This place is fantastically beautiful. But it is also very National Park-y. That is to say, it’s an engineered environment, with everything designed so as to provide maximum access to “nature” for F.A.T.s (Fat American Tourists). From the boardwalk interpretive signs advising hikers to “sit still for a while and take in what’s around you” [...]
Archive for the ‘Journal Entry’ Category
Day 32: Enjoying the Scenery (7/16)
Posted in Journal Entry on July 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Day 16: Moran’s Mystique (6/30)
Posted in Journal Entry on July 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Today was not quite as laid back and relaxing as I thought it might be, but it was still fun. I made oatmeal for breakfast and left camp early to hike around the park. I planned to be back to camp for lunch, but I left a note just in case the people with my [...]
Day 13: Hurricane Ridge (6/27)
Posted in Journal Entry on June 30, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Last night, Dungeness Recreation Area received a little of its nine annual inches of precipitation. Fortunately the rain petered out just after I got up. I walked to an overlook on the bluff to get a view of the mountains, and they looked remarkably clear, clearer than yesterday in fact. My initial thought was to [...]
Day 12: Sun Belt (6/26)
Posted in Journal Entry on June 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Before leaving Seal Rock this morning, I walked the short interpretive trail through the forest, the part I didn’t do yesterday. The interpretive signs actually helped me learn a good deal about the more distinctive species in the ecosystems here. I can now tell a huckleberry bush from a salal (both of which produce edible [...]
Day 11: Saltwater and Mountains (6/25)
Posted in Journal Entry on June 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I just couldn’t seem to get out of Olympia this morning. First it was the computer that held me up. I used Beth and Pete’s slow kids’ laptop to update my Warm Showers profile, and ended up debugging it for them too. Then I did some blogging while I had the chance. Finally I hit [...]
Day 10: Sun Showers and Country Roads (6/24)
Posted in Journal Entry on June 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
(Slideshow above is for Day 11) I began the morning after breakfast with coffee at the local Starbucks with Art and a couple of his friends. One was a local history museum curator, the other an oral surgeon, and we talked biking for an hour. By 8:00 the drinks had been finished, and I said [...]
Day 8: Out of the Woods (6/22)
Posted in Journal Entry on June 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
(The slideshow above is actually for Day 9. I goofed up and can’t figure out how to make it go with the right blog page.) When I emerged from my tent at 6:00 this morning, the sky was blue, but the sun was still hours from reaching the valley floor. In the shady coolness of [...]
Day 7 – Deeper into the woods (6/21)
Posted in Journal Entry on June 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I awoke in the middle of the night last night needing to use the bathroom. As I relieved my bladder just outside of the tent, I glanced up, into a seemless blanket of stars. I was reawakened at 4:45 by a man with a didgeridoo strapped to his back who had been walking toward the [...]
Day 6: Among the dirty hippies (6/20)
Posted in Journal Entry on June 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I knew today could involve some climb, but I had no idea just how tough a day I was getting myself into going to the Rainbow Gathering. I learned one great lesson today: never trust directions from hippies. Things started out reasonably enough. I broke camp at Marble Mountain and cruised back downhill to FR [...]
Day 5: Mt. St. Helens (6/19)
Posted in Journal Entry, Uncategorized on June 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Today was a great day. It was the kind of day that is the reason I’m taking this trip. The morning began under cloudy skies at Cougar Park Campground. It didn’t rain last night, but it wasn’t exactly sunny either, although the sun did poke through a few holes, buoying my spirits. Since I still [...]
