Author: Karl Gesslein

Kiteboarding, Hydrofoiling & Kayaking In The Magdalene Islands, The Secret French-Canadian Paradise

On By Karl GessleinIn Kiting, Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

Orion and I have discovered a French Canadian paradise a mere 25 hours north of here. For 2 weeks we spent every day playing on the beach and having amazing adventures all over the island. We discovered an abandoned cargo ship, an island full of nesting baby birds, as well as countless caves all over the island.

The ghost ship
The ghost ship

We drove 10 hours to Acadia in Maine and had awesome Wild blueberry pancakes and my yearly lobster omelette at Jordans. Afterwards we hiked the Beehive trail (Precipice was closed) and then hung out on the beach for several hours. There was a baby seal that had climbed out to sun itself that was so adorable. I so wanted to club it, doesn’t everyone fantasize about clubbing baby seals? After chilling on the beach for several hours we setup and played a boardgame next to all my spraypaint art and I managed to sell several pieces.

We headed out to Canada and drove another 10 hours to the ferry. I setup my artwork on the ferry to sell, but the captain of the ship didn’t have such a good sense of humor about that. The ferry was huge, like a cruiseliner with 5 decks and a movie theater, arcade, cafeteria, bar and restaurant. The kids loved running around and playing hide and seek on the ship, and they had 5.5 hrs to do it. The ferry was insanely expensive, I paid $200 each way and Norman with his schoolbus paid almost $500 each way. We made arrangements to arrive a day early for a huge party. The first night was a huge party where almost everyone on the island attended. There was some fantastic Quebecian music that I loved dancing like a crazy person to. Everyone was super friendly, although many of the people I talked to who lived on the island spoke no English at all.

Continue reading “Kiteboarding, Hydrofoiling & Kayaking In The Magdalene Islands, The Secret French-Canadian Paradise” →

10 Years Of Snowkiting In Marginal Conditions Was All To Prepare Me For Tughill Festival 2011

On By Karl GessleinIn Kiting, TravelLeave a comment

If I had one word to describe my experience at Tug Hill this year it would be ‘Epic’. I rode for about 14 hours over the course of 3 days, most of the time in foot deep powder.

Zebulon Crabnebula doing what he does best
Zebulon Crabnebula doing what he does best

I drove up Friday after work to meet Zebulon ‘Crab Nebula’ at Deer River Farm. The winds were very light and he was giving lessons to a very nice couple. Later on in the weekend I would discover that the woman thought the Speed 3 was sexy, and is probably the only woman in the USA that thinks that ANY kite is sexy. I put up the 19 Speed 3 but the winds were too light to ride in such thick powder and I forgot my spare lineset so I couldn’t make the linesets longer. I setup a new triple release system on my 19 and 15 meter kites which works like a suicide leash and keeps you from dropping like a rock in the event of harness, spreader bar, chickenloop, chickendick, chickenloopline or depowerstrap failure. The only failure that could drop you hard would be a front line failure which would still leave 3 lines to support you on the way down. Last winter I had a close call when my third spreader bar broke and left me 20+ feet up off the ground with a fully powered up Speed 2 15 in 20 mph of wind. If I had let go of the bar its certain that I would have broken both legs at best or been dead as a doornail at worst.  The redundant kite support system worked well with my climbing harness and I tested it extensively in light winds. I have destroyed 3 spreader bars, 5 harnesses, 10 chickenloops, 2 depower straps and countless chickenloop lines. The equipment is designed for 150lb guys that are far less aggressive riders than I am. Continue reading “10 Years Of Snowkiting In Marginal Conditions Was All To Prepare Me For Tughill Festival 2011” →

Poisoned By The Dispersants BP Dumped Into The Gulf. Complete Silence In The US Mainstream Media.

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

My friends for Montreal were planning a kiting trip to Fort DeSoto park on the gulf side of Florida for 10 days in January.  I had been looking for an excuse to head south, Norman’s two children are about Orion’s age and I figured that he could learn some French from them and they could learn some English from us.  The drive down was pretty uneventful except there was a serious snow storm from DC all the way to Florida.  There were cars in the ditch everywhere, people in the south really have no idea how to drive when there is snow on the road.  At times there was as much as 3 inches of snow on the freeway and some people still insisted on going 70 mph.

Oil + Dispersants
Oil + Dispersants

When we got to Florida it was amazing, there was sun and the ocean was beautiful. Although the wind was very light I very much enjoyed spending time with our new friends.  At night we would sneak into Norm’s campsite and play boardgames with him and his children.  Once of the smaller boys started getting a sore throat and fever early on in the week.  I thought nothing of it really.  Then we met another elderly kiter who talked about  how he wasn’t kiting because of ‘some strange virus’ that going around giving everyone sore throats and making them tired.  I had a sore throat since the day after we arrived so I figured I had gotten something from the kids and thought nothing of it.  On the 4th day there I kited on Norman’s big 21 meter kite for several hours in the gulf.  Orion was acting very sluggish and did not want to play with capture the flag with the other boys.  I knew something was really wrong.  That night was New Years Eve and so I went and parked the van in the middle of a residential neighborhood that was in the middle of having a huge New Years Eve bash.  There was partying and fireworks for the better part of the night.  That night my throat was so sore I couldn’t sleep.  I knew something was very wrong.  The next morning I used my cell phone to search for sore throats and gulf and although there was very little in the US mainstream media I was able to find articles like this that scared the crap out of me.

Continue reading “Poisoned By The Dispersants BP Dumped Into The Gulf. Complete Silence In The US Mainstream Media.” →

Best Burn Yet, Built My First Articulated 25′ Tall EL Wire Man Puppet And Made Franken-Teddy-Bears

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, Travel1 Comment

Of the 4 Burns I have attended, the 2010 burn was by far the best yet.  The combination of having family, good weather, and camping with an RV for the first time added to the experience far more than I thought it would.  It’s hard to imagine going back to Burning Man with nothing but a tent and sleeping under stranger’s trucks in the day once you’ve experienced the desert with the comfort of an RV.

My good friend Zoe who is Burning Man celebrity with her Pee Funnel Camp had previously lambasted me extensively online about being a parasite/tourist.  This motivated me to bring my 12′ high glowing blue man costume and tons of empty IC tubes in my backpack on the plane.  The idiots that worked with homeland security unpacked everything and then could not get it back in the backpack so they just haphazardly tied the sleeping bag and my thermarest pads on the outside of my backpack by one of the straps.  It was a miracle it all got to Oregon in one piece.  I had to pay an extra $25 for the privilege of having the airlines lose my luggage for 3 days, the airlines are getting downright intolerable.

Arriving in Oregon we spent most of the time preparing the camper for BM.  I worked on 5 different bikes that all had flat tire, seized up cranks and rusted chains and got them so they all were ridable and had at least 3 or 4 gears that worked.  We also went to the Oregon Caves National Monument and did the candlelight tour which everyone really enjoyed.  We were late getting there and had to run the last 1/2 mile to make it there on time.  Before we left I also got to see my sister paragliding.  She has been working on her certification for 6 months now and she was so excited to be flying.  It has been great to see Laura and Tim really focus on doing the things that make them happy for the last several years.

1) Get Off Bullet Train 2) Urban Camp Where Ever You Please 3) Repeat. Welcome To Japan.

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, Travel1 Comment
Some huge mountain we climbed in crocs.
Some huge mountain we climbed in crocs.

There was no piss on any toiletseat I used in my entire 2.5 weeks in Japan. Of all the things that struck me as odd in Japan, that one was the most unusual. After spending time in Japan you really begin to realize how rude and obnoxious people everywhere else really are. Folks are so polite in Japan that they will not even smoke and walk at the same time, no one uses their cell phones in public spaces, and when crammed into the subways together somehow people manage to not bump or touch their neighbors. Everywhere we went people would stare at Orion and I but would not say anything unless we spoke to them first. Everyone wanted to talk to us, but were too shy and polite. I remember on one train that was full of school kids in uniforms pretending to ignore us, I took the ketchup container out of my backpack and said ‘ketchup’ in a loud voice and the entire train car was in an uproar with everyone yelling ‘ketchup’. Within 2 minutes there were 20 cellphones snapping pictures of Orion and I with our arms around the local school kids.

Continue reading “1) Get Off Bullet Train 2) Urban Camp Where Ever You Please 3) Repeat. Welcome To Japan.” →

Headed On Down To New Orleans With A Bike, Inflatable Kayak And Fun On The Mind.

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

Whenever I go on long trips I have so much time to THINK while driving. It’s amazing how words wind themselves around my mind and I think and think and think about what to write, how to make my adventures interesting, worth reading, engaging for others. I love that feeling of thinking about what I want to say before I say it, and the act of creation, when I write or draw it is the closest thing to sheer bliss I think I will find on this crazy planet.

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The overwhelming feeling I had on this latest 2 week-long road trip adventure with Orion was one of Joy. I spent a lot of time remembering when I was young, going to school, keeping my head down, burying myself into books. Most of the time I spent intimidated, afraid, mostly of my peers, my teachers, my principle or my parents. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever imagine that I would grow up and would be able to find and hold onto happiness. Through a brutal exercise regime and by avoiding sugars, meat, drugs and alcohol I have been able to find a lot of joy in this life. When I am on these trips with Orion we both spend most of the trip totally giddy. Orion is the best travel partner I have ever found. Although at night in bed he is all-elbows and knees every other aspect of my traveling experiences with him is just amazing.

Continue reading “Headed On Down To New Orleans With A Bike, Inflatable Kayak And Fun On The Mind.” →

Flew To SLC To Snowkite, Ended Up Sleeping Outside On Top Of Skyline Drive In -20F. Cold. Fun.

On By Karl GessleinIn Kiting, TravelLeave a comment

Skyline is the quintessential West coast snow kiting destination that deserves every ounce of its reputation. The scenery was amazing and the terrain was varied and extensive. Almost every day we wanted to ride there we were able to ride, except for when the storms were rolling through. Traveling with Zeb for 10 days was fantastic, he had already been to skyline countless times and he was pretty good at predicting the winds and the conditions at the top of the mountain. Zebulon is the only kiter I’ve ever met that is actually weirder than I am so it gives me immense satisfaction traveling with him. Whenever people are like ‘dude you are so weird’ I can always be like ‘Yes but my buddy Zebulon is even weirder, why he’s from the Crabnebula galaxy’.

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The trip started off pretty insanely when Zeb texted me that a woman had given birth on the flight he was on and he had gotten re-rerouted to Denver. Apparently this is a pretty uncommon occurrence as it ended up making the national news. The last time he had flown in an airplane the person in the seat behind him had stopped breathing so he had to give him CPR, that’s some bad flying karma. When I met Zeb in Salt Lake City my bags hadn’t made it there yet, so we had to wait a couple of hours till the next flight brought them in. We ended up getting a humongous Chevy Malibu rental car and Zeb had acquired conjunctivitis (pink eye) on the plane so we had a prescription for antibiotic eye drops called into the nearest pharmacy. Zeb had gotten one of the new Android phones and it ended up being a real boon to have with us on the trip, the phone impressed me so much that I can’t wait to get a google phone of my very own. It did voice activated navigation with real-time traffic updates so you can see how slow the Freeways are moving. I’ve been waiting a long time to get that functionality out of my phone, and it’s all free.
Continue reading “Flew To SLC To Snowkite, Ended Up Sleeping Outside On Top Of Skyline Drive In -20F. Cold. Fun.” →

French Canadians Really Know How To Have A Good Time In The Carribean

On By Karl GessleinIn Kiting, TravelLeave a comment

I met Norm at one of my many trips to Hatteras that I take whenever I just can’t get my kite fix in Ithaca. I was down in NC for a couple of days riding by myself and I pulled into kite point and saw their larger than life camper retrofitted greyhound bus and the Flysurfer kite and I immediately struck up a conversation with Norm. I knew from my paddling experiences that French Canadians in general are some of the friendliest people you will meet in all of North America. Norm and his crew did not disappoint. He invited me to sleep in the driveway of their overpriced rental home which I gladly took them up on. It is quite fatiguing when you poach a sleeping spot under these million dollar homes thinking you’ll get woken up by the cops at any minute, but I could not afford one of those nice $150 tickets for sleeping in my van and being a world-class kite bum.

Photo by Thilde Jensen
Photo by Thilde Jensen

After a while my buddy Gregg showed up and he camped in their driveway with his minivan too. It was heaven, kiting all day then warm showers and our own toilet by the pool. We made all the Canadian’s dinner one night to show our gratitude and they were incredibly hospitable for the entire week. Norm even let me fly his Speed 3 15 demo he had borrowed from Ted. That demo kite inspired me to buy 2 new Speed 3’s for my quiver. After I returned, Norm invited me to tag along with them to the Caribbean for a week so I bought a ticket to fly out of Montreal and join them for a week of kiting madness.

Continue reading “French Canadians Really Know How To Have A Good Time In The Carribean” →

High Peaks For 3 Days … In Crocs

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

On Friday night I got home from work and tried to figure out what I was going to do that weekend. I had a bunch of commitments, but I really felt strongly like I should blow them off and go backpacking by myself for 3 days. When I sat at my computer looking at my Netflix movies piling up and thinking to myself “I really need to get around to watching those movies” that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I quickly packed my gear and by 10:00 I was on the road.

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I slept in the minivan 1/2 way there and made it to the high peaks by about 9:00 the following morning. The Garden Lot was full, which is common on the weekends so I had to park at the airstrip a whooping 3 miles away and catch the shuttle. Basically the ordeal sucked, I had to wait for the 2nd shuttle, then they tried to shake me down for $3 for the shuttle and I didn’t bring any money with me. What do I need cash for if I’m hiking in the woods? I hit the trail by 11:00 up John’s Brook.

Continue reading “High Peaks For 3 Days … In Crocs” →

If Only You Knew How Good The Wild Blueberries Were On Top Of Acadia National Park In Maine

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

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On the way UP

Orion and I had been planning on going to Acadia for the last 2 years and the time was finally right to take a week off and go. It was a fantastic trip filled with epic bike journeys to the top of mountains as well as several very difficult non-technical climbs that Orion did amazingly well on. The food in Maine was fantastic and we managed to have a great time despite the intense level of overcrowding that traveling to Maine in the peak of tourist season can bring.

The first day we spent 7 hours in the Boston Museum of science. There were some fantastic exhibits on Critter cams and Black holes as well as lots of other exhibits that Orion loved checking out. There was a robotic dog called Ibo and a touchscreen whiteboard where Orion showed off his Scratch programming skills by making an Octopus which consumed everyone else’s fish when it touched them then grew to take over the screen.

Continue reading “If Only You Knew How Good The Wild Blueberries Were On Top Of Acadia National Park In Maine” →