Trail Treasure

Last week while Alan Bauer and I were roaming the trails in and around Stehekin in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area we stumbled upon a little trail treasure. Two unopened cans of beer! Yahoo! Now, there was a time when I would have without hesitation plopped down, popped er open and downed er. But alas, I'm older now, more responsible, smarter (I think) and knew if I did, the following would probably happen:

1. An upset stomach. God knows how long that thing has been sitting under snow and in the sun

2. A sudden urge to nap

3. And a sudden urge to abandon any more work for the day

So, I reserve my beers now for the end of the day and ones that I purchased or at least weren't found on the trail. But I add- money, sun glasses, and the occasional gear left behind on the trail is treasure that I still quickly put to good use.

(photo by Alan Bauer)

"… possibly the most beautiful wildflower you will find"

So stated C. P. Lyons, in his "Wildflowers of Washington" (Lone Pine Publishing, 1997) book about Lewisia tweedyi, better known as Tweedy's Lewisia. An endemic in the Wenatchee Mountains and parts of the Methow Valley and BC's Similkameen Valley, it truly is a showy flower and a rare gem. I recently stumbled upon a batch of Tweedy's Lewisia growing along the Lower Mad River Trail near Entiat in Chelan County. They were growing 1.5 miles up the trail if you are interested in seeing them for yourself. And after you do see these showy flowers, stop by at the Forest Service Ranger Station in Entiat and ask them why they are no longer maintaining one of the finest low country trails in the Wentachee National Forest. Find out too why no volunteer groups have jumped in to help rescue this trail. Maybe its your opportunity to help take back our trails. Enjoy the hike and help save our trails in the process.

Unintended Consequences

While I, like many others in the Pacific Northwest welcomed the demise of old-growth logging, I did not ever wish to see the entire industry disappear from our region. For one thing, we need wood products. We need to keep our rural economies viable and we need to stop importing timber from developing countries that have less regard to preserving old-growth forests than we did a couple of decades ago. But this is a global market with so many ramifications. In British Columbia, a similar saga is happening to many parts of their timber economy. The old pulp mill at Woodfibre is now defunct. Defunct after being in operation since 1912. So while the forests around Squamish are no longer being aggressively logged liked they were in the 1990s a new threat is taking over the area-summer home proliferation. More and more of our timberlands throughout Washington and British Columbia is being withdrawn from production and chopped up to sport mini-mansions, golf courses, retirement communities and big imposing structures for people that have too much money. Ironically many of the buyers of these homes consider themselves to be environmentalists and they were more than happy to see the timber industry go into decline. What a shame. I'll take a managed forest any day than suburbia encroaching upon our last wilds. Will this trend continue? Will America ever start producing its own wood products again? Is Canada heading down the same path? Look around.

(photo-ferry to Woobfibre no more)

Waiting for Global Warming

I awoke to two inches of wet sloppy snow blanketing my neighborhood and surrounding hills. Up here in the Skagit Valley it has been over 35 years since snow has fallen this late in the season. It has been a cold and wet and long winter (and spring) this year. I suppose the weather gods are having a little fun with the West Coast global warming alarmists! Oh but it's "climate change" not "global warming" we are now told. Of course it's climate change! Climate always changes-has been since the beginning of time. Once this area was tropical-then it was buried under ice-warm-cold-hot-frigid-wet-dry- it always changes and whether man has anything to do about it is a tough call when you consider there are no constants in this procession of change. Anyhow while "Hypocrite Al" is flying all over the world (spewing carbon) declaring the sky is falling and "Mayor Overindulgence" of Seattle is belching about the dangers of plastic bags (while paving over the entire city) I await for a little climate change. Just a little please-like spring some time this spring. Please.

(photo-Tulip time in Mount Vernon April 20, 2008)

How Much Are These Falls Worth?

Well, definitely the $1.00 it cost me to do the short walk up to see and enjoy them. And judging by the cars sporting parking receipts, most visitors to Shannon Falls Provincial Park outside of Squamish, British Columbia would agree the fee is reasonable. In fact, BC has quite a reasonable day use fee system in place for its amazing park system.

BC Parks charges day use fee at 40 of its busiest parks, most of them being in the Lower Mainland, Okanagan and Victoria Area. The rate? Just $1.00 for an hour, $2.00 for up to three hours and $3.00 for all day. Or you can buy an annual pass for just $25.00. And BC makes it easy for people like me passing through to stop and visit. You can pay by credit card via an easy machine right at the park's entrance.

Now most of you know that I am a big proponent of day use fees if they are equitable and used properly. Remember Washington's ill fated program? $5.00 for a day pass and $50 for an annual pass and needed at all parks even the little-visited obscure ones. Definitely not fair and reasonable. BC's is! And all the money goes back into their parks-and not just the ones that collect the fees. BC has the second largest park system in Canada, larger than Ontario's incredible park system (and where one third of all Canadians reside).

Head over to one of BC's main parks outside of Vancouver and you'll see where your dollar is going. New campsites, restrooms, bridges and beautiful trail improvements. New parks too. The money is being reinvested into their parks.

Visit a Washington state park and you'll see crumbling infrastructure, worn out facilities, trails badly in need of maintenance and a park system that is not keeping up with its growing population. What a shame! The state doesn't want to properly fund these gems and the public doesn't want to bite on user fees. You get what you pay for. And in BC my $1.00 got me a little leg stretching under a 1,000-foot waterfall, the third highest in the province. Not a bad return on my dollar!

See Spot Run!

Are you considering making your four-legged furry companion your new running partner? Has the winter put a few extra pounds on the both of you? pick up the latest issue of CityDog magazine and check out my feature on running with your dog. Not only do I give you some sound pointers for you and your pointer-but I also present to you 10 great fun runs in the Northwest geared specifically to your dog-okay you too! Check it out and I'll see you out there. I'm a dead ringer to stop my run to meet happy running dogs so if you don't want me to train hard get your cute pup out there with you.

(photo-me and buddy "Tucker" trying to keep the pounds off during the Christmas season)

BC's Cannery Row

Check out my latest feature for Northwest Travel Magazine. It's on Richmond, BC's Heritage Trail, a great riverside walk back into that city's history-particularly its fishing, shipbuilding, and cannery past. Richmond is a great place and one of my favorite communities in the Greater Vancouver Metropolitan Area. The city contains miles of excellent running and bicycling trails and some of the best Asian eateries this side of Hong Kong. Have fun exploring this oft-overlooked city.

Tracks of my Cheers!

I'm a big fan and proponent of rail trails. I love biking and running on them. And if you ask me, we don't have nearly enough of these gems. One of the biggest pluses about these trails is that by far many of them are within urban and suburban environments. For millions of people that means that there is no need to travel far to get a little hiking, biking and running in. And for millions of obese Americans you now have accessible car free areas to go for a walk to shed those excess pounds. As Americans grows fatter and the country gets more and more populated, rail trails will only grow even more in importance. I envision for the future a system of interlocking trails from coast to coast-through all 50 states intertwined with greenbelts and preserves. For my Washington friends pick up a copy of this month's Northwest Runner to read my feature story on some of the state's newest rail trails. For my New Hampshire friends rejoice in the fact that the Derry Rail Trail is getting closer to being paved and tied into the Windham Rail Trail, a wonderful asset in my hometown. For everyone from the Pacific to the Atlantic get involved in your community to help develop new trails. I look forward to taking a run, walk, hike or bike on them some day.

(photos- Heather on the Windham Rail Trail, Windham NH: Heather on the Golden Tiger Rail Trail in Republic, WA)

Snow on the Hoh

No, that's not some sick and twisted (aren't they all?) new Rap Song. I'm talking about the Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula and our very cold and wet spring we are currently enduring. While usually by this time the skunk cabbage is releasing its pungent aroma throughout the burgeoning block of biomass known as the Olympic rainforest-this year the new greenery is slow in going. It actually snowed on the Hoh this week. And while most of it is gone along the river, the low lying hills and ridges are still covered in it. So are the scrappy hills just outside of Clallam Bay-an area that is rarely blanketed in white-and certainly not in April. Anyhow, while it will definitely be a late spring here in Washington, I do have some good news for you. Road crews have been busy repairing damages incurred on the Hoh Road this past winter so you won't have any trouble now getting to this part of the world famous biosphere preserve known as Olympic National Park. So can you say, Holy Epiphyte Batman!? Westward Hoh hiking aficionados!

Campaign Fools

Flash! Hillary is dropping out of the race! McCain advocates for troop withdrawal! Obama actually has a plan behind the rhetoric! Bill shuns the spotlight-Michele is proud of her country-and Cindy is a dog!

April Fools! It's back to the same ole same ole on the campaign. So, on a lighter note-Heather and I celebrated April Fools Day this year by partaking in the Cowlitz Valley Running Club's Annual Running of the Fools 10K race down in Longview. A great time on a flat and beautiful course along the Columbia River. It even snowed at the start-perhaps Mother Nature sent ole Al Gore a little April Fools prank of her own.

(photo- a foolish author at race day start in Longview WA)