Rope Swing Quadruple Backflips

This is one awesome video.

This summer Mike went back to the drawing board and searched the land for the perfect location for his next Big Swing. Promising to take things to the next level Wilson was seeking the perfect spot to throw a Quadruple backflip off of a 100 foot rope swing into the royal blue depths of Lake Tahoe and oh did he deliver.

The events that followed took place on Lake Tahoe between Sunrise, and Sunset, were out of control. Hula Networks and the Shreddy Times Crew worked hard to get the shots while Mike delivered the goods. Mike Wilson catapulted himself into the record books with this one throwing huge quadruple backflips from a 99 foot swing that sent him flying over 115 feet into the air.

Natural swimming pools

I'm having such a sports out right now because I'm watching Cincinnati destroy Illinois on the television right now. However, I did come across this awesome idea for a swimming pool. Now natural ecosystems such as lakes and ponds do have a somewhat natural system of filtering out all that crap. Ever wonder why your hot tub smells like poo and have green stuff growing on the edges while the local lake looks crystal blue and is great to swim in? Ladies and gentlemen, I present the natural residential swimming pool...

Look closely, as you can see it kind of looks like a lake-pool hybrid. Did this get overgrown? What happened? Here's a blue print of the natural pool...

As you can see, the pool has natural cleansers that ensure the swimming zone is clean. Plus it looks really cool in your backyard. Wow! If you're absolutely loaded with money and want one, check out total habitat.

Soap Lake has minerals in the mud and water

In Washington there is a special lake, with special mud, that is called Soap Lake.

Soap Lake is located on Highway 17 North in Grant County in Eastern Washington, about 120 miles west of Spokane, Washington and 180 miles east of Seattle.

But this is no ordinary lake. People flock there for the mud.

We were in the area camping at Sun Lakes, when my sister started talking about the mud at Soap Lake. I knew we had to go give it a try.

According to the Soap Lake tourism Web site:

"Soap Lake mud is highly coveted by visitors who use it for many different purposes. Mud packs have been found to be beneficial in the treatment of chronic inflammation, bruises, sprains, boils, insect bites, acne, eczema and other skin and circulatory disorders.

Soap Lake mud is thick and creamy like the softest cold cream. It is jet black and in its purest form is jelly-like. The mud has a pungent, organic odor. It dries to a dark grey-green color. When dry, the mud flakes off as an extremely fine-grained powder. It does not stain clothing.

When applied, the cold moisture in the mud relaxes skin pores and draws blood to the surface. After a mud pack the skin looks and feels tighter. On a summer day, dozens of people can be seen on the east and west beaches covered from head-to-toe with mud. The mud is a protected, non-renewable resource of this unique lake. It can be found in only a few locations and must be obtained from the lakebed, beneath the water."

In the picture at the top, we are covered in the thick, black mud that we located in the water that was about chest deep.

The water and the lake smell like sulfur. It is quite pungent.

Needless to say, covering ourselves in mud was a blast!

Here's a great site with answers to many of the frequently asked questions about Soap Lake and it's mud.

Epic Video: Lifeguard

We went to Wild Waves on Sunday. For those of you who don't know, Wild Waves is a water park outside of Tacoma, Washington. The day went something like this.

Across the Atlantic

We here at Just South of North enjoy not only the traditional sports, but the non traditional ones too. In fact, since I would like to break into the outdoor writing world, we try to keep a constant update of outdoor stories. Well folks, today you are in for a treat. (well hopefully you think so)

For today, I have a great topic to talk about and that is swimming. Yes, while it may be snowing out my window right now (thanks Groundhog. Thank you very much!) Summer is just around the corner. And for many of us summer means swimming in lakes and the ocean.

But how about Jennifer Figge? She took swimming to the next level. Think Michael Phelps is Aquaman? Than Figge is Aquawoman.

On February 5th she stepped onto the beach of Trinidad. She last had touched land on January 12. Why? Because Figge, a 56-year-old from Aspen, Colorado, became the first woman to swim across the Atlantic.

The total distance of her trip has yet to be calculated because she is now off from Trinidad to the Virgin Islands. Once she gets there, in late February, her whole trip will be added up.

Read her story here.

Yeah, this lady can swim across the entire Atlantic, and I get winded swimming across the pool. And that's just a plastic kiddie one in my parent's front yard!