Highland Outdoors Meets Fiji: Dispatches from the South Pacific🌴
Jan 16, 2023 3:22 pm
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HO Travels: Dispatches from the South Pacific
Our good friend and Highland Outdoors contributor Johnny Garder (check out his amazing piece on the Smoke Hole canyon) is currently on sabbatical in New Zealand, backpacking those towering mountains made famous by the Lord of the Rings films. On the way, he had a several-day layover in Fiji, where he found himself stranded on a flooded road while exploring the island's jungles and rivers. He took the opportunity to organize his gear, and local children started coming up to see who this strange traveler was with his stuff sprawling in the street. According to Johnny, the Fijian kiddos were fascinated not only with his backpacking kit, but also with his stash of Highland Outdoors magazines. A giving person to the fullest, Johnny graciously gifted his stack of HO and backcountry skiing mags to the kids and nabbed this beautiful photo-op. When asked which magazine they wanted him to display, they chose our Spring 2020 issue with a feature on squirtboating, amazed that such a craft—and sport—exist elsewhere in our big, crazy world. Way to spread the gospel, Johnny!
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Fat, cold, and happy
This past weekend's anticipated snowstorm dropped a paltry three inches of snow in Canaan Valley, resulting in yet another underperforming disappointment of a storm. The wet ground and low snowfall quashed our dreams of cross-country skiing through ribbons of delectable powder, leaving me bummed out and wishing for the better days of winters past as we scraped our XC skis over roots and rocks on a Saturday outing.
When times are tough, sometimes you have to pivot. Nikki and I did just that, opting to avoid the Sunday crowds at the lift-served resorts and instead rent fat-tire bikes from our homies at Trail Labs to go on a beautiful and challenging snowy adventure ride on the rugged trails of the Mon National Forest.
Fat Tire bikes employ four-inch tires with deep tread and very low pressure (my rig was rolling plush at just five PSI) to be able to bite and gain traction on snowy trails. When there just isn't enough snow for trails to be skiable, the fat bike is the answer for winter fun. We had a magical 10-mile tour through stands of snowy spruce, frozen rhododendron tunnels, and open meadows with vistas of the surrounding ridgelines. Unlike Saturday's ski feelings of FOMO and sadness, I experienced zero disappointment while rolling fat and happy through the wintry tableaus of our beloved highlands.
As the setting sun illuminated the rime ice-covered trees and created a cotton-candy gradient in the eastern sky, I had that fleeting euphoria of being awe-struck by nature—a feeling I realized I hadn't experienced in quite some time. I hope you have felt the same recently, and encourage you to find ways to pivot when you're wishing the weather was something else. And if you ever get the chance to fat bike on powdery snow, do it!
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The inaugural Highland Outdoors Photo Contest is officially in the books (and on the interwebz)!
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New merch: Snag your camo HO trucker before they're gone!
If you snap a twig in the forest but no one can see you snapping it, did the twig really make a noise? You can run your own esoteric experiments like this one and many others when you don our new camo trucker hat and blend into the earthy tones of Appalachia's hardwood forests. This hat pairs perfectly with one of our magazines while you wait patiently in your tree stand for that unassuming ungulate to traipse by your trap. Alternatively, stand out like the proud outdoorsperson you are while sporting this headpiece in an urban setting—the blaze orange logo stitching will ensure that all passersby know where your print magazine allegiance lies. Use code CAMO10 for 10% off our new camo trucker.
...and don't forget about our world-famous Bodacious Beanie and the venerable Dad Hat! All colors are now back in stock—just browse the color options in the dropdown menu. Keep your dome warm while repping West Virginia's Outdoor Magazine! Use code HOHAT10 for 10% off any of our hat!
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You know the drill—subscribing is the best way to support Highland Outdoors. If you love the mag and want it to continue, please consider joining 350 amazing subscribers (thank you!) to get each issue delivered right to your door—and to continue reading it in the future.
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Have you seen this yet?
Cloud Walking: Misadventures on North Fork Mountain
A group of friends set out for a backpacking trip on what is typically the driest ridgeline in the entire Appalachian range. What they ended up experiencing was a soggy sufferfest among the clouds.
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Stay tuned for our next installment in February, which will hopefully be a much snowier month. In the meantime, I beg of you: please put your trail map in the freezer, place an ice cube under your pillow, and do your snow-dance!
Enjoy, and thanks for reading #westvirginiasoutdoormagazine
Dylan Jones
Editor-in-Chief
Highland Outdoors