End-of-Summer Special: Learn Photography and Photojournalism with Photographer Ellen Barone on September 12-17 New Mexico Walk
Newport, Rhode Island, 15 July 2010 -- Want to incorporate exercise into a vacation routine without giving up time to tour, explore or travel? Eager to sample the regional culinary diversity of the U.S. without gaining an ounce? The Wayfarers’ Walking Vacations offer a stress-free way to pair fitness and food exploration, allowing travelers maintain their fitness focus while sampling everything from chilies to chalupas, blueberries to burritos. This year’s U.S. Walks feature in-depth exploration of several noteworthy National Parks, offering close-to-home opportunities to experience the country’s geographic and culinary diversity without losing one step of a fitness routine.
“The United States has incredibly beautiful and varied national parks,” notes Michael West, founder of The Wayfarers. “The best way to truly appreciate their distinct attributes is to walk through them, allowing time to admire, experience, and soak up the sights at each turn. If you’re on a tour bus, you’re sedentary and, worse, you’ll only catch a glimpse of the surrounding beauty. We want you to experience the adventure of these areas on a different level, tasting the flavors of each region and staying toned while you do it.”
Five Walks covering three U.S. destinations are offered this fall: Maine, Utah, and New Mexico. On the New Mexico Walk from September 12-17, well-known photojournalist Ellen Barone will join the Walk, sharing her insights, knowledge, and passion for creating memorable photographs. The Walks are among The Wayfarers’ 85 diverse Walks through 14 countries in 2010, including England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
Walks are rated from easy to challenging, based on miles covered per day and type of terrain traversed. Wayfarers’ walkers share a passion for the outdoors, a love of camaraderie and culinary discovery, and a desire to maintain fitness as a way of life.
New Mexico’s Land of Enchantment – September 12-17 and October 10-15
On this six-day/five-night trek, the Wayfarers will explore the enchanting New Mexico landscape that inspired acclaimed artist Georgia O’Keefe. From the art-centric streets of Santa Fe to the ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs of the Bandelier National Monument, walkers will explore a setting of changing rock formations, mountain ranges, and beautiful forests under dramatic skies. Culinary highlights include dinner with a local artist and gourmet chef, who will prepare a Southwestern feast, plus an evening wine tasting, and a lunch in a converted 17th-century adobe mansion. Walkers will also tour O’Keefe’s home and hike along a juniper and pinion pine route through Frijoles Canyon to the Rio Grande. Walkers cover 5-7 miles per day, with elevation gains of 300-500 feet and altitudes of up to 7000 feet. The walk is priced $2595 per person, based on double occupancy.
Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion – September 26 – October 2
The most energetic of the U.S. walks with elevation gains of up to 1,000 feet, the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion itinerary traces a path through the stomping grounds of Butch Cassidy and Billy the Kid, exploring the Wild West’s awe-inspiring canyons, cliffs, forests and lakes on this seven-day/six-night journey. Highlights include stops along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Fairyland Canyon, Bryce Canyon and the Widforss and Watchman Trails, all rigorous treks guaranteed to work off hearty pre-hike breakfasts and rustic picnic lunches, plus a hike to view the waterfalls at Zion’s gorgeous Emerald Pools. A farewell dinner at the Spotted Dog Café in Zion Canyon and lunch in the old Western movie town of Kanab round out the culinary glimpse into canyon country. Walkers cover 5-7 miles per day. The walk is priced at $2795 per person, based on double occupancy.
The Coast of Maine: Camden and Acadia – September 19-24 and October 3-8
In between dining on meals of Maine lobster, clams, and blueberries, Wayfarers walkers will encounter the myriad trails of car-free, artist-haven Monhegan Island and the beautiful town of Camden, where mountains flank Penobscot Bay in a quintessential Maine village. Visitors will also hike through unspoiled Acadia National Park, along trails like Great Head or the Pemetic Mountain Loop leading to soaring views of Cadillac Mountain; Somes Harbor, the only fjord in the United States; and majestic Southwest Harbor on this six-day/five-night trek. Highlights include a sunset cruise aboard a schooner, a tour of a lighthouse museum and lunch at the Jordan Pond House, a landmark for more than a century and the home of world-famous popovers. Walkers cover 7-10 miles per day. The walk is priced at $2695 per person, based on double occupancy.
All 2010 itineraries are priced at or below 2009 rates and, as always, Wayfarers’ Walks are all-inclusive. For more information or to book a Walk, visit www.thewayfarers.com or call 800- 249-4620.
The Wayfarers
Named by National Geographic Traveler as purveyor of one of the “50 Tours of a Lifetime,” and by National Geographic Adventure as one of the “Best Hiking Companies,” The Wayfarers offers an eco-aware “walking” holiday of both culture and fitness in 14 countries with 85 Walks. Literary-influenced itineraries include the new Brontë and Jane Austen Walks in the UK. Newest locations cover Alaska, Greece, Venice and the Veneto (Founder’s Walk), Northern Ireland, Slovakia and the Basque Country. Other popular walks are in Croatia, Amalfi Coast, Czech Republic, England, Scotland, Italy, France, New Zealand, Maine and Southwest USA. A barging/Walk combination in Burgundy is also offered and private group itineraries can be arranged. Now in its 27th year, The Wayfarers offers exclusive entrées into homes and gardens otherwise closed to the public, graceful accommodations, outstanding cuisine, and meetings with local residents. Walks are from 5-12 days and are rated easy to challenging. The Wayfarers is also a member of Trusted Adventures, a consortium of award-winning travel companies matching active individuals, families and groups on nature and culture adventures throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Book a Walk with The Wayfarers and receive 10% off a custom fitness training program with Fit for Trips
www.thewayfarers.com
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Twitter: Wayfarers
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Ireland and the beauty of the Well-Chosen Word
Walking on Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland, June 2010
by Sarah Merck
Having now walked with The Wayfarers on both of their walking vacations in Ireland and Northern Ireland, I appreciate even more the power and beauty of the words of the Irish poets. I am particularly moved by the poems of the contemporary poets. Ireland is a land of a tortured history, incredible legends, and amazing natural beauty. In many ways, it is still a rural world of small villages and farms. One of my favorite contemporary Irish poets is Seamus Heaney, a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. One night The Wayfarers had an Irishman speak to us about Irish history. He was very interesting, but, I must admit, I was most impressed by the fact that he is a personal friend of Seamus Heaney who grew up in a small village in Northern Ireland and now lives in Dublin.
Mr. Heaney’s poem Postscript captures the wild beauty of Ireland from its first lines:
And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
to the last lines:
As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways
And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.
After visiting the neighborhoods of “The Troubles” in Belfast and seeing the powerful political murals, I thought of the poem Desertmartin by the Northern Irish poet Tom Paulin. One stanza shouts his message:
It’s a limited nest, this place. I see a plain
Presbyterian grace sour, then harden,
As a free strenuous spirit changes
To a servile defiance that whines and shrieks
For the bondage of the letter: it shouts
For the Big Man to lead his wee people
To a clean white prison, their scorched tomorrow.
The melancholy, the story-telling spirit of the Irish is captured succinctly by the poet Patrick Kavanagh in Wet Evening in April:
The birds sang in the wet trees
And as I listened to them it was a hundred years from now
And I was dead and someone else was listening to them.
But I was glad I had recorded for him
The melancholy.
I love Ireland. I loved the Irish walks. My advice to you is read Irish poets, before and after your walks. Their words will surround you and enhance your time in Ireland and be with you when you are home dreaming of Ireland.
Sarah's Recommended Reading:
Staying Alive and Being Alive
edited by Neil Astley, published by Bloodaxe
Both anthologies which have selections by poets from all over the U.K., Ireland, and Europe with many Irish poets represented. I really like contemporary poets and most of the poets are contemporary with the exception of W.B. Yeats who cannot be ignored.
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