Tag Archives: lake padden

When out on a trail, most of us look at the wilderness around us, absorbing the sights, sounds, and smells of the outdoors. Sure, we look at the trail because if we don’t, we’ll trip over a root before we know it. But how many of us look at the trail with “trail eyes”—that critical observation of the trail itself?  …

2020 was disorienting, a year that made mockery of our plans and expectations and made division and uncertainty an aspect of daily living. It was a climb over false ridges, navigating across a landscape I didn’t have a map for—that none of us had a map for.  Lost?.. yes, and loss itself seemed everywhere. Our social, political and professional worlds …

The peaceful, glass-like waters of Lake Padden attract plenty of recreational paddlers of all kinds, but one man sees the lake destined for greater things. Dan Baharav, 75, came to Bellingham in 2004 and discovered a Mecca for paddlers here with the open waters off the coast and sizeable lakes inland. Baharav raced surf-ski kayaks, the long, lightweight, narrow-bottomed style …

My left paddle blade drags heavily across the water as I lean back in my seat and glide toward the beach. At the water’s edge, a 3-foot wide, red digital clock clicks off the time: 22 hours, 8 minutes, 15 seconds and counting. In knee-deep water, a crew of six are waiting for me, and when my surfski reaches them they …