Talking Story Archives - Page 91 of 114

Hidden waters

Posted by Ken Campbell June 10, 2009 0 Comment 1066 views

Along the Oregon coast, the big rivers form extensive sloughs before they reach the sea. The Nehalem and the Tillamook are both good examples of rivers that are held separate by sand spit formations, allowing the last mile or so of river course to wander as it reaches the end. Salt water and fresh intermingle, […]

Lake riding

Posted by Ken Campbell June 9, 2009 0 Comment 932 views

I have always been partial to salt water. Perhaps, if I’d grown up on the Great Lakes, I would find fresh water more intriguing – those bodies of water have much in common with the sea, after all – but I didn’t, and I don’t. Lakes are defined by their borders, and the smaller the […]

A Trip report

Posted by Ken Campbell June 8, 2009 0 Comment 995 views

I took the southern route to the peninsula this time. Just a little over an hour to Aberdeen, then west to State Road 109, the slow road up the coast, to check out the ocean beaches. Along the way, I visited some of the shoreline access points for a new guide book, stopping here and […]

Load-out

Posted by Ken Campbell June 4, 2009 0 Comment 1092 views

There is a party scheduled this coming Saturday in Port Townsend. The Hood Canal Bridge is finished and is opening a week early… as good a reason as any to celebrate in that grand village by the bay. I wouldn’t mind going up there for that. It’s hard not to have a good time in […]

Changes

Posted by Ken Campbell June 2, 2009 0 Comment 1036 views

Plans change. I will not be kayaking the Roadless Coast again this year, at least not the entire distance in one week-long paddle. The way it looks right now, that coastal section, between Neah Bay and Ruby Beach, will be part of a larger expedition that will circle the Olympic Peninsula. It’s purely in the […]

Early?

Posted by Ken Campbell May 29, 2009 0 Comment 1016 views

All joyful and happy noises this week from the Hood Canal Bridge project. With the favorable weather we’ve been enjoying lately, work on the span has gone more quickly than expected, and the opening date is now expected the first week in June. The conditions weren’t as good when the project began, but have impoved […]

Meet the Queets

Posted by Ken Campbell May 28, 2009 0 Comment 1045 views

“Out of the dirt of the skin.” That’s what the word Queets means, translated directly from the Quinault original. The story, as I’ve heard it told, is that the Great Spirit Kwate was out walking on the beach one day and came to the banks of the river. He had been walking a while and […]

Slice of Moclips

Posted by Ken Campbell May 27, 2009 2 Comments 1115 views

The town of Moclips – if “town” is the right word – started out as a Quinault village along the banks of the Moclips River. It was a place where young women were taken when they reached puberty, a place where menstruating females were set apart from the rest of the tribe, so as not […]

The beginning of another crazy plan

Posted by Ken Campbell May 26, 2009 0 Comment 867 views

The Olympic Peninsula is an island. I wrote a post last year about the Black River and about how that particular little stream connects Puget Sound with the Chehalis River, effectively surrounding the “peninsula” with water. Making it an island, really. Not that it matters. Other than being a semi-interesting factoid that can be brought […]

A Complex kid (part 2)

Posted by Ken Campbell May 22, 2009 0 Comment 1442 views

Although avoiding the public was the secret to Big John’s success at eluding capture, there were times when he needed things that he couldn’t get anywhere else. He broke into Jackson’s Country Grocery Store that winter, something he was wont to do from time to time, as he needed supplies. On this particular raid, however, […]