Musings
Ninety Years Young and an Inspiration to All!
I hit the trails for inspiration, redemption, and rejuvenation. A primeval forest grove, placid lakeshore, flowering alpine meadow, and a summit view of a sea of serrated summits can have quite an effect on a restless and anxious soul. The natural world is my opiate, my muse, and my motivator. It has never failed me.…
Read MoreA Hitchiker’s Guide to the National Parks
As I stuck my thumb out and watched several cars drive by, I kept plodding up the busy and unsafe roadway. Finally a park ranger arrived — more specifically a law enforcement agent. Cool, I thought, I’m going to get a ride. That didn’t happen. Instead I got hassled! The law enforcement officer rolled down…
Read MoreCougars in Heat–a Chilling Encounter!
Okay, before I get started here. Absolutely no jokes about attractive older women in pursuit of younger men or randy Washington State University students here. This post is about mountain lions following nature’s orders to make more mountain lions. And it’s about how a few autumns ago I nearly walked in on a mating couple.…
Read MoreOkanagan Mountain- A return after the great burn
I first visited Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park in the spring of 2003 while researching hikes for my Best Hikes with Dogs Inland Northwest book. Located just 10 miles south of bustling Kelowna; this 27,000-acre (11,000 hectare) park is a hiking haven in the heart of the Canadian Okanagan. Roadless and closed to motorized use; it’s…
Read MoreHang Up and Hike!
Okay, I admit it—I have my cell phone in my pack when I hike. Mostly because I don’t leave anything of value (even if it is an old flip phone) in my vehicle when I hit the trail. And it is almost always turned off. But, I have made a few calls from the trail…
Read MoreThe Loneliest Ridge and Valley Trails in the Olympics
Image hiking for 22.5 miles—all but one of those miles on maintained trails—in one of the country’s most popular national parks—and encountering only 2 people—and that was at the beginning of the trip. My intrepid Olympic exploring friend Evan and I just finished an incredible one day journey across some of the park’s loneliest terrain—and…
Read MoreI Got Caught in a Burning Ring of Fire
With this year’s extreme fire danger–it is not only important that you adhere to all sound fire prevention measures–but that you are also fire aware. We usually don’t think much about being caught in a fire–but the danger is very real. Washington Trails Magazine editor Eli Boschetto just recently had a harrowing experience being caught…
Read MoreA Royal Difference in snow cover
So that’s what the small tarn in the upper Royal Basin looks like–and wow is it beautiful! Last week I returned to the Royal Basin in Olympic National Park. It had been 9 years since I had hiked to this rugged beautiful hanging valley in the northeast corner of the Olympics. In 2006 I made…
Read MoreThe Hardest, Nastiest, Meanest Trail in the Olympics
What is wrong with me? What the heck was I thinking? I swore to myself back in July of 2006 never to ever do this trail again. I hated it. It was pure misery. I swore more times on it than I did watching (fill in your favorite team or politician) lose. It was back…
Read MoreMangia Bene
Being Italian American, the first Italian word my Nona taught me was mangia-which in the command form means, Eat! And oh how I love to eat! If I wasn’t a hardcore hiker and runner, I fret over what my hardcore eating would do to my body. But aside from eating for basic functioning and for…
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