Blog Archives

Return of the little girl

Posted by Ken Campbell October 13, 2011 0 Comment 979 views

The weather oracles are calling for another La Niña this winter, although it’s not expected to be as strong as last year’s model. What this means, as near as I can tell, is that it will be another wet, cold winter and spring, which is good news for ducks, but I could have lived without […]

Tull Canyon

Posted by Ken Campbell October 11, 2011 0 Comment 2562 views

I’m not really sure why it took so long, but I finally made it up to the Tubal Cain mine this past week. It’s a fairly long driving approach off of Highway 101, gravel logging roads ascending through National Forest land, ending at the trailhead parking area. It wasn’t raining so much as the air […]

Comfort zone

Posted by Ken Campbell October 10, 2011 0 Comment 2572 views

I had the opportunity last week to go into a few outdoor specialty shops while taking a little road trip out on the Olympic peninsula. Wildernest and Sport Townsend in PT, and the Olympic Outdoor Center in Port Gamble. Now that we don’t have any legitimate outdoor shops in Tacoma any more, it’s a rare […]

Best laid plans

Posted by Ken Campbell October 6, 2011 0 Comment 1218 views

I suppose I should have seen it coming. By the time October comes around, the prospect of a successful Rainier climb becomes less likely, to say the least. The past 48 hours have dumped a couple feet of snow on the mountain, disguising the crevasses and making the route not only more strenuous, but also […]

Guilty

Posted by Ken Campbell October 5, 2011 0 Comment 1052 views

There’s really no way around this, I guess. I figure that it’s not that unusual – to google yourself – but it does seem to speak to a somewhat narcissistic and shallow side of the human condition. In this case, my human condition. But don’t tell me you’ve never done it. I don’t know exactly […]

Carpe October

Posted by Ken Campbell October 4, 2011 0 Comment 1078 views

In case the late sunrises and cooler weather haven’t tipped you off already (and in the event that you don’t own a calendar), October is here. In all its glory. And the rain has once again begun to fall, on the just and the unjust. I am not sure to which camp I belong but, […]

Everybody does it?

Posted by Ken Campbell October 3, 2011 0 Comment 1194 views

David Uberuaga was the big cheese at Mount Rainier National Park for a long time, right up until he left earlier this year to take the Superintendent’s job at the Grand Canyon, the plum of Park Service jobs. And got a $7000/year pay raise to boot. It seems like just yesterday I was reading in […]

Getting dry

Posted by Ken Campbell October 1, 2011 0 Comment 1109 views

A few thoughts on this brief story about a 40 year-old paddler who floundered down in Henderson Inlet yesterday evening: 1. Hats off to the rescuer, Teal Russell. Thanks for making a bad situation better and for giving the gift of life. 2. The story doesn’t mention whether the victim was wearing a life jacket. […]

Going, going, gone

Posted by Ken Campbell September 30, 2011 0 Comment 1186 views

I’ve been watching a web site for the past week or so that shows the ongoing deconstruction of the dams on the Elwha River. The hope is that, once these obsolete and ill-conceived dams are out of the way, the river can return to its former glory, and that the salmon will return as well. […]

Smith Island

Posted by Ken Campbell September 29, 2011 0 Comment 1373 views

I’ve been thinking lately about Smith Island. It’s one of those places that even long-time residents of western Washington probably don’t know much about, if they’ve even heard of it at all. Smith Island is located near the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 6 miles off the west side of […]