Growing up on Fidalgo and Whidbey Island the North Cascades were frequent destinations. Skiing on Mount Baker, hiking in the North Cascades, rafting on the Skagit River, camping around Baker Lake. In my teens we would waterski on Baker Lake and the other lakes in the area. Over the years my forays into the outdoors shifted from the use of the outdoors toward being in the outdoors and as I’ve moved back to the Islands I’ve been…
First ride of Swift Industries Social Distancing Cycling Club. In this club we all ride around the same time, but on our own. You can read about it and watch the launch video in this Seattle Bike Blog post Swift Industries launching Social Distancing Cycling Club. The club is hosted on the Strava Website which supports cycling clubs with route mapping, chat, statistics and such. A lot more competitive ride oriented than really does much for…
I had intended for 2020 to be a strong year of snowshoeing. Regular readers known of my penchant for the mountains, hiking and biking in them in the summer, snowshoeing in the winter. The mountains are a magical, spiritual place that I must return to time and again. I’ve been snowshoeing with the Mountaineers for three years now and am right on the cusp of completing my Backcountry Snowshoeing badge. . While I don’t worry…
NFE on the beach. A warm start to 2020, calm after 48 hours of wind and rain. Got in a short ride out to Bush Point on Whidbey Island. Happy New Year!
I wake every morning the same person. Same life- history, same mind, same eyes looking. Some- times, when the boredom seems almost endless, I walk out among mountains the same mountains, sky sky, and I understand them perfectly. -David Hinton from Desert: Poems Time after time after time In one, not even particularly long, day I would unwind my whole month of travel. Around 8:30am I made my way to Epic Mountain Sports where…
Rain soaks my hut then the sun shines weather can change in the blink of an eye but not as fast as the breath of existence at dusk it’s hard to hear the morning bell -Stonehouse translated by Red Pine in The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse Last ride I was up early enough to see the sun come up behind the mountains across the Dillon Reservoir. The spiky peaks on the other side of the…
LXXXVIII There are men these days seek a road to the clouds, cloud roads, dark and trackless. Mountains are high with many dangerous crags, green crags above, and down below as well. And cloud roads, where are they? Cloud roads are empty; cloud roads are in empty space. -Han Shan translated by J.P. Seaton in Cold Mountain Poems Coming down from the mountains Overnight I awoke and watched the nearly full moon ripple on the…
My hut is two maybe three mats wide surrounded by mountains on every side my cot couldn’t fit a cloud for the night I shut the door before sunset -Stonehouse translated by Red Pine in The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse Rocky Mountain High I was late getting out of Steamboat Springs as I had some errands to take care of and I wanted to spend a bit of time in town in the day. The…
This is something no one can force besides knowing it’s there there’s nothing to know once the moon shines above a flowering plum it’s too late to look at the blossoms -Stonehouse translated by Red Pine in The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse A Wild Sheep Chase I was up early this morning early enough to see the rising sun tint the clouds above the river bend. I set off early as well, to get ahead…
I hiked staff in hand beyond the pines and found myself on an emerald peak a flock of cranes were chasing a hawk tree shadows darkened the streams thorns made wild fruit hard to pick their scent made herbs easy to find thin smoke veiled the sinking sun red leaves shaded half the cliff -Stonehouse translated by Red Pine in The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse Where the jackalope roam I rode south of of Rawlins…