Blog Grid – Two Column

My psychology student wife, Lisa, tells me that our actions are mostly a result of socialization. I guess that’s why I feel compelled to drive north at the start of every summer. As a kid, it was always a journey … Read More

This blob brought to you by Funhog Press I wasn’t on any big tree expedition, just scrambling up a nearby canyon to rid myself of that late-November cage-ey-ness. After rimming out, I was happily striding back toward my truck when … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press The trip started at 35,000 feet, en route to Chile. I knew we were over the Mexican coast well north of the Tropics, but I wasn’t sure where. The land was desert. … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press In A Guide to the Sequoia Groves of California, author Dwight Willard states, “Eden Creek Grove has biological significance that far surpasses its renown.” As for exploring there, Willard warns that it … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press The Happy River is appropriately named. Bouncing and splashing, this clear little stream tumbles along between banks of bright green moss, never too threatening nor languid. We watched the Happy grow from … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press The spruce forest alongside Denny Creek was relatively open, soft and mossy too. Any stop in our movement, however, brought gathering clouds of mosquitoes. So, we kept moving. A vague route appeared … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press The low clouds and light mist of Alaska returned. The small Styx River was lower than the previous evening, and milk green instead of grey. A golden eagle flapped across the valley. … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Out of the canyon and onto open mountain slopes, sunshine and simple terrain buoyed us toward the River Styx. A herd of caribou shuffled past. Our route again fed into a canyon, … Read More

This blob brought to you by Funhog Press. Narrow strips of sand bordering the wide gray Nagashlamina River were good places to walk, but occasionally a channel would cut off our route, forcing us into the water. At the end … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press In the summer of 2013, I looked out the window of a 737 and saw a high treeless river valley. An inspection of the map indicated that the name of this lonely … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press A morning mist brought calm. We paddled, even drifted, through the gray, ever wary of the returning wind. But the big blow, four days of relentless, viscous gale, was finally over. The … Read More

This blob brought to your by Funhog Press We deflated the rafts and rigged our packs over lunch. It was time to go hiking again. Onto a long ridge, we walked over clay and flat rocks. The smoothness of the … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press The snow dappled Brooks Range faded behind us as wide vistas of tundra beckoned ahead. Camp came on a breezy gravel bar. A long mesa called Poko Mountain glowed in the northwest. … Read More

This blob brought to you by Funhog Press Lisa and Jer were already past the bear. Had I not said anything it would’ve let us stroll on past, its head buried in the bushes. But my instinct was to warn … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press. The gauge read 1,200 cfs. The roaring brown torrent before us was easily twice that. We might have hiked back to the car, but here we were, with boats—and portage shoes. Thus … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press I hope I don’t jinx the weather gods by making the below proclamation too early, but as I sit at home watching snowflakes fall on the first day of a forecasted 5 … Read More

The creek gurgled softly, reflecting a trembling light on an overhanging roof of limestone. Here we sat, backs resting on shelves of the polished gray rock while contemplating Ed Abbey’s words, the river, the cliffs that soared beyond our view, … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press The lake was less than a half-mile away and there was still thirty minutes of daylight left, so one might think that our timing was perfect. But within that half-mile lay a … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Lunging up granite steps in the trail, I was glad to have nothing but a skinny day pack, but I couldn’t help thinking about carrying a loaded kayak. This was the trail … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press Maybe a dozen years ago, I decided that 200 cubic feet per second was the minimum water level for paddling Oak Creek. In a hard shell kayak, this still seems about right. … Read More

This bit’ o blobbin brought to you by Funhog Press. Despite what the Internet said about reliable flows in the Tuolumne River, I couldn’t squelch a sudden rise of panic when the forest service clerk said, “You know the water … Read More

 Funhog Press HeadquartersFlagstaff, ArizonaWhen we’re not filling orders, we’re out #funhogging. Send an email or use the forminfo@funhogpress.com

My pictures come from all over the place, and get published many other places. For more info contact me at tyler@funhogpress.com 

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press and MRA. Cresting a range of desert hills, a broad swampy lowland opened before us, prompting Jagaa to proclaim, “I think you’d die from mosquitos down there.” The thought of a breakdown … Read More

Funhog Press Headquarters Flagstaff, Arizona When we’re not filling orders, we’re out hogging fun. Send an email or use the form   info@funhogpress.com

This blob brought to you be Funhog Press and MRA Not every day in Mongolia is pleasant, but they are almost always interesting. As Pat and I started across the grassland with our boats in tow, it struck me that … Read More

This blob brought to you by Funhog Press and MRA We followed a wide dirt road into a desert basin incongruously featuring a big blue lake. Red crags rose on the far shoreline and our destination, Harhiraa (Har hear a) … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press and MRA Launching on the swift Buyant River, we were uncertain whether we’d see the vans later that evening or not. They had a long unknown shuttle ahead, crossing creeks and tracing … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press and MRA Feeling better after my two-day bout with the Yak-dung-water funk, I walked down the far side of a pass with Bulgaa. He told me this was the place where his … Read More

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This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Although many Americans might have a hard time pointing to Mongolia on a world map, upon arriving in the country foreigners are swiftly reminded of Mongolia’s former empire. The wall map below … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press If you follow the Funhog Blob (and I know there are at least three of you out there who do), you might have noticed that there’s been a gap in publication recently. … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Bouncing down Oak Creek at 210 cfs, it was clear that the season on our local gem was winding down. Okay not just winding down, over. So how do we eke out … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Arizona: Marginal to Optimal. Flagstaff icon Steve Garro came up with this maxim, and it was never more true than over the past two weeks. With barely a patch of snow in … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Pumphouse Wash is the headwater stream of Oak Creek, in northern Arizona. It runs through a narrow shady canyon that holds deep pillows of snow well into spring. Pumphouse been paddled a … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press While September and October are months of perfect contentment, November brings the cold reality that our hemisphere is inexorably creeping from the sun’s embrace. Following the golden days, late fall is our … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press The canyon relented from its stairstep plunge of slick polished chutes, and for a time, we were able to walk unhindered along firm gravel, weaving in and amongst boulders as big as … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press When Hurricane Norbert doused the Phoenix area with up to five inches of rain, I was somewhat disappointed with myself that I didn’t throw my new Fluid kayak in the truck and … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press   The groomed elk path vanished, and we found ourselves in the deep woods, linking passages in old growth forest—wading through huckleberry bushes, sliding down gullies, stepping over and into rotten mossy … Read More

On Friday, August 2nd, we lost Josh Lowry, a kayaking legend. I make that claim because writing about notable whitewater personalities is my job, and Josh’s story produced perhaps the best profile I’ve ever written. But my professional opinion doesn’t meaningfully … Read More

This Blob brought to you by Funhog Press A somber grey overcast draped an uneasy quiet over the Canyon, accentuating our insignificance beneath limestone walls that seemed to press in from two thousand feet above. The rumble of Upset Rapid … Read More

This blob brought to you by Funhog Press Half-awake, I gazed at passing countryside reminiscent of Washington’s Skagit Valley. After a few hours on the paved and empty highway—the best kind—Samuelo, an Escualo, turned onto a narrow dirt road. A … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press There was hardly a wisp of wind as we stroked through a small glassy swell. The channel, that huge intimidating monster, was now a pretty stretch of open water beneath sun dappled … Read More

The blog brought to you by Funhog Press Clouds began to stack up, hastening departure from our post-adrenaline lunch break. We rounded a point at the end of San Francisco Island and once again, it was game-on. I stayed close … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press The Jorge’ Montt Glacier is an extension of the Southern Patagonian Icefield, and like many glaciers on the planet, this one is in recession. We paddled deep into a curved bay littered … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press We drifted through the burned barren landscape of the lower Pascua in an unrelenting heavy mist. Roberto knew of a military camp nearby that was headquarters for the Carretera Austral’s continuing construction … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Today, the Carreterra Austral—Chile’s southern highway—ends at the Pascua River, a mile past the home of Hernan Guelet and family. Physically, the road continues on the other side of the river, but … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Dark clouds stormed the harbor, and a stiff cold wind rattled metal roofs. Lisa put on wet clothes that had not dried overnight because the stove faltered due to wet wood. We … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press Chileans are very kind welcoming people, and in far removed rural Patagonia, their hospitality is heightened even more. As we sat inside listening to the pouring rain on the first day of … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press The river was swift below El Salton, with misty mountains rising all around. The Baker was now clearly on the wetter side of the Andes. Multi-trunked jungle-like trees, mostly beech, spread into … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press I had written about it’s whitewater canyons for over a decade, heard about its possible damming for years, and paddled with the locals who know it best in recent months. Somehow, I … Read More

This blob brought to you by Funhog Press. Before going to Chile, the Chacabuco was an alternate river for us, something that might be worthwhile if we had extra time to kill. Turns out, it’s a jewel, maybe the highlight … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press It is a nine-hour bus ride from Coyhaique to the frontier town of Cochrane, and the heart of Patagonia. The first 90 minutes of that journey are on a lonely paved highway, … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press, with special thanks to Kokatat. Our flight south from Puerto Varas to Balmaceda, Chile, was smooth until we descended into the lower atmosphere, and the Patagonian wind. Even after landing, the 737 … Read More

Our first surprise in South America did not come from the busy streets of Santiago; its tiny store-front auto parts stores, its sleeping street dogs, or its uniformed school kids laughing past. This was all typical Latin-American stuff. The last … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press. Thank you Kokatat, and Werner. The Lees Ferry ramp was vacant when we arrived, but a buzz of excitement soon materialized. Scientists plied the water, measuring the flow. A cadre of interested … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press I’ve never been one for speed runs. Scout the rapids, linger in camp, go for a hike, enjoy the view; this is my approach to river running—keep the stress low and the … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press If you are in the Flagstaff area on Friday October 18th, consider dropping by Babbitt’s Backcountry (Aspen & San Francisco Streets) for a slide show presentation on The Lisburne Traverse, a 220-mile … Read More

This BLOB brought to you by Funhog Press. When your fantasy becomes reality, where do you go next? I found myself taking this philosophical detour often in recent weeks; while driving past rich green meadows sprinkled with wildflowers, or watching … Read More

This blog brought to you by Funhog Press. We were paddling steadily, racing darkness. Five miles yet to go, one hour until sunset; it would be close but our chances of making a daylight take-out looked good. Lisa was just … Read More

The hole was hardly a supreme surf spot, but it was the best feature we’d seen in 100 miles. All nineteen kayakers pulled into line, awaiting their chance to surf, or should I say, be surfed. The next twenty minutes … Read More

Wind whirled erratically, tossing scatter-bombs of coarse sand with each unpredictable gust. An ominous stew of clouds seethed overhead, conjuring lonely droplets of rain. It was all somewhat distracting, yet the tempest remained squarely in the background due to the … Read More

“That looks like current ahead, we should pull over and see if we’re on an incoming tide.” Unfortunately, I was right. It was 2 pm. If the flood tide had just started, we’d have to wait until 8 pm before … Read More

The upper north fork of the Ipewik River was 50 cfs. Marginal. Still, compared to walking under a heavy pack, floating is almost always better. We launched, scraping over gravel bars and occasionally hoisting our boats to deeper channels while … Read More

A welcome river breeze cooled us as we drifted and spun in lazy circles down the swift Kukpowruk. By 2 pm we pulled in at the clear Sooner River confluence, having made over twenty miles in just four hours. Just … Read More

I fell asleep as our dinner bear slowly ambled downstream, still close, but sufficiently fed and uninterested in us. Morning brought us to a tributary basin straight out of Hobbitt-land. Towering snow draped peaks reflected in meltwater ponds, and a … Read More

From my journal: “As I sit to write this, a grizzly bear has taken up residence as our neighbor, separated only by a shallow braided river and 300 yards of foot, or paw, distance. Govi, somewhat unconcerned after regularly seeing … Read More

It was late morning before the clouds lifted, and Eric bellowed from behind his desk, “Well, Tyler, you wanna go?” We looked over our landing options once more, quickly, and loaded into a Cessna 206. He swerved and banked as … Read More

The low throttle and dropped flaps of the 737 told me it was landing time, but looking out the window I couldn’t see anything but white cloud. Land suddenly burst into view at three-hundred-feet. I saw airplanes anchored along an … Read More

We planned on twelve days, and gave ourselves fourteen, so when we finished in ten and a half with only one day of lunch food left, we were plenty pleased to be ahead of schedule. After waiting on the weather … Read More

We are less than two weeks from flying into the Arctic wilderness, and there has been just one day of summer thaw. As I write this, I can only hope the Kukpowruk and Ipewik Rivers are breaking up, coming to … Read More

Loaded as my truck was with boxes of the new book, Big Tree Hikes of the Redwood Coast, I was slightly hesitant to commit to 40 miles of unknown dirt road. Interstate 15, however, was stop and go traffic snaking … Read More

On a map, Point Hope pokes into the blue of the Chukchi Sea like a bird’s beak, projecting westward from Alaska’s barren northwest coast. It is the final spit of land sitting at the end of the last range of … Read More

The rural two-lane curved and climbed through rolling slopes of green and then entered a copse of forest—oak and pine—before emerging suddenly on the rim of an escarpment. Below lay paradise. The valley was flat and perfectly green, with big … Read More

I first met Jim McComb standing ankle-deep in mud. It was February 20th, 1993, a record high water day for Arizona rivers, and McComb, trailed by three others, was marching through the slop to get a look at the high … Read More

We were prepared, in theory at least, for a six-mile walk to the put-in, dragging our 80-pound gear laden kayaks every step of the way. Thank goodness not all plans come to fruition. When it came time to turn off … Read More

I snapped a picture as Scott disappeared around the corner. And then I heard the sound: plastic on rock. I looked up at Pete. He had that athletic ready-to-move stance, and he was looking expectantly over the edge, toward the … Read More

The sun peeked below storm clouds, illuminating the desert in golden light. A rainbow arched over a projecting volcanic peak. It was all very auspicious, driving toward the long awaited first descent of Trout Creek. John Govi was at the … Read More

A subtropical airmass brought snow levels to over 8,000 feet, and dumped two inches of rain on much of Arizona’s Mogollon Rim during the last weekend of January, 2013. Paddlers hit the weekend water with a fury to match the … Read More

The clouds were starting to look bruised, with a hint of pink on their edges, when we took off our harnesses in preparation for the final half-mile walk out of the canyon. The imposing cliffs of Hells Half Acre Gorge … Read More

We had just passed the exposed ledges, where a fall would be your last, when the light began to fade. Despite my denial of the impending darkness, it was obvious that the cairns we followed were no longer apparent against … Read More

The river moved slowly in a sheen of gentle current, passing over yellow-hued bedrock with fish hovering in eroded pockets. I had a bird’s-eye view to it all, flying over the riverbed in my little yellow raft. This was the … Read More

The river sprawled from bank to bank, rippling over rocks that were just inches below the surface. Steering my pack raft through the cobbles required care. Rowing an 18-foot gear boat on the shallow river seemed silly, a game of … Read More

I inched down the wall slowly, hesitant to look out. Three-hundred feet straight down was the bottom of the amphitheater floor. Gazing in that direction made me queasy, so I focused on the rope and belay device in front of … Read More

From my toes to my fingertips, every fiber pulled on the oars. I stole a glance shoreward to measure our progress against the wind. Willows bent and ribbons of sand swirled along the cliffs, snaking out of the canyon into … Read More

Launching horizontally from seven feet up, my idea was to land on the pack and skim across the water without feeling a drop. No such luck, halfway across the pool, the unmistakable cold and wet of canyon water began to … Read More

Staring through clear rushing water under my bow, I fixated on an air bubble that formed off the rock beneath me, squirreling its way upstream in darting swims. As I surfed the wave that formed over that rock, it felt … Read More

A grand fir sprouted unsteadily, seemingly too tall for it’s girth. At well over 200-feet, it was in record territory. Farther on, a towering Sitka spruce dug roots into a hollowed stump shell of a redwood that was once nearly … Read More

Turning fifty years of age is a milestone to be celebrated. And if you are a kayaker, what better way to crown the life landmark than by kayaking? Such was the rationale of my love, Lisa Gelczis, who announced in … Read More

We listened. In the backyard, over a world atlas, at a corner table of a breakfast café; we listened, because Olo had a story, many stories, to tell. Despite his marginal English, the Polish explorer spoke tirelessly, bellowing tales of … Read More

The woods had a magical fairy-land feel, like a gnome in a jaunty top-hat might come jumping out any minute. Rising from the mossy floor were conical silver firs, stout Sitka spruce, and towering Douglas firs, all filtering sunlight into … Read More

He was the first human I’d seen all day, and he wore a Green Bay Packers jacket. I lauded his team’s world champion status, but football was far from his mind on the lonely trail. “I didn’t know which way … Read More

Local wisdom says the Main Salmon “washes out” at high water, leaving the rocks sufficiently buried to create a smooth linear flow. Having recently run the river at high water during my 2009 source to sea journey, I repeatedly affirmed … Read More

I was a bit uneasy clipping into a rope with no belay device, but it had worked for the two guys in front of me, so I took one last look at the bolted anchor, sent a trusting glance to … Read More

As I blissfully paddled past the portage eddy, a chorus of warning shouts called after me in several languages; German, French, English. I didn’t understand many of the words, but I got the point—eddy out dude! The unrunnable falls were … Read More

But oh what the desert hides! Hidden beneath this high desert are narrow gorges, and for a brief time each spring, the slots carry snowmelt from the Mogollon Plateau. The runoff snakes between the walls, creating mazes of incongruous, tumbling … Read More

We had no intention of setting a record on Oak Creek. And it’s not the type of title we want to repeat, either—longest shuttle ever. The much-anticipated storm over Presidents Day weekend brought the creek up, and the roads down. … Read More

We stepped off the trail into a wall of shoulder-high sword fern, letting the rainforest swallow us. A vague path, barely discernible, lead deeper into the copse. Feeling our way over a rotten log, the route opened at the edge … Read More

Any whitewater paddler who drives Highway 199 along the Smith River knows the spot. The sinuous green Middle Smith suddenly vanishes, replaced by a tiny creek just before the road enters Oregon. Where did the river go? Somewhere into the … Read More

Guidebook writing is more than just going for a hike and jotting it down. This fact was made clear recently when I sat down to enter a description for Hualapai Peak in my forthcoming guidebook,  Arizona Summits North. Where were … Read More

  The original plan had us hiking into the Canyon under a full moon, but as we donned headlamps in the shelter of Eric’s truck, the night outside was black as coal. There wasn’t a moon in sight, and a … Read More

The Agua Fria River, in my humble opinion, is the best one-day run in Arizona. I’ve said as much in Paddling Arizona, and often questioned the claim. Yet the Agua always delivers. When tornado inducing thunderstorms raked the area on … Read More