Blog Archives

On the margins

Posted by Ken Campbell September 28, 2011 2 Comments 1428 views

I’m working on a short review of the Mowich Lake area for a different website. Going over my notes, trying to pick the right superlatives to describe what is a picturesque and unique location… and I can’t shake the idea that, although I’m not being untruthful, exactly, I’m also not telling it like it is. […]

Climate change

Posted by Ken Campbell September 27, 2011 0 Comment 1097 views

I wore a rain coat yesterday, first time in a while. It was mostly just to get up the hill, take the boy to school, nothing technical. Still, the fact that the rain is falling, that the temperature is dropping a bit, has me thinking about the weeks and months ahead. I’ve got that Rainier […]

Mountain

Posted by Ken Campbell September 26, 2011 0 Comment 1120 views

“Adventure travel seems to imply a far-off destination, but a near-by destination can be scarier, for no place is more frightening than one near home that people you trust have warned you against.” Paul Theroux

Docktoberfest

Posted by Ken Campbell September 25, 2011 0 Comment 1130 views

Citizens for a Healthy Bay is putting on an event down at Dock Street Landing next weekend that involves kayaks, live music, costumes and beer. What could go wrong? The organizers contacted me to do a Stand Up Paddleboard demo and for some reason I said “Yes.” (It’s not that I’m shy at all, it’s […]

For the love of water

Posted by Ken Campbell September 24, 2011 0 Comment 1252 views

Although I’ve spent hundreds of hours at the Nisqually Delta over the past 20 years, precious few of them have actually been on land. Most of the time I’ve been kayaking, either on my own or with groups of paying clients, exploring the intricate waterways and the ever-changing shorelines of one of western Washington’s greatest […]

Tolmie Peak lookout

Posted by Ken Campbell September 22, 2011 0 Comment 2037 views

There is something special about a fire lookout. There aren’t many of them left – airplanes and satellites do most of the fire-spotting work now – but the ones that remain are monuments to a time that, to me at least, seems simpler, more human, better. It is no accident that these crow’s nests were […]

Only an observation

Posted by Ken Campbell September 21, 2011 2 Comments 1299 views

This is not a rant. Not meant to be, anyway. But here we go: I’ve been noticing that kayaking/paddleboarding/racing type events have gotten a whole lot spendier in the past few years. Where it used to be pretty common to sign up for a little club contest or a community race for ten bucks or […]

Epic

Posted by Ken Campbell September 20, 2011 1 Comment 1207 views

There are, when it comes right down to it, two ways to learn a new skill: you can learn how to do something or you can learn how not to do something. I went rafting on the Tieton this past weekend, in the hopes of getting some education on how to guide a raft. And […]

In praise of a lighter load

Posted by Ken Campbell September 19, 2011 0 Comment 1004 views

“We found in the course of our journey the convenience of having disencumbered ourselves, by laying aside whatever we could spare; for it is not to be imagined without experience, how in climbing crags, and treading bogs, and winding through narrow and obstructed passages, a little bulk will hinder, and a little weight will burthen; […]

A Double-shot of car camping

Posted by Ken Campbell September 16, 2011 0 Comment 1009 views

A month or so back, I took the boy over to the east side of Mount Rainier for a couple nights of car camping. The trip was part of a project I’ve been working on for visitrainier.com, a review of the campgrounds inside the National Park, and the latest installments have just been posted. So, […]