Arts and Leisure

It was late September, with the sun shining brightly but lower now, and the tree colors starting to turn. The Skagit ran milky blue through the woodlands of the lower valley.

Head downtown for First Friday Artwalk this Friday, from 6pm – 8pm. We've got the locations... 

We barely saw a drop of rain this summer, which made it perfect for getting outside and hitting the trails around the Northwest. But as any trail lover knows, those paths don’t magically stay in shape.

Walking down the gravel roadway is such a grand welcome to the island ahead. Crossing the tombolo and tidelands, covered with the bones of fallen trees, is like entering a sacred homeland.

I worked at Rocky Mountain National Park back in my college days, my boss liked to remind me of the Inverse “Distance from Road/ Number of Hikers” law.

I grew up north of Ballard, south of Blue Ridge, west of Crown Hill, and just a few blocks from North Beach. Puget Sound and the Olympics filled my bedroom window, along with the forests and the hundreds of houses below us.