We did a 4 day extended weekend exploring many enjoyable nooks and crannies on Whidbey Island. Here are a few of them:

We hiked along the shoreline trails […]

Flying above the roadless Idaho wilderness, the pilots of our little 2 seater Cessna were earning their wings. They kept calling me on my mobile phone earlier in the day, asking nonchalantly if we could leave earlier than planned. Sure, no problem.

Turned out […]

Spray Park and Spray Falls are destinations along a great day hike in Mount Rainier National Park. Starting by Mowich Lake and taking the Wonderland Trail from there, Spray Park Trail splits off across up and down topography. Views from Eagle Cliff looking out across the mountain side of Rainier […]

Tacoma offers a surprisingly interesting kayaking route from downtown Tacoma and out into Commencement Bay. The shoreline wraps around Tacoma, taking a paddler from marinas and condos, out to massive freighters and docks, on to small waterside pocket parks, by old hillside neighborhoods fronted by restaurants on piers, and then […]

On the northeast side of Mt. Hood is a great access point for many viewpoints up to the mountain and out to the surrounding mountains and countryside. Following the Timberline Trail just a couple miles from a road-end campsite provides a pleasant walk through a fir forest, which then opens […]

The upstroke blade of my feathered kayak paddle sounded “f f f f f f f f f” into the strong wind, like a kite vibrating as it strains above an open ocean coast. When we left our car a few hours before, I could hold up my paddle as […]

Quartermaster Harbor is a protected harbor on the east side of Vashon Island, wrapped around by land-connected Maury Island. The north shores are lined by old summer cabins converted to full time residences, interspersed with the occasional big money mansion. The southern shores become more natural, rising up from natural […]