The Wild Life

I was laid up by the flu for almost a week, so the only adventuring I've been up for has been of the armchair variety. The "Ice Worlds" segment of the Discovery Channel's 11-part miniseries Planet Earth promised (and delivered) a cooling respite from my feverish state. It clearly took some extreme filmmaking to get these amazing views of life at the polar ends of the Earth: Hundreds of male penguins clustered wing-to-wing to protect their eggs through weeks of frigid storms, a polar bear swimming miles to find food and desperately stalking a walrus herd, and the first steps of baby musk ox, among other memorable, gorgeously shot scenes. The series airs Sundays through April 22 and is available on DVD.

Closer to home, Go Wild! Outside Las Vegas showed me what I was missing on my last trip to Sin City: spectacular rock climbing, scenic hikes, and restful soaks in flower-laden springs--just a stone's throw from the slot machines. Writer/director Doug Robinson, a longtime climber, is a congenial guide to these little-known desert treats.