It’s a gray morning but the sun is already starting to burn through the fog. It’s going to be a warm day. A river otter splashes around in the clear green water as we launch our boats from the rocky shore. I’m in a canoe with my wife while our friends are spread in canoes […]
Get Out
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Pool Rules
Humboldt County beaches cannot just be visited, they must be experienced. And getting up close with marine life in tide pools should be at the top of this summer’s to-do list. Here are some tips on doing it right. Whether it’s Indian Beach, Palmer’s Point or Luffenholtz, we’ve got prime tide pools to explore. Attention […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Hand Making Skateboards in Arcata
Over the last five years, the cracks and crannies of Arcata’s sidewalks have eaten me up and the unpredictable weather left me with a heavy and rusted cruising setup. It was time to get something new to roll around the sleepy town with. Steven Driedger’s boards caught my eye with their color and shape, so […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Reluctant Skier
I’m not much of a daredevil, although that hasn’t always been the case. When I was growing up in Eureka, I rollerskated down Buhne Hill and rode motorcycles around Trinity County. But somehow that all changed once I had children of my own. It took just a few mishaps — like the time I fell […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Shooting in the Wild
Despite my best efforts, I didn’t see any interesting new insects this week. To be sure, there are many out there but the ones I encountered were all species I’ve mentioned before at some length. I photographed them anyway just for the practice. I am always trying to improve. Entomological photography can be challenging. Rain or […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Panfish Fishing
There is nothing like sharing a love of fishing with someone who has never cast a line. Whether fishing with a child who can barely stand on the lake shore or an adult who was simply never offered the chance to hook a fish, the pursuit of panfish is the perfect way to get new […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Sharktober, Part Four
The Sharkbanz, a chunky wrist-worn device advertised as “a convenient and effective shark deterrent for the beachgoer, swimmer and surfer,” sits on my dresser next to a stack of bills and behind the floral fabric pouch containing my father’s ashes. I was supposed to try it out back in the spring, write a little something […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Sharktober Part Three
Sharktober?” my friend asked. I’d just told him about this column I’m writing. “Yes, Sharktober,” I repeated. “Shark … tober?” he said again, drawing the syllables out as if to ensure he was saying the word properly. “Yes!” I confirmed once more. We stared at each other for a moment, then it dawned on me: […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Sharktober: Part Two
If you lived in Humboldt County in October of 2012, you heard about the encounter. For me, the word came via my cell phone, which blew up with news that someone had been hit and it was bad. Really bad. Rumors abounded on Facebook that the victim had died. Nobody knew who the guy was, […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Sharktober Part 1
The first person I knew to be hit by a great white was this guy Casey. That was in 2000, the same year I’d started surfing. A couple years later, Reed. Then in 2004 a shark not only knocked my friend Brian off his board, but came back for him. The next year it was […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Poke Pole Fishing
The gentle ebb and flow of the northern Pacific Ocean whispered in our ears as we spent the night on the sands anticipating the morning’s fishing foray. Checking the tide tables the day before, I knew a minus-1.58 low tide was predicted for the following day at 7 a.m. Now, I love to fish, but […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Sculling
At the Humboldt Bay Rowing Association (HBRA) sculling boathouse at the Adorni Center, my sculling buddy and I lose no time getting on the water, each one in a single boat. Once we push off the dock, memories of the pre-dawn rise, the drive, the maneuvering of boats and oars down to the water fade […]