Ken Campbell, Author at The Last Wilderness

Like ships in a harbor

Posted by Ken Campbell January 27, 2011 0 Comment 1081 views

I was sorting through the gear boxes the other day, putting things where they belong. I have a storage bin full of bags: dry bags, compression sacks, conventional stuff sacks and mesh ditties. Another bin holds the climbing equipment: helmet, biners, harness and crampons. Still others have group gear: plates and bowls, cutlery and cloth […]

Winter surf

Posted by Ken Campbell January 27, 2011 0 Comment 1284 views

It’s been a while since I’ve been surfing. A few days down in California earlier in the month, but not much around these parts. I had the chance to catch up with Matt and Chris just this past weekend, coworkers and friends from back in the days of Backpackers Supply. It has been too long. […]

The Sports page

Posted by Ken Campbell January 24, 2011 0 Comment 1076 views

Three years ago yesterday, I was in Nanaimo. I’d just started on my winter circumnavigation attempt of Vancouver Island (that particular trip still hasn’t been done, by the by. Just saying.) I ended up staying for an extra day, maybe two, because the Packers were playing that year in the NFC Championship against the Giants […]

This would be a good weekend…

Posted by Ken Campbell January 23, 2011 0 Comment 1001 views

I would like to go to the Atlantic Paddling Symposium, put on by Paddle Canada. This year it’s happening in Glovertown, Newfoundland, which would make it even more special. I am a member of Kayak Newfoundland and Labrador, the collective voice of kayaking in Canada’s coolest province, and I know how much every Newfoundland paddler […]

Justify this

Posted by Ken Campbell January 22, 2011 1 Comment 2481 views

Water. From Fiji. Fiji water. As in Fiji, palm trees and coral, blue waves and sunshine, that remote Pacific island chain where, apparently, the water is fine. So damn fine that they bottle it up, in tiny plastic bottles, and ship it all over the world. I saw these when I was in Texas last […]

Your four-week reminder

Posted by Ken Campbell January 21, 2011 2 Comments 1073 views

On February 18, I’ll be doing a slide show at the Mountaineers Hall in Tacoma. I’ll be showing images and telling tall tales from the kayaking trip I took around the island of Newfoundland back in 2000. It was an amazing adventure, three full months of paddling pleasure and pain. It ended up being the […]

Micro-expeditions

Posted by Ken Campbell January 20, 2011 0 Comment 1242 views

“I would discourage, if not ban, trekking to Everest base camp and flying over the Greenland Icecap. Generally, people should stay home. Forget gaining a little knowledge about a lot and strive to learn a lot about a little.” Harvey ManningWalking the Beach to Bellingham Harvey’s making that assertion as part of a complex and […]

The Captain is back

Posted by Ken Campbell January 19, 2011 0 Comment 1238 views

There are a plethora of possibilities when it comes to information about the tides and currents here in Puget Sound. There’s the fishing tide books (“The bigger the dot, the better the fishin’.”) You can call the NOAA info number, check the newspaper or even the phone book. There’s Washburn’s Tables and each Sea Trails […]

Refugio

Posted by Ken Campbell January 18, 2011 0 Comment 1182 views

It isn’t always beautiful, isn’t always perfect. The golden glow of the sunset and the smell of jasmine on the evening breeze… that isn’t always how it is around here. But it was last week. A quick dip south, couldn’t stay long. I took the board almost as an afterthought: It was on the car […]

Cali

Posted by Ken Campbell January 15, 2011 0 Comment 1081 views

I did surf. Have surfed. Will surf. Never mind that the waves have been small and languid. It is warm here, and the sun on the water is beautiful. Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy, after all. I am in SB on family matters, but I have managed to get to the beach for […]