Posts filed under "Talking Story"
Wind
Here in the Pacific Northwest we call them “wind storms,” which seems a little redundant to me. And completely inadequate. I mean, all storms come with a little wind. Up here, the wind is what our storms are made of, what they are. Our wind, when it really gets to flying around, has substance, heft, […]
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Slouching toward summer
I remember one summer, the summer of 1993, that was cancelled completely. At least here in western Washington. I remember it so well because it was the summer when I was supposed to be renting kayaks on Ruston Way. Down by the water all day, peddling kayak rides in the sun to throngs of happy […]
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Aftermath
It’s hard to put a trip into a nutshell, to compress all the exertion, the stress, the joy and the freedom of an expedition into words and paragraphs. Even the most evocative turns of phrase can’t blow salt spray in your eyes, or put the chill your toes like the real thing. When the trip […]
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Puget Sound Challenge – Day 12
The rain kept up all night. Heavy at times, loud on the roof of the picnic shelter. When the morning arrived, the rain had lessened to a drizzle but the air seemed cold. Packing was easy, being out of the elements, and I enjoyed the morning cup of coffee even more than usual as I […]
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Puget Sound Challenge – Day 11
I didn’t have to go until the afternoon. Currents were running strong in the wrong direction all morning, so I went to the Y with the boy. A little swimming practice… neither of us seem to be able to get enough of the water. When I did start out from Titlow Beach, it was almost […]
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Details to follow
I finished the Puget Sound Challenge yesterday, pushed in to Allyn by a favorable wind, riding the clean swells under dreamy, azure skies. The rain was mostly confined to the hours of darkness, miles came fairly easy and the whole thing was over almost before I knew it. I’ll post a complete account of the […]
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April showers
It’s raining again. I’m leaving in a few hours for what I hope will be the last stage of the Puget Sound Challenge, from Titlow Beach to Allyn. I expect I’ll be at Joemma State Park this evening, but that’s always open to change. I’ve got a new bag from Ortlieb that I’m going to […]
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A List
The current National Geographic Adventure magazine has a piece on the “50 Best American Adventures.” Transect the Olympic, a trail hike of the Press Party route, came in at number 17. I’m not sure of the ranking process that was employed to arrive at the end results, but with the competition being what it is, […]
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The adventurous day
Some days are for exploring, for climbing mountains and fording rivers. Some days are a struggle with the elements, keeping a little boat on course or blindly descending a dark, foggy ravine above a wild northern beach. Some days are for adventure, for doing those things that, when you were just a child, you spent […]
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The paradox
On long trips, there comes a point, somewhere near the end, when you are hit with what I call the completion paradox. After paddling (or hiking, whatever), for days, maybe weeks, with the goal of finishing the route foremost in your mind, you’ll get to the point where the end is in sight, and you’ll […]
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A story of sea kayaking and science on the rugged coast of Alaska. Coming – Spring 2014.
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