Thursday, November 24, 2016
Autumn bounty - photo gallery & timelapse video
Friday, November 4, 2016
For the sake of our public lands, please vote!
I cannot stress how important public lands are for me, and not just for the obvious reason of recreation. If I were never to visit a park again I would still take comfort and joy in the knowledge that the wild places I love are still wild and pristine. Public land is owned by us all; it is the common ground we all can share, and America would not be the same country without its parks and forests. However, all that could change this year.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
6 National Monuments Obama should create before he leaves office.
Obama has already protected vast areas of land and water under the antiquities act - Katahdin Woods and Waters, a vast area of ocean off the Atlantic Coast, the San Gabriel Mountains - and 20 other places now owe their status as National Monuments to the current President. However, he still has a few months in office, and there are still many spectacular regions in urgent need of the protections his executive order would grant.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Cutthroat Climb Trail
Monday, September 12, 2016
Smoky sunsets and pyrocumulus
Monday, August 22, 2016
Monday, August 15, 2016
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Westside Road Adventures: Lake George and Gobblers Knob Lookout
Friday, July 22, 2016
Gobblers Knob Historic Lookout Vandalized
A few days ago I visited the Gobblers Knob lookout. The view was amazing, but the experience was spoiled by the discovery of damage to the beautiful, historic lookout by malicious vandals.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Giant Old Growth Forest at Teal Slough
The trail is only a half a mile long, with short side paths leading to each of these half dozen ancient cedars. Parking is extremely limited with room for no more than 3 or 4 cars.
If you're looking for more a a bigger adventure in Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, including a much larger grove of giant trees, then click here to read about backpacking on Long Island in Willapa Bay.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Ape Caves: An Abused Natural Wonder
This was going to be a typical trip report, replete with fanciful language describing the wonders of Ape Caves, a 3 mile long lava tube burrowing through the flanks of Mt. St. Helens. I would have described the feeling of descending into another world, of traversing natural train tunnels, towering Lovecraftian cathedrals, shining slabs, and twisting patterns in the rock. However, this ancient, hallowed cavern has been so badly defaced that to promote it without mention of its poor condition, and the need to remedy the circumstances that continue to degrade it, would be remiss in the extreme.
Lava Tubes and Light Trails
Mt. St. Helens is best known for its cataclysmic eruption in 1980, but on its southern flank lies the entrance to the longest continuous cave in the contiguous United States: Ape Caves. Many wonders may be found here in this tube formed in an eruption that occurred millennia ago; Giant caverns, natural railroad tracks, and even a giant meatball suspended high above the tunnel floor. Fellow visitors passing by lit the cave and formed startling light trails in the air as they passed. By allowing others to unwittingly provide me with illumination I was able to avoid the harsh light that would have been cast by a flash. What follows is a photographic journey into a surreal world of darkness and light.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Shell ultralight camera cover review
Monday, June 20, 2016
Flowers in the Blast Zone
Who could have guessed just a few decades hence that today that the then barren, blighted landscape of dust and rock that was left in the wake of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens would in 2016 be a paradisaical flower garden! That is indeed the case, as Indian Paintbrush and Gentian now conceal gray ash.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Capture Pro review
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Trip Report: Mima Mounds
The southern reaches of the Salish Sea are bordered by an
ecosystem not typically associated with the Pacific Northwest. Here in a land
fabled for its dense and dripping rainforests may be found vast prairies,
though in the modern day they are not as plentiful as they once were. Mima
Mounds is one of the few prairies open to the public in the region, as well as
perhaps the most unique. For miles the terrain is made up of rank upon rank of
rounded mounds, the origin of which is often guessed at but has never been
definitively proven. Was it ancient gophers, glaciers, or bigfoot that built
these mounds? Perhaps they are the barrows of ancient kings, their grand halls
long fallen to ruin and decay. Whatever the cause it makes for interesting
speculation as you wander through this strange landscape.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016
April sunset timelapse
April is drawing to a close, here's a spectacular sunset timelapse as a finale for my blog's most successful month yet!
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Hulda Klager Lilac Garden
Hulda Klager Lilac Garden is the crown jewel of horticulture in the Lower Columbia Region. This 150 year old garden is host to a staggering number of unique species bred by its namesake. At the peak of the bloom in April the scent of a myriad of flowering plants assails the nostrils as a dazzling rainbow of blossoms fills the vision. I’ll let the flowers do the rest of the speaking for me.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Trip Report: Snowshoeing at Paradise Mt. Rainier
"Oh no!" I exclaimed, as I stared in mock horror
at my computer screen, "An avalanche just took out the road to
Paradise!". The cries of woe this elicited told me that my “April Fool’s”
joke had hit the mark.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
White Pass Panoramas and Timelapse
It was a wild and cold day to ski yesterday at White Pass. Blizzards sent snow howling horizontally across the ski runs and froze one side of our faces as we rode the lifts.
The one time it cleared off was when we stopped for lunch, and as soon as we headed back up the mountain the storm came roaring back with a vengeance. Despite the biting cold and inclement weather we enjoyed the slopes and the beautifully scenery that revealed itself now and again through breaks in the skeins of snow.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Monday, March 28, 2016
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Monday, March 14, 2016
Bench Lakes Trail
Published in Seattle Backpackers Magazine
The fog lay over the lake like a downy blanket as I laced up my boots and quietly threw a few essentials into a rucksack. With the dim pre-dawn light to guide me, I made my way through the gloom to the trailhead. The sign showed four miles to Bench Lakes, and I had until 11 AM to get there and back again.........
Read more at seattlebackpackersmagazine.com
The fog lay over the lake like a downy blanket as I laced up my boots and quietly threw a few essentials into a rucksack. With the dim pre-dawn light to guide me, I made my way through the gloom to the trailhead. The sign showed four miles to Bench Lakes, and I had until 11 AM to get there and back again.........
Read more at seattlebackpackersmagazine.com
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Snowstorm on Mt. Hood
Here are a few photos taken during a perfect day on the slopes of Mt. Hood this past tuesday. Only a couple ended up being any good - turns out a blizzard isn't the ideal condition for photography!
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Klymit Static V Lite Review
Published on SeattleBackpackersMagazine.com:
Buying a camping pad is a complex gamble that will often take an avid backpacker years of expensive trial and error to win. Every pro has its con; foam pads are cheap, light and durable, but at the same time are bulky and are often uncomfortable. Inflatable pads are light, compact and can be extremely comfortable, but they are expensive, delicate and cold. Rarely do you find a pad that does everything right, yet does not cost the moon. In the Klymit Insulated Static V Lite I have found that balance.
Read More......
Read More......
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Soft powder and brilliant ice, a Mt. St. Helens photo gallery
Now that the terrible drought that stalked the Pacific Northwest has finally abated, it is a joy to once
again be able to stomp my way through soft powder amongst the lofty forested highlands of Mt. St. Helens. The long time bereft of snow made me realize how much I had taken it for granted in years past. Not only did I miss the soft, cold silence it brings in winter, but also the flowers that rise from the melting drifts come summer. It sustains the glaciers, nourishes the rivers, and quells the firestorms that rise in the heady heat of august. I, for one, will never take the miserable weather of a traditional Pacific Northwest winter for granted again. At least until the cabin fever sets in!
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Salal Review Arts Magazine now accepting submissions!
Hello everyone!
This semester at LCC I'll be editing their award winning arts magazine: The Salal Review. We are looking for a wide variety of visual art work.
Check out our previous issues: http://lowercolumbia.edu/salal-review/index.php
This semester at LCC I'll be editing their award winning arts magazine: The Salal Review. We are looking for a wide variety of visual art work.
Check out our previous issues: http://lowercolumbia.edu/salal-review/index.php
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