Duo navigate the "empty quarter"!

Adventurers Alastair Humphreys and Leon McCarron have completed their 1000-mile (1600 km) long trek across the Empty Quarter, arriving yesterday in Dubai. After spending nearly six weeks in the desert, the two men finished their expedition at the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which had to have served as quite the contrast to the environment they had been traveling through.

The Empty Quarter, or Rub' al Khali, is the largest sand desert in the world, stretching out across much of the Arabian Peninsula. This vast and largely unexplored section of the world covers parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, spreading out over some 225,000 square miles (583,000 sq. km).

Inspired by their hero Wilfred Thesiger, who made two famous expeditions into the Empty Quarter himself, Alastair and Leon set out in early November to explore that desolate place for themselves. Lugging all of their gear behind them in a cart that weighed 250 kg (551 pounds), the two men were able to navigate across the desert, using Bedouin watering holes to refresh their supply of drinking water as they went. Their no frills, grassroots approach to adventure has paid off, as they were able to make the crossing in a completely self supported way.

While out in the desert, neither Alastair or Leon shared much about their experience. Now that they are home however, that is likely to change. Look for updates to both men's blogs to find out what it was like for them on this amazing adventure.

Congratulations to both Alastair and Leon for a job well done. Now get home in time for the holidays boys.

Rowing the Ganges

 

Earlier in the year I ran a series of videos that were told the story of a team of rowers who navigated the length of the Mississippi River in a 32-foot, handmade York boat. That project was led by Brett Rogers, who had previously spent 100 days on Canada's Yukon River as well. Now, Brett is off on yet another river adventure, this time exploring the mystical and legendary Ganges River in India.

At 2525 km (1569 miles) in length, the Ganges is the longest river in India and the most densely populated in the world. Starting in the Himalaya and flowing southward to the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges is second only to the Amazon in terms of water output. It is listed amongst the most polluted waterways in the world as well, which is startling considering the number of people that live along its banks. Perhaps most importantly of all however is its significance to the Hindu religion, which sees the river as the embodiment of the goddess Ganga, providing them with their daily needs.

Brett and his three man crew, which consists of Matt Telford, Cliff Quinn and Doug Copping, arrived in India a few days back and they have been preparing to embark on their ten-day journey ever since. The team has been posting updates, including some fantastic photos, to Brett's blog over the past few days and are now getting close to launching their boat. They anticipate getting underway on Friday and documenting the expedition as they go.

Judging from his past work, the real treat will likely come when Brett produces videos of this journey. His "Old Man River" series about the Mississippi were fantastic, with beautiful imagery and a compelling story. I suspect we'll eventually see something similar about the Ganges, but we'll just have to wait for the post-expedition updates to arrive. For now though, it should be fun to follow along with the journey and learn more about this amazing part of the world.

Journalist plans round the world trip... On foot!!

Journalist Paul Salopek is preparing to set off on an amazing journey that he expects to take roughly seven years to complete. Along the way he'll be covering more than 22,000 miles (35,400 km) almost entirely on foot, as he attempts to trace the route that our earliest ancestors took as they migrated away from Africa and went out to settle the rest of the world. He calls this expedition the Out of Eden Walk.

The two-time Pulitzer Prize winning writer is planning to start his ambitious project in January when he'll set out on a grand trek from the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia. The valley is the place where most scientists believe man had his origins, spending some time there before spreading out across the globe. After departing Africa, Salopek will then walk across the Middle East and Asia before hopping across the Pacific Ocean to Alaska. At that point, he'll already have covered thousands of miles and spent months on the road, but he'll hardly be finished yet. The next stage of the expedition will take him south all the way to Patagonia at the extreme end of South America.

Salopek says that this is a very personal project for him and he intends to tell numerous stories from the road, chronically the people that he meets and the places that he sees along the way. The list of topics he intends to cover while on this journey includes climate change, the impact of foreign aid from the west on various locations, cultural change in the 21st century and much more.

The Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard posted a story about the journey earlier today garnering some insights into what Paul hopes to accomplish and what gear he expects to take with him when he gets underway. Amongst the items he'll be taking with him are a MacBook Air, cameras from GoPro and Sony, a handheld GPS unit and a satellite phone. Fairly standard gear for an expedition of just about any length.

This looks like it will be a fascinating journey to follow and it certainly will be long enough. I look forward to reading Salopek's reports from the road. I'm sure they'll be fantastic.

Running New Zealand: North to South

Next week, British ultra-runner Jez Bragg will set out on quite an expedition. Beginning December 12 (12-12-12), he'll attempt to set a speed record for running the length of New Zealand north to south. He expects the journey to take approximately 50 days to complete, covering some 3054 km (1898 miles) in the process.

Jez has dubbed his journey as The Long Pathway and daily coverage will begin soon. But this excellent infographic helps put the challenge into perspective. He'll begin in the extreme north of New Zealand at Cape Reinga on the North Island. From there, he'll follow the entire length of the Te Araroa trail, eventually ending in Bluff at the southernmost point of the South Island. According to the infographic, Bragg intends to cover approximately 60-80 km (37-49 miles), consuming 10 liters of water and 6000 calories per day.

Of course, not all of this route can be done on foot, as obviously there are a few water crossings that the Brit will have to deal with. That includes the Cook Strait, which separates the two islands. But Jez won't simply hop a ferry when he comes to these water crossing, but will instead use a kayak to continue his southerly journey. All told, he expect to paddle approximately 345 km (214 miles) across the length of the expedition. He also estimates that about 285 km (177 miles) will be done on roads, while the remaining 2424 km (1506 miles) will be on trail.

What a great challenge through an amazingly beautiful country. I'll be thinking of Jez tonight when I go for my evening run, which will only be about 5 miles in length and barely scratch the surface of what he's about to attempt. It should be fun to follow along. Watch for more updates on this epic run starting next week.

History maker

 

 The Last Desert ultramarathon is a tough six-stage, seven-day race that just wrapped up in Antarctica. One of its competitors, a 60-year old adventurer by the name of Len Stanmore managed to add yet another accomplishment to his already impressive resume. Len is now officially the first person to ski to both the North and South Pole, climb all of the Seven Summits and run each of the 4 Deserts ultras. That's quite a bit of adventure for one lifetime.

Len's adventurous life actually began back in 1998, when he sold off his successful telecommunications company and suddenly found himself financially secure and with plenty of time on his hands. A bit out of shape and looking for ways to motivate himself, he decided to set a goal for climbing Kilimanjaro and in 2001 he did just that. After that he was hooked, and soon found himself pursuing a host of other active endeavors including running in the Transrockies run and numerous marathons, in addition to the expeditions mentioned above.

Perhap's Len's greatest achievement falls in the realm of fund raising for his favorite charity. At the end of the Last Desert, he'll have raised more than $100,000 for Trekking for Kids, an organization dedicated to improving orphanages around the globe through the use of purpose-driven, socially-conscious treks. The non-profit actually organizes some of the world's most iconic treks and sends hikers off on adventures as a way to raise funds for the cause. Some of those treks include hikes to Everest Base Camp, up Kilimanjaro and through the Andes of Peru.

According to the official results of the Last Desert, Stanmore has finished 31st of 49 competitors, putting him right in the thick of the pack. But considering he adventurous outlook on life and approach to raising funds for a good cause, I'd say he more than finished out front. You definitely have to respect a person who has found a way to enjoy their life and pursue all of these great adventures, while still finding a way to give back in the process. We should all be so fortunate.