Here's a really cool article from Newsday.com about a group of explorers who are setting out to retrace Captain John Smith's historic voyage to explore the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding tributaries.

The crew set off in a ship that is an exact replica of the one that Smith used himself, and the 1500 mile journey is expected to take about 120 days. Their launch coincides with the opening of the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, the first national historic water trail in the United States. It is also the 400th Anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Colony, which you can find out more about over at National Geographic's Jamestown site.

This sounds like another cool adventure for the sailors heading out to recreate this expedition. However, this is an adventure that we can recreate too. The water trail sounds like it's tailor made for canoe and kayak camping. I'm also guessing it won't be too long before someone set off to paddle the entire length of the trail.

Thanks Jason!

Update: Interested in helping out the planning for this historic trail? Then head over to NPS.gov/cajo to see how you can lend a hand. It's a great opportunity for any of us to get involved with a very cool project.

Also, if you're in the area and want to check conditions on the James River, you can do so at The Interpretive Buoy Site or by calling 1-877-BUOYBAY.

Thanks to the anonymous poster in the comments section for these!

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Last Sunday I visited a site I had long wanted to see – The Caves of Keash in County Sligo. These are some of Ireland’s most visually striking caves, appearing as black mouths set in the white limestone rock face high on the western shoulder of Keshcorran Mountain. There are sixteen caves and you can enter the majority to enjoy a really incredible evocative experience. 

Archaeological investigations in the early 20th century, discovered bones from animals that stalked Ireland towards the end of the Ice Age – with evidence of hares, brown bear, red deer, Arctic lemming and wolves all dating to more than c.12,000 years ago. 

Tantalising evidence of human activity was also discovered during the investigations, with artefacts and human remains discovered from a number of periods throughout Irish history. Perhaps most curiously a number of human teeth were recovered. They were found to date from different periods ranging from the Early Iron Age, to the Early Medieval period. These were the teeth of human adults, and due to the number of examples and nature of their deposition they are unlikely to be accidental losses. As there was no accompanying skeletal remains it is quite possible that they represent some kind of votive ritual tradition or religious practice. Animal teeth (particularly dog and horse) were also discovered in similar deposits. Both dogs and horses were highly prized and almost revered in Iron Age Ireland so they may also represent ritual activity. It is possible that the teeth formed part of a ritual celebrating Lughnasa, as the Keash Caves are particularly associated with the Iron Age god Lugh. 

Another discovery has more sinister possibilities. Part of a leg bone of an adult male was discovered within one of the caves, nearby to an iron crossbow bolt. This could represent the grisly end for someone who was hiding in the caves before they were hunted down. An entry in the Annals of the Four Masters from 1007 AD states: ‘…Muireadhach, a distinguished bishop…was suffocated in a cave, in Gaileanga of Corann’. 

Being so highly visible and unusual in the landscape, the Caves of Keash and the mountain are imbued with myth, legend and folklore. The legendary High King of Ireland, Cormac Mac Airt was said to have been born by a well at the foot of Keshcorran, and was raised by a she-wolf in one of the caves, perhaps echoing the story of Romulus and Remus who were also raised by a wolf in a cave. The caves also feature in stories of Fionn MacCumhaill, who had to enter the caves to seek out the otherworld smithy of Lon MacLíomhtha. Another story featuring the caves tells how Fionn and his Fianna were captured and bound in the caves by three hideous hags. If you'd like more information about the history, archaeology and folklore of Keshcorran please see this superb article. Dr Marion Dowd of Sligo IT is Ireland’s foremost expert in the archaeology of caves, and she has a great Facebook page that highlights the story of these fascinating places www.facebook.com/archaeologycavesireland. 

As well as the caves, the mountain of Keshcorran was an important place in ancient Ireland. A prehistoric cairn, likely to be a large Neolithic passage tomb, crowns the summit of the mountain. The cairn is part of an extended upland megalithic cemetery that includes the tombs on Carrowkeel. These tombs are clearly visible in the landscape from the summit of Keshcorran. Indeed from the summit you are treated to absolutely breathtaking views, on a clear day you can spend a while just gazing at the beautiful landscape at places like Nephin in Mayo and the mountains of Donegal.

We followed this stone wall across the summit towards the cairn

The large stone cairn on the summit of Keshcorran

If you look carefully you can see the tombs on Carrowkeel

You can find the Caves of Keshcorran signposted off the R295 between Ballymote and Boyle (around 30km from Sligo at co-ordinates 54º03.541, -008º27.146). There is a small carpark and a steep path up to the caves but I highly recommend good walking boots as it can be very slippy underfoot. We couldn’t find any obvious path up to the cairn, it was a very tough and occasionally nervy, climb up. As it hasn’t been excavated the cairn has no distinguishing features so unless you are particularly interested in upland megalithic tombs I would advise perhaps skipping the arduous climb up to this one and instead perhaps taking a trip to Carrowkeel after your visit to the caves instead.

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This is Lough Boora in County Offaly, the location of one of the most important Mesolithic sites in Ireland. Mesolithic means ‘middle stone age’ and this period covers between 8000 – 4500 BC, the time of the first human settlement in Ireland. These people often survived as semi-nomadic hunter gatherers, staying close to the coastal areas, rivers or lakes. The earliest settlement evidence in Ireland from this period was discovered alongside the River Bann at Mount Sandel in Co. Derry, where the remains of several small structures and activity dating to 7000 BC was discovered.

The site at Lough Boora was discovered in 1977, when a turf cutter found what he thought was an ancient road surface. He alerted the National Museum of Ireland, who investigated the site and found that instead of an ancient roadway they had actually discovered a storm beach on the edge of a massive post-glacial lake. This large lake originally would have been connected to the River Shannon, however over thousands of years bog formed and covered the area, all that remains of that lake today is the much smaller modern Lough Boora lake.

The Lough Boora Pyramid 2002, modern sculpture by Eileen MacDonagh and Marc Wouthers

The excavations also discovered a number of charcoal patches that were identified as the remains of hearths that were dated to between 6,800 – 6,500 BC, and over 1,500 artefacts such as stone axeheads, spear points, blades made of a flint-like material called chert and the remains of meals eaten nearly 9,000 years ago such as the burnt bones of wild pig, wildfowl and fish, suggesting that this site was the temporary campsite of a band of hunters. They probably used this area seasonally to hunt wild pig, wildfowl and other small animals. By today’s standards these Mesolithic men and women would have enjoyed a very healthy and varied diet that was dictated by the seasonal availability of fish, meat, wild plants, nuts and berries.

Today the site at Lough Boora has been completely excavated and there is no trace of the Mesolithic people that walked along this ancient storm beach or who sought shelter from summer winds and rain. However, you can walk in the footsteps of these ancient peoples as the area where the site was discovered is part of a great walk called The Mesolithic Loop, where not only will you encounter information about some of Ireland's earliest human activity, but also contemporary and striking works of art. A great, inexpensive day out and highly recommended! For more information about biodiversity activities and information on the various walks at Lough Boora visit: www.loughbooraparklands.com

The 'Skytrain' another wonderfully weird piece of modern sculpture to see at Lough Boora

Another shellfish-in-a-bag place has opened up in Singapore (195 East Coast Road, 6348-8195), although interestingly, these guys intentionally tried to be as close to the Boiling Crab as possible. And they generally succeeded, with the right amount of butter in there to give it the punch that it needed. Granted, the shrimp could have been fresher and the mixture could have been spicier, but these guys are still in soft launch mode for another week, so hopefully some of these things will change next time I go back there. Yes, I'd rather come here than Crab in Da Bag or Cajun Kings.

Who says fall has to bring an end to our mountain biking adventures? Certainly not pro riders Wade Simmons and Kevin Calhoun, who recently visited the Monashee Mountains in British Columbia to shoot this beautiful video. It takes about a minute and a half to really get to the good stuff, but once you get there, it certainly looks like they found an amazing place to ride.

All that inordinate and undeserved praise Frommer lavished on Toledo actually aptly describes Córdoba! Once the capital of Muslim Spain-- and the biggest city in Europe-- it still preserves it's Moorish legacy and was one of the best places we visited on our whole trip. I can't believe I had always missed it in the past, always opting for Granada and Sevilla (two other awesome cities in Andalusia). I think the express train ride from Madrid was 90 minutes. We stayed at the NH Amistad Córdoba, two minutes walk from the heart of the action. Real nice hotel, with very sweet, helpful people working there, kind of personal... nothing fancy but VERY pleasant. (They're amenable to discounts too.) Córdoba is a real walking town so it's great to be in the middle of it where you can easily walk everywhere.

Aside from the truly wonderful vibe and living museum quality of the city itself, the main thing to see in Córdoba is the Mezquita, the absolutely most astonishing and grandest architectural achievement of the Muslims in Spain. It's gorgeous and immense and breathtaking and worth as many hours as you can spare. The mosque dates from the 8th Century, although when the Catholics took back the town from the Muslims they built some kind of weird-- but beautiful-- 16th-century cathedral right in the middle of it. The 14th century Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos is the secondary place to see and that's pretty incredible too.

After the heavy and gigantic meals in Madrid we decided that lunches would be the main dining experience for the rest of the trip and that we'd eat tapas or light suppers in the evenings-- much healthier. The 2 best restaurants in town, La Almudaina and El Caballo Rojo are just ok, and, I'm sorry to say, very much over-rated tourist traps. I mean there was nothing wrong with the food in either (and both actually did serve delicious gazpacho) but they weren't all that special in the culinary department. They're supposedly the 2 most popular restaurants in all of Andalusia but that claim is patently absurd. Our luck totally changed when it came to dinner. Tapas was the name of the game and we found a place we went crazy for. You won't find it in a guide book but the concierge at the Amistad told us it was her favorite tasca in Córdoba; mine too! The name is Taberna Salinas (calle Tunididores #3, right off the Plaza Corredera, away from the whole tourist hubbub). It doesn't look like much but this tavern was founded in 1879 and the food they serve is spectacular, way better than anything at the fancy restaurants. They serve the gazpacho in a glass as a drink and I couldn't get enough! The bartender, Antonio, treated us like we were daily customers and the second night treated us like we were family.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the International Space Station, a program that has successfully proven that countries can work together to achieve things in space. In the case of the ISS, more than 15 countries have contributed to the project and over the past decade and a half, a lot research has been conducted in orbit above our planet. To celebrate this special occasion NASA has released the video below which is a celebration of one of our greatest achievements in space exploration to date.

One of my favorite advances in terms of outdoor gear technology in recent years has been the introduction of waterproof down. In my opinion it is a real game changer in terms of providing us with the best insulation possible while avoiding previous problems with what happens to down when it gets wet. In the past I've reviewed (and loved) the Brooks Range Mojave jacket, which was one of the first products to incorporate DownTek, one of the options available for waterproof down. Recently I've been testing an Ignite Down sleeping bag from Kelty, which uses DriDown, the primary competition to DownTek. It turns out, it doesn't matter what you call the waterproof down inside, it still performs great and remains the best insulator available today.

The version of the Ignite Down sleeping bag that I tested was rated for 20ºF/-7ºC. That makes it a comfortable option for three-season camping. The bag has a pack weight of 2 pound, 12 ounces (1.2 kg), which is decent, if unremarkable. The mummy-style bag also includes internal loops for a bag liner, external security loops for connecting to a sleeping pad and hand loops for storage. It has high quality zippers and is made from 30D ripstop nylon, while being stuffed with 600-fill DriDown of course.

I was extremely impressed with the build quality of the Ignite Down. Kelty has a rich history of delivering outdoor gear that provides an excellent performance to price ratio. But this bag actually exceeded my expectations in terms of how well it managed to keep me comfortable in a variety of conditions. Better yet, it also feels like it is built to last, shrugging off the normal abuse that come with traditional  camping and backpacking trips. The durable external fabrics are easy to keep clean and very resistant to wear and tear.

The bag also happens to be quite comfortable, which is of course what we're all looking for. Not everyone likes a mummy bag, and if you're someone who feels restricted by this type of sleeping bag, the Ignite Down probably won't do anything to change your mind. But if sleeping in a mummy bag isn't a problem for you, you'll find that this one provides a snug, but not overly confining fit, with plenty of room inside. At 6'2" (1.8 m) in height, I used the "Long" version of this bag and found that I had plenty of room to spare. So much so in fact that I could keep socks, base layers and a few other clothing items that I wanted to keep warm and dry at the bottom without feeling cramped in any way.

As expected, the DriDown performs exceptionally well. The material provides plenty of warmth, even at a slightly reduced 600-fill level. In fact, I feel Kelty might be a bit conservative with their temperature rating and I wouldn't have a problem using this bag even in slightly colder weather. Its water-repellant properties make it a great option whether you're camping in the desert or heading to a damp forest. Similarly, it works well in dry, cool conditions, as well as damp, rainy or snowy ones.

If there is a knock on this bag it is probably in its weight and compressibility. As I mentioned earlier, the Ignite Down tips the scales at 2 pounds, 12 ounces, which makes it rather average in terms of pack weight. It also doesn't compress down particularly small, which means it also takes up more room in your pack than similar bags.

But Kelty more than makes up for these minor issues by delivering a great product, that happens to include waterproof down, at an amazing price. The 20ºF version of the Ignite Down carries an MSRP of just $219.95, and it can be found at places like Sport Chalet for just $199.95. That is an incredibly good deal for backpackers and campers on a budget, who care more about good performance at a great price than they do about shaving a few ounces from their pack weight. For those folks, Kelty has delivered a great option.

As we're heading into the holiday season, this sleeping bag also happens to make a great gift for your favorite outdoor enthusiast. I know I wouldn't mind finding one under my tree this year.

As I mentioned yesterday, The Gear Junkie is celebrating this five years of writing gear columns by naming his Top Ten Gear Items from the past five years. Yesterday he selected waterproof bags and kick-ass all-terrain trail shoes for number ten and nine respectively. Today we have a couple more cool items.

Coming in at number 8 we have Travelsafe 100 from Pacsafe. This item is a lockable nylon bag that is perfect for paranoid travelers who don't want to leave any of their valuables behind. The bag is reinforced with a steel cable netting, and will keep your passport, cell phone, money, and other small items safe from unwanted attention while you travel abroad.

Number 7 on the list of best gear is another pair of shoes. This time it's the Susitna XCR from Montrail, which are trail running shoes that come insulated with Gore-tex and a set of small rubber gaiters. The shoes are water proof and durable. The Gear Junkie even remarks that he climbed Mount Rainier in a pair.

As someone who is a bit of a "gear junkie" himself, I can't wait to see the rest of the list. However, am I the only one who wouldn't mind seeing a list of the Ten Worst Gear items that the Gear Junkie has had to endure over the past five years? That would be an interesting list!

What could be better than a timelapse of an incredibly starry night? How about a timelapse of an incredible starry night over one of my favorite places. In this case, Kilimanjaro – the tallest mountain in Africa. The mountain makes a dramatic backdrop as the celestial light show plays out over head. Quite beautiful. I hope you enjoy.

A Starry Night of Mt.Kilimanjaro from kwon, o chul on Vimeo.

No, I'm not intentionally trying to point out that it's US Beef above; that's just how they listed the item on the menu, verbatim. Anyway, normally this is not something that I would be ordering, especially from room service, of all things. But some colleagues have been telling me that the Sheraton in Taipei is famous for its beef noodle, and I had no idea why. This morning, I got up a bit earlier than I was expecting, and since my room rate didn't include breakfast, I figured that I'd grab a bowl off of their "Late-Night Menu" to see what all of the fuss was about.

Obviously it didn't look that great when they brought it up, and when I first tasted it, I wasn't that impressed either. I mean, the broth wasn't bad, but there were plenty of other places in Taipei that did a much better job of this. The noodles didn't particularly stand out either. Then I recalled what one of my colleagues mentioned in passing: she sometimes only eats the beef and skips the rest, which struck me as a bit puzzling since normally the beef is the part that I skip because it's so tough.

So I took a bite of the beef and realized why she liked it so much: yes, the beef was very tender and tasty, and indeed, I could have eaten just the beef but nothing else. I guess that's why they highlighted the US Beef...and perhaps to explain its sky high price of NT$520 (US$17.30). In that sense, I suppose it is a bit like Chatterbox chicken rice in Singapore: one of the better tasting ones but at a hotel-price and with plenty of better ones available on the streets. On that basis, I don't think that I'll be getting this again.

I wasn't intending to get ramen for lunch today. But I was nearby and noticed a bunch of new banners in front of Sanji advertising this stuff, so I really just got it out of convenience. It was pretty much what I expected: nothing bad per se, but of course rather heavy, salty, and greasy (like one would expect of a proper bowl from Sanji). I ate it with a side of guilt, especially since I paid extra for a large portion of noodles.