The Cruelest Journey
On a fog-shrouded night in 1815, the Commerce ran aground on the coast of northwestern Africa. Captain James Riley and four of his crew spent the next two months on an 800-mile (1,287-kilometer) forced march through the Sahara. Their story is one of the greatest survival epics ever told. Read excerpt >>

Quest for the Green Giant
He's tall (242 feet), old (about 2,000 years), and doesn't see many visitors. And it's about time someone took his portrait. To get the first ever top-to-bottom photographic profile of a giant sequoia, JAMES BALOG needed 451 individual frames, good rain gear—and plenty of rope. Read excerpt >>

Sun Zones 2004
Leave the tiki bars behind. We've found 16 fresh, eco-friendly multisport playgrounds—all just a few hours away. White-water raft through Panama. Beach camp on Hawaii's Big Island. Sea kayak Baja. Hike the Virgin Islands (really!). Or just bag bragging rights. Welcome to the wild tropics.

   • Hawaii's Multisport Big Island
   • Panama's Wild West Rivers
   • Baja's Secret Bay
   • U.S. Virgin Islands Eco-Camp

Read excerpt >>

Frontiers
Like your slopes cheap and deep? Get ready to lose yourself in the Powder Triangle: British Columbia's laid-back Fernie, Whitewater, and Red Mountain resorts, where the trails are only the beginning. Read excerpt >>

World on the Cheap
Fiji's 300 or so palm-strewn isles are a crowd-free paradise for windsurfing, snorkeling, volcano trekking—or none of the above. No wonder Hawaiians come here to chill out.

Global Health
Why bends-wary scuba divers are better off hitting the bar than the treadmill. Plus, the skinny on how fat fights cold.

Wild Roads
On a spin through southern Arizona, the caving and climbing are world-class—and great Mexican food is just south of the border.

Tip Sheet
In the developing world, eating well is for more important that trying to eat authentically.

Books
Two new travelogues explore wild corners of strangest South America.

Next Weekend
Lace up your boots: You're Birkebeiner bound! Plus, hot springs, toboggan runs, wolf watching, and 13 more reasons to get out of town this month.

The Essentials
Hut-to-hut ski touring is easier than you think. Here, the tools, skills, and smarts to glide into the snowy backcountry.

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COLUMNS

The Adventures of Tim Cahill
Yellowstone's a hot spot all right . . . a giant, magma-filled hot spot that's just about due to explode. TIM CAHILL has seen the future of the great park, and it doesn't look pretty.

The Life
Ascension island may be nothing but a tiny speck in the middle of the Atlantic. But when the stars align for one night, it's also a place to be the luckiest guy on earth. Read excerpt >>

GEAR

The Leading Edge
Will the new "integrated" ski-and-binding systems really change your life? That depends on what you're looking for.

Lights
From headlamps to bike beams, we've found the best new tools to light up your (camping, riding, hiking) night.

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