#21 TAKE TO THE SKY
San Francisco Bay, California
Forget windsurfing—get kiteboard savvy, as 10,000 Americans have in the past three years, with San Francisco Bay's Kite Wind Surf. Two-day intro course from $350; 510-522-9463, www.kitewindsurf.com
#22 WALK YOUR LLAMA
Grand Staircase–Escalante, Utah
Load up a mild-mannered ruminant and head for the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument with Red Rock 'n Llamas. Five-day trips from $900; 877-955-2627, www.redrocknllamas.com
#23 EAT LOBSTER
Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster
South Freeport, Maine
On a busy day, this 36-year-old seaside lobster mecca serves up 3,000 pounds of Maine's most famous crustacean (along with other favorites like fried mussels and strawberry rhubarb pie), fresh from Casco Bay. Crack, peel, and indulge. 207-865-3535
#24 READ A CLASSIC
Books are an endless source of inspiration, as well as a good way to pass a steamy summer afternoon. Start here:
"Take off your shoes for a while, unzip your fly, piss hearty, dig your toes in the hot sand, feel that raw and rugged earth, split a couple of big toenails, draw blood. . . I entreat you, get out of those [automobiles], get off your foam rubber backsides, stand up straight like men! like women! like human beings! and walk—walk—WALK upon our sweet and blessed land!"
—Edward Abbey,
Desert Solitaire, 1968
#25 RAISE A GLASS
Timbers Bar
Moonlight Basin, Montana
Moonlight Basin—which became America's first new destination ski resort in 20 years when it opened for the 2003–04 season—has a secret summer life. After a day of fly-fishing for trout on the Madison, swap stories over a Wolfpack Ale at the Timbers Bar, tucked into a corner of the Moonlight Lodge. 406-995-7777, www.moonlightbasin.com
#26 LEARN TO FLY—WITHOUT AN ENGINE
Salt Lake City, Utah
Air travel takes on a whole new meaning 20 minutes from Salt Lake City International Airport at Point of the Mountain, ground zero for U.S. paragliding. Cloud 9 Soaring Center can certify you to fly in a week, thanks to drive-up hillside access and 300 flyable days per year. $975; 801-576-6460, www.paragliders.com
#27 ROCK THE BOAT
If you plan to be on the water this summer, it's important to know how to properly rock—or better yet, tip—the boat. The way to swamp a canoe is to never do it while actually on a trip in the wilderness. If this should accidentally occur, you're in for a world of pain, complete with soaking packs, missing paddles, and soggy misery. Instead, save the drama for the day you paddle back to base camp, where you can empty the packs onto dry land and light the sauna. Then paddle the canoe back out to the middle of the lake, grip the gunwales, and rock the barge until you and the boat go over. This is (a) a blast and (b) the best way to clean a few weeks' worth of accumulated mud and fish guts from the inside of your boat. As for sailing, the worst way to capsize a 16-foot Hobie Cat is to catch the tip of your hull on a wave and pitch the boat bow over stern, sending you like an asteroid into the choppy water. This (a) is hard to right and (b) hurts like hell—especially if you've hit the mast on the way over.
#28 PADDLE WHITEWATER
Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho
An American classic: six days, 105 miles, and more than 100 Class II–IV rapids. River Odysseys West: trips from $1,645; 800-451-6034, www.rowadventures.com
#29 GO WILD!
Tupper Lake, New York
Get intimate with the Adirondack Park's ecosystem at the Wild Center, the park's new $25 million museum set to open July 4, complete with an indoor river and waterfall, a wetlands exhibit, and a 30-foot-tall, 18-foot-wide glacial wall. $14; 866-765-7800, www.wildcenter.org
#30 ISLAND-HOP
Maine Island Trail, Maine
Mother Nature must have smiled smugly when she minced the Maine coast into 2,000 islands. Explore this rough-hewn shore by paddling a kayak along the Maine Island Trail, a 350-mile water byway that leads from the manicured coast of Kennebunkport to the 12-foot tides of Machias Bay. The Maine Island Trail Association (MITA) provides access to more than 115 island and mainland campsites. For a two-day taste, start in Stonington, a lobster-fishing village west of Acadia National Park, and hire a guide and kayak at Old Quarry Ocean Adven-tures. Less than three hours at the helm will reveal dozens of microscopic islands, etched with granite cliffs, spruce woods, and berry patches. $45 annual MITA membership gives you access to the campsites; 207-761-8225, www.mita.org. Old Quarry Ocean Adventures: $285 for a two-day trip; 207-367-8977, www.oldquarry.com.
