Day 2 – Tuesday, September 29th, 2020 Two yellow orioles fill kingfisher-green willows with song. Egrets climb away into crystalline skies, lone trail of white. At my window: thousand-autumn snows on western peaks. At my gate: boats bound ten thousand miles to eastern seas. – Du Fu, translated by David Hinton San Juan Island has the largest amount of available forest riding with three separate wooded areas that are all in roughly the same region.…
Introduction To go out on pilgrimage, to wander unencumbered by our daily burdens, this I felt was essential, but how to do so in these times was the question. Times being what they are I didn’t feel that extensive touring was appropriate and the ideal trip would be more in the backcountry where there are few people and lots of space. This led to my summer backpacking trip on Washingtons Wilderness Coast. At the…
I was really up for a weekend of camping in the North Cascades over Labor Day weekend, but I knew that there would just be too many people out. All of the last few holiday weekends have led to careless behavior and surges in the pandemic. The responsible thing was to stay away from the throngs. So I hoped that on Labor Day itself, people would be heading home and I could get in a…
Day 6 – Cedar Creek to Yellow Banks It rained all night and was still steadily coming down when I arose. I packed up and cooked breakfast in the rain. I slipped and slide my way down the bluff in the rain. I began my return journey up the beach in the rain. The tide was well out at this point and since this was to be the longest days hike, over what I knew…
Day 3 – Yellow Banks to Norwegian Memorial I awoke to a sunny morning high on the Yellow Banks. The soothing sound of the sea in its continuous restless motion had brought on a good nights sleep. This would prove to be of great value as this was the most difficult day of hiking of this trip. I broke camp and loaded up my backpack finally really getting everything optimally sorted with my pack. I…
In the long summer days my thoughts often turn to the mountains, the forests, the waters and the solitude and immediacy such places reveal. Traveling day after day under one’s own power, truly being in these places and seeing the surroundings at a pace that you can absorb them, following a schedule of one’s own inclinations, and being able to respond to the inscrutable exhortations of your soul. This year everything of course is uncertain,…
I only have evening duties at the monastery on Mondays so I often try to get out for most of the day. Primarily I have been doing day hikes on Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands, but every so often, if I leave early enough, I drive to the edge of the North Cascades. On this Monday I did a popular hike up Sauk Mountain which is pretty much the Westernmost peak of the North Cascades. Getting…
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…