All Posts Written by "ken"
Dateline – Tacoma
Five Makah whalers who went a’whaling without sanction from their tribe, without a federal permit, and without regard for the consequences their actions would have, were sentenced today in federal court in Tacoma. See, back in September of 2007, the Fab Five (Wayne Johnson, Andy Noel, Frankie Gonzales, Theron Parker and William Secor), took it […]
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Mount Ellinor
At 5,944 feet, Mount Ellinor is the most southerly high peak in the ridge of mountains overlooking Lake Cushman. First ascent honors went to a foursome from the Lake Cushman area in 1879: D. Utler, H Esteps and Mr. and Mrs. J. Waughop. The mountain was named by Lt. George Davidson of the 1857 United […]
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Summer haze
The thermometer is supposed to peak in the mid-90’s today down here in the low country. That’s about what it was yesterday. Too hot for me. I looked west to the Olympics this morning at sunrise. (The neighbor’s dogs had been barking all night, so I called off any attempt at sleep around 4:30, and […]
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Battle on the edge
The Makah reservation occupies the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula and includes Tatoosh Island. There are stories, however, that say this was not always the case. Back then, when humans sang songs to whales as they hunted them and spirits roamed the dark green forests, the area was the home of the Nittinat tribe. […]
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Shucks
There is an event held in Shelton, every October, that I believe I would like to see for myself. “Oysterfest,” it’s called, and this year’s festivities get underway on October 4th and 5th. I’ve been to the Lemon Festival in Goleta, California and eaten cod tongue in Newfoundland. It only seems logical, really. For more […]
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Rock piles
Sea stacks, like the ones along the Olympic coast, are remnants of land. The last little bits of where the land used to be, markers of where the sea had once been held back, but could be held back no longer. The water wears on the stone and forms caves. Caves connect with each other […]
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On the road
Maybe it is because I grew up along Highway 101. Admittedly, I grew up in Southern California, and Highway 101 has a different feel to it as it rolls through Santa Barbara than it does on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. Still, it has a familiar ring to my ears, and maybe that’s […]
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Tubal Cain – an introduction
I had never heard of Tubal Cain before, at least I don’t think so. I may have had a vague remembrance of a played-out copper mine in the southern Olympics by that name, but I had no idea it was such a powerful name in itself. A quick search of the Worldly Wise Web gives […]
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Me myself I
A good traveling companion is hard to find. Everyone, it seems, has his or her little idiosyncrasy. We’re all a trifle odd and, given that it’s the little things about one another that set us off, we need to use caution when choosing a trail mate or a paddling partner. Small annoyances are magnified by […]
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It’s a vertical world
I drove out the night before and car-camped in the weeds at the end of the road. Anything to get an early start. It used to be that you could drive to the Constance trailhead but flooding in 2002 claimed a 300-foot section of the roadway, effectively cutting off five miles of gravel road, two […]
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A story of sea kayaking and science on the rugged coast of Alaska. Coming – Spring 2014.
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