IN 1992, when the journal first championed the muscle-building properties of creatine, critics cried foul, warning of side effects including kidney and liver damage. A mountain of research ensued. The result, ten years later, is a rare thumbs-up for the multi-billion-dollar supplement industry: an over-the-counter muscle enhancer backed by research and endorsed—though with decided reluctance—by the medical establishment. Study after study shows that creatine supplements can help you with anaerobic bursts of strength, without the side effects once feared.

As an amino acid manufactured by your liver and kidneys and found in meat, creatine is used to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the molecule that drives muscle contraction. But during intense anaerobic exercise—flashing a 5.10, ripping a double black—creatine stores in your muscles are exhausted, leaving you fatigued and unable to go on. By taking a creatine supplement, research shows you can provide your muscles with more fuel to endure longer bouts of explosive action. In one study at Appalachian State University, 36 track athletes consumed creatine while training and saw gains in their jumping ability and lean-muscle mass.

So do you need creatine? No. But if you’re an adult (the jury’s still out on whether creatine is safe for adolescents) involved in climbing, mountain biking, or other anaerobic sports, the supplement can provide a performance boost. Those interested, says University of Connecticut physiologist William J. Kraemer, a former member of the U.S. Olympic Sport Science and Technology Committee, don’t need to take more than five grams per day (after an initial loading period of 25 grams per day for four days), but do need to put in the extra work—not just down the pills. “Obviously,” he says, “you’ll get a lot more from it if you include it as part of your strength and resistance training.”

Curious to try some of the other “wonder supplements”? Here’s what you should know:

ANDROSTENEDIONE
What is it? A synthetic hormone used in the production of testosterone. The lowdown: Though andro has a rep as a “legal steroid,” studies have revealed no strength-enhancing properties—and a host of dismal side effects, including hair loss and kidney damage. Professional opinion: “You may be the one that this drug does nothing harmful to,” says Catherine Jackson, chair of the Department of Kinesiology at California State University at Fresno, “but you’ll find better odds in Vegas.” Survey says: Be afraid, be very afraid.

EPHEDRINE
What is it? A chemical stimulant derived from the herb ephedra. The lowdown: Ephedrine is ten times stronger than caffeine and is often marketed as an energy booster for the weight room. However, ephedrine can cause increased heart rate and high blood pressure, and it’s associated with heart attacks. The stimulant was implicated in the death of Minnesota Viking Korey Stringer last summer. Professional opinion: Says Jackson: “You’re playing Russian roulette. I would not let anybody I care about take it.” Survey says: Did we mention heart attacks?

GLUTAMINE
What is it? An amino acid produced naturally and synthetically. The lowdown: Like creatine, glutamine is used by muscles in the production of ATP. But few studies have looked at the effects of over-the-counter glutamine supplements on strength training in healthy athletes. Professional opinion: “It’s been shown to limit muscle atrophy in people who are ill,” says Jackson, “and you can elicit a similar stress response from intense exercise. So glutamine could have a positive effect.” Survey says: Wait for new research to emerge.

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Your survival plan for South by Southwest, the annual film-and-music bonanza taking place this month:
(1) MAKE A PLAN. With hundreds of bands playing over five nights, picking your spots can be tough. Big names reliably play Stubb’s Bar-B-Que (), and be sure to check out the roots scene at the Continental Club (). Schedules are released in early February; information available at .

(2) FIND A HIDEOUT. The three-month-old Hotel Saint Cecilia is the latest from local hotelier Liz Lambert. Handmade Swedish beds and in-room turntables almost justify the rock-star prices (doubles from $315; ).

(3) GRAB A BITE. Think Texas, think barbecue. Our pick: Ruby’s, for the oak-smoked brisket ().

(4) RIDE AWAY. That Austin has some of the best mountain biking in the Southwest is an open secret. One top trail is the Barton Creek Greenbelt, a 7.5-mile limestone-riddled roller coaster. Find rentals and trail info at Bicycle Sport Shop ($30 per day; ).

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BEST ASHRAM
Sri Aurobindo/Auroville, Pondicherry
Throw a mango anywhere in India—the birthplace of yoga—and you’ll hit an ashram. Officially designated as a place for spiritual striving, these retreat centers range from spare mountain meditation chambers to urban yoga Disneylands. There’s no better representation of ashram life, however, than Auroville, a humming township near the former French colony of Pondicherry, in tropical Tamil Nadu. Spread out along the warm Bay of Bengal, the eight-square-mile town is being built by followers of the famous guru Sri Aurobindo and his French partner, a woman known as “the Mother.” The Aurovillians have constructed an internationally populated utopia of organic farms, holistic hospitals, arts-and-crafts centers, and hatha yoga instruction.

Ease into your tour of all things Auroville with sunrise “integral” yoga—more meditative than stretching—at the original Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. Catch a hearty ayurvedic meal of rice idlis, coconut chutney, and banana-flower sambar at the Solar Kitchen (run partly by solar energy) and get the best yoga instruction in the state at the Quiet Healing Centre. Finally, try a session on the “sound bed”: an oversize, Indian-style guitar that you lie inside while it’s played—like an iPod for your soul. DETAILS: Accommodations, $35–$50;

Best Pilgrimage

Varanasi

At Manikarnika Ghat, I became so mesmerized watching the fires devouring the human bodies that I was startled when a vagabond approached: “Sir, 150 dead are cremated here every day, and they become enlightened.” Barefoot workers were preparing the pyres, sprinkling incense on the dead, setting them alight. “Sir, you like charas?” he asked, meaning hashish.

Apparently Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, is an avid marijuana user, so hashish is widely tolerated in India. But I was in town for more temporal allures: to witness some of the millions of pilgrims who pour annually into this 3,000-year-old city. Hindus come to cleanse themselves of sin in the sacred Ganges River. Better still is the prospect of dying in the river, for the City of Light is doubly holy as the only place on the planet where all five elements converge: water, wind, sky, earth, and the “eternal fire” that has been kept lit for 2,000 years. According to Hindu beliefs, passing away in these waters leads to liberation from the cycle of reincarnation.

After dinner on the rooftop restaurant at Palace on the Ganges, a hotel outside the old town, I returned to the fray mid-evening. The pilgrims—women in peacock-colored saris, sadhus in steel chastity belts, the old and the sick yearning for death—cut a timeless scene among the riverfront assembly. Mantras blared from temple loudspeakers, and the streets were choked by homeless pilgrims, aggressive touts, morose cows, and cycle rickshaws. Elsewhere I would have felt overwhelmed by the clamor. But here I was unwittingly infused with the city’s energy of exultation—part of the reason, no doubt, that a trip to India feels incomplete without a visit to Varanasi. DETAILS: Doubles at Palace on the Ganges from $70; 011-91-542-2315050

Best Bike Tour

Leh to Manali, Ladakh

Ladak

Ladak

I mountain-bike for the downhill, which is why I was thrilled when I heard about riding in the Himalayas: 20-plus-mile descents. So I headed for India’s northwestern state of Ladakh, home to some of the most remote bike touring—and biggest downhills—in the world.

At 11,500 feet, the town of Leh—where I met up with a dozen other cyclists on a tour with Aspen-based outfitter KE ¹ú²ú³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Travel—sits over 1,300 feet above the highest incorporated town in the United States (Leadville, Colorado). In three weeks, we would cross 480 miles and four high-mountain passes, including two above 17,000 feet, in a traverse to the border town of Manali. First up was the Khardung La, the highest motorable pass in the world. We pedaled our way up the switchbacks and eventually came to a greasy sign: HIGHEST ROAD IN THE WORLD, HT. 18,380ft.—YOU CAN HAVE DIALOGUE WITH GOD. The only dialogue I was having was internal: What were you thinking? I was enduring altitude headaches, nausea, and total fatigue. But that all seemed trivial compared with the scenery. We spun from wide-open desert to high-alpine vistas with receding glaciers and rocky moraines. We passed fantastically eroded mud-and-rock sculptures and cycled along vibrant turquoise rivers. At one point, we zipped through 22 hairpin turns on tight switchbacks, descending more than 10,000 feet—all before lunch!

On our final day, atop a pass overlooking the Kulu Valley in Himachal Pradesh, we ate cheese sandwiches and boiled potatoes with the Karakoram at our feet. Then one last thrill: We mounted our bikes and flew back down to Manali, a final zinging descent of more than 20 miles. DETAILS: Trips cost $2,795, departing in July; 800-497-9675,

Best Icon

Taj Mahal, Agra

I wanted to skip the Taj Mahal—India, with its bustling chaos of people, animals, cultures, and foods, is one enormous, living monument, so why bother with an overcrowded building? On the insistent urging of some fellow travelers, however, my partner, Jen, and I changed our itinerary and veered for Agra.

Passing through the pink sandstone entry gates, all our misgivings evaporated: Cliché or not, the Taj Mahal must be seen. Every admiring accolade you’ve read about the Taj—the perfect symmetry of the structure; the way the marble glows rose at dawn and saffron at sunset; the semiprecious-stone inlay fitted so tightly that the seams are imperceptible—it’s all true. Equally inspiring is the story behind the structure: Shah Jahan, crowned king of the Mughals in 1628, at the height of the empire, built the Taj as a final resting place and monument for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, at her deathbed behest. And since the Taj got a face-lift in 2002—with the removal of decades-old stains and grime—it is as sparkly and impressive as ever.

Jen and I had to wait to take it all in. The moment we stepped onto the Taj’s marble platform, a young Indian family approached and asked to take our photo—with them in the picture. Slightly uneasy, we agreed. After a moment, another family approached, then another, until a queue of enthusiastic Indians had formed. A guide later explained that, among some rural Indians, bringing home glossies of themselves with their “Western friends” gives them village bragging rights. One uninhibited group placed Jen and me amid the clan of 16, holding the baby, naturally; seconds before the flash went off, a hand appeared from behind me and pinched my smiling cheek. To this day, I keep a copy of the photo, a souvenir nearly as memorable as the Taj itself.

Best Safari

Kaziranga National Park, Assam

Kaziranga National Park

Kaziranga National Park Rhino

My sweetheart and I had been chasing curves on National Highway 37, in the remote northeastern state of Assam, for five hours when we spotted the first elephant-crossing sign on the edge of Kaziranga National Park. As if on cue, our driver swerved to an overlook, revealing a herd of Indian elephants feasting on a 12-foot-tall stand of elephant grass. It was an auspicious first encounter with the famed megafauna of Kaziranga.

Located on the banks of the Brahmaputra River, the swampy 106,000-acre Kaziranga National Park is home not only to wild tuskers but also to globally threatened species like the majestic Bengal tiger and the Indian one-horned rhino. There is no better place on earth to see the myopic, armor-skinned, minivan-size beasts Marco Polo allegedly mistook for unicorns. In fact, the preserve’s 1,650 rhinos represent two-thirds of the species’s global population.

Touring the park by jeep, not only did we encounter rhinos and elephant herds; we crossed paths with water buffalo and even monitor lizards. On day two of our tour, an outwardly docile ten-foot-long tiger emerged and lay insouciantly on the road. That evening, we relived our sightings over cocktails at a rustic eco-lodge near the park boundary, Wild Grass Resort, which hosted Monty Python alum and world traveler Michael Palin during his research for the 2004 BBC series Himalaya. Owner Manju Barua, an outspoken conservationist, has banned TV at the lodge. But with each day unfolding like an episode of Wild Kingdom, you won’t miss it. DETAILS: Doubles from $60; 011-91-3776-2662085,

Best Trek

Darma Valley, Uttaranchal

Uttaranchal mountains

Uttaranchal mountains

Given the civil war festering in nearby Nepal, and the tourists crowding India’s trekking routes in Ladakh and Sikkim as a result, I opted for a trip in the little-known Darma Valley. Sitting above 10,000 feet, and bounded by Nepalese peaks to the east and the Tibetan Plateau to the north, the valley is one of the subcontinent’s last unexplored trekking alternatives.

It’s also India’s equivalent to Idaho—and home to a population of pastoral mountain people. For centuries, the families of the Darma Valley have made a summer migration from the remote river town of Dharchula to their slate-roofed Himalayan valley homes, where they herd sheep and farm potatoes, buckwheat, and other grains. When the work is done, the villagers make sacrifices to the gods, play music, and toss back rice wine and a tangy wheat beer. We timed our trip to coincide with the festivities.

After the 250-mile bus ride from Delhi, we faced a lung-busting 30 miles of hiking beneath the needle-sharp peaks of the Panchachuli Range, all five over 20,000 feet, to the turnaround at Panchachuli Glacier. From there, we could either double back down the valley or continue over snowy passes: An eastern circuit flanks the holy 22,028-foot peak of Kailas, while the western valleys edge past 25,645-foot Nanda Devi, where British climbing stars Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman staked their claim to fame in 1934. Ill prepared for glacier travel, we turned back at the Stone Age village of Sipu, at 11,280 feet one of the highest Darma settlements, content to tap the local brew. DETAILS: Book May–June or September–November; KMVN outfitter can arrange a seven-day trip for $81; 011-91-5942-236356,

Best Palace Hotel

Fort Tiracol, Goa

The classic 18th-century grand palaces of Rajasthan get all the glory, but a newer noteworthy alternative is Goa’s historic Fort Tiracol, on the Arabian Sea, where Santa Fe styling meets South Indian hospitality. Set on the headlands where the Tiracol River meets the sea, the 16th-century former Portuguese fort was stylishly revamped in 2002 by Hari Ajwani, a Bombay-bred heritage hotelier, and his wife, German stylist Claudia Derian. Built around a small courtyard, the property has seven airy rooms with rustic wood and wrought-iron furnishings, while the vast poured-concrete bathrooms offer possibly the most luxurious toileting experience on the subcontinent. To wit, picture windows overlook the ocean, while the bathrooms themselves are as large as bedrooms in many modern hotels across India.

The property is a good base for exploring the party-hearty beaches of northern Goa. But if you’re sick of rubbing elbows with the hordes of sunbathers, Tiracol also has its very own secluded option: On Querim Beach, a private white-sand cove ringed by palm trees, my travel companion Christina and I had only sea turtles for company. But Goa isn’t all about chilling. Rent a scooter and explore the winding roads of Maharashtra or head to Arambol and try paragliding off the bluffs. Don’t miss the madhouse flea market each Wednesday at Anjuna, which draws merchants selling silk, crafts, and silver jewelry.

After a trip to the market, Christina and I returned to the upstairs lounge at Fort Tiracol, where we snacked on spicy grilled seafood and basked like royalty before another spectacular Arabian Sea sunset. Tiracol hasn’t yet garnered the notoriety of the palaces of the north—and good thing. DETAILS: Doubles from $140, including full board; best season is October–May; 011-91-2236-227631, nilaya@sancharnet.in

Best Hill Station

Darjeeling, West Bengal

Buddhist prayer flags snap in the breeze, while jagged Himalayan peaks play hide-and-seek in the cloudy distance. It’s my second day in Darjeeling, a quintessential South Asian hill station. The colonial British and their Indian counterparts once escaped the scorching summer temps on the plains by heading for this most famous of summer capitals. These days, travelers find respite in these cool hills.

Like generations of explorers, I’ve come to bag a few nearby peaks. First stop is the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, once presided over by the late Everest pioneer Tenzing Norgay, which offers outdoor courses (and has a museum stuffed with alpinism memorabilia). Hoping to follow in Norgay’s bootsteps, I I book a multiday trek and set off into the nearby hills.

Even for those without high-altitude designs, Darjeeling is a worthwhile stopover. The town has a flavor as distinct as the tea grown on its outskirts, seasoned not just by Raj-era architecture, bakeries, and antique shops but also by a heady dose of Himalayan cultures—Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim are all next door. In town, the Hotel Windamere, a 19th-century Heritage Hotel overlooking Chowrasta Square, provides local color and great views. DETAILS: Doubles from $145, with full board; 011-91-354-2254041, .

Best River

Brahmaputra, Arunachal Pradesh

River Boat

River Boat

In 2002, Vaibhav Kala, owner of Aquaterra ¹ú²ú³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏs, hatched an audacious plan to offer the first-ever commercial expedition down the 110-mile upper stretch of the Brahmaputra, which flows from Tibet through Arunachal Pradesh, in far northeastern India. Locally known as the Siang, the Class IV+ Brahmaputra rivals the Grand Canyon when it comes to whitewater, with the added attraction of exotic tribes that rarely see outsiders. Today, with other companies looking to follow Aquaterra’s lead, the Brahmaputra float is on the verge of becoming India’s splashiest big-water adventure.

Reaching the put-in remains a challenge unto itself, requiring a 50-mile upstream motorboat transfer from Dibrugarh, followed by a two-day jeep ride into the jungle of Arunachal Pradesh from neighboring Assam. Up next are seven days of wilderness paddling, with the verdant scenery punctuated by huge Class III–IV+ rapids on a scale more reminiscent of The Perfect Storm than The River Wild. DETAILS: For now, Aquaterra offers the only set departures on the Brahmaputra; November 24–December 8; kayaking from $3,100, rafting from $3,600; 011-91-11-29212641,

Best Festival

Pushkar Camel Fair, Rajasthan

You haven’t lived until you’ve communed with camels, which is why you can’t miss the Pushkar Camel Fair, a mind-blowingly biblical convergence of camels, camel traders, mystics, and musicians, all camped out in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert. For centuries, during the month of Kartik (the eighth lunar month of the Hindu calendar, falling roughly around October and November on the Gregorian calendar), Rajasthan’s camel herders have trekked to the town of Pushkar in time for the full moon. This year’s fair (November 2–5) will bring about 200,000 people and 50,000 camels to the desert bash.

At the fair you’ll find a sea of khaki-brown sand dunes pitched with dung-colored tents and entire families camped out: Hindu men in turbans, Rajasthani tribal women in color-drenched skirts and saris, kids hawking everything from camel bells to camel-cart rides. You’ll also find camels—and lots of them: babies with spindly legs and big, goofy heads; teenage camels; worn-out camels; camels standing; camels sleeping; camels adorned with braids, tassels, and tattoos. You can ride camels, watch camel races, or witness the business of camel trading up close. (Want to take home a new pet? A three-year-old camel goes for around 25,000 rupees—or $567.)

Stay at the Royal Camp, upscale tented lodging pioneered by the Maharaja of Jodhpur in the 1990s, just a few dunes from the festivities. Each safari-style, canvas tent has twin beds with crisp white linens, a front porch with teak chairs, a private bath, and buckets of hot bathwater delivered to your door. DETAILS: Doubles from $250, including meals; 011-91-291-2571991,

BONUS: Best Escape from India

Bangaram Island Resort, Lakshadweep Islands

Lakshadweep Islands

Lakshadweep Islands

The battering madness of India’s cultural mosh pit can exhaust even the most seasoned traveler, which is why many Indians advise leaving the mainland to truly appreciate its charms. There’s no better place to get this critical break—without passing through customs—than the isolated, talcum-beached coral atoll of Bangaram, one of 26 tiny coconut-palm islands that make up the Lakshadweep archipelago, in the Arabian Sea.

Of the three islands open to tourists, Bangaram Island Resort—which owns the entirety of the island—boasts the least development, with only 34 teak-and-tile bungalows spread tastefully throughout the island’s 128 acres. After you’ve settled into a private hut, stumble a few feet across the snowy beach to fin through crystal waters. The sea life is so accommodating that the resort asks divers to refrain from riding the massive sea turtles and manta rays that lounge around the house reef.

For more adventurous fauna, house dive masters will take you to deeper reaches, including a sheer limestone chasm known as the Grand Canyon. Deeper still, fishermen will find wahoo and sailfish that are the stuff of Hemingway lore. Or pass on it all and spend an afternoon in a silent hammock for that much-needed perspective on India. DETAILS: Bungalows, $290–$350 all- inclusive; 011-91-484-2668221,

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“MAKE IT AND YOU NAME IT,” says my Indian guide, Madhu Chikkeraja, as I traverse the rough granite on Hemakuta Hill, in Hampi, the ruined capital of the 14th-century Vijayanagar Empire. Ever since American climber Chris Sharma visited the historic village last year to star in the climbing video Pilgrimage, an homage to Hampi bouldering, crash-pad adventurers have been journeying to this 300-mile stretch of golden rock to pack in a lifetime’s worth of cragging. But the state of Karnataka and its tiny western neighbor, Goa, are attracting more than just rock jocks. With a diverse landscape that includes the Western Ghats, India’s tallest mountains south of the Himalayas, a tremendous diversity of flora and fauna—including the mahseer, a freshwater fish that can weigh up to 100 pounds—and 199 miles of oceanfront along the Arabian Sea, the region is fast earning a reputation as the California of India. It even has its own Silicon Valley: the capital city of Bangalore, which offers state-of-the-art technology parks, a cosmopolitan vibe, and year-round T-shirt weather. Here are a few tips on how to mix it up with your own multisport masala.

India climb trek paddle beach goa

Climbing at Hampi

The pinnacle for climbers is 186 miles northwest of Bangalore, in the hills around Hampi. The best rock, with crags like Baba’s Café and Cosmic Caves, is across the Tungabhadra River. Hire a coracle, a buffalo-hide-and-wicker boat, or wade over. In your downtime, explore the sprawling, luminescent ruins at the Group of Monuments at Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Trekking the Western Ghats

A portion of this craggy 870-mile-long range in southern Karnataka approaches 6,000 feet, which is why it draws a flurry of trekkers when snow locks up the Himalayas. From the town of Subrahmanya, about 130 miles west of Bangalore, the 12-mile Pushpagiri Trail will take you to the top of 5,616-foot Kumaraparvatha, where you can spot the headwaters of the Cauvery, one of India’s seven sacred rivers. Fishermen worship it as a place they can catch and release the endangered golden mahseer.


Paddling the Kali River

In 1999, British expat John Pollard started southern India’s first whitewater operation on western Karnataka’s Kali and now runs raft trips out of Dandeli Camp, a rustic lodge 300 miles northwest of Bangalore, right on the river. While the 100-plus-mile Kali has been dammed almost beyond recognition, daily releases make for an epic nine-mile stretch of classic pool drops, plenty of play holes, and a smattering of Class III rapids.


Beaching It in Goa

Hidden just beyond the Western Ghats and 180 miles west of Hampi, the palm-fringed beaches of this former Portuguese colony draw such an eclectic mix of tourists that you may forget you’re in India. Check in at the exclusive Leela Goa Hotel, which straddles a narrow spit of land between the Sal River and the Arabian Sea in Mobor.

The post India Rocks appeared first on ¹ú²ú³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Online.

Bellota, Arizona
The best adventure lodges are those where you show up a stranger and leave as family. So it is at Bellota Ranch, a homey, horsey oasis in the wild chaparral country above Tucson, where the small staff (ranch manager, wrangler, and a cook) takes the saying “make yourself comfortable” to pleasing extremes.

Room & Board: Surrounded by 60,000 acres of working cattle land and wedged between the Santa Catalina and Rincon mountains, Bellota manages to be sprawling and intimate. The 1930s hacienda, plastered in white stucco, surrounds a sunny courtyard. The eight guest rooms have cozy ranch touches like brick floors, patchwork quilts, Mexican-tiled bathrooms, and kiva fireplaces. Guests and staff eat together in the country kitchen, and no one ever goes hungry with stick-to-your-ribs cowboy fare like buffalo burgers; between meals, you’re urged to graze from the bottomless jar of chocolate-chip cookies.

Out the Back Door: With its surefooted quarter horses and vast Coronado National Forest acreage, Bellota has a stellar riding program. Kean Brown, the laconic, perpetually sunburned wrangler, leads morning and afternoon range rides. Once you’ve demonstrated that you can control your horse, you’re free to find your own way into the creosote- and sage-studded hills. There’s a handful of mountain bikes for spinning out your horse legs along miles of empty roads, and the 790-mile-long Arizona Trail traverses the property, but—in laid-back Bellota fashion—the only mandatory post-ride activity is soaking in the outdoor hot tub.

India

SAGA ECO CAMP
Chilika Lake, India
Established in 2002, the Saga Eco Camp is still so new that even most locals don’t know where it is. That’s what happens when you build your tiny beach resort among a handful of fishing families on a tropical island in India’s largest lagoon—425-square-mile Chilika Lake, tucked beneath the 1,500-foot Eastern Ghats hills of Orissa and draining into the Bay of Bengal.

Room & Board: Lodging matches the Robinson Crusoe vibe, as guests stay in 11 spacious and breezy wall tents (with finished floors and flush toilets) that sleep four, scattered among palms and cashew trees. In an open-air, thatch-roofed dining hall, chef Raju serves up fresh seafood dishes, including crab masala and local prawns, as well as island-grown organic veggies. Purists may complain about the diesel generator, which runs for three hours each evening, but hey, it keeps the beer cold.

Out the Back Door: Take a motorboat 20 minutes to the mainland town of Barakul and rent a sea kayak from Orissa Tourism’s Water Sports Complex ($5 an hour) to explore Nalaban Island, a bird sanctuary. Paddle alongside rare Irrawaddy dolphins while keeping an eye out for Siberian cranes. Or head for the narrow spit of land that divides the lagoon from the ocean, park your kayak, then hike a half-mile through the jungle, until you arrive at an empty white-sand beach that stretches a dozen miles in both directions. What next? Bodysurf endless breakers, then lie in the sand and play dead.

Tennessee

CHARIT CREEK LODGE
Jamestown, Tennessee
A true wilderness retreat takes pride in what it doesn’t have. At Charit Creek Lodge, there’s no electricity (kerosene lanterns are everywhere), no phones (the only thing ringing at mealtime is the dinner bell), and most notably, no traffic (access is by foot, bike, or horseback).

Room & Board: This cluster of two log cabins and a rustic main lodge is set in a gorge at the convergence of two creeks and is surrounded by the 125,000-acre Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Each of the buildings began as part of a 19th- or early 20th-century homestead. In the main lodge, built around an 1819 hunting cabin, two dorm-style rooms sleep up to 12 each in double-size bunks. The cabins, which also sleep 12 each, have screened porches with rockers and share a separate bath house. Classic country meals—baked beef with gravy, chicken and dumplings, biscuits and grits for breakfast—are served family style.

Out the Back Door: Charit Creek Hiking Trail, the most direct of four hiking paths to the lodge, is a 0.8-mile descent that takes you from a Fork Ridge Road parking lot to the base of a bluff, past a waterfall (in wet weather), and across a wooden bridge. Once you’re at the lodge, the day-hike opportunities include 130 miles of trails lined with mountain laurel and wildflowers. Hike four miles to access 80 miles of the Big South Fork River for fly-fishing. (Bring your own gear; the catch is bass and trout.) Or tackle the river’s Class III-IV whitewater on a full-day raft trip through the 11-mile Gorge section with Sheltowee Trace Outfitters.

Tanzania

LAKE MANYARA TREE LODGE
Lake Manyara, Tanzania
By the time you arrive at Tanzania’s Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, in Lake Manyara National Park, jostling in a truck for two hours after the 40-minute flight west from Arusha, you’re likely to have encountered elephants, Cape buffalo, and the legendary climbing lions that ascend umbrella acacias to escape rapacious tsetse flies. So when lodge manager Frances Majambele announces visitor rule number one—”No one walks alone after dark without an askari,” an armed guard—you’ll pay attention. Hyenas frequent camp almost every night, and elephants, leopards, and lions are common—but then again, that’s why you’re here.

Room & Board: Ten cottages on stilts sit at eye level with resident giraffes, safely above the toothy riffraff. Cradled in the boughs of old-growth mahogany trees, these very private wood-and-thatch cottages—each with a canopied bed and bleached hardwood furnishings—have private treetop showers with views of the lake, the tropical forest, and the 1,500-foot cliffs of the Great Rift Valley escarpment. Hit the viewing deck for the lodge specialty, a frozen gin and tonic, before sampling exotic dishes like wildebeest marinated in local red wine and plantains baked in a tandoor.

Out the Back Door: Both at dawn and in late afternoon, guests jump into an open-top Toyota Land Cruiser and head for the acacia woodlands and Maji Moto Hot Springs on 125-square-mile Lake Manyara’s western shore. You’re on the lookout for elephants, leopards, lions, and buffalo, but the show-stealers are the immense flocks of flamingos that paint the water and sky pink.

California

BOONVILLE HOTEL
Boonville, California
Drive two hours north of San Francisco, past Napa and Sonoma, and you’ll encounter Boonville, a former logging town in the Anderson Valley founded in the 1850s. The region’s rolling hills and redwood forests blend with orchards and vineyards, home to a mix of country folk and well-heeled sophisticates. Funky Boonville, a town of less than a thousand, and the instantly likable Boonville Hotel are decidedly low-key counterpoints to the stuffier wine country down south.

Room & Board: Once a roadhouse, the 139-year-old, two-story, salmon-colored hotel still beckons passersby with its spacious verandas, wooden rockers, and inviting hammocks. Everything about this place exudes comfort, from the ten rooms (including a studio and a bungalow) with downy duvets and Shaker-style furnishings to the homespun restaurant serving local pinot noir and rib-eye steak with polenta. Alongside the airy dining room and bar, the yard overflows with roses, sunflowers, and a cook’s garden of berries, herbs, and rhubarb.

Out the Back Door: Grab a kayak and a guide in the coastal town of Elk, 16 miles away, and follow a five-mile out-and-back route: Paddle beneath Wharf Rock arch, heading north past coves, caves, and a bird and seal rookery, and riding open-ocean swells on the way back to Greenwood State Beach. Closer to Boonville, hike two miles through virgin redwood groves in Hendy Woods State Park and swim in the Navarro River where it flows beneath a white wooden bridge just outside the park.

Malta

COMINO HOTEL AND BUNGALOWS
Comino Island, Malta
The minute you step off the ferry from the northwestern edge of Malta and onto Comino Island, you’ll feel that shipwrecked sense of isolation. This craggy, two-square-mile member of the Maltese archipelago might be home to four farmers and a lodge, the Comino Hotel and Bungalows, but the sea reigns here. A swirl of turquoise and sapphire Mediterranean wraps around the island, luring you back offshore to explore the coastline’s hidden caves.

Room & Board: The 95-room limestone hotel features an expansive terrace, a seaside pool, and two small sandy beaches. The 45 bungalows, each with a balcony overlooking the sea and some large enough to sleep five people, are perched atop an adjacent bay just beyond the hotel, with their own pool and restaurant. The menu changes daily and includes fish—like baked acciola (a Mediterranean version of amberjack) and the steak-like grilled dentici—as well as Maltese rabbit stew.

Out the Back Door: Scuba-dive in the underwater caves of Santa Maria Bay or check out the coral reef off Cominotto, an even smaller neighboring island, with certified instructors from the hotel’s PADI Dive Center. Sea-kayak less than a mile to Rabbit’s Nest, a protected bay with 100-foot limestone cliffs; a secret staircase set into the cliffs takes you to a 17th-century watchtower constructed by the Knights of St. John to monitor seafaring invaders.

U.S. Virgin Islands

MOUNT VICTORY CAMP
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Brand-new Mount Victory Camp presents guests with a pleasant Caribbean quandary: what to do first? Just beyond your tent flap are the mountains and valleys of St. Croix’s wild northwest corner, crisscrossed with hiking and biking trails and garnished with mango trees. A 20-minute walk away is a sugary white-sand beach, with a coral reef a few flipper kicks offshore and calypso beach bars for post-swim.

Room & Board: Co-owner Bruce Wilson, a transplanted New Englander who’s lived on the island for 40 years, has turned this onetime Danish estate into a 15-acre back-to-the-earth outpost, complete with chickens, horses, and 300 fruit trees. The three platform tents and two bungalows are positioned for ocean and hillside views and built of hurricane-felled teak and mahogany. Each has a kitchenette, and guests share a central pavilion for lounging and a bathhouse with hot running water. Swigs of Mount Victory’s infamous Mama Juana herbal rum tonic, purported to improve health, come with the deal.

Out the Back Door: Hop aboard the 42-foot glass-bottom Renegade, run by Big Beard’s ¹ú²ú³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Tours (340-773-4482, ), for a sailing excursion to Buck Island Reef National Monument, where you’ll snorkel through underwater grottoes. Or kayak the craggy north shore with Virgin Kayak Tours (340-778-0071) launching in the very bay where Christopher Columbus moored his ships more than 500 years ago.

Utah

BOULDER MOUNTAIN LODGE
Boulder, Utah
If public lands were appraised like prime real estate, you wouldn’t find a swankier address than Boulder Mountain Lodge’s. It neighbors the vast 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument, and Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion national parks are practically down the street, with Glen Canyon and Lake Powell as nearby attractions. You won’t encounter an adventure base camp that better hews to the rule of location, location, location.

Room & Board: Frolic in the ocher-and-ecru desert like a Monkey Wrench Gangster by day and retire to sweet comforts like sleigh beds topped with hefty down comforters in the 20 guest rooms by night. The lodge’s three wood-and-stucco metal-roofed buildings adjoin a bird sanctuary in a grassy oasis along Utah 12, the most remote thoroughfare in the continental United States. (The town of Boulder, population 180, was still receiving mail by mule train in 1941, the last spot in America to do so.) Mealtimes are savored at the lodge’s Zagat-endorsed Hell’s Backbone Grill, with clever offerings like Southwestern-French chocolate-chile cream pots for dessert.

Out the Back Door: Hike to Calf Creek Falls, a 126-foot waterfall that blasts into a perfect swimming hole (the trailhead for the five-mile round-trip is a 20-minute drive from the lodge). The cliff-hugging trail follows a clear stream full of brook trout and passes Fremont Indian pictographs wallpapered onto red sandstone. Road riders, however, will prefer the vigorous climb up the eastern shoulder of 11,124-foot Boulder Mountain or the 31-mile paved portion of the Burr Trail, a rolling, mind-bending route leading south from the lodge’s doorstep to Capitol Reef National Park.

Ontario

Killarney Lodge

Cabin Fever: Grab your paddle and go!

KILLARNEY LODGE
Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
Killarney Lodge sits beside the Lake of Two Rivers on the quiet southern edge of Algonquin Provincial Park, prime timber-wolf territory. You’re more likely to see a moose than to spot a single tail hair from the elusive carnivore. But if you’re struck with the impulse, you wouldn’t be the first guest to paddle out onto the lake and bay at the moon.

Room & Board: Prime spots to idle include the vicinity of the woodstove in the guest lounge of the lodge, which was built in 1985 of dark-stained logs and trimmed in red to mimic the surrounding 1930s cabins spread around a 12-acre peninsula that juts out into the three-mile-long lake. The 30 pine-paneled cabins each have one or two bedrooms with lakefront decks and a private bathroom. The lodge’s menu changes every day, but you can always count on a fish option—like the pan-fried pickerel, an Ontario staple—at dinner.

Out the Back Door: Each cabin comes with a 15-foot Kevlar canoe, which you can paddle two-thirds of a mile across the Lake of Two Rivers and portage a thousand yards to the seldom-paddled Provoking Lake, accessible only on foot. Serious paddlers with plenty of training can attempt a one-day circuit that covers 25 of the park’s 930 miles of canoe routes. There are also two mountain-bike trails near the lodge, an easy six-miler and a more technical 16-mile ride.

Top 10 Hideaways

Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge, OR

Gold Beach, Oregon
Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge
The Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge (pronounced too-TOOT-in) borrows its name from the Tututui, a band of Indians on the Lower Rogue whose name means “people by the water.” It’s a fitting title for this elegant Rogue River hideaway, seven miles inland from southern Oregon’s craggy coast on a grassy knoll just above the river.
ROOM & BOARD: Each evening, a school bell summons guests to gather around the giant river-rock fireplace in the main lodge and nibble on hors d’oeuvres such as shrimp kebabs and home-smoked salmon and cheeses. What follows is a four-course, apple-and-mesquite-grilled feast—including chinook salmon and bread baskets brimming with hot lemon-cranberry popovers—prepared by longtime chef Margaret Pohl. The 16 guest rooms and two suites come with river views and beds piled with pillows.
OUT THE BACK DOOR: The Rogue River, famous for its fly-fishing, sees consistent runs of Chinook and steelhead salmon. Local guides take guests upriver to the Wild and Scenic section that’s accessible by permit only. You can also borrow one of the lodge’s six sea kayaks to paddle the river among otters and beavers, or explore the rugged, mostly undeveloped coastline that stretches about 20 miles in either direction from the town of Gold Beach.

Argentina

CABAÑAS ANDINA
San Martín de los Andes, Argentina
Cabañas Andina sits in the heavily forested mountains above the hip Patagonia ski town of San Martín de los Andes, in the lake country—and piscine paradise—800 miles southwest of Buenos Aires. A skilled angler with a little luck could cast from his bed and hook a brown trout in the Quilquihue River, which flows just yards from the cabins and dining hall.

Room & Board: Guests stay in one of 17 simple, roomy log cabins set among groves of cypress and beech overlooking Lake Lolog. The stylish red-brick main lodge provides plenty of lounging space, and the kitchen cranks out an elaborate offering of smoked venison, lamb barbecue, and a free-flowing array of Argentine wines.

Out the Back Door: Once you’ve fished the home waters of Lake Lolog from the lodge’s boat and waded into the Quilquihue, your guide will take you on day trips to fish the nearby Malleo and Chimehuin rivers, famous for trout. Or go trekking in neighboring Parque Nacional Lanín, which encompasses the spine of the towering 12,000-foot Andes along Argentina’s border with Chile. Day hikes in the park around Lake Huechulafquen will take you past 150-foot-tall monkey puzzle trees and lead to lookouts from the shoulder of Volcán Lanín, a 12,389-foot, snow-capped cone that dominates the Andean skyline.

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REMEMBER WHEN SUNGLASSES served only to dial back the squint? Today’s featherweight specs perform a veritable OSHA list of functions: they reduce eyestrain; protect against ultraviolet, infrared, and wind; fend off dust, debris, and bugs; and block out glare. Alas, no single pair of shades will save you from all these threats. Manufacturers now specialize in making some lenses and frames that excel in sweat-drenched endurance sports, others that shine during the winter, and others still that make it easier to see on the water or on glacial ice. Does this mean you’ll need a bushel of glasses to get the most out of each of your sports? Well, yes. But it also means the tricky optics on your polarized lenses weren’t sacrificed to make a wraparound shield that could fit any triathlete’s face. The right frame and lens, mated to the right activity, will elevate your sunglasses into vital gear you can’t bike, climb, run, boat, or ski without.

In this polycarbonate world, there will always be a place for good ol’ glass, with its superior visual and color acuity, as well as its natural infrared-filtering properties. That place is high in the mountains, where your next step could be your last. For this environment, we remain fans of the CÉBÉ CECCHINEL 496 ($170).

For less critical alpine pursuits, try BOLLÉ’S SLIPSTREAM ($100). Working with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team, Bollé molded the frame and lenses around the human eye and its peripheral-vision limits—hence the audacious side-mounted shields designed to ward off sneak attacks of light, bugs, grit, and wind. But the Slipstreams will fog up, limiting them to cold-weather sports or summer activities that require little exertion.

Since sailors and fishermen alike need polarized lenses to see through the water’s surface glare and find the fish—whether they’re out to catch them, or, in the case of a great white, to get the hell away—let a pair of MAUI JIM’S SUNSET ($129) do the job. In an effective ploy to shed water, Jim stripped the frame from the bottom of the lenses. Above water, the Maui Rose reddish tint makes everything (and everybody) more pleasing to the eye.

Sweathogs should grab the sleek ADIDAS EVIL EYE PRO ($175), which comes with variable nose and temple settings to accommodate fatheads and pinheads. Your eyes won’t feel the blinding sting of sweat, since vents allow perspiration to escape, and an integrated brow sponge soaks up any remaining moisture. Tinted interchangeable lenses (light and dark) are a bonus: especially when you’re chained to the desk until dusk.

Turning to the periodic table, OAKLEY forged magnesium—a metal lighter than titanium—into the SWITCH ($230) and created a frame worthy of Frank Gehry’s drafting table. To meet the demands of X Gamers, the company then inserted its shatter-resistant, polycarbonate lenses, dusted with glare-cutting Iridium—an Oakley-invented proprietary coating. Pricey? Yes, especially for glasses that don’t provide full coverage against the wind, but that’s the cost of killer style.

WHERE TO FIND IT: Adidas, 800-223-0180, ; Bollé, 800-222-6553, ; Cébé, 800-543-9124, ; Maui Jim, 888-628-4546, ; Oakley, 800-336-3994, .

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Trail Running, Mountain Biking, and Mountaineering

Trail Running
Ultimate Direction Endorfun $75

Weighing only 18 ounces empty, with a harness that can be adjusted to match your torso, the no-frills Endorfun (previous page; 96 fl. oz., 150 cu. in.) is ideal for any trail, whether you’re running the Wasatch Front 100 or out for a post-work jaunt in the Sierra foothills. Even nicer than the reduced weight, though, is the vest design with its breathable mesh-lined shoulder straps and yoked suspension system. Chest pockets up front keep energy bars, sunglasses, or a can of grizzly-bear pepper spray within quick reach. This design mastery, however, makes our beef with the Endorfun all the more ironic: The bladder, which you fill by lifting a Velcro flap, requires extra care when closing or water leaks out the top. (The valve also oozes and spits if it isn’t secured upright.) Still, this is the lightest system of its size we know of, so it’s tough to quibble with the dribble.


Mountain Biking
CamelBak Rocket

Your buddies are trying to pass you and just ahead is a series of granite ledges you know only too well as the Stairway to Hell. This is no time to have your water bladder sloshing around on your back. The ultra-ergonomic Rocket (far left; 72 fl. oz., 100 cu. in.) is only three inches thick fully loaded, and the pack’s unique baffled reservoir collapses as it empties, eliminating the splish-splash. A sternum strap and a removable waist belt cinch the pack to your back, while an insulating sleeve on the tube keeps the next sip cold. An oversize bite valve delivers ample agua. Slip a multitool, pump, tube, bagel, and a thin shell into the outer compartment and you’re set for a Saturday epic. We wondered if the energy-gel-pack holster in front was really necessary, but it’s easy to get used to the convenience, and lest we forget, the Rocket was made for singletrack mavens.
Mountaineering
The North Face Reservoir Hog

If you need a pack for summiting backyard peaks or overnighting
at altitude before heading out for the real deal, The North Face and MSR have teamed up to provide you with the Reservoir Hog (second from left; 70 fl. oz., 1,342 cu. in.). This bulletproof number weighs 2 pounds, 10 ounces empty (that’s light for a pack this size), yet because it’s constructed from durable 210-denier ripstop nylon and boasts an aluminum stay, the Hog is stable even when crammed full of gear. Unfortunately, the durable MSR CloudLiner Bladder lacks any real insulation, so you won’t want to carry it in the desert, but freezing isn’t a problem because your body temperature warms the bladder–in cold weather simply blow the water out of the tube and back into the reservoir. Truly a backcountry-worthy system, the Hog is compatible with MSR’s superior filters so you can pump that stagnant pool of mud bugs directly into your pack’s bladder. Bottoms up.

Paddling, Multisport, and ¹ú²ú³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Travel

Paddling
Platypus Kayak Hydrator
Who wants to be stuck sucking suds in the Potomac? The no-frills Kayak Hydrator (third from left; 60 fl. oz., no cargo space) can be snapped to a boat’s deck or stashed in the cockpit for a clean shot of water even in the nastiest of brown runoff. A bladder made from three-layer flavorless polyurethane features a user-friendly bite valve with a soft nozzle–you could easily keep it in your teeth through an Eskimo roll. Closed-cell foam insulation keeps liquids cool, and a pair of narrow shoulder straps makes it easy to haul the system when it’s time for a little land-based exploration. One caveat: Lean on the bladder hard and you can make the bite valve leak, so don’t stow it in your drybag with your fleece jacket.

Multisport
Eastern Mountain Sports Waterslide $75
If you happen to be one of those cash-poor folks who worked for ILostMyJob.com, send a thank-you note to Eastern Mountain Sports. With the Waterslide (second from right; 100 fl. oz., 1,550 cu. in.) they’ve eliminated the need to buy more than one pack. Indeed, the Waterslide is two packs in one. This hybrid design lets users pull a streamlined, bikeable hydration system out of a larger rucksack. Feel like hiking? The daypack has room for a box lunch, notebooks, a camera, and raingear. Want to squeeze in a road ride? The smaller pack has a mesh pocket appropriate for small bike sundries, and the X-strap of bungee cord is perfect for lashing on a shell or a vest. While the Waterslide might not be the most ergonomic pack on the market, it’s certainly the most versatile.
¹ú²ú³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Travel
Hydrapak Keg
Most of us need to perform with aplomb in both the natural world and urbania. To that end, the gearheads at Hydrapak designed the Keg (far right; 100 fl. oz., 1,310 cu. in.). A traveling office with pockets for your laptop, PDA, and cell phone, it’s also roomy enough to load with a cookset, sleeping bag, and pad instead. Don’t worry about stowing water in the same compartment as your electronics; there’s a separate sleeve for the bladder that’s accessible through a clever hatch in the foam back. Hydrapak’s drybag-style reservoir is so simple to clean we’d consider filling it with a sports drink (although the mouthpiece, which requires you to tongue a little button to drink, is annoying). A built-in rain fly keeps your gear dry on Wall Street or the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

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