As you may know, this site promotes activity in general. Most of the time, this activity is outdoors. With the biting-cold southern winter of New Orleans upon us, sometimes we must go indoors to find adventure. Inside our own little fight club, we can seek shelter from the weather and embrace the camaraderie of competition.
And you don’t know competition until you’re miserable under the weight of some sweaty dude who is trying to choke you.
Posted in fight sports, fitness, Uncategorized
Ok. So it’s not a NOadventure(but it was an ADVENTURE).
This is just an appetizer for the main course – an ABANDONED 9th WARD SCHOOL we explored today.
As seen in GAMBIT.
I grew up in New Orleans and I never knew about this place. Apparently, most of the locals I talk to about it have known about it forever.
There’s an abandoned BOMB SHELTER in Lakeview. Wow.
This is what it looked like around 1960.
Here’s a photo I took from inside to show what it looks like now.
According to the Office of Civil Defense in the 1950s, the shelter was constructed to prepare for “disasters caused by enemy attacks or other hostile action, or by fire, flood, earthquakes, or other natural causes.”
After scouting this place out, I knew we had to spelunk the bejeezus out of it. Anyway, I won’t waste too much time blabbering about the thing when the VIDEO is this AMAZING. I give you the latest NO adventure in two parts:
Buried Alive: Part 1
Buried Alive: Part 2
See if you can spot this siren from the back of the truck in the video. I’ll give you a hint: it’s yellow.
Cool blueprints. By the way, for more great photos and info about the shelter, check out the following link:
http://nutrias.org/photos/civildefense/civdefphoto1.htm
Posted in caves, underground, urban, urban ruin, water
What’s not to like about the Esplanade Ridge/City Park/Bayou St. John/Mid City area? You’ve got lots of cool old craftsman houses, loads of gigantic oaks, weird Hare Krishnas, and lots of great FREE stuff to do.
So… the other day my buddy John and I went out paddling on Bayou St. John(as is our custom).
The water, as you can see, was as smooth as glass. This added alot to the chill excursion. If you’ve never kayaked before – it’s easy – and BSJ is one of the easiest places to do it. Unless you have a crazy wind that you’ll have to paddle against, there is no current, no chop, and the paddling is near effortless.
The only challenging part is passing underneath the many bridges that cross the bayou. Depending on the water level this can be easy:
Or it can be kinda difficult and scary:
Most of them aren’t that bad. More like this – oh and don’t forget the pigeons that congregate beneath these bridges:
Those dirty bastards are everywhere as well as nutria, large fishing birds, turtles, and jumping mullet. The mullet will leap 3 or 4 times out of the water, cacthing up to five feet of air. I have no idea what they’re going for, but they’re great to watch.
So the bad news is, to my knowledge, there is not a canoe or kayak rental place in New Orleans anymore(let me know if I’m wrong). There was a place that rented bikes and kayaks called Laid Back Tours, but I called them and the number was long disconnected.
The cool thing about BUYING a kayak or canoe is that you’ll always have a low-cost, green, fun activity to do. I know what you’re saying, “I don’t have the space for a canoe in my tiny apartment!” That’s the great thing about BSJ. There are these little mooring stations by the Cabrini Bridge that have steel rings you can use to chain up your boat! Since there is no current or waves – leave that thing floating in the water.
Imagine how cool you would be if you brought a date to the bayou and she/he thought you were just going to look at the water. Then you take it to the next level with a nice paddle and a bottle of wine. Damn!
Clear Springs is 2.5 hours from New Orleans and located in the Homochitto National Forest in Mississsippi.
This is the place if you want to go nuts on some challenging mountain biking. Steep hills abound, you will WORK on these Mississippi foothills of the Appalachians. There are 3 color coded trails- Mill’s Branch(easiest/blue), Richardson’s Creek(moderate/red), and Tally’s(difficult/yellow).
One reason this trip was particularly hard on my buddies and I was that the trail was actually closed when we reached the park. After driving 2.5 hours to get there and getting the blind-eye approval of the local hillbilly ranger, we were going to ride the trail – closed or not.
BAD MOVE.
There were trees down EVERYWHERE due to recent hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Maybe the park officials actually know what they’re doing. Anyway, the 6 mile trip took almost 2 hours(yes 2 hours) due to carrying the bikes over huge fallen trees, overgrown sticker bushes and washed out bridges. Fun? Kinda. Challenging? You can bet your boots. Next time we’ll call ahead and check for the conditions:
(601) 384-5876
Otherwise, this park rocks! There’s BEAUTIFUL terrain and an awesome spring fed lake at the end of the park that looks great for swimming(let’s hope there’s a rope swing(my favorite) nestled somewhere in those woods.
You can’t really tell from the photos the beauty and grade of the hills, but they are pretty sweet. There is also a 1 mile hiking trail around the lake.
OVERALL: This park is a great place for camping and outdoor fun in a vastly different climate than the flat horizon surrounding New Orleans. Mountain biking is rated as some of the best in the south, but it’s not really for beginners. At only 2 and half hours from NOLA, it’s not a bad drive for the quality of environment.
In closing:
Though he lived to tell about it, this dude could not handle his shit.
Posted in bicycling, camping, mountain biking, parks, road trip
This site is dedicated to DOING THINGS OUTSIDE in and around New Orleans.
This site is for people who hate Bourbon Street.
This site is for restless people who need ACTIVITY, EXCITEMENT, and FUN.
Your N.O. Adventure can be as mellow as exploring a flood ravaged 9th Ward neighborhood on a photo safari… or as wild as rappelling into waterfalls on a treacherous canyon hike. There’s plenty of breathtaking adventures to be had. Allow me to enlighten you.
A few of the activities this site will cover:
Kayaking Bayou St. John
Wildlife(GATORS!) spotting in Jean Lafite National Park(the only National Park in Lousisiana and it’s FREE!)
The 3 best dog parks in New Orleans(depending on where you live)
Snorkeling Lake Ponchartrain(on the Northshore in Fountainbleau State Park)
Killer Mountain Biking in Baton Rouge(Hooper Road)
Rock Climbing in Slidell(http://www.slidellrocks.com/)
Geocaching everywhere
Tubing the summer away
Exploring ancient cypress forests
Scaling bluffs and experiencing beautiful waterfalls(only about 2 hours from NOLA)
Surfing the gulf
and plenty of stuff I can’t think of right now.
Cheers.
Posted in Uncategorized
NO Adventure 
