Having a Blast reading about hikes in my Past!

I get a kick out of reading some of my earlier writings. Occasionally I'm embarrassed over what I wrote (usually it involves the grammar, not the content) and from time to time I'm a tad bit smug, thinking, "Wow! Did I write that? Not bad for a hack!" Anyhow, some of my old writings are floating around there in hyperspace-a good reminder to always think about what you write-for it is out there forever-and the last thing you want is for one of these incurable STDs (Stupidly transcribed dialogues) staying with you forever!

Some of my friends and regular readers stumble upon some of my old writings from time to time and are also sometimes delighted in them. Some of my favorite past pieces and stories; and ones that I am convinced helped get me to where I am today, are from the time I wrote for the University of Washington Daily. I wrote a weekly column for three years entitled, Go take a Hike. It was quite popular and s lot of fun to write. Here's a link to a piece I did back in 1997 on hiking Washington's National Wildlife Refuges. All of the featured refuges in this article have made it into one of my books. Ridgefield, Nisqually, and Dungness Spit are in my new Winter Hikes of Western Washington Card Deck. Check out this story and others from my past-Enjoy-and Go Take a Hike!

(photo-old shot from the Daily-that's me on the left 13 years younger!)

The End of Winter!

Well, not really, but its the end of real winter for me as I am now back home in the mild Pacific Northwest! The eastern half of the country is experiencing real winter with real cold and real snow and I really enjoyed it while I was back there! No matter how long I have been out here in the Pacific Northwest, winter to me means bitter cold winds-fire red sunsets-skeletal birches against a gray sky, ponds frozen solid that crack and echo in the silent January air-sitting around a wood stove sipping hot chocolate in a picturesque village that kept Revolutionary War soldiers and colonial farmers snug and warm. Winter in New England is special and if you don't like the snow and cold you best not think about relocating in New Hampshire and Vermont. But if you love snowshoeing and cross-country skiing across rolling hills and charming villages or skating Charlie Brown style around a small pond in a town common-northern New England your place in January. Now, back in the Pacific Northwest where the mercury dances at 50, I can once again don shorts and enjoy snow free hiking. And let me tell you about some of the best snow free winter hiking in America. Come attend one of my upcoming talks. Hate snow? No problem-the lowlands of Western Washington will spare you the blanketing white stuff!

(photo- Me at the NH Audubon Massabesic Center)

Don't Hibernate This Winter!

The days are now short. The rains are now long. The hardwoods are almost barren. And the ground is fully saturated. The mountains are beginning to look a bit like winter. But whatever you do-do not-absolutely do not stop hiking! My latest release, Winter Hikes of Western Washington will give you 50 reasons not to store away your hiking boots in the next few months. Winter Hikes is a full color over-sized card deck (but still a guidebook-just a neat format here meant for you to take a card and go!) of 50 hikes that for the most part (last December exempted) remain snow free all winter long. Unlike many other parts of the country, Western Washington remains green-and fairly mild during the winter. You can easily hike here in December, January and February. And since many of your fellow hikers are busy putting on extra pounds sitting around the TV, you can hit some trails that may be quite popular during summer-but are quite quiet during winter. My 50 hikes selected include a wide array of destinations from lakes, to ocean shoreline, Puget Sound Islands, mountain tops, urban backyard wildernesses, and teeming with birds wildlife refuges. And the geographic range? All over Western Washington from the Columbia Gorge to the British Columbia Border. Cape Disappointment to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. Check them out and let me know what you think. See you on the trail this winter!

(Click on the Top photo to order. Click on the bottom photo to see the 5o hikes included in the deck)