Ken Campbell, Author at The Last Wilderness

Mount Constance

Posted by Ken Campbell June 11, 2008 0 Comment 692 views

At 7,756 feet, Mount Constance is the third highest Olympic peak. Because there is less precipitation on the east side of the Olympic range, the terrain on Constance is markedly different than what you would encounter on Olympus, just a few short miles away. The warmer average temperatures factor in as well, and the result […]

First

Posted by Ken Campbell June 10, 2008 0 Comment 945 views

I have been rereading the account of the Press Party Expedition once again. Written by historian Robert Wood, it remains the most complete account of what some have snidely called the “ultimate boys campout.” Wood doesn’t paint the expedition with quite the same sarcastic brush, but it is hard to argue the point. For all […]

Whither Marrowstone?

Posted by Ken Campbell June 7, 2008 0 Comment 902 views

Marrowstone Island got its name from the intrepid sourpuss George Vancouver, who named the northeastern tip of the island Marrowstone Point, because of the mineral deposits he saw in the sandy bluffs that tower out above the water. The island has a population today of around 850 and a single place of business, the Nordland […]

Funny, it doesn’t feel like June…

Posted by Ken Campbell June 4, 2008 0 Comment 602 views

I camped at a DNR campground on the banks of the Hoh River. Slept in the Hotel Westfalia once again, luxury compared to the past few nights. Dinner was grilled steak and beans heated up in the can. Over the coals. Just like all those old hobos used to do. I got up this morning […]

Graffiti

Posted by Ken Campbell June 4, 2008 0 Comment 776 views

Daybreak is not a precise event out here on the western edge. Over time, night changes to morning, and the sky changes from black to dark gray, then ever-lightening shades of gray until it arrives at the one it chooses for the day. And that’s that, and daybreak is in there somewhere. It’s just that […]

The boardwalk

Posted by Ken Campbell June 3, 2008 0 Comment 732 views

The birds and the seals seem to speak with almost human voices down here. There are times when I could swear I just heard peoples voices as they peered over the edge of the ravine, but there are no people there. The grunts and the cries of the animals are almost distinguishable as words, thoughts […]

Caves

Posted by Ken Campbell June 2, 2008 0 Comment 703 views

I leave Tacoma in the morning. A low fog hangs over the streets, gray skies and a stiff breeze. Not many cars on the road between Bremerton and Port Angeles. Sort of feels like I have the road to myself. It’s a Sunday, but even at that, it’s a quiet one. I pull into Port […]

Old places

Posted by Ken Campbell May 31, 2008 0 Comment 1103 views

I have heard it said that it is not possible to step in the same stream twice. Meaning, as far as I can tell, that regardless how many times you do a certain thing or visit a certain place, it will always be new in some elemental way. You have changed; the stream has continued […]

Bent wood

Posted by Ken Campbell May 31, 2008 0 Comment 992 views

A Northwest native classic, the bentwood box. In which a single plank of cedar is kerfed and steamed, then bent to form the walls of a box. Decorated with carvings and colored designs, inlaid with bits of shell and flakes of metal, the boxes are valued posessions, often used to store items of wealth and […]

The dragon’s claws

Posted by Ken Campbell May 30, 2008 0 Comment 791 views

If you look at a chart of Puget Sound, and you glance up at the area around Admiralty Inlet, in the northwestern end of Peter Puget’s protected waterways, you’ll see something, well, interesting. At least, I think it’s interesting. I can’t remember now whether I was originally told about this geographical feature by someone else […]