• Travel & Places,  Washington State

    Hall of Mosses Macros

    “The poetry of earth is never dead: When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead; That is the Grasshopper’s–he takes the lead In summer luxury,–he has never done With his delights; for when tired out with fun He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. The poetry of earth is ceasing never: On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought silence, from the stove there shrills The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.” —John Keats,…

  • Appalachian Trail 2010,  Thoughts

    The Trail Never Leaves Your Soul

    Orange blaze of the Florida Trail. As I drive down the road during my lunch hour, heading home or back to work, the light is just right currently, and the pine trees and sandy soils around the area remind me a lot of Florida. It makes me think a lot about the pine sandhills and geocaching, though we haven’t geocached in ages. Of course then I think about the Florida Trail which results into the Appalachian Trail…and that is a vicious little cycle which leads to a rabbit hole of wishful thinking. Our two year summit of Katahdin came and went (August 12th). I had planned on writing something before…

  • Travel & Places,  Washington State

    Dipping into the Hall of Mosses | Olympic National Park

    We arrived to Hoh Rainforest unit of the Olympic National Park right before dinnertime and since the campground is first-come-first-serve we made a beeline for the camping area to find a spot. We found a nice spot tucked in the forest with enough cover not to really see too many people other than the folks directly across the road from us. The self registration was near the bathrooms (no showers in the bathrooms if you are inclined for cleanliness, but there is running water for a rag bath if you are desperate) and after registering we headed for the Hall of Mosses Trail. Evening was setting in which made the…

  • Gardening

    Making Way For New Growth

    For various reasons we decided to leave the community garden we were gardening at earlier than expected. We still have a plot of sweet potatoes there that we will harvest in a month or so and then we will be done. So, that has forced us to find a place to throw some seeds down for the Fall or purchase some of our produce instead. This area is the south side of our house where eventually it will be a flower garden with a nice pathway. It had tomato and peppers plants when we moved in, and I found a rosemary plant that will survive with some pruning and care.…

  • Thoughts

    Life Lately | Mid-September

    + One of my complaints about living a ‘normal’ life is that time speeds up too fast. While backpacking time slows down and it feels like life is mellow and enjoyable. You can stop and relish the way the light lands on different things throughout the day. The rhythm of hiking is simple: wake, eat, walk, eat, walk, eat, walk, eat, walk, eat, relax, sleep. And while I don’t really have a very complicated life (let’s keep it that way!) life sure does speed up through getting up and working, coming home doing chores and somehow finding time to relax and wind down. + While we still have a long…

  • Texas,  Thoughts

    Magical Maidenhair (and Miscellany)

    These maidenhair fern photos were taken at Westcave Preserve back in March. I still haven’t finished out the photos from that day, but slowly I want to work back to doing that. I find myself feeling like I am on top of the pile again, not suffocating below it, but then I find something else thrown on top and there I am again trying to get up to breathe. While going through my old ‘writing desk’ (which turned into an art desk at one point) I found a journal, one that was surprisingly not tattered and beaten up, but still rigid and pretty with its seashell adorned cover. Inside was…

  • Washington State

    Hoh River Elk

    According to the rangers in the park office, this herd often visits this area just down the river from the campground. We spotted them after finishing a short hike and planning a quick drive up the road to ‘see what we can see’. We saw the elk! First we saw the cars—and a ‘herd’ of cars is a good sign something is nearby, so we peered over the edge into the river and then pulled over so we could get a closer look.