Tag Archives: mt baker

The journey really began nearly a year ago when I didn’t complete the 108-mile never-been-done-before run from Bellingham Bay to the summit of Mount Baker and back on foot. Bad weather didn’t permit a summit attempt that day but three runners had success a few weeks later. Dan Probst, who has spent the better part of the last three years …

The High Divide, that long sinuous ridge that stretches from Excelsior Peak to Welcome Pass has long been a favorite autumn backpacking destination. I’ve spent some glorious October days and nights on the Divide when the sweeping alpine meadows are positively lurid with the golds, reds and yellows of the season. But my visits in mid-summer flower season have been …

I’ve been fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest nearly all my life.  I started enjoying our spectacular outdoors as an avid hiker, backpacker, and eventually climber.  I was introduced to photography during this time, and there was no looking back.  My camera went everywhere with me, and soon dictated my destinations more so than any climbing objectives.  I’ve enjoyed …

The partially occluded, but dramatic view of Mt. Shuksan catches me by surprise. The hike thus far had been shrouded by the dense second-growth forest, squelching any hope of finding any inspiring mountain views. I point out the view to my daughter Sophia, who has followed me to the river to get water. “Ooh, pretty,” she says, and quickly refocuses, …

Of the two equinoxes – spring and fall – it’s the time around the autumnal equinox that I seem to photograph more.  As summer hands off to fall, and the kids are back in school, my ‘backcountry brethren’ and I head to the North Cascades for our annual backpack adventure. It’s an egalitarian time of the year, with all the world having the same …

Each summer there are a few weeks when Skyline Divide may be the most beautiful place on earth. It is at this time – the apex of summer – that the wildflower gardens carpeting the Divide burst forth in a display of alpine color that is among the best in the North Cascades. The trail meanders along the ridge, offering …

This summer, eight runners will run from Bellingham Bay to Mount Baker and back – a total of 108 miles. Their route follows a proposed National Recreation Trail that winds from downtown Bellingham to the new Lake Whatcom Park and into the town of Acme, eventually linking up with the trail system that was used by the original mountain runners, …

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” –Henry David Thoreau Where does inspiration come from? Some people find it in the books they read. Others find it through their dreams or during conversations with friends. I’m no stranger to sudden inspiration. I once had an idea to run a marathon on every continent (after completing …

More than one hundred million acres. This is the quantity of designated wilderness lands in the United States of America today. This bounty is the result of the Wilderness Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964. The Act defines “wilderness” in language unusually poetic for legislation: “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where …

It has been a torrential downpour in Whatcom County over the past week and the rivers are flowing high with turbulent water, a white water kayaker’s dream. With a lack of precipitation this winter, there have been few pow days at Mt. Baker and even fewer high water laps on the North Fork of the Nooksack River in Glacier, WA. …