My knees shake and my fingertips cling to the rock. I can���t bear to move my laser-focused gaze anywhere beyond the metal rung that���s just out of reach. A moment before, I was climbing up a ladder, but now I feel like I���m hanging off the edge of a cliff (because, well, I am).

���Why exactly did I think this was a good idea?��� I think to myself. A hike would have been nice.

It���s June, and I���m perched on a precarious ledge of granite 75 feet above the forest floor on the new Eagle Cliff Via Ferrata in the Shawangunk Mountains, just 90 miles outside of New York City. Though I���m currently frozen on this ledge, I somehow summon the grit to keep moving���sweaty palms and all. One hour and a few leaps of faith later, to my delight, I finish the via ferrata feeling accomplished and ready to jump into Lake Mohonk, beckoning from below.

A few weeks later in Italy, I���m ready to tackle another, much higher��� although, surprisingly, less physically taxing���via ferrata in the Dolomites.

I climbed my first via ferrata on Whistler Peak���s a decade ago, when I was younger and more fearless. But in trying out some of the world’s most spectacular ferratas since, I always come to the same realization: they are as fear-inducing as they are exhilarating and rewarding. That���s why I keep signing up for more.

What Is a Via Ferrata?

A via ferrata (Italian for ���iron way���) is a protected climbing route with fixed steel cables, metal rungs and ladders that make traversing steep and rocky terrain accessible, but certainly not without challenge. The beauty of via ferratas is that you can experience the highs rock climbers do without needing technical experience.

While there are numerous via ferratas around the world you can climb on your own, I recommend going with a guide as it���s not only safer, but supports local tourism economies���and perhaps you���ll learn a thing or two about where you are. And as long as you���re reasonably fit, and you don���t have a paralyzing fear of heights you���ll survive, and you might even enjoy it. (Some level of fear is okay, too. It keeps you vigilant.)

While via ferratas are most common in Europe, with a majority in Italy and Austria, they are growing in popularity around the world���especially in the United States, where private landowners, resorts, and cities are building routes through incredible terrain. And though this is not a definitive list of the world���s best, we���ve hand-selected a few spots that are ideal for most adventurous people looking to climb via ferratas. Think: locales as far flung as the Middle East and Kosovo, to well-known meccas like the Dolomites, and a few classics, new and old, here in the U.S.

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Piccola Cir Via Ferrata, Dolomite Mountains, Italy

Best For: Travelers who want to try multiple routes in the via ferrata motherland

There���s no better place to try a via ferrata than in its birthplace. The roots of via ferratas come from World War I, when climbing routes were strategically created by the Italian army as a way to evade attacks and traverse jagged peaks in the Dolomite Mountains. Over the decades, these paths were reinforced with metal rungs, and today they���re used for recreation and sport.

In the Dolomites alone, there are over 600 via ferratas. I tried one of the popular and more beginner-friendly ascents this summer, . While the 2.3-mile loop trail is relatively short for the Dolomites, it���s still a challenge at spots because of its sheer height alone.

The reward? Totally worth it. When you reach the top at 8,504 feet, a sweeping 360-degree view of the Dolomites awaits you: the Sella massif and the entire Val Gardena valley stretches out below. I also loved seeing the summer panorama of the famous Sassolungo peak, which I skied down earlier this year.

More 窪蹋勛圖厙s Nearby: , a four-seasons adventure company, arranges guided, multi-day via ferrata trips featuring some of the most classic routes in the range (from roughly $1,400, depending on duration and number of people in your group). The company also offers mixing via ferratas with hiking and biking (prices vary).

Eagle Cliff Via Ferrata, New York, U.S.

Best For: Travelers who want a convenient mountain escape from the city

New York���s new via ferrata, buried in the Shawangunk Mountains (better known as the ���Gunks,���) is the northeast���s first resort-based route. It���s located at the 155-year-old Mohonk Mountain House, and sits just 90 miles from New City City, making it a convenient and accessible way to experience one of the top rock climbing spots on the East Coast. I climbed the this summer soon after it opened in May, and while it���s not as high as its West Coast rivals, I found it physically and mentally challenging���and beautiful, to boot. The Nature Conservancy even this mountain range as ���one of the last great places on Earth.���

Securely connected to cables, you���ll traverse nearly a half mile across rocky landscapes and quartz ledges. The secluded route then follows the natural features of the conflated rock, and showcases views of Lake Mohonk and verdant forests below. Climbing it in autumn brings a glorious array of the northeast���s famed fall foliage, too. (Book with Mohonk from $295 per person.)

More 窪蹋勛圖厙s Nearby: 85 miles of trails within Mohonk Mountain House���s grounds provide idyllic hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. And if you���re working your way up to the via ferrata, try the less challenging and also new Pinnacle Ledge Tour (from $75 per person), which features an aerial bridge walkway. Note: you���ll have to to book via ferrata and Pinnacle Ledge tours (rooms from $695 per night, including meals, most activities, and wellness classes).

Panorama Via Ferrata, the Balkans, Kosovo

Best For: Travelers looking for adventure and culture further afield

While many parts of Europe battle overtourism, one of the Balkans��� most unexplored mountain ranges beckons outdoor adventurers who ache to get off the beaten path.

Last summer, I trekked portions of the newly established , a 225-mile-long route that connects three former conflict countries: Kosovo, Albania, and North Macedonia. My trekking guides, Taulant Hoxha and Arian Krasniqi, the owners and co-founders of , grew up in Prizren during the Kosovo Conflict in the late 90s. And later, they helped develop both this trail and several new via ferratas around it, deep in Kosovo���s Sharr Mountains.

Before we started hiking the High Scardus, we warmed up on the nearby Panorama Via Ferrata. This 1640-foot climbing route that���s less than three miles long sits just outside the historical city of Prizren, and overlooks the ridges of Sharr Mountain National Park and the Lumbardhi River. It only took us two hours, but SuperXplorers can take you on much longer and challenging routes as well.

More 窪蹋勛圖厙s Nearby: Go the distance and take a 9-day guided hike of the High Scardus Trail with SuperXplorers (from $1270), or ask about the company’s through these less-trodden mountains and gorges.

Telluride Via Ferrata, Colorado, U.S.

Best For: Experts or those with nerves of steel

You might not want to make the your first, unless you don���t mind hanging at 500 feet on an exposed canyon wall in southwest Colorado���s San Juan Mountains. It’s possible to go without a guide on this technical climbing route (it���s one of the only free and open-to-the-public via ferratas in the U.S.) but it���s highly recommended to opt for guided expertise.

Pam LeBlanc, an avid outdoors writer, recommends booking a tour with (from $205 per person, depending on group size). The company provides gear, knowledge, and moral support, before taking you over a series of fixed cables, stemples, ladders, and bridges along the east end of Telluride canyon to the backdrop of stunning views of Bridal Veil Falls and the Telluride Valley below.

���It was terrifying, and I���ve got a fear of heights so clinging to a 330-foot sheer rock wall, nose pressed to gritty rock, knees clicking like castanets, made me want to curl up in a ball and sob. Or barf,��� LeBlanc says. ���But I was glad I did it, because I felt like a badass afterward.���

More 窪蹋勛圖厙s Nearby: Telluride is a full-fledged, four-season town with lots of other fun outdoor activities. LeBlanc recommends ice climbing, as it���s less crowded than nearby Ouray, as well as mountain biking, downhill skiing, and fatbike touring through the snow. When you���re finished, warm up with a hot toddy at tasting room.

Al Jabal Akhdar Via Ferrata, Oman

Best For: Travelers looking for a far-flung luxury adventure

Sure, a luxury hotel in the Middle East might not seem like a place for a via ferrata. But surprise, surprise: there���s a stunning route that���s actually near two hotels, and , located 6,500 feet high in Jabal Shams, the tallest peak in Oman.

This (from $91 per person) traces the highest protected climbing path in the Middle East, and includes a traverse down a sharp vertical rock face and through a tiny cave to end on a tightrope wire cable bridge suspended 65 feet over the valley below.

Catherine Gallagher, co-founder of , did this via ferrata in Oman and recommends going just before dusk. ���It���s so cool,” she says. “The exposure, the sunset, the physical challenge, the mental challenge… When you finish, you top out at the bar where people are enjoying sundowners.��� Or you can head to the cliffside infinity pool for a dip.

More 窪蹋勛圖厙s Nearby: Hike to Jabal Al-Nab蘋 Shu尪ayb, the highest peak in the Arabian Peninsula at 12,030 feet, take a to see 800-million-year-old granite rock features ($130 per person), or try Gallagher���s favorite: off-roading across the dunes in the Wahiba Sands desert���one of the world’s most beautiful places you’ve never heard of.

Whistler Peak Via Ferrata, British Columbia, Canada

Best For: Travelers who want to reach the peak of Whistler without skis

This mountain playground and home of the 2010 Winter Olympics might be most known for its world-class ski runs, but Whistler is an all-seasons resort with numerous adventure opportunities year round. While I love skiing on Whistler���s famed peak (one of North America���s highest mountains) it was my first experience climbing it that hooked me on via ferratas.

Departing from the top of Whistler Village Gondola at just above 5,905 feet, the took us approximately four hours to climb over 2.5 miles of mountainous terrain, gaining 850 feet of elevation. What I loved most about this via ferrata were the incredible views of surrounding snowy peaks, and climbing in shorts and a tank top.

It���s open May through October (from $209 per person). Once you���ve summited Whistler Peak walk the that hovers high over Whistler Bowl for 360 views of the still snow-capped Rocky Mountains.

泭 More 窪蹋勛圖厙s Nearby: Whistler has no shortage of high-adrenaline activities throughout the year such as downhill mountain biking, which is serious business here. (I took a beginner lesson for $193 on ).You can also standup paddle on glacier-fed lakes, and cold plunge if you���re feeling brave.

The post Oh, Yes, You Can: 6 Breathtaking Via Ferratas for Every Type of 窪蹋勛圖厙r appeared first on 窪蹋勛圖厙 Online.

It was my best New Year���s in memory; jumping into the 45-degree Atlantic Ocean with 6,000 other people for Coney Island Polar Bear Club���s annual community swim.

I���m no Wim Hof devotee, but I���ve taken cold plunges all around the world, from two polar dips in Antarctica to swims in glacial lakes in British Columbia. My first trip to Finland six years ago inspired my love of cold water dips.泭For me, taking a cold plunge is a way to commemorate a place. And the dopamine rush and health benefits that follow don���t hurt either.

Of all the self-soothing rituals we do in the name of wellness, cold plunges seem like the complete opposite. They���re brutally shocking and uncomfortable, but if you wait for it, the euphoric effects kick in and feel electric. Every time I do one, it���s as if a new life force is pumping through my body. Cold water dips make me feel alive. Clearly, I���m not alone.

In addition to the record-number of participants at Coney���s Island 121st New Year���s Polar Plunge (this year���s numbers beat out 2023���s record of around 3,800 people), the cold immersion trend is hot worldwide, from backyard ice baths, to ice facials, cryotherapy spas, and more. For many cultures around the world, especially those hardy Nordic people, cold water plunges aren���t a trend, but a popular and time-honored past-time.

Rather than sitting in a tub full of ice cubes in your backyard, you can travel to curative dips in chilly waters with beautiful backdrops year round, and a devoted community of fellow swimmers to make it all the more memorable.

Why Are So Many People Hooked on Cold Plunges Worldwide?

Many cultures around the world have enjoyed the benefits of cold water immersion as a wellness ritual for centuries. In Finland, the tradition is over 300-years-old, and there are many Finns who swim in the sea daily���even when it���s covered in ice. Crowned the happiest country in the world for the seventh consecutive year by the World Happiest Report, is one of their secrets to finding joy in a somewhat inhospitable and harsh climate.

���Ice bathing is a good example of both our strong sense of community, and our extraordinary determination and inner strength, also called sisu,��� says 泭who represents Finland���s next generation of ice swimmers. Ma��kinen is the first Finn to swim an icy mile below 41-degrees Fahrenheit and her TikTok videos attract millions. She���s known for her grit or sisu for taking daily plunges of two to four minutes in -4F ice-covered Finnish lakes in only a swimsuit.

Why do Finns like Ma��kinen plunge daily into ice-cold water? On my first trip to Finland, I met Katja Pantzar, author of , who like Ma��kinen, swims daily year round. She told me the ���feel good��� effects I experienced after my first dip in Finland’s sea were a result of the so-called happy hormones, endorphins���the body���s natural pain killers rushing through my body.

Pantzar���s book research found that cold water immersion tells the body to produce more of the mood-balancing hormone serotonin along with dopamine, the neurotransmitter that helps control the brain���s reward and pleasure centers, and oxytocin, also known as the ���love hormone.��� That���s why it can feel so euphoric. And the benefits don���t stop there. There���s a bevy of spinoff effects Pantzer reports for cold water immersion, including enhanced blood circulation, and a boosted immune system. And yes, no surprise, you burn more calories, too.

Cold-Plunge Tips for Beginners

Anyone can try cold water immersion, even just by turning the dial on your shower. But if you want to test it out in the wild, Ma��kinen and Wim Hof Method instructor Malena Meneses-Skoda share these tips on how to make your cold plunge safe and enjoyable:

• Know your health. The number one rule: If you have a pre-existing heart condition, do not try cold plunges or winter swimming.
• Don’t go alone. It���s best to cold plunge with someone who’s experienced and who can give you tips and moral support.
• Plan your exit strategy and recovery. Know how you’re going to get in and out of the water and make sure you have dry, warm clothes to put on afterward. Bonus���find a sauna to warm up afterward, recommends Ma��kinen.
• Go easy on yourself. ���When you are relaxed, you can keep your heart rate lower and soften the initial cold shock,��� says Ma��kinen. ���You can start with dipping only your legs, and progressively dip a bit more in the second and third round to get used to the cold.���
• Listen to your body. There’s no need to force yourself to stay in for longer than what feels safe. ���It’s training, and training takes time,��� adds Meneses-Skoda, who leads a glacial plunge experience at Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge on Vancouver Island. ���Gradually and with ease train your body and mind past your edge of comfort.���
• Disconnect to reconnect. ���It���s not about numbers or photos, it���s about you. Detach from your watch and device. Get in there and just breathe,��� adds Meneses-Skoda.
• Some gear helps. Wear neoprene swimming shoes and gloves and a wool cap to help with the cold, if necessary.
• Enjoy the rush. ���And lastly, smile and enjoy the endorphin rush when embracing cold water,��� says Ma��kinen.

Where to Take the Plunge with a Community

The feel-good effects of cold water immersion may be amplified when you share the moment with others. ���Collective effervescence��������� is exactly what I experienced on New Year���s Day and when I joined my fellow travelers in Antarctica for a polar plunge. It���s a concept that scientists of awe use to convey that feeling of energy and joy that people sense when they come together for a shared purpose. Even one as wild as jumping into cold bodies of water together.

So on that note, take your cold plunges to the next level with these beautiful, inspiring destinations worldwide. Thanks to these retreats, programs, excursions, and more, you won’t be doing it alone.

Best Places in the World to Cold-Plunge

Hit Up an Iceberg-Lined Beach in Antarctica

The most memorable moments of my trip to Antarctica was taking not one, but two polar plunges. Perhaps you���ve seen photos of people jumping off ships or zodiacs in Antarctica, but on my cruise we took our polar dip from the beach. HX, a Norwegian company, offers their polar plunge experience from the beach to allow guests a chance to swim longer, take their time, and go together. I was grateful I had the support of my fellow travelers as I walked gingerly over rocks to the waters edge, with icebergs a stone���s throw away. We shared in the range of emotions washing over us during our plunge���first fear and excitement, and then joy. More people joined us once they saw we were not surviving, but thriving, and some of us even stayed a bit longer.

When to Go: Feb – March
Water Temps You’ll Experience: 34 to 35F
Other 窪蹋勛圖厙s to Try: How about a cold immersion sleep? HX offers a camping experience on their Antarctica sailings���yes, that means you���ll be sleeping in a tent on the White Continent (the only way you���re allowed to). You may even get woken up by the sounds of a glacier calving.

Take a Glacial Plunge in British Columbia, Canada

Ask Canadians about cold plunges and they���ll have many ideas for where to go. Our northern neighbors have plenty of firsthand experience swimming in cold water year round. But if you���re looking for a treat, stay at Vancouver Island���s luxury eco-lodge, which offers a led by a certified Wim Hof instructor in glacier-fed rivers and lakes. While I was staying at Clayoquot this wasn���t an official offering, but due to popular demand from guests they now provide this as a guided experience. During my stay, my personal Wim Hof-certified guide Malena Meneses-Skoda helped me push past my comfort and swim for longer���which only increased my energy to try all the other adventures here.

When to Go: End of May – September
Water Temps You’ll Experience: 39 to 51F
Other 窪蹋勛圖厙s to Try: Try canyoning along the glacier-fed Bedwell River filled with hidden waterfalls. You���ll be in a wetsuit for this, and you can snorkel in the cold, calm waters to see hundreds of salmon gathering.

Join the Nation���s Oldest Winter Swimming Club for New Years, in New York City

This tradition of cold plunging into the Atlantic Ocean has been a mainstay for since 1903. While the New Year���s Day polar plunge is open to all, this is an official club, the longest-lasting winter swimming group in the U.S., and you have to earn your place as a member. People are allowed to join for a single guest swim throughout the year. Currently there are 150 members, and on average you���ll see about 80 show up for each Sunday swim. After my New Year���s Day dip, I was able to join members for another exhilarating swim one Sunday as snow covered the beach and boardwalk nearby.

When to Go: The New Year���s Day plunge is open to the public. If you join the club for a session, the season runs Nov-April.
Water Temps You’ll Experience: 39 to 41F in recent years, due to more moderate winters
Other 窪蹋勛圖厙s to Try: Head over Coney Island���s to toast to your bravery, play free retro arcade and pinball games, and warm up indoors.

Discover Your Cold-Water Bliss in the Happiest Country in the World, Finland

Finland���s capital, Helsinki, has so many places where you can feel the spirit of sisu in the sea without even leaving the city. Ma��kinen says a true cold plunge in Finland includes a sauna as well, and recommends a few places I also tried myself: offers beautiful and modern saunas by the sea; this is where I took some of my first cold plunges. is Helsinki���s waterfront public plunge and sauna open 24/7, run by the community. It���s free and open to everyone, and is a cultural experience where diversity is at its best, says Ma��kinen. The Finnish ice swimmer also recommends taking the ferry to Suomenlinna, Helsinki���s UNESCO-listed 18th-century sea fortress for the seaside sauna . This was one of my favorite places to cold plunge, followed by a sauna with locals, as well as the , a busy spot back at the capital with outdoor cold sea water pools and saunas, of course.

When to Go: Year round
Water Temps You’ll Experience: -4 to 14F
Other 窪蹋勛圖厙s to Try: There���s roughly two saunas for every one person in Finland, so no shortage to try���and you can find them just about anywhere. Also, once you’re done cold plunging and sweating, hop a flight north to Lapland to scope out the best Aurora Borealis you’ll ever see (September to October; February to March).

Take a Historic Forty-Foot Dip in the Irish Sea, Dublin

It���s a Dublin tradition to jump from Forty Foot, a rocky outcropping on the southern tip of the city’s bay, into the wild Irish Sea on December 25. Since the 19th century, swimmers have braved the chilly temperatures here, but historically, it was a mens-only bathing spot. That all changed in the 1970s when women protested for themselves and children to be allowed to dip here, too. Now it’s open for everyone and frequented by locals year round for morning dips. The small Sandycove beach is a short walk from the James Joyce Tower (the setting for the opening scenes of Ulysses), and the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the distance makes this a memorable spot to cold plunge anytime of the year.

When to Go: Year round
Water Temps You’ll Experience: 44F (in winter)
Other 窪蹋勛圖厙s to Try: Grab a rental car and try cold-water surfing on Ireland���s golden sands at Brandon Bay in Kerry, or at one of Ireland���s most popular surf spots at Lahinch in Clare, just a few miles from Cliffs of Moher. offers multi-activity adventures that include sea swimming, surfing, and kayaking.

Get into Your Creative Flow with a Cold Plunge in Scotland���s Lochs

In addition to all the physiological health benefits of cold water immersion, it may also help you tap into your creativity. The company Travel Matters offers a few wild swimming retreats on the banks of Scotland���s lochs (or lakes). For example, Amber Fillary, the female world record holder for the longest under-ice swim with breath hold, leads a on Loch Tay. While you won’t be expected to hold your breath under ice at this retreat, Fillary will lead breathwork exercises to calm your mind and help you get the most out of your swims.

Travel Matters also hosts a led by actress, writer, and Channel swimmer Doon Mackichan on the banks of Loch Rannoch. Travel Matters founder Karen Simmonds created these retreats to harness the benefits of cold water exposure to stimulate our creative energy. Immersion in cold water activates neuroplasticity���the brain���s ability to form new neural connections���which enhances cognitive functions, she says. “This includes creativity, by facilitating the brain���s adaptability and capacity to think outside the box,��� Simmonds explains.

When to Go: September
Water Temps You’ll Experience: 53F
Other 窪蹋勛圖厙s to Try: Get inspired by hiking around the lochs, where you can spy golden eagles, osprey, otters, sea eagles, and tap into nature to fuel your prose. Travel Matters can point you in the direction of abundant trail networks.

Dip into Extreme Ice Swimming in Svalbard, Norway and Greenland

Even in August, there���s plenty of places where you can find cold water to swim���especially if you head to Norway and Greenland. For those more experienced in cold water swimming, the company Expeditions Online offers extreme cold water swimming adventures in remote, frigid places. These trips are not for the faint-hearted, but they are open to anyone. Extreme cold water swimming is an experience Ram Barkai, founder of the International Ice Swimming Association, wants to share with others on trips he leads in and . Barkai says it is a life-altering experience and will give you ���perspective in our mad over-stimulating and diminishing planet.��� These are not quick cold plunges; swims on this trip include 50, 250, 500, and 1,000 meters, and an ice mile is the top level that requires serious experience. Family and friends joining the trip can take a fun plunge though, Barkai adds.

When to Go: Svalbard (August 24) and Greenland (August 25)���both in 2024
Water Temps You’ll Experience: 41F in Svalbard; 37 to 39F in Greenland
Other 窪蹋勛圖厙s to Try: Post-swims, enjoy the frozen sea from a kayak, which Expeditions Online provides. It���s a warmer and calmer way to take in the surroundings and look for wildlife, such as walruses or seals.

Kathleen Rellihan is a travel journalist whose love for adventure includes jumping into cold bodies of water around the world. Even though it was summer, her first cold plunges in Finland hooked her for life, and she has since taken two polar plunges in Antarctica, and a few dips with the Coney Island Polar Bear Club in New泭York City.

The post Top 8 Spots Around the World to Take a Cold Plunge appeared first on 窪蹋勛圖厙 Online.

Most of Mother Nature���s most spectacular shows are all about being at the right place at the right time. Maybe you waited your whole life to witness a total solar eclipse, or perhaps on your last mountain trek you stumbled upon a radial rainbow cloud with your own shadow as the star. In all cases, natural phenomena are a reminder that science has the power to leave us more in awe than any sci-fi show possibly could.

Some phenomena are more well-known than others, though, and some are harder to catch. You���ve probably heard of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, and bioluminescent bays, but what about sailing stones and glow-in-the-dark mushrooms?

From Antarctica���s mysterious Blood Falls to Yosemite���s fleeting Firefall, here are some particularly unique natural phenomena that you can���t find just anywhere.

Hokkaido���s Frost Flowers

In winter on Hokkaido, Japan���s northernmost island, even as temperatures in Akan-Mashu National Park drop to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, Lake Akan is seemingly abloom with life in the form of an endless ethereal meadow of ice flowers. These beautiful blooms on the lake���s surface, known as frost flowers, sprout when the temperature drops quickly, causing a drastic difference between the cold air and the warmer ice surface. When the mist in the air freezes and hits the ice, it gets crystallized. The ice crystal patches are piled in layers and form delicate patterns, looking like real flower petals. Meteorologists have found that this is most likely to occur when three conditions are met: the surface of the lake is frozen with a thin, clear layer of ice and no snow; the air temperature is below 5 degrees; and there���s no wind.

Antarctica���s Blood Falls

It sounds like the next Netflix thriller and might look as ghastly, but East Antarctica���s Blood Falls is only gushing saltwater. This dramatic piercing on the white continent oozes five stories high at the end of Taylor Glacier, where an ancient saltwater reservoir trapped beneath the glacier flows to the surface and into Lake Bonney. The buried saltwater lake is not actually red���nor is it full of red algae, as once believed���but it is super salty and rich in iron. The iron turns red when it reacts with the oxygen at the surface, and its high salt content prevents it from freezing, according to . That���s how eery red water ends up flowing out of the icy white glacier.

Brazil���s Bioluminescent Mushrooms

You may have already been lucky enough to see ocean water sparkling at night with millions of glowing phytoplankton���a phenomenon called bioluminescence, in which living organisms emit a cold visible light. But did you know there are glow-in-the-dark mushrooms? Brazil���s Atlantic Forest, teeming with biodiversity as impressive and unique as its larger Amazon rainforest, contains about 20 species of bioluminescent fungi. These mushrooms flourish in the humidity and grow on tree bark or on tree trunks and fallen branches that line the forest floor. By day you wouldn���t take a second glance at these tiny mushrooms, but at night these fungi glow due to a chemical reaction between them and the decaying wood on which they grow. Scientists only recently discovered why this happens: the fungi produce light that will then help spread their spores throughout the forest. , a protected reserve used for research and conservation in the Atlantic Forest, offers guided night tours to see the bioluminescent mushrooms.

Yosemite���s Firefall

For just a few weeks in mid-February, thousands flock to Yosemite National Park to view this optical illusion on Horsetail Fall, a small waterfall on the famed rock face of El Capitan. A fleeting flow of fire-like light emits for just a few minutes when the alignment of the sun, the waterfall, and the viewer are just right. Right before sunset, if there is enough water, Horsetail Fall will be struck by the fading sunlight in such a way that a streak of fiery orange appears, resembling a lava flow on the 3,200-foot monolith. This completely natural event is actually named after a manmade tradition that started back in 1872, when the owners of the Glacier Point Hotel threw a bonfire off the edge of the waterfall to dazzle onlookers. The park put an end to the dangerous show in 1968, but five years later, climber and photographer Galen Rowell snapped Mother Nature creating the same effect, bringing the optical illusion to the spotlight and reviving the Firefall tradition in a safer way.

High Altitude���s Brocken Spectre

It sounds like a German punk rock band name, but Brocken spectre is a trick of the light that puts you on center stage. This optical illusion is named after Brocken, the highest peak in Germany���s Harz Mountains, where it was first observed. In the cloud-shrouded Chinese mountains of Huanshan and Mount Ernei, it���s referred to as Buddha���s light. Also known as mountain spectre, it occurs at high altitudes under misty conditions when the observer���s shadow is magnified and cast upon the clouds opposite the sun. As a result, the shadow appears surrounded by a spectacular rainbow halo caused by the diffraction of light. The Scottish Highlands��� misty weather and high peaks are a frequent setting for this phenomenon. It���s also been documented on in Washington���s Olympic National Park.

Death Valley���s Sailing Stones

On the dry lakebed of Racetrack Playa, in a remote valley between Cottonwood and the Last Chance Ranges, rocks sail across the desert floor propelled by a mysterious power. While no one has documented seeing them move in person, the tracks left behind the stones and the changes in their location prove they are indeed moving. Some trails left behind extend as long as 1,500 feet. In 2014, a helped scientists determine the sailing stones were likely due to a perfect combination of ice, water, and wind. That���s right���ice in Death Valley. ���I���m amazed by the irony of it all,��� after solving the mystery. ���In a place where rainfall averages two inches a year, rocks are being shoved around by mechanisms typically seen in arctic climes.���

Alberta���s Frozen Methane Lake Bubbles

In winter months, Abraham Lake in Alberta, Canada, is known for a peculiar marvel that lies beneath the surface of its clear blue frozen water. 泭Throughout the year, Abraham Lake, also the largest reservoir in the province, emits methane gas when bacteria feed on decaying plants as part of a natural biological process. During winter, when temperatures drop below zero, these large amounts of methane gas form bubbles that are trapped in the ice as they rise to colder water closer to the surface. What results is a beautiful effect of cascading white orbs with an ominous core. Inside these bubbles is methane, a highly flammable greenhouse gas more than and therefore much more of a threat to our climate as well.

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One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that many of us found an even greater appreciation for escaping into nature. But as the world reopens and cranks the volume up, the roar of traffic and airline engines are more jarring than ever. Some days it might even be hard to recall the Great Quiet of 2020, the seismic silence from a COVID-slowed-down planet that scientists determined to be the longest period of quiet in recorded history.

So how do we move into a post-pandemic era and still enjoy the peace and quiet we promised we���d never take for granted again?

Gordon Hempton, known as , has a few ideas.泭Hempton is an acoustic ecologist who has spent the past four decades identifying and preserving natural soundscapes around the world and who cofounded泭), a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization on a mission to protect daily access to quiet for everyone.泭���Quiet was the unexpected gift of the pandemic,��� he says. With a handful of U.S. destinations currently under consideration for the Wilderness Quiet Parks designation, a pilgrimage to such a quiet place may be just the remedy for what ails you in these increasingly noisy times.

Similar to the ���s efforts to protect and preserve the night skies from light pollution, Quiet Parks status helps protect places largely lacking noise pollution. The status helps communities steward the quiet, which could include preventing additional land use, development, and aviation noise. Just as it���s harder to find night skies free from light pollution, quiet is also nearly extinct���97 percent of the U.S. population is exposed to noise pollution from planes and highway traffic.

Quiet Parks status is conferred after泭a multilevel process. First, light pollution, transportation routes, and noisy land use (like logging, hydroelectric power lines, and residential or commercial development) are evaluated. Then local or federal land managers are consulted. Finally, a QPI team visits the location and collects sound recordings. QPI hopes that receiving a coveted Quiet Park status will inspire grassroots community involvement, local governments, land-management agencies, tribal governments, and others to preserve the quiet.

���When we save quiet, we save everything else,��� Hempton likes to say. He���s right. Science shows that periods of quiet improve cognitive and creative skills, reduce stress, and help us live longer. And quiet isn���t only a natural resource important to humans���wildlife needs pure acoustic environments to communicate in.

In 2019, QPI gave the first Quiet Park award to the泭 in the Ecuadorean Amazon rainforest, home of the Cof獺n people. Since then, it has established close to 300 quiet places around the world, including Quiet Trails and the first Urban Quiet Park, in Taiwan.

Hempton and the QPI team are evaluating the following quiet places in the U.S., working on saving such destinations as cherished sites where we can hear birds chirping���and ourselves think.

Haleakala National Park,泭Hawaii

This isn���t merely the quietest place in the U.S.���it���s ���the quietest place on earth,��� according to Hempton. (He is featured in the 泭of the same name.) The park has the fewest decibels and least noise pollution of any place Hempton���s recorded. Given Haleakala Crater���s high elevation (10,023 feet), and the fact that air traffic arriving on Maui happens below the volcano rim, in addition to volcanic ash within the crater absorbing sound waves, very few sounds penetrate the park. What will you hear? Wind blowing through volcanic formations so faint it sounds like a whistle, or maybe the occasional nene���a Hawaiian goose. ���Hawaiian culture is sound-rich, with a history about silence as the birthplace of creativity,��� Hempton says. ���There are more than 100 Hawaiian words that describe different kinds of winds.���

Descend into the crater for natural quiet, dress warmly, and bring water and a headlamp, because thick mist can arrive at any time, advises Hempton. An added bonus of visiting this park? Pristine stargazing is spectacular from the summit of Haleakala Crater.

Hoh Rain Forest, Washington

Audio clip: Hoh Rain Forest birds

Hempton���s quest for quiet began in 2005, with his One Square Inch of Silence project, in which he determined that the Hoh Rain Forest of Olympic National Park, home to the planet���s tallest forest, was possibly the quietest place in the country, due in part to its sound-absorbing moss. He also discovered unique acoustics there, including the ���flutelike bugling of Roosevelt elk.��� Unfortunately, the U.S. military directs air traffic over the park, a factor currently preventing it from being awarded official Quiet Park status.

Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas

���By all accounts, this may be the quietest, least noise-polluted location in the U.S,��� Hempton says. Two reasons contribute:泭its location on the Mexico–U.S. border is an area that sees less air traffic, and its arid climate is less elastic, so when any sound (including noise pollution) occurs, it fades quicker and is less clear.

���The canyon areas at Big Bend provide magical places to listen, as these places are in the shade most times of day, providing particularly good echoes and a stunning sense of space,��� says Hempton.

American Prairie Reserve, Montana

Audio clip: Coyotes and birds at dawn on the American Prairie

The goal of this collaboratively managed wildlife preserve is to create the largest nature reserve in the contiguous U.S., with approximately 3.2 million acres of land. It���s also home to one of Hempton���s favorite soundscapes, a mix of prairie winds and a spring dawn chorus of sharp-tailed grouse singing and dancing on the lakes. Hempton advises to head out well before sunrise in order to catch males performing to attract a mate. With little air-traffic intrusion, you might even be able to hear bison grunting miles away.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota

���Dear to my heart, the BWCA [was] the first place to be defended from aviation noise, when Wilderness Watch took the Air Force to court and effectively won,��� says Hempton. This vast wilderness on the Canadian-American border covers over one million acres of protected land that���s off-limits to military aircraft and other motorized vehicles and vessels. It is the only wilderness in the country that has an airspace reservation that prohibits flights below 4,000 feet. Even the lakes are largely free of motor sounds���only 16 of the 1,100 lakes allow motorized watercraft. Here, you must paddle. It���s a true wilderness, adds Hempton, with songbirds charming daytime listeners, frogs and toads croaking at night, not to mention the howling of wolves and the echoing calls of the iconic loons.

Glacier National Park, Montana

Audio clips: A Glacier snowstorm (first clip); Kintla Lake

This million-acre-plus glacier-carved national park has one of the largest intact ecosystems in the lower 48. Because it���s on the border of Canada, there���s also less air traffic, notes Hempton. ���The stunning and profound coniferous forests and alpine lakes are all special opportunities to listen to natural concert halls,��� he says. He also suggests tuning your ears to listen for the ���musical notes��� of stones in the streambeds.

Quiet Park Trips

If you���d rather have a guide to find some peace and quiet, a new mindful adventure company, has partnered with QPI to offer Quiet Park trips.

���In today���s modern world, there���s so much noise around us. But potentially even more problematic is that our minds often match that level of noise, processing a seemingly constant flow of news, social media, and work,��� says Recal founder Anthony Lorubbio. A three-time CEO, Lorubbio created his newest venture after suffering from work-induced burnout. Recal���s Quiet Park series immerses travelers deep into nature, free from human-made noise, in an effort to reduce stress and exhaustion, which Lorubbio believes are increasingly ailments of our grind culture. Add in pandemic fatigue, and we���re even more disconnected from personal interactions and nature and in need of an escape from the constant burrow of enmeshed home-work life, he says.

���We believe there is a connection between the growing rates of burnout and our human disconnection from nature���especially true and pure quiet,��� Lorubbio says.

As part of its new , Recal is offering trips in Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Glacier National Park. On the Boundary Waters adventure, you canoe, portage, camp, and listen to the natural soundscapes on quiet hikes, as well as participate in breath-work sessions and enjoy sensory-focused silent meals. On the Glacier trip, activities range from riding e-bikes on the car-free Going-to-the-Sun Road to silent stargazing (Glacier is also a designated Dark Sky park) to mindfulness practices designed to tap your inner quiet.

All Recal guides are trained by the QPI team on how to listen while immersed in quiet. Matthew Mikkelsen, executive director of QPI���s Wilderness Quiet Parks and an audio engineer and sound recordist, offers this tip: don���t try to figure out sounds or name them. ���Naming the object is almost a distraction for some folks, because then it takes you out of the headspace of listening. Truly listening means not placing judgment, priority, or bias on the information you���re receiving.��� Simply let the sounds surround you.

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