Table of contents for Winter 2022-2023 in The Explorers Journal

Cycling some 3,060 kilometers over 41 days, Erick Cedeño, an adventurer from Santa Monica, California, and EC50 honoree, has retraced the route taken by the 25th Infantry “Buffalo Soldier” Bicycle Corps from Missoula, Montana, to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1897. Called “The Great Experiment” in national newspapers, the original journey also took 41 days to complete and was undertaken at the direction of the United States Army to determine the effectiveness of moving troops by bicycle. The route closely followed the Northern Pacific and Burlington railroads through Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Missouri, and was chosen to challenge the riders with as many different climate and field conditions as possible. Upon completion of his retrace, Cedeño, 48, said, “This had been a dream of mine for years, and to…

SONIA HAOA CARDINALI IS A RAPANUI ARCHAEOLOGIST WITH THE MATA KI TE RANGI FOUNDATION AND IS COORDINATOR OF THE ISLAND’S NATIONAL MONUMENTS. SHE HAS BEEN AWARDED AN HONORARY PHD FROM UPPSALA UNIVERSITY. SHE IS A CONTRIBUTOR TO THOR HEYERDAHL: VOYAGES OF THE SUN—A HANDSOME, LIMITED-EDITION SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE VOLUME, PUBLISHED BY ATELIER ÉDITIONS AND THE KON-TIKI MUSEUM—FROM WHICH THIS ESSAY HAS BEEN ADAPTED. On April 28, 1947, the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl set sail, along with a crew of five intrepid sailors, from the port of Callao in Peru in the direction of Polynesia. They made the journey on a raft of balsa logs constructed using the authentic ancestral materials and techniques of the indigenous people of Lake Titicaca. It took them 101 days to travel nearly 7,000 kilometers to…

A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 2017, PRESTON SOWELL IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST, CEO OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING FIRM GEOTIC SOLUTIONS, A NATUR ALIST, AND PHOTOGRAPHER. WHEN NOT CONSULTING FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, PRESTON USES HIS SCIENTIFIC AND MOUNTAINEERING EXPERTISE TO SUPPORT RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS STUDYING HIGH-ALTITUDE ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE. HE IS ALSO CEO OF THE SIBINACOCHA WATERSHED PROJECT (WWW.SIBINACOCHA.ORG). HIS WORK TO USE AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY TO PROTECT A THREATENED WATERSHED IS THE SUBJECT OF THE 2020 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY LOST TEMPLE OF THE INCA. Lying at 4,800 meters in the Cordillera Vilcanota range of southeastern Peru and the headwaters of the Amazon River, Sibinacocha is the largest high-alpine lake in South America. Surrounded by 6,000-meter-high glaciated peaks, the Sibinacocha watershed is an extreme environment…

I think many of you have been on public transport or at an event where there has been a call for medical assistance. This has happened at least a dozen times to me under variable circumstances. Responders often come in varying sizes and shapes: you may have a pediatrician or a psychiatrist show up with little experience with adult emergency medicine. But what happens if there are no medical personnel at the event? Let’s look at airline flights for example. There is not rapid access to the other resources available on land or on a cruise ship where there is usually some type of medical staff. First, know your population cohort. In most cases, airline passengers are representative of the general population, meaning that anyone could have an emergency at…

FOUNDED IN 1904 BY A GROUP OF AMERICA’S LEADING EXPLORERS, THE EXPLORERS CLUB IS A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY DEDICATED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF FIELD RESEARCH, SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION, AND THE IDEAL THAT IT IS VITAL TO PRESERVE THE INSTINCT TO EXPLORE. THE CLUB’S STEADFAST MISSION HAS BEEN TO ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION OF LAND, SEA, AIR, AND SPACE, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES. AS A PRIMARY AND PRESTIGIOUS CENTER FOR EXPLORATION AND EXPEDITION PLANNING, THE CLUB IS A FOCAL POINT AND UNIFYING FORCE FOR EXPLORERS AND SCIENTISTS WORLDWIDE, WITH 34 CHAPTERS SPANNING THE GLOBE. For information regarding categories of membership—Fellow, Member, Friend, Term, and Student—and the process of election to The Explorers Club, visit us at www.explorers.org. The downloadable application sets forth qualifications for all levels…

CHRIS RAINIER, A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY EXPLORER AND DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER/FILMMAKER WHO HAS FOCUSED ON ENDANGERED CULTURES AND TRADITIONAL LANGUAGES AROUND THE GLOBE, WAS A 2002 RECIPIENT OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB’S LOWELL THOMAS AWARD. HE HAS LED EXPEDITIONS TO ALL SEVEN CONTINENTS, INCLUDING ONE TO THE NORTH POLE IN THE 1990S. HE IS THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF THE CULTURAL SANCTUARIES FOUNDATION. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: CULTURALSANCTUARIES.ORG Enveloped by darkness, it took me a while to see the light within the void. At first, it was a faint blue line searing the desert night sky. Then it spread across the horizon. Slowly, as the first colors of sunrise cut the sky, another Saharan day had begun. I was some 800 kilometers deep in the baking sand dunes of northern Mali on…

RETURN OF FLAG Nº 118 SINCE BEING CARRIED INTO THE FIELD FOR THE FIRST TIME—TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BY CELEBRATED SOLDIER, AUTHOR, AND DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER AND FILMMAKER CARL VON HOFFMAN IN 1946—FLAG Nº 118 HAS FLOWN ATOP EVEREST, PLIED THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE, BEEN TAKEN TO THE GARDENS OF THE QUEEN OFF CUBA, AND HAS ACCOMPANIED LAURIE MARKER ON A CHEETAH CONSERVATION PROJECT IN NAMIBIA. A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 1991, WILLIAM N. ROM, MD, MPH, HAS LED A NUMBER OF FLAG EXPEDITIONS, INCLUDING A CROSSING OF SOUTH GEORGIA, FOLLOWING THE ROUTE OF SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON; PARTICIPATING IN A SPRING HUNT WITH THE THULE INUIT; AND A SUMMITING OF MT. GEL ADAINDONG, THE SOURCE OF THE YANGTZE RIVER. THE DIRECTOR OF PULMONARY AND CRITICAL CARE AT NYU/BELLEVUE FOR…

AN HONORARY DIRECTOR OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB AND A RECIPIENT OF IT HIGHEST HONOR, THE EXPLORERS CLUB MEDAL, SYLVIA A. EARLE IS AN EXPLORER-IN-RESIDENCE AT THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY; THE FOUNDER OF MISSION BLUE AND DEEP OCEAN EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH; AND SERVED AS FORMER CHIEF SCIENTIST AT NOAA. SHE IS A CONTRIBUTOR TO THOR HEYERDAHL: VOYAGES OF THE SUN—A HANDSOME, LIMITED-EDITION SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE VOLUME, PUBLISHED BY ATELIER ÉDITIONS AND THE KON-TIKI MUSEUM—FROM WHICH THIS ESSAY HAS BEEN ADAPTED. “Borders? I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.”– Thor Heyerdahl During his lifetime, Thor Heyerdahl significantly contributed to answering the questions that have inspired humanity for as long as we have existed: Who are we? Where did we come from? And…

A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 2019, JAMES MAXWELL LOWE IS KNOWN FOR HIS ABILITY TO CAPTURE STORIES IN THE MOST REMOTE CORNERS OF THE WORLD, HAVING HONED HIS SKILL AS A DIRECTOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER IN HIS SEARCH FOR ADVENTURE AND NARRATIVES UNHEARD. FROM HIS HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS OF MONTANA TO NOW COUNTLESS COUNTRIES, LANDSCAPES, AND CULTURES ACROSS THE GLOBE, MAX HAS BEEN A WITNESS TO STORIES SPANNING THE GAP OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE. HIS OWLS OF THE ARCTIC DOCUMENTARY PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY THE EXPLORERS CLUB THROUGH ITS DISCOVERY EXPEDITION GRANT PROGRAM. Even though the summer sun is high in the sky and the landscape around us is vibrant green with the 24-hour light afforded here beyond the Arctic Circle in mid-July, the wind cuts deep as it…