Merrill Warkentin's Outdoor Activities

One of my favorite things to do is hiking. I hiked some of the ancient Kalalau Trail built along the NaPali cliffs of Kauai by the Polynesians 1000 years ago. I have climbed Mount Monadnock in southern New Hampshire many times and we love Acadia National Park in Maine (for biking, hiking, canoeing, and camping). We've also been on great all-day hikes in places like the Canadian Rockies, Zion National Park, Yosemite, and elsewhere. I also love technical rock climbing and other outdoor sports. Spring 1998 took me to the annual spectacle of the Sandhill Crane migration. We love mountain biking, and canoeing. We love canoeing the upper Charles River. And we've canoed in the Adirondacks and in the Midwest, too. (I'm Red Cross certified in canoeing.) We tubed the Platte River near Aurora, Nebraska in the summer of 1999. In college, I spent one Spring Break week on the floor of the Grand Canyon. We backpacked in from the North Rim to the bottom, and made camps along the river -- a great experience. In the Spring of 1998, I canoed one of the original rivers in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act -- the Namekagon River in northern Wisconsin (which flows into the St. Croix). I've also canoe-camped in "the BWCA" - The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness, which borders northern Minnesota and Canada and is also home to many bears, wolves, and moose. You follow lake-river-portage routes first followed by the French Fur Trappers. Kim and I enjoyed some outstanding day-long hikes in the Canadian Rockies a few years back, up to some isolated waterfalls. When we lived in Boston, one of our favorite long hikes was the "Falling Waters Trail" near the Presidential Range in New Hampshire. We also hiked a lot in Maine, especially in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor ("Bah Hahbah").

About two miles from our suburban home south of Boston, we enjoyed running, swimming, mountain biking, and hiking in the "Great Blue Hills," which has 125 miles of trails. In fact, we probably ran around Ponkapog Pond over 1000 times. Since moving south, we have enjoyed hiking nearby at Lake Lowndes (also disc golf there!) and Choctaw Lake. A little further away (on the south edge of Birmingham, AL), is Oak Mountain, which has some great trails... Kim and I were hiking in the North Carolina mountains with our friend, Detmar, near his lodge (click for larger) ....

I've always enjoyed Frisbees (favoring the side-arm throw instead of the typical backhand toss), and recently also took up disc golf. (As usual, click on any picture on this page to see a larger version.)

I've been a regular runner since high school (usually about 25 miles a week) and I enjoy riding bikes a lot and some weightlifting. I love music -- I play piano (mostly blues) and have sung in several choirs. I also love gardening and travel.