Seymour Kushner: In Love with the Outdoors

Truly, as we have seen, Seymour Kushner is a man with many interests and many passions; his curiosity is boundless, and to each interest he devotes himself with full vigor and enthusiasm. His first love, of course, is music—but not far down the list is outdoor adventure. Indeed, we have already mentioned the fact that, for Seymour Kushner, there are few pastimes more thrilling and rewarding than an adventure in some exotic geographic locale.

And certainly, he has had plenty of these adventures. Back in the day, Seymour Kushner was an avid motorcycle enthusiast. These days, he does most of his adventuring by way of jeeping. Regardless, his passion for rugged and risky locales remains undiminished.

• Seymour Kushner jeeped the Baja Peninsula as well as Canyonlands National Park and the old mule trails of Telluride and Ouray in Colorado. He has taken extensive motorcycling trips through the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, as well as Canada.
• “Part of the fun is the planning and preparation for these trips,” Seymour Kushner says.  For his jeeping trip through the Baja peninsula, he was able to visit the Explorers Club in Manhattan where he was able to research his intended destination. “It was a thrill,” he says, “to see original editions of John Steinbeck’s book, entitled Sea of Cortez, in which he describes his fishing trips to the Baja region—the very region I was preparing to visit.” The trip through Baja involved carrying in water and gasoline, plus other supplies including camping gear and snakebite kits. You see, Baja has 20 species of snakes, including one rattle-less rattler!
• His jeeping trip through Canyonlands in Southeast Utah also involved danger and a great deal of important preparation. Canyonlands National Park is only accessed by jeep and many of the campsites are caves. Because the dry riverbeds are subject to flash flooding in the summer, it is advisable to explore the area with park rangers who run guided jeep tours. “The scenery was spectacular,” recalls Seymour Kushner. “One of my most memorable moments was passing by a trailer where a park ranger lived and hearing him play ‘Grand Canyon Suite’ on the violin.”