Today however was the most impressive Bald Eagle display I have ever seen. While taking a crab boat loaded with tourists to a secret island in Alaska, I fed 60+ eagles as they swooped inches over our heads.

But the coolest thing was when 30 full grown bald eagles all caught a wind draft and hovered effortlessly, as if they were floating in thin air. This took place less than six feet away. You could reach out and pluck eagles from the sky!

This was the start to our Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour in Ketchikan Alaska. Earlier in the week I was assaulted by a 50 pound Pacific Giant Octopus.  The slippery creature wrapped up my legs to trip me and thought it would be a good idea to spit 5 gallons of water in my face. I’m sure that will make YouTube at some point.

Then we hauled up our King Crab pots, our Snow Crab pots, our Prawn pots and our Halibut gear!

I am finding tons of excitement in seeings the joy on peoples faces as they have these new and amazing experiences on our tour. It is such genuine happiness that it’s contagiousness can not be dodged!

This must be why we are rated the #1 tour in Ketchikan Alaska and in the top 10 world wide ‘MUST DO TOURS’ by the Cruise Lines.

If you are on your way to Ketchikan Alaska this summer, you really don’t want to miss this. It is hands down the best thing you can do around here and I will be there with you the whole way!

Check out the website: www.56degreesnorth.com

Photo by: Erin Sinnokrak

That said, the Adventure Racing team Stars, Bars and Scars was co-founded by Jeff McMahan and myself to participate in world-wide adventure races, and win.  Recently our team was racing across Peru in South America in what I would considered the world’s most dangerous race.

This is the official promo for the Mototaxi Junket, you will see Jeff and I in there a few times.  Watch for all the pole cam shots, the Captain America helmet and the Red Skull.

You can read all about the race by visiting the SBS Mototaxi Junket micro blog!

For those of you who are dying to know, no we didn’t win the race.  We were duped.  We mistakenly gave up our first place position to show compassion to another American team who had fallen behind.  In an effort to help them, we lost by a few hours, over the course of a 3 week race.

Learn more about our race team by visiting the Stars, Bars and Scars website!

Ben Brown has a few more things to say about Las Vegas to get your vacation plans into high gear!  I’ll let Ben take it from here.

Think a trip to Vegas is for gamblers only? There’s much more to do than just cruise the strip. In Vegas you can watch some of the best entertainment in the world, and if you feel the need, walk Fremont Street in the wee hours of the morning when the rest of the world is sleeping. Of course if gambling is how you get your thrills, it’s certainly the place to find plenty. Hit a high stakes game and go all-in on the chance you’ll get a winning hand at the Tropicana, or hit the elusive winning numbers at a sports book. If you source your excitement from other forms of action, you can also fulfill that need for adrenaline in Vegas.

The need for speed can be satisfied at the Las Vegas Cyber Speedway, which is at the Sahara Hotel and Casino. This popular attraction lets you take the wheel in a virtual NASCAR vehicle and drive the streets, or around the track, at a virtual Las Vegas Motor Speedway. There is also a roller coaster that spins, flies, and dips you through scenarios representing the famed Sahara Hotel and the NASCAR Café. Be propelled 250 feet straight up along the tower, and then drop at lightning speed backwards, careening through the whole scene again from a very different point of view.

Fans of real motor racing can also watch the pros drive at top speeds around the raceway at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Visit the Speedway to drive a real racecar at one of the driving schools or hit the kart track.

Other rides for thrill seekers include the Coney Island roller coaster that carries riders through the lobby of a hotel and around to the outside, culminating in an exhilarating 144-foot drop. The Stratosphere tower ride will leave you looking for the heart you left at the top as you are carried up 1,149 feet in the air and are dropped from atop the spire. If that doesn’t do you in for the day, hop on the gigantic teeter-totter called the X-Scream, balancing precariously over the top of the tower a full 100 stories above the ground below

Some of the most breathtaking scenery anywhere in the world is found at the Grand Canyon; with great outdoor activities it is not far from Las Vegas. The Grand Canyon provides hiking, river rafting, climbing, and awesome sightseeing flights and helicopter rides for the best views of the vast expanse of the canyon and the river below. A new glass-bottomed walkway lets you walk out over the canyon to view the river hundreds of feet below, as you are suspended in what seems to be mid-air.  Scary!

Take a ride to the very bottom of the Grand Canyon by pack mule or horse and hike the Colorado River trails. The ride down is safe, but the trails are narrow and wind their way along very steep cliff sides all the way to the bottom of the canyon. Don’t worry, as the mounts are sure-footed. However, it’s not for the faint hearted, but presents an opportunity for a trip the whole family will never forget.

Guest post by Ben Brown

This means the first stage of the site has been completed and is ready for viewing, which is why you’re viewing it now!

However, content and data structure are still being developed. This can take the most time of any website creation, with good reason. Great content and data structure will make the biggest difference on how useful a website is to you. This is something I want to make sure is perfect!

Because the website is in it’s Beta stage doesn’t mean it’s not useful or worth viewing. It just means that you should expect a few errors and broken links. If you find a broken link or notice a blank page, it’s because I haven’t finished that section yet.

I’m expecting Beta to last until May 1st 2012.

Thank you for your understanding and support!

Jay got in last night from Montana so we all went to REI and Second Ascent to pick up some last few clothes items. The list included long sleeved wicking fabric shirts by Sherpa that are very light weight and should keep us dry and our body temperature regulated! We also picked up a nice light weight hatchet with a built in knife, all our water containers, convertible pants and all the typical water proof stuff.

Today I also picked up our trip protection which will be supplied by Glock. A Glock 22 .40 pistol will be on hand for any bad scenarios involding large wildlife. The idea is to not have to use it, but as we always say, better safe than sorry. Six months in the mountains is plenty of time for the dice to roll.

Tomorrow is a DEADLIEST WATERS book signing at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, right after the Deadliest Catch Convention.

So far with a fully loaded pack (minus food and water) I am at 16 pounds. My goal is 15 so I might try to shed some weight by leaving some stuff or buying some lighter weight versions of the heavy things. Kristina’s pack is looking to be in the 14 pound range so far.

Light travel is happy travel!

Links talked about in this post:

• REI – World’s largest outdoor outfitter
• Second Ascent – Specialized outfitter
• Glock – Light weight handguns
• Deadliest Waters – My Best Selling book
• Sherpa – The best base layer clothing ever

Before you visit the sites, motivate yourself with one of Matt’s great videos!

The Adventurists: One of my favorite adventure travel organizations, the Adventurists, cook up the most absurd world travel adventures you can dream of. I’ve participated in several of their adventures and am an active member of the Adventurist community.

2backpackers: Jason and Aracely travel around the world and share great tips and photos of their adventures! I really enjoy their videos!

Backpack with Brock: Brock reminds me of myself when I started traveling. His videos and blogs are great and will really inspire you to get out of your comfort zone! A solo world traveler getting into trouble all around the world.

Boots ‘n All: Boots ‘n all is a one stop travel site for the real explorers. They constantly have fresh ideas and images to inspire you! They also have great tools to help you move about while traveling.

Cest Christine: Christine shares some great travel tips as a solo traveler. Her blog is especially nice for aspiring women travelers who have concerns about going solo.

Positive World Travel: A wonderful blog with videos, photos and great stories!

I’m working on a photography project for a museum in Florida right now.  The House of Refuge, a historically significant structure which played a part in the pioneering of the Southern United States as well as WWI and WWII.  Sound like a dream job to you?

Here are some tips to follow if you want to be a successful photographer!

1) Be a professional you

Photography is an art, art does not follow guidelines.  As much as you want to play dress up and run a business, don’t look like an stick in the mud idiot.  Be a comfortable you, it goes a lot further than you think.  Be punctual and be professional but you’re not in a suit and tie business, so don’t act like it.

2) Know what you’re doing

This seems self explanatory, but the hard truth is this; anyone can buy a camera, read a couple how-to’s online and start calling themselves a photographer.  Being a real photographer is a lot more involved.  Find a niche and run with it, keep taking photos until you discover a pattern in your photographs.  That pattern is the foundation for your style, build on that!  It will make your photos distinguishable and unique.

3) Scope your locations

There will come a time when you have to shoot at a location you’re not familiar with.  Get there early, walk around, check the best backgrounds and angles.  In general, the best lighting is produced during the golden hours, which is right after sunrise and right before sunset.

4) Have the right gear

Don’t show up to a photo shoot with a Sony Sureshot and a plastic Big-5 tripod.  Make sure you have the right gear for the shoot.  If you’re doing an adventure sport shoot, have the right equipment.  Same goes for you wedding photographers.  Do your research before you buy and be sure to rent lenses before purchasing.  There are lots of options, so make sure to try gear and buy what you use the most.

5) Networking is king

This is the most important part of being a photographer.  Networking means future jobs and the ability to command higher rates.  So remember, meet, greet, and make friends!

The solution that will melt an unknowing face when they walk through your door.

An oversize Alien vs. Predator chess battle royal printed on canvas and brushed with touch-up paint and lacquer. This completely one off piece was made possible by the great digital artist Benjamin Parry and his team back in 2009. I think it goes well with the Duke Nukem Statue in the foyer!

If you’re like me and want to make sure everyone enjoys the majesty that you deem awesome, hang it somewhere very public, like a giant window overlooking your neighbors!

I will be reliving most when I speak about the Mototaxi Junket. Today was the day that started off grand, and turned to shit so fast your were neck deep before you knew it. We thought we were on target to make some good time today, left by 8am and the day was beautiful one. The road we were on was a dirt road, but was considered a major highway. Hey, at least it was graded, for the most part. We stopped at several forks in the road, and after speaking with one or two folks and consulting the map, we continued on. We ended up so high that the landscape could have been mistaken for the moon, NOTHING was growing up there. The Warriors, Travis and I took some highlight photos of the trip atop this mountain range, snow capped peaks within view.

All excited to hit the paved highway, we continued our way down the mountain. Wasn’t until we were on the other side at the gate of a mining facility the we found out we took a wrong turn. I was point man, so I put that on myself. We figured screw it, there is more than one way to skin a cat and as we were already on this route that would eventually take us to the city we had planned for, we continued forward. Once again we were hit by the Peruvian genius of which way to point A. An Ambulance driver and two co-passengers told us to take the right fork, which was the way they were going. We would pass through 3 mining towns but that we would get there, and they would help us along the way. So we drive 45 minutes to the gate of the mining town #1. Guard tells us we went the wrong way, should have taken the “other” fork. So we backtrack, buy some gas out of some woman’s house, and continue forth. Then the rain comes.

Driving on mining roads in the rain is no fun, think logging roads, no difference except instead of trees there are 1000 foot drop offs with turns that have no guard rails. We traverse the wilderness and one lane blind turns that would have meant certain death if a truck was oncoming. There were over 200 of those turns. Then the hail comes. Then we slip our chain, twice, and change the ole’ sparkplug. Then it hails on us again. Now the temperature starts dropping, the puddles grow larger and more ominous. We fjord a river to get to the other moutain range. Now the rain comes heavy. We are 7km away from the town we have decided to hole up in, and the nice old gentleman and wife explain how to get there. Take a left, go over the pass, come down on the other side, follow the river, and you will be there. We do as he says. He is completely wrong, 180 degrees. We didn’t figure this out until after we crossed over the mountain pass, 30 minutes later. Then the hail comes again, and twilight starts.

So we sputter our way back over the pass. By this time our MT “Charlie” is throwing a tantrum. It has rained so long and hard that in between the chain slipping off, the kill switch automatically goes off, a victim of the waterlogged electronics. Nothing like stalling up a muddy pass at a 45 degree incline. Lots of pushing ensued to get back over the pass and onto the right road. I looked for that old man to run him over, but he had since taken his leave, no clue if he was screwing with us, or just plain stupid. Either way, it was now dark, we had seven kilometers to go in blackness, through roads that were now either muddied or had rivers crossing over them and into the canyon below. We came across a taxi driver who led us into town a few miles out. Yep, still raining.

I was wearing two pairs of wool socks, thinking I was clever this mornig, keep my toes warm. Ever had wool socks get wet? S-U-C-K-S…my feet were two walking sponges. So the nice taxi man gets us into town, where I stall several times, and then the Warriors join in on the fun as there MT start to be pissed about being out playing in the rain all day. We finally make it to the hostel where we were going to hole up for the night. No vacancy. It begins to downpour. We go back the way we came and come across another hostel. No vacancy. This is becoming increasingly funny. Finally, third time is a charm, we find one, the last one in town, with rooms available. Course the neighbor seems to have a thing about blowing stuff up. Explosions have been going off every hour since we arrived.

I am too cold to really care though. Our bodies have gone through several elevation changes, along with sun, wind, rain, and hail today. All we care about is getting one step closer to the finish line tomorrow. Maybe we will accomplish that, as long as we dont ask for directions. Should have brought my Garmin. Night all.

We caught up to the other teams last night in Huanuco and we encountered our first flat 30km outside of the city.

The team that SBS and the Warriors had waited a day and a half for were trailing us. So we both pull over. The newly joined team jump out of their Mototaxi and declare, “We are leaving with the earliest rising team tomorrow.“

Ohhhh really? Now I am thinking to myself;  ”the other teams left you, you were traveling solo, you hauled ass to catch up to us, and we drove 7 hours in two days after driving 15 and 16 hours just to make that happen, severely hindering our chances of crossing the finish line first.“

We genuinely wanted to add a third American team that had been shunned.  What’s the repayment?  Telling us at our first sign of trouble, now that we have caught up to the other teams, you were going to go with the early risers. Hmmm. So much for sticking together.

BTW, you’re welcome we stuck around for you.  The only thing they have added in a positive light since joining us was assistance in fixing the tire. Assistance which they made sure they videotaped so off the bat they could declare that this is the fourth tire “of another teams” that he was changing.

Yes, Travis and I, along with Mike (who has been riding Harleys as long as they have been alive) are completely inept to change a flat tire.  Sometimes three is a crowd, I think the Brits had the right call on this one, sorry chaps.

So, outside of that small fiasco, yesterday went well. There had been a huge Amazonian downpour at midnight. We hired trucks to take us through bandit country, but could not leave until 4am because of the weather, even then, the 180k dirt road was a long and muddy one, with two of the trucks getting stuck in the process.

We were dropped off after a journey that saved us a day of travel to be generous, and continued another 120km to Huancayo, arriving about 8pm last night. The support that holds the muffler in place broke in half, and the sprocket on the tire seems off kilter, so we will get that looked at this morning. Unfortunately, that will put us behind some.

The other teams will have headed out by now, c’est la vie.  Maybe we can catch up to the others again and rid ourselves of some “Salty” weight, since we, apparently, are not good enough for them.  They must be part Canadian!

Let’s get moving!