A Story to Tell

Trail of Shadows 5/5/07 .7 miles

After touring the damage on Mt Rainier, Michael & I walked around the Trail of Shadows near Longmire. The Trail of Shadows is a short nature trail that encircles the mineral springs which brought James Longmire and his family to settle in the area.

After leading a group of climbers to the mountain, Longmire went in search of his horse which had wandered off during the days of climbing, as horses will do. He found the horse grazing near the mineral springs, a feature of the area that had up until now been hidden from history's gaze. He later brought his family to homestead in the area with dreams of opening a resort. Mineral baths were all the rage in the latter half of the 19th century.

Now all that remain of Longmire's original dream are a few bathing areas and an old cottage. But the dream is still alive in the remembrances of the dreamer. Michael & I meandered through the old growth forest past the cabin and the baths. We gazed out over the meadow and watched as the discolored water bubbled to the surface. And at each sign we stopped to read what story there was to tell.

It's that way with all nature trails. Take time to stop along the way and meander along a short trail; read the signs. The history you learn keeps the dreamer in all of us alive for it is in the telling that a story breathes life.

Cleaning Up

Earth Day, April 21, 2007

Every year for Earth Day, I head out to the Washington Coast to help clean up the beaches. It's an event organized by lovers of the Washington Coast since 2000. I've taken part in the endeavor for 5 years now. I first went out by myself but gradually friends and family joined me (even a friend from Oklahoma joined us one year) and we've made it our "first" camping trip and good deed of the year. We've found that cleaning up the winter debris is a way for us to get a fresh start on our year.

I was joined this year by Michael & my sister as we once again picked our way through the beaches at Kalaloch in the Olympic National Park. However, there isn't a stretch of waterfront during this weekend that by now doesn't have a cleaning crew scouring over the drift logs and rocks. We spent a drizzly morning picking up rope, plastic, shoes, and bottles - we even found an industrial crab pot to drag off the beach (those things are damn heavy). In the afternoon we joined other volunteers for a BBQ at the campground. By now the drizzle had become more serious and it didn't take us too long to decide that heading home would be much warmer and drier.

You could be asking why it took so long to write this entry. I wanted to wait for the weekend's stats from the organizers. And here they are: 806 registered volunteers pulled 23 tons of debris off the Washington beaches. Among the debris were 14 crab pots and 2 refrigerators as well as tires, nets, buoys and 55 gallon drums. That's a lot of garbage, not easy to haul off the beaches. The volunteers, all of them - even the unregistered ones - deserve a standing ovation for their hard work.

It's a never ending job, cleaning Washington's beaches. Every year storms deposit more trash. Every weekend tourists leave something behind. I will be there next year. Will you join me?

A Grand Opening

Mount Rainier National Park, May 5, 2007

I could feel the anticipation from the crowd, the excitement of the park staff, the satisfaction from the mountain. May 5th started out a warm, brilliant day filled with hope and joy. As we drove to the Nisqually entrance of Mt Rainier National Park, Michael & I noted that the mountain must have known what was about to transpire - she was gleaming in the morning sun, happy to welcome visitors back onto her flanks.

Of course being Adventure Girl, I couldn't let this auspicious occasion pass without my presence. I had already missed one re-opening this spring - that of the Hoh River Road in the Olympic National Park just days before. This event had to be attended.

Now for those of you who haven't been paying attention, the Northwest was devastated by a series of winter storms this past November & December. For the past 6 months the Hoh River Rd and the entirety of Mt Rainier National Park have been closed due to the damage. Damage seems such a mild word for what took place. It was a complete reshaping of the landscape. In just a few days time river carved new paths wiping out roads, trails, bridges and campgrounds. Hardly a park or forest between northern Oregon and southern British Columbia remained unscathed. And there lies even more damage as the snow melts and reveals what has been hidden beneath for the past 6 months.

But today we were celebrating. Celebrating the hard work and efforts of park staff, government agencies, and the all powerful volunteer. We heard stories of the dedicated crews working 10-12 hour shifts for days on end; having to be shooed away by the superintendent on Easter Sunday. But they refused to give up - it was more important for them to give Washington's crown jewel back to her people.

I thank you all. But more work needs to be done, not only in Mt Rainier and Olympic but in all the forests of our beautiful Cascades and Olympics. Lets get together this summer and help rebuild a trail.