World Record - Mega Team Quad Kite Flying!

102 flyers took to the skies with quad kites to break a world record and create amazing patterns over the wide sands of Long Beach at the annual International Kite Festival.

 

Hiking through the mist on Mt. Ellinor

Some days in the mountains are blessed by the soothing rays of the summer sun, and endless vistas stretch on into the distant horizon. Other days are drenched in a soothing blanket of fog that obscures the landscape so that mystery drips from every dew jeweled wildflower. We may not have seen sparkling Lake Cushman, the wide expanse of Puget Sound and its gleaming metropolis, or the lofty summit of Mt. Olympus, but the experience of exploring the alpine forests and flower gardens of Mt. Elinor was a sublime experience nonetheless.

August Lightning

Massive arching bolts of electricity explode across the heavens and illuminate the boiling clouds like giant atmospheric jelly fish. Thunder splits the sky and reverberates across the cowering landscape below as the storm surges overhead. Such weather is hardly commonplace here in the calm rainforest hill country of Southwest Washington. We are used to gently soaking rains that saturate the ground and air, but this week was the exception and Zeus and Thor did battle through the tumultuous roiling sea of the upper sky and set the very air ablaze.



I only flew for a few minutes on the edge of this maelstrom, in that incredible calm before the storm. Eventually I felt the wisdom of landing and retreated to take still photos from the ground.

Chehalis River Discovery Trail

The Chehalis River Discovery Trail winds through quiet farmland and along the lush banks of the Chehalis River. Eagles soar overhead, fish leap for insects, and the air is loud with bird song. Ancient cottonwoods may still be found growing on the riverbank, and newly planted woodlands will one day also watch like lofty sentinels over the fields and forests of this bucolic paradise.

Flying over Butter Creek

Hidden behind the battlements of the towering Tatoosh Mountains is the verdant forested valley of Butter Creek - a quiet emerald paradise scattered with remnant patches of ancient old growth forest. From the hidden waters of the rushing creek to the snow fields of Unicorn Peak, this is a sublimely beautiful place.

Cape Disappointment

Cape Disappointment crowns the Southwest corner of Washington State - a towering bastion of headlands cloaked in ancient forest and crenelated by abandoned fortresses that hearken back to the second world war. Lighthouses keep a watchful eye over the tide pools, grassy meadows, and vast sandy beaches girded by the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. From the quiet tide lands of Baker Bay to the tumultuous coves of Beards Hollow, this Pacific Northwest gem is a paradise both for wildlife and adventure seekers.