December morning
It’s clear and sunny this morning, a welcome change. I can see the peaks of the eastern Olympics, snow-covered and sharp as knives. It’s the first day I’ve seen them in weeks and it gets me thinking about the things I have, so far, left undone. There are places over there that I want to see, routes I am aching to try, but this year has already run out for them. December is heading in other directions for me; the wild shores and high mountain passes of the Olympics will have to wait for 2010.
I am leaving on Thursday for eastern Washington and a 2-day paddleboard ride through the Hanford Reach. Chris Pattillo, Mike Willis and myself are planning on doing the Vernita Bridge to Ringold section of the river, a 33-mile classic trip through the last free-flowing segment of the Columbia. I don’t know how often it’s been done on a SUP, in December. Probably never. Then there’s the Deception Pass Dash, set for the 12th… I’m not sure whether I’ll be piloting a kayak or a SUP yet, but it seems like it will be a good time and I’m planning on being there when that deal goes down.
Meanwhile, there’s the web site to finish and publish, continuing research and writing related to the next paddling guide book, as well as important Christmasy doings that seem to pop up everywhere this time of year. It’s a fast month, and it always goes by so quickly there at the end. I never thought 2010 would get here so soon.