october-2010

NEIL BARDHAN
ADVENTURE
Hiking, the Hard Way
PROVE YOUR METTLE (AND EARN YOUR DINNER) BY COMPLETING THESE EXTREME TREKS IN A SINGLE DAY.
10,000
FEET
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
3,800
FEET
3,400
3,000
2,600
2,200
CACTUS TO CLOUDS TRAIL (LOS ANGELES)
Elevation
change:
13,200
feet
0 MILES 5
10 15
A grueling, 12-hour hike from the baking desert floor to the top
of 10,804-foot San Jacinto Peak, just east of LA. PAYOFF: John
Muir called the view “the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere
on this earth.” X-FACTOR: Broiling temps. Palm Springs,
where the hike begins, still averages highs in the 90s in October.
DEVIL’S PATH (WHITE PLAINS, NY)
Elevation
change:
18,500
feet
FOOD OOD OD + EXERCISE EEXER
XERCIS CIS CI CIS CISE IS
GUTBUSTERS
You don’t have to deny
yourself the good… er,
greasy things in life—
you just have to work
them off .
emergency H 2O bucket
low point
summit
best view
waterfall
tram/beer
high point
A knee-pounding slog over six Catskills mountains, all of them
higher than 3,500 feet. PAYOFF: Payoff? Oh, wait, you’ll have a
great “What was I thinking?” story to tell your friends. X-FACTOR:
Up and down, up and d…. Your quads burn on the endless
climbs, and your knees scream on the precipitous descents.
18.2
GARBAGE PLATE
ROCHESTER, NY
This three-pound dish looks
like what it’s called. Get it with
home fries and macaroni salad
topped with two hamburgers
and raw onions, then drenched
in hot sauce and mustard.
GET IT: Nick Tahou Hots • 585-
436-0184; garbageplate.com
WORK IT OFF: Rent a bike
from Park Ave Bike Shop
and hit the scenic Erie Canal
Towpath for a long spin.
GRAND CANYON RIM-TO-RIM (LAS VEGAS)
DEEP-FRIED CHEESESTEAK
BALTIMORE
Steak and cheese is wrapped
burrito-style in pizza dough,
then deep fried. Hot Tomatoes
owner Mark Dayton says
customers have described it as
“a cheesesteak doughnut.”
GET IT: Hot Tomatoes
410-563-4453
WORK IT OFF: Rent a kayak
from Ultimate Watersports and
paddle the marshy edges of
Chesapeake Bay.
800-year-old ruins
Indian Gardens
KEYHOLE ROUTE TO LONGS PEAK (DENVER)
tree line
rock scramble
summit
LET’S GO 023
A challenging north-south transect of the Grand, from the North
Rim’s lofty pine forests to the Colorado River, and back up to the
high desert of the South Rim. PAYOFF: The solitude of the deep
canyon. X-FACTOR: Aridity. From October to April there’s not a
drop of water from the North Rim to near river’s edge (~14 miles).
0 MILES 5
10 15 20
25
0 MILES
5 10
15
7,500
FEET
6,000
4,500
3,000
14,000
FEET
13,000
12,000
11,000
10,000
Elevation
change:
11,100
feet
the river
0 MILES 5
10 15 20
Elevation
change:
9,700
feet
An arduous ascent of 14,259-foot Longs Peak, the loftiest peak in
Rocky Mountain National Park, including Class 3 scrambles over
exposed rock. PAYOFF: Climbing the back of Colorado’s state
quarter. Bankroll that! X-FACTORS: Exposed rock and severe
weather. Start before dawn to avoid wild thunderstorms.
BACON EXPLOSION
KANSAS CITY
Ten bacon strips are wrapped
around two pounds of Italian
sausage and a pound-plus of
fried bacon covered in dry rub
and BBQ sauce. It’s then smoked
and sliced like a loaf of bread.
GET IT: The Kansas City
BBQ Store • 913-782-5171;
thekansascitybbqstore.com
WORK IT OFF: Join the Kansas
City Trail Nerds for a run on
the trails of Landahl Park.
OCTOBER 2010 GO MAGAZINE
23.6