America's 100 Best Adventures

Executive summary by darmansjah

Alaska

Complete a NOLS Semester

Explore ANWR

Heli-Ski the Chugach Mountains

Tree-Climb Chilkat

Float the Tatshenshini-Alsek River

Trek Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

Climb Mount McKinley

Camp With Alaska Brown Bears

Arizona

Row Down the Grand Canyon

Hike Buckskin Gulch (& Utah)

Ride Monument Valley

California

Surf the Lost Coast

Bike the Death Ride

Hike Half Dome

Hike the Sierra High Route

Paddle Santa Cruz Island

Mountain Bike the Tahoe Rim Trail (& Nevada)

Bodysurf the Wedge

Raft the Forks of the Kern

Ski Mountaineer Mount Shasta

Colorado

Bike From Durango to Moab (& Utah)

Climb Ouray

Ski Scar Face

Hike the Colorado Trail

Run the TransRockies

Ski Silverton Mountain

Race the Leadville Trail 100

Backcountry Ski the 10th Mountain Division Huts

Bag Fourteeners in the Weminuche Wilderness

Climb the Diamond on Longs Peak

Florida

Kiteboard the Keys

Paddle the Everglades

Swamp Tromp in Big Cypress National Preserve

Dive Freshwater Caves

Fly-Fish for the Florida Keys Slam

Georgia

Canoe the Okeefenokee

Hawaii

Kayak the Na Pali Coast

Hike the Muliwai Trail

Kiteboard Maui's North Shore

Iowa

Bike RAGBRAI

Idaho

Hike the Salmon

Snowkite Camas Valley

Raft the Owyhee River (& Oregon & Nevada)

Kentucky

Climb Red River Gorge

Maine

Kayak the Maine Island Trail

Canoe the Allagash

Michigan

Sail the Manitous

Wreck Dive Lake Superior

Minnesota

Dogsled the Boundary Waters

Race the Arrowhead 135

Canoe the Boundary Waters

Hike the Superior Trail

Missouri

Paddle 340 Miles of the Mighty Missouri—Nonstop

Montana

Hike the Bob Marshall

Climb Granite Peak

Ice Climb Hyalite Canyon

Fly-Fish the Spring Creeks of Paradise Valley

Backpack Glacier National Park

Multistate

Get Fit at a Navy SEAL Immersion Camp

Bike Across America

Learn to Fly a Wingsuit

Backpack the Pacific Northwest Trail

Bike the Continental Divide Trail

North Carolina

Paddle the Outer Banks

Learn Paddling at Nantahala Outdoor Center

North Dakota

Bike the Maah Daah Hey

New Hampshire

Ski Tuckerman Ravine

Hike the Traverse

New Mexico

Fly-Fish the Pecos

Horsepack the Gila Wilderness

Nevada

Heli-Ski the Ruby Mountains

New York

Canoe the Adirondacks

Climb the Gunks

Oregon

Four-Wheel the Steens

Kiteboard the Columbia River Gorge (& Washington)

Ski the Wallowas

Tennessee

Hike the Roan Highlands

Raft the Ocoee

Texas

Float the Big Bend of the Rio Grande

Boulder Hueco Tanks

Utah

Raft the Green River

Scale Red-Rock Towers

Paddle Lake Powell

Backpack the Hayduke Trail

Canyoneer Grand Staircase-Escalante

Hike the Zion Narrows

Vermont

Ski Inn-to-Inn on the Catamount Trail

Washington

Transect the Olympic

Climb Mount Rainier

Hike Glacier Peak

Sea Kayak the San Juan Islands

Wisconsin

Ski the Birkebeiner

West Virginia

Raft the Gauley River

Wyoming

Hike the Winds

Climb the Grand Teton

Backcountry Ski Teton Pass

Kayak Lake Yellowstone

Hike Yellowstone’s Wild Southwest

Eternal Flame in TOP SIX

KNOW NO TIME erupted, we stood inside the volcano. Giant boulder as high as nearly 40 m, hexagon-shaped, tiggi soared into the sky above us.

This is the "Echo Cliffs," said Einarsson Hjorleifur, that vatnajokul manage national parks, the northeast side of Krafla. "We are looking basalt pillars of every shape and size available." He explained that about 8,000 or 9,000 years ago a large crack around our bubbling lava flows along the 8 km, the valley fills up to a point just above our heads. Then, turning the flood surge. "So now you see what the inside of the center of the volcano."

This valley is a wonder of the world camouflaged by syllable. Glad I could tell my friends in the U.S.: "Look Jokulsargljufur in Vatnajokulsthjodgardur! (Which means "Look at River Cliff Glacier National Park Water-Glecier.")

Jokulsargljufur is the Louvre Museum lava, basal pillar awesome. Under the waterfall, there is a pillar with a diagonal position, lateral, transverse, swerve, and towering above as we.

Jokulsargljufur has a new visitor center, built in 2007, on top of a giant horseshoe-shaped cliff nicknamed Asbyrgi. Space resembles a giant frozen waterfall. Originally formed by glacier floods last year 3000-11000.

All the way back to Husavik, we stopped at a Gated where there are ancient stone cracks extending to the south, some of the houses built on it without hesitation. It is far from a closed area Gjatykki. On the north side of the existing highway-alias Skalftavatn earthquake-formed lake by earthquakes that occur repeatedly. Not far from there, the zone of brittle cracks under the Arctic Ocean.

The next day Arni and Inga took us past the point F35 in the highlands of the west side. It passes through fissures where magma geothermal energy to work the land. After we shared a farewell Reykjavik city childhood Inga, Hafnrfjordur, called "Cities in Lava." Stunning, brightly painted houses contrasts with the surrounding black, barren lava flows due to thousands of years old.

We headed to Keflavik international airport in the Mid-Atlantic mountain peaks. This is the first landscape seen by the tourists. We need not have worried, they came to Iceland not to see the volcano. They fear if at any time Katla erupted. Be volcanic sites in Iceland we can freely enjoy themselves.

Iceland is a place, as it is said Omar, where you can see the earth in a state not known, concern, unforgettable panorama. Eruption is dangerous and should be aware of, but also the legitimate enjoyment.

Our friends Icelandic origin, both old and new, have demonstrated how she cried coexist with lava. As we flew back to North America, I realized that never saw the eruption. So maybe I will stay in the pack and traveled volcano.

Behind us, a volcano looked fast asleep, but her stomach was ready to explode.

Danger Power Plant

FAMOUS TOUR RIGHT at the north end zone of fracture is Myvatn, a lake known for its diversity of shallow water bird species (including 25 species of duck) and geological uniqueness: the fracture contains hot springs that can swim; Hverfjall ash crater, formed by a single eruption; Dimmuborgir , aka Dark Castle, tangled maze of volcanic rocks and 'pseudocraters, "bursts of water vapor from the molten lava. This lake also has a spa which utilizes geothermal, Myvatn Nature Baths, a mini version of the Blue Lagoon spa.

I want to explore the area to the north, where there Krafla volcano whose existence is threatened by a network of geothermal power plants are built nearby in the 1970s. One volcanic eruption, leaving fissures. Magma out of the other hole. Over the years, "Krafla Fires" spewing its contents. During a visit in 1981, I explored a layer of black lava (remind me to check the shoes).

Three decades passed and lava ... it's still the same! Black. now, we crossed it. Lava flows covering the grassy valley, "As someone paved landscape," Sally said, "and walked away." Apparently it took decades, even centuries until the moss and grass here can breed.

Operating geothermal power enough good here and worth a look. There is a jeep track to the area on the northern tip nicknamed Gjastykki, but the area was closed, waiting for the declaration of a geothermal power plant proposed by Omar. Gjastykki is parallel cracks where you can find out how on earth to form new crack.

"But you can not come before the place is equipped wells, pipelines and power lines," Omar complained. "It makes no sense!"

People like Omar and Bjork have run out of patience. "You can make a lot of money to develop tourism," a geologist argued. Should Gjastykki used for industry or preserved as a world heritage site? So this is debatable.