of Tumbleweed rapids....