Posts filed under "Talking Story"
Cha-latt River
According to Smitty Parratt, author of the definitive Gods and Goblins; A Field Guide to Place Names of Olympic National Park, Mosquito Creek is probably so named because the area is a “first-rate breeding ground for mosquitos.” It would seem to make sense, eh? For a time, the coastal creek was referred to as the […]
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In plain view
During the course of learning about SUP touring, I have hemmed and hawed over several different choices for hauling gear. The thing about long-distance travel by SUP is that there aren’t many resources for learning about the finer points of the endeavor. There aren’t that many people out there who are doing it and the […]
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Winter morning musings
What with all this working-for-a-living and all these everyday obligations, my winter trips to the Olympic peninsula have been few and far between. Add to these factors the unfortunate reality that the van (the Hotel Westfalia) is long-term busted, and it has been a more sedentary season than I would have otherwise hoped. Don’t get […]
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Surge
I had read about the predictions of high water before this weekend’s Matelót trip to AndersonIsland, so I wasn’t completely unprepared. I’m still a bit fuzzy about the precise causes, but this article may help clear it up a little. The high tides during this first week in February are supposed to be monsters. Tie […]
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The Curious case of Harry Fisher, Part III
On October 18, 1891, a mere three days after his second dishonorable discharge, James Hanmore headed back to the Olympic peninsula. For some strange reason, habit maybe, he still traveled under the name “H. Fisher,” and he was accompanied by two other men, Franklin Yates (also a member of the O’Neil expedition), and a Mr. […]
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Gig Harbor interlude
I went for a paddle yesterday, during daylight hours, from Gig Harbor out into the Narrows and on up into Colvos Passage. There was nary a breath of wind and the water was like glass, not a disturbance on the surface and no other craft out there with me. I put in at the boat […]
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The Curious case of Harry Fisher, Part II
As the O’Neil party spent more time in the Olympics, working their way through the tangled underbrush and steep terrain, each of the men seemed to thrive on the experience, none more so than Private Harry Fisher. His days were meticulously recorded in dipped ink on ruled notepaper, detailed, thoughtful accounts of the expedition’s progress […]
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The Curious case of Harry Fisher, Part I
“The enlisted man, although stupid and oftentimes lazy, can be incredibly sly and cunning and bears considerable watching.”US Army’s Officer Handbook, ed. 1898. As stories go, this is a good one. It starts out with this one man, whose name was Harry Fisher. As far as you know. No, that’s not true… the man’s name […]
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Gravity issues
It’s going to be a lot harder to get to Hurricane Ridge for a while. Four weeks, six weeks, maybe more. Just below the Heart O’ the Hills park entrance station, a hundred-foot section of roadway headed south this week as a result of the heavy rains. The road is closed indefinitely to all uses, […]
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Playing in eternity
“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides… is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.” Rachel Carson I’m going paddling now.
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A story of sea kayaking and science on the rugged coast of Alaska. Coming – Spring 2014.
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