Posts filed under "Talking Story"
Carbon River update
I was up before the sun on Saturday morning, on the road to Mount Rainier early, and at the end of the Carbon River Road by 7:00. First things first: it’s about 18 miles round-trip from the Carbon River Ranger Station to the glacier, more than half of which is the old river road, which […]
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US Route 12, anyone?
At some point during this past August’s family vacation, I got to looking at a map of Washington (mostly to try to figure out where we were supposed to be going.) Our route took us down a portion of US Route 12 – near the Tri-cities area – and I remember being taken by how […]
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A Guide’s life (Part 2)
On these past couple of excursions in the San Juans, the pair of private trips to Sucia Island and vicinity that just concluded last week, I got to thinking about guiding again, and what it really means to be a guide. I wrote a long dissertation about that topic on this site a few months […]
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Turn, turn, turn
Well, that’s that. Summer, I mean. It’s officially done gotten over today. It’s fall now, autumn. Truth be told, it seemed like summer checked out a few weeks ago. There have been a few warm afternoons lately but the nights are getting cold. Mornings too. Fall is, without a doubt, the shortest of all the […]
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The Carbon River Wilderness Path (maybe)
The ghost roads are back in the news again. Mount Rainier’s Carbon River Road, closed because of flooding since 2006, is going to stay that way permanently, if the current National Park Service plan holds. It’s been a while since you could drive to Ipsut Creek, and there are those who want the road back, […]
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A Glowing
In the darkest hours of the morning, just before another gray and misty Northwest dawn, the lights that are most visible come from the water. That’s where you’ll find the tiny green dinoflagellates, microscopic organisms that emit a phosphorescent chemical light when they are disturbed, like with my paddle. As droplets fall from the blade, […]
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The Northwest Room
I have some writing to do. Not just for this space, although it always seems like I’ve got at least a half-dozen ideas on the hook that I need to babble on about. I have another guide book that I want to get busy with (more on that next year, hopefully), and a few other […]
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The Buzzkill Brigade, and so on
The sport of sea kayaking (if indeed it is actually a “sport” at all), is in the process of falling off the radar. The sea kayaking demographic seems to shift notably upward every year and the percentage of younger people who are getting into paddling these days is minute. Of course, there are a pile […]
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Back
The northern tier of the San Juan Islands is a special place, one seemingly made for paddling. Distances are short between the islands but the strong currents make each crossing a chance to exercise navigational skills as well as muscles. There were several times this past week when I had to dead reckon our passage […]
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The top of the Juans
I have two guiding trips scheduled over the course of the next eight days. Both based out of Sucia Island, one 3-day and one 4-day. It’s a recipe for burnout, sticking trips together like this, but it’s the end of the season, they’re a couple of excellent groups and I am lucky to be able […]
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A story of sea kayaking and science on the rugged coast of Alaska. Coming – Spring 2014.
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