Editor’s note: I have started 10 blog posts since the last published one but life seems to have accelerated to a rate I can’t keep up with (including me being hit with nasty viral bug and someone hitting my parked car) so they have piled up without being able to exit draft status. However, I…
I mentioned yesterday my hike on the Ross Dam Trail in the North Cascades in February of 2023. I had never driven up to where SR 20 (North Cascades Highway) closes in the winter due to avalanche risks but I took the day to go up and check it out. I stopped at…
It is that time of year again. The American Long Distance Hiking Association’s Cascade Ruck hits the Columbia Gorge this month. If you haven’t been to one of these and hope to do a long distance hike in the future (or just want to lighten your pack, score great gear deals or hang out with…
This week’s topic for the #NatureWritingChallenge really had me thinking! “Your most memorable encounter with a stranger on public lands” should have been easy because we meet new-to-us people ALL the time while out on public lands. It is inevitable that we run into people we don’t know, even when we are trying to escape…
Have you visited the trails on Blanchard Mountain? You probably know the area by more popular names like Oyster Dome and Chuckanut Drive. The Pacific Northwest Trail also runs through the forest on its way to Whidbey Island from here. The land on this mountain by the Salish Bay is owned by DNR (Department of Natural Resources)…
One of my favorite memories from our work party to Hart’s Pass in September will have to be meeting the first woman to hike the Pacific Crest Trail solo. Her trail name is Ravensong and she hiked the PCT in 1976. In fact, she finished exactly on my 6th birthday! She was one of 12…