By Mary FairchildRob Sula, Dr. Frederick R. Schram, Jack Wittry, Jim Fairchild.–August, 2011. The Mazon Creek site is very significant because of the diversity of life compared to other Lagerstatten. Frederick R. Schram (2) In August, ESCONI members Rob and Sondra Sula, Jack and Charlene Wittry, and Jim and I met with Dr. Frederick Schram at…
Paddling Lake Okoboji: Once Considered One of Only Three Blue Lakes in the World
(Arnold’s Park; Set on Flickr) West Okoboji Lake is located to the south and west of the City of Okoboji and northwest of the City of Arnold’s Park in northwest Iowa. Last week I was able to paddle some of my favorite areas of the lake where we frequently vacation with my husband’s family. Vacation…
Sea Kayaking and Whitewater: Roughing it With Scott Berry and Nigel Dennis
By Mary Fairchild What could be better than kayaking the Apostle Islands? Yup–having Nigel Dennis join you. In order to get better acquainted with rough water this year, I started to look for opportunities to get familiar with whitewater kayaking. This past week, I opted to get out on Wisconsin’s Wolf River and follow Scott Berry, another expert in kayaking, for a couple of days on…
Chicago Kayakers, Environmentalism, and Incentives: What’s Good For the Goose is Good For the Gander?
(Cumberland Island; 3/19/11) Cumberland Island, Georgia, is the premiere sea-kayaking destination in the Southeast. Last February, I looked forward to catching my first glimpses of the feral horses on Cumberland Island. The area is not only a birdwatcher’s hotspot, but an important location for the nesting of three species of endangered sea turtles. Just offshore, it is one of…
Navigating Bermuda and Cumberland Island: Intrigue, Flux, and Current
The British overseas island of Bermuda is a group of low-forming volcanoes in the Atlantic Ocean, near the western edge of the Sargasso Sea. It is the northernmost point of the Bermuda Triangle where, according to legend, a number of aircraft and surface vessels have disappeared under supposedly unexplained or mysterious circumstances. Our family enjoyed a…
World Kayak Hometown Throwdown: Two Brothers, Three Floyds, Five Guys
By Mary Fairchild (Ryan M. Duffy, Adrian Oritz; Flickr Pictures here..) This past weekend my husband and I traveled to South Bend, Indiana for a little business and… whitewater. I took my first whitewater class in January with the Chicago Whitewater Association. Recently, a note on the club’s message board, “Paddle, Party, and Play,” announced that there was a World Kayak…