Ken Campbell, Author at The Last Wilderness

Scenes from a Viking funeral

Posted by Ken Campbell October 25, 2010 0 Comment 1951 views

Totally off the subject, if indeed there is a subject: I had the chance to attend a Viking funeral here at the beach the other day. Ib Christiansen, long-time Salmon Beacher, died some time back. One of his old friends made a longboat replica out of some of his possessions – lead pipe keel from […]

Shore day

Posted by Ken Campbell October 24, 2010 0 Comment 1222 views

They said it was going to get windy. They were right. A winter-style storm is in the process of working its way across western Washington, huge swells out at the coast, snow in the Cascades and Olympics and high wind and rain all over the rest of us. I didn’t get out there this morning. […]

Sidekick

Posted by Ken Campbell October 23, 2010 0 Comment 1229 views

Little Tahoma Peak is a bump on the eastern side of Mount Rainier. Composed of chossy rock that is notoriously unstable, it rises thousands of feet above the Emmons Glacier like a sentinel of stone. In 1963, a series of huge rockfalls off shed about 14 million cubic yards off its north side and scattered […]

The blue bins are for recycling

Posted by Ken Campbell October 21, 2010 0 Comment 1448 views

I was climbing the stairs yesterday with the boy, the morning hike up from the beach to the parking lot, when he looked over the railing and saw a pair of beer cups on the slope below. Somebody up the beach had a party last weekend and apparently there were a few guests that chucked […]

Death on the trail

Posted by Ken Campbell October 20, 2010 0 Comment 1443 views

I took these photos last year on the trail that leads from Hurricane Ridge to Lake Angeles. An extended family of goats making their way along the trail, with a stout billy up front, some kids and an older female near the end made up the group. I got off the trail, stood in the […]

Back to Highway 12

Posted by Ken Campbell October 19, 2010 2 Comments 1164 views

I was thinking yesterday about going to Mima Mounds, down south of Olympia. Maybe take the boy and a picnic lunch, walk around the weird, egg-carton prairie for a while while the weather’s still decent. We ended up doing other things instead, but it got me to thinking again about Route 12. Specifically, where to […]

Seasonally affected

Posted by Ken Campbell October 18, 2010 0 Comment 1003 views

It is sometime around now, just about Halloween time, when our weather here becomes more trick than treat. It’s cold at 4:00 am; a month ago, it wasn’t. This is an observation more than it is a complaint. To carp about the weather is a pointless hobby and one that brings no satisfaction. Better to […]

Facing backward, moving forward

Posted by Ken Campbell October 16, 2010 1 Comment 986 views

The crew over at O.A.R. Northwest took the rowboat out to play yesterday. They left the dock at Point Defiance at about 6pm, attempting to row from Tacoma to Victoria, a trip they figured would probably take about 30 hours. They are preparing for next year’s cross-Atlantic race, which they hope will take them something […]

Lions of winter

Posted by Ken Campbell October 15, 2010 0 Comment 1899 views

OK, so it’s not winter yet, but it is surely coming our way. In southern Puget Sound, one of the most impressive harbingers of the season is the California sea lion, who makes his appearance about this time every year. Although it’s possible to see sea lions during the summer – there may be some […]

Retired

Posted by Ken Campbell October 14, 2010 0 Comment 1660 views

When a climbing rope gets old and worn, taken out of service, there are several options besides the dumpster. Dog leashes are popular. Clotheslines, utility rope, maybe even nautical applications. When a line is retired after years of exposure to sun and salt water, on the other hand, after tying down thousands of kayaks and […]