Ken Campbell, Author at The Last Wilderness

Lake Constance

Posted by Ken Campbell June 21, 2008 0 Comment 711 views

Just got back from an excellent day. Lake Constance and back, and yes, that trail took it out of me. More on the trip tomorrow.

Gone

Posted by Ken Campbell June 19, 2008 0 Comment 682 views

I’m off to the mountains. Right now.

Old pennies

Posted by Ken Campbell June 18, 2008 0 Comment 814 views

There are buildings in Prague that are 900 years old. Imagine that. Actual structures, multi-storey homes and public houses, some of them built on foundations laid by Roman conquerors centuries before. Around the Old Town Square in downtown Prague, Staromestska namesti, the gothic buildings stand as they have for so many years, through so many […]

A grand notion

Posted by Ken Campbell June 18, 2008 0 Comment 814 views

I have been thinking about the Summit to the Sea. I’ve always thought it would be an interesting study in contrasts to descend the length of the Hoh River, from its beginnings in the glaciers of Mount Olympus, through mountain streams and cascades, and emerging finally at the place where the clear mountain water mixes […]

The mountains are out

Posted by Ken Campbell June 17, 2008 0 Comment 794 views

It was a sunny day today, blue sky, fresh breeze. It felt like spring might really be here this time. (Never mind that the “first day of summer” is less than a week away.) That’s how it’s done here in the Northwest. Sometimes we don’t really get a spring, which is difficult for even the […]

C-141 Peak

Posted by Ken Campbell June 15, 2008 0 Comment 1709 views

“MAC 40641 cleared to 5,000 feet.”“Roger. This is MAC Four Zero Six Four One, leaving ten for five.” I flew in the Air Force for almost eighteen years. I wasn’t a pilot; I was a loadmaster. I flew in the back of the plane with the cargo and passengers. Flying out of McChord Air Force […]

Mixed metaphors

Posted by Ken Campbell June 15, 2008 0 Comment 738 views

To my way of thinking, the mountains and valleys of the Olympic Peninsula are a monument to freedom, a glimpse of the world at its best and wildest. Each wave that crashes on the Pacific shore, every ancient cedar that stands on some misty, green slope, is a primal force, a link back to when […]

Changing plans

Posted by Ken Campbell June 14, 2008 0 Comment 671 views

“Man, I don’t know. It doesn’t look good.” That was Troy on the phone, my climbing partner for a trip next week to Mount Constance. Usually by this time of the year, it’s a largely snow-free route, or at least a route where the element of snow isn’t a big cause for concern. This year, […]

Destruction Island

Posted by Ken Campbell June 12, 2008 1 Comment 7013 views

Destruction Island is about a half-mile long but very narrow, seldom wider than a hundred yards. It lies about three miles off the Olympic coast, not far from Ruby Beach. The island is the place where two ships under the command of Spanish explorer Capt. Bodega y Quadra anchored on July 14, 1775. Seven men […]

Juneuary

Posted by Ken Campbell June 12, 2008 0 Comment 777 views

It’s cold up here in the Great Northwest. Doesn’t feel like it’s supposed to, for this time of year. Plants in the garden are stunted from the cold. So are the firs and the hemlocks of western Washington. The new growth on their boughs is there, but it is bright green as if it were […]