Beat The Heat: Travel Cool This Summer
Mountain Holidays offers trips guaranteed to give you a workout and some of the most heart-stopping mountain views in North America. The Bobbie Burns Range in British Columbia is known for its pristine lakes and soaring scenery. To get there, you'll fly to your jumping-off point by helicopter. You'll spend your nights in comfort at the Bugaboo Lodge or the Bonnie Burns Lodge. The top elevation is about 9,000 feet, so altitude acclimation shouldn't be a problem. Mountain Holidays offers a hefty $300 discount if you book your trip during the late summer or fall shoulder seasons.
The Hoh Rain Forest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula is one of the most fascinating natural links to our primeval past. The forest gets 14 feet of rain each year. It holds some of the most imposing Sitka spruce trees on the planet. Many Sitka spruce and hemlock trees tower more than 300 feet above the forest floor. The Spruce Nature Trail leads through the heart of the forest, and it's only about a mile long. The forest is easily accessible off the Highway 101 loop that circles Olympic National Park.
Want to know what the West's best ski areas do in the summertime? They re-invent themselves as fat-tire heaven. A high-speed gondola whisks you up to Mammoth's Mountain Bike Park, where a carefully groomed network of single-track trails awaits. Mammoth offers a two-night mountain bike getaway (includes breakfast, bikes and helmets) for $225 per person.
The Columbia Gorge, which bisects Oregon and Washington, is one of the sport's supreme wind generators. The area draws the best windsurfers in the world, but the gorge also holds many inlets and coves where the moving air isn't so extreme. If you're ready to give the sport a try, visit Brian Schurton. He offers a three-hour beginning windsurfing class for $60, and that includes all equipment.
Blue Otter Outfitters, located in Washington's Puget Sound, offers a unique way to see the majestic San Juan Islands, using a combination of sailboats and sea kayaks. You don't have to have any kayaking experience to take a tour. You can choose from either a mother-ship excursion or a shore-based camping trip. Critters that you may encounter include sea otters, harbor seals, Dall's porpoises and just possibly killer whales. Trips depart daily, but slots in August are filling up fast. September looks wide open, though.
One of San Diego's best scuba centers is Ocean Enterprises. It's a PADI 5-star facility, which means that its instructors, dive masters and guides are top-notch. Climb onboard the shop's 44-foot Ocean Express and explore Wreck Alley, the Coronado Islands and the kelp jungles off Point Loma. Weights and tanks are included. If you've never tried scuba before, Ocean Enterprises offers a four-week course for $145.
Want to explore the deep without getting wet? Head to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. The Passages of the Deep exhibit is a 200-foot transparent tunnel that allows visitors to view deep-water marine life up close. In this case, the exhibit surrounds the guests. The view is a 360-degree panorama, and the effect is like strolling through Atlantis. Admission is $9.25. Kids 4 to 13 get in for half-price, and for kids under 4, admission is free.
If you have kids, Raging Waters in San Dimas, off Interstate 10 east of Los Angeles, is a perfect place to escape for the day. The park is packed with slides, flumes, wading pools and wave generators. The park's newest sensation is the Wedge, a giant, U-shaped water slide that's guaranteed to get the adrenaline pumping.
Two big outdoor pools, luxurious health and beauty treatments, expert massage therapy and world-class cuisine make the Claremont Resort and Spa one of the Bay Area's premier retreats. The Spa's Ultimate Escape package includes breakfast and dinner for two, facials, massages or body treatments, plus unlimited fitness activities for about $500 per couple, per night.
Beating the heat by cruising to Alaska is one of the first solutions that comes to mind -- for me, anyway. Unfortunately, thousands of other tourists feel the same way this summer. A check on Alaska cruise availability shows that most cruise cabins to Alaska are already sold out.
If you're interested in a land-based alternative, one of the best mobile accommodations I've encountered is a Western train tour that models itself after Europe's Orient Express. American Orient Express models its service and décor after the Streamliner trains of the '30s. The tours feature excellent regional cuisine, attentive staff and tour guides who can describe little-known facts of the scenery cascading by the train's huge picture windows. One of AOE's most visually stunning itineraries takes it through Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier national parks.
