Karen and Tom Wanderings

Needing to get out beyond the 'hood, we found a good weather window and did a one-nighter at the southern Washington coast.  We spent an afternoon exploring Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia River.  The next morning we checked out some of Leadbetter Point State Park at the northern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula, and a short beach walk at the town of Long Beach.  We then headed north and spent a few hours walking along the beach at Westhaven State Park, near Westport, and enjoyed a nice sunset before heading home.  We enjoyed checking out the sandpiper-type birds (Dunlins? Sanderlings? Semipalmated Plovers?) as they darted in an out from the surf line searching for whatever it is they search for.  And their unified twisting, turning flight patterns ... kinda like a single organism.  Surprises included harbor porpoises along the north jetty at Cape Disappointment, one-legged dunlins/sanderlings/plovers hopping among their scampering two-legge...

The warm, dry weather has caused the hiking season to arrive a little early in the Pacific Northwest.  So, we headed to Annette Lake, a relatively easy hike near Snoqualmie Pass, to stretch our legs and see how they behaved.  The wooded hike wasn't too exciting, but pretty green, and the lake was just another ho-hum wooded lake surrounded by peaks.  But, it reminded me how lucky we are here in Washington ... seemingly endless hikes to choose from, and even the "mundane" are pretty damn nice.  The legs did pretty decent, and there weren't too many mosquitos!! Annette Lake and Abiel Peak Queen's Cup Lady Fern Deer Ferns Cascades along Humpback Creek Random Scenes Sitting lakeside, absorbing the view and munching on some gorp, I jumped with a start, and realized a pesky chipmunk had snuck up onto my hand to get into my bag of gorp!  No sense of personal space!!

After being cooped up from Covid for way too long, we headed out to Moab to spend a week with Kelsey and Brian playing in the red rocks.  We rented a condo south of town, and juggled activities and the kids' remote work.  Needless to say, the kids played harder than the adults!  Way harder! Kelsey hadn't been to Moab before, so we ended up revisiting many of our favorite places, but also covered some new ground.  Old haunts included a  couple of hikes in Arches National Park, some mountain bike riding at Dead Horse Point State Park, an evening walk to the end of the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, a hike in the Needles District of Canyonlands NP, a hike at Fisher Towers, and mountain biking at Moab Brand Trails.  (See previous postings for more description and photos).  A couple of new areas were the Sand Flats Recreation Area, where we did a mountain bike ride, and along both shores of the Colorado River west of Moab ... inclu...

After a quiet, no-visitor holiday, we headed to the Oregon Coast (again) for a few days with Karen's sister and niece (again) ... to satisfy our need for some variety, while avoiding human interaction.  This time, we opted for the southern portion of the coast near Gold Beach.  It was new territory for us, and very impressive.  Incredibly beautiful, rugged coastline, massive surf, and almost no people.  The weather was decent (for winter), with a couple of very nice days, and a couple of wet/windy ones.  Lots of walks on different beaches and headlands.  And on our return trip we took a short hike into the sand dunes, which abut the coast for about 40 miles.  We consider ourselves very fortunate to be within striking distance of places like this!! Secret Beach Kissing Rock and Beach Golden Rays, China Beach Trail Thunder Rock Cove Viewpoint Coquille River Lighthouse Arizona Beach Shades of Grey, Meyers Beach Sand and Water, Ophir Beach Sunrise, Nesi...

With the approach of winter and a likely Covid resurgence, we slipped out of town for a short, pre-Thanksgiving visit to Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast with Karen's sister and niece.  We'd usually be inclined to avoid Cannon Beach, since it's very popular and therefore quite crowded.  But, with it being off-season, it looked like a good opportunity to check it out. The weather report looked pretty stormy, and delivered as promised.  Very high winds (60-70 mph gusts) and lots of rain.  A combo of the short daylight hours and the timing of the very-high (King) tides restricted our beach-walk schedule, but we managed.  And good rain gear allowed us to go for walks on the beach and along the headlands without getting soaked.  It was incredibly beautiful both along the beach and in the wooded, fern-filled headlands.  Uncrowded and very quiet (except for the wind).  A very relaxing trip, and much needed break from home. Cannon Beach and Haystack Roc...

Ah!  One final fling in the mountains before the winter snows shut them down.  As the hiking season wore on, it seemed that additional mountain adventures this year were simply not meant to be.  Plans were cancelled left and right.  Canadian Rockies:  border closed.  California's Sierra Nevada:  massive wildfires.  Mt Rainier's Wonderland Trail:  uncooperative knees, then cold blustery weather.  Cutthroat Pass:  illness, then bad smoke (turned around after driving most of the way there!).  But it all finally came together for Tom (Karen was out of town and missed out).  Good health, perfect weather, and the larch trees at their peak!  Magical! Cutthroat Pass, which lies in the North Cascades, has become a favorite of ours over the last few years.  The Pacific Crest Trail provides a well-maintained and easy-on-the-knees approach that, in the fall, switchbacks up through an eye-popping zone of golden larches and re...