Keith Bates' MyAdventures.com Blog

Sorry for the delay in producing new content but I did warn you I was off to Tanzania for the month of October.

But I’m back now, with incredible experiences to share, and I will, once I can find the time to get the story and pics into my Trip Reports. In the meantime one of the highlights of the trip involved flying into Kilimanjaro airport, and passing the magnificent snow covered top of 19,000’ Kili where I summited almost exactly 20 years ago. Other memorable experiences included the excitement of sleeping in a canvas tent with lions roaring outside all night interspersed with laughing hyenas. While I was there primarily to take pictures my friend was on a hunting trip and we had a most unusual person for a professional hunter.

Her name is Natasha Illum Berg, and she is the only licensed woman professional hunter in all of East Africa. She very successfully guided my friend to his cape buffalos. But because it was a little late in the year the vegetation was pretty thick and it was very difficult to find the wildlife I had hoped to photograph. I got a few shots however, and then interrupted the trip one day to visit a Mangati cattle compound. We got great movies and stills and greatly entertained the local tribe, who are related to the Maasai. It was a bit of a challenge to let half the young people get back of the camcorder so as to watch the other half out in front performing. But it was a fun and memorable day. Check my Profile for the rest of the story one of these days. 

“Sailing Grace” an incredible story of death, life, and the sea by John Otterbacher. Check out his inspiring video.

I met John at the annual OWAA (Outdoor Writers Assn) meeting in mid June. His story and his life are just incredible. He should have been dead years ago…but he chose not to be. After eight surgical interventions in eight months, his doctors concluded they could not fix his heart. He decided to go sailing…took his family and set off for a year to sail around the world. A quote from the book cover should inspire you to read the book, or at least visit John’s inspiring website at www.sailing-grace.com for his powerful video.

The quote from Jim Harrison… “Sailing Grace is a thoroughly engaging book. Wise people have known forever that life is a near death experience. The costumes of our lives can be suffocating, and Otterbacher and his family shed theirs going to sea… They win big and we win along with them by reading the engrossing and perilous adventure story they made of their lives.”

The Bear Yeller and the Falcons by Dave Brown

Given the choice of sparring with the Board of Directors or a grizzly bear, I chose the latter. I had heard about an opportunity to work with the Peregrine Fund reintroducing peregrine falcons into the wild. Falcon populations had been decimated by DDT. I applied and was offered the opportunity to be a release site attendant in the wilderness on the Wyoming-Montana border northeast of Yellowstone National Park.

Three days and twelve hundred miles later I had traveled from sea level to 8700 feet and was shouldering a heavy pack preparing to hike in with my fellow site attendant to the location where we would live for the next seven weeks caring for five falcons. A Peregrine Fund biologist hiked in with us to show the way (there were no trails) and to help us set up our ''bear camp". We were informed that this was "active habitat", which meant there was a grizzly wandering around our neighborhood. While driving in I had seen billboards stating in large letters: "THIS IS GRIZZLY COUNTRY!" I became the BEAR YELLER. Before entering thick stands of forest or descending into hollows, I would announce my arrival and explain to the bears that I was here on a mission that was to their advantage: restoring balance to the ecosystem. For the rest of the story contact The  Adventurers Club of Chicago at www.advclub.org  to see The June 2009 issue of TRAILPRINTS.   

Calling all Explorers! (if you’re a member of the Club)

Need qualified people for your next expedition? Are you looking to join an expedition? Would you like to find colleagues to discuss particular exploration-related issues and exchange information? The Explorers Club Forum is the place! Your membership to the Explorers Club entitles you to access the "Members Only" section of our website, where mem­bers can exchange their expertise, share advice, ask questions and plan expeditions.

Simply click on the "Members Only" area of Homepage at www.explorers.org  and start connecting with your fellow members. If you’re not a member but are interested in the club click on the same link and explore the requirements for joining the 105 year old club. 

The DEEP—Voyages to the Titanic and beyond by Anatoly Sagalevich and Paul Isley III.

Reviewed by James Cameron (#1129) of the Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles. Editor's Note: Every once in a while a book appears that defines a topic, that sets the standard for other books to come. THE DEEP is such a book. THE DEEP was written by member Anatoly Sagalevich (#1021), ably assisted by Paul Isley III (#1088), with an Introduction by Don Walsh (#1042). 

Jim wrote the following article (see note at end) as the Forward to this extraordinary book. I spent a lifetime career in and around submarines, deep submersibles, and deep sea diving. I know Anatoly, Cameron, and Paul Isley - they are my friends. But these facts do NOT make a book stand out as extraordinary. They only establish my credentials and define my perspective. I've "been there and done that" so that I can state definitively what this book is about, and whether it attains its lofty goal -- which is nothing less than to tell the story of the commanding role played by the MIR submersibles, their creator, Anatoly Sagalevich, and the pivotal parts played by James Cameron and Emory Kristof.

 

This is a book about science, adventure, film making, technology, and sheer daring-do. From exploring the alien world of "black smoker " hydrothermal vents, to sealing radioactivity within the downed Russian KOMSOMOLETS submarine, to exploring historic wrecks like the BISMARCK, TITAN1C, and I-52, to searching the exploded wreckage of the Russian KURSK submarine for forensic clues, to diving under the ice down 4,000 meters to the “real" North Pole, Anatoly and his team have made history over and over. That's what this extraordinary book is about. For additional information you may be able to acquire a current copy of The Adventurers’ Club News by contacting the editor at aclaeditor@argee.net, or the club itself at www.adventurersclub.org

Scott Parazynski, first astronaut to join MyAdventures.com just conquered Mt. Everest May 20, 2009. A note from Scott.

  Just six days ago I’d wearily downclimbed to Everest’s base camp. As I sat in a small blue tent that evening tenuously perched over one particularly malodorous barrel, a loud rockslide thundered directly towards me. I briefly thought of the irony of it all: I had finally summited “The Mountain of My Dreams”, only to succumb to a tragic potty accident… Think of all the eulogy possibilities! Photo at left shows Scott holding family photo at summit.

The intense days of my Everest summit climb, the long descent and my return to Kathmandu’s “civilization” have zoomed by, but the key details remain as vivid as the photographs and video we took on top. Simply stated, Everest was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, physically and mentally, but strangely enough this was also my ultimate reward. Some things just don’t have to make sense…

Thanks very much for following along with my adventure to its exciting conclusion. I greatly appreciate the many comments on the blog, and the supportive emails I’ve received while away. I hope I don’t bore you with too many details, but here is my day-by-day account of the end game: Visit Scott’s blog at www.onorbit.com/everest for more stories and pictures.

 

About ExplorersWeb.com plus a few current newsletter notes

ExplorersWeb is aimed to open up the most extreme parts of the world to all go-wishers. The site publishes independent, non-commercial guides and news on mountaineering, ocean sailing, polar treks and other upcoming fields. Explorers with own, first hand experience operates the site. The ExplorersWeb team continuously searches the world for news and latest technology in the fields published. Check out www.explorersweb.com

The technology research emphasizes useful communication and adventure aids, independent of sponsor brands. The company is based in Manhattan, NY. The team however, is an international circle of friends, usually scattered all around the world.

We hope that this site will be an aid and inspiration for you to tear down some walls and get out there. Remember though, these adventures are dangerous and our advice are personal. Everything you decide to do, you'll do at your own risk.

Be careful, be good and have a great life!

 

The following are typical news clips from Exweb Week-In-Review

 

Greenland: it's done! Devon McDiarmid, Derek Crowe and Adrian Hayes arrived at the head of MacCormick Fjord near to Qaanaaq (Thule) on Saturday 25 July. During the last 100 km the guys didn’t get much wind and had to sledge-haul most this distance, in area littered with hidden crevasses and melt water. "It resembled water skiing more than snow skiing and was a bit more challenging than even we bargained for!” said Adrian, after 67 days of kite-skiing across Greenland.

 

Patagonia update: Turning around Aussie couple Rob Rigato and Linda Beilharz took 23 day’s food with them for their expedition on the Southern Patagonia Icecap. Progress across the wet, deep snow was extremely slow. After much consideration they decided to turn around after nearly two weeks into the expedition. The two have posted a photo library with a debrief.

 

Helen Lloyd’s bike ride through Africa kicked off On 14 July, UK Helen Lloyd left on a mission to cycle 20 000 km in 2 years from Cambridge in England to Cape Town in South Africa. Her route will take her through Western Europe, West Africa, East Africa and eventually Southern Africa.

 

Young guns sailing the world When American Zac Sunderland departed on his yacht from Marina del Rey, California on 14 June 2008 he was 16 years old. His dream was to become the youngest person to sail around the world. Thirteen months later, on July 16, 2009 he arrived back at his starting point. Another 17-year-old, British Mike Perham, is also on a yacht voyage around the world and is currently mooring in Panama. He was 16 when he left and his intention was to sail around the world non-stop, single-handed, unassisted. Said Mike, “I always knew that some people would try to pit us against each other and it bugs me when that happens. Was it Zac vs Mike? No. I tell you what it is. It's two teenagers going out there, living their dream and having the adventure of a lifetime!”

Read these stories - and more! - at ExplorersWeb.com

NOTE: Blog taking 4-week hiatus for October Tanzania adventure

I’m sorry to announce that there will be a four-week hiatus to this blog as I am running off to Tanzania for the month of October. But I’ll be back in early November with more tales to tell.