One of the reasons I treasure spending time in the redwoods is that “in the forest I do not feel small,” as I wrote last year in the title of a poem. Rather, I am encouraged to take up space, expand my reach. As I hike on the trail, I explore trees’ territory and also […]
Get Out
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Nonbinary Runners Find Their Lane
Eureka local Madison MacGregor made a promise to themself to one day run in the Avenue of the Giants half Marathon again. It had been seven years and two hip surgeries since they last attempted the race. Following the lead of other major marathons, Avenue of the Giants hosted its first nonbinary category, and MacGregor […]
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The Road to Glory
For the 55th time, the wild and wooly wheels of the Kinetic Grand Championship rolled through the Arcata Plaza, down the sandy dunes at Dead Man’s Drop, into Humboldt Bay (and hopefully back to shore) and southward on the long trek to Ferndale. After three days of escalating challenges, roadside repairs and grueling pedaling, Trashlantis […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Seize the Day on the Bay
I pause and take in the surroundings: sky, water, light, boats, buildings. The word that most often comes to mind is “amazing.” Energized, I resume rowing. I learned to row nine years ago during a summer session for new rowers offered by the Humboldt Bay Rowing Association (HBRA). I learned in an eight-oared shell, practicing […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Birdmobile
For years I had an old newspaper clipping taped to my even older refrigerator. It was a Car Talk column by Tom and Ray Magliozzi called, “Who’s Hardest on Cars, Anyway?” A couple had written the mechanics asking them to determine once and for all if men or women wore out their cars more quickly. […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Call of the Void
Crouching on the guardrail of a bridge 60 feet above the Trinity River, 19-year-old cliff jumper Nico Ponnekanti looked like a sprinter in the blocks. Except instead of going forward, he was going down, down dozens of feet, whirling in every direction over the blue of the river, and down he kept going, right up […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
A Walk Among the Spotted Owls
After four decades of hiking in Humboldt County forests, I’d never spotted a wild northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) until Saturday during a Godwit Days tour, thanks to help from a tour guide and an assist from a white mouse. My wife and I did see a barred owl (Strix varia) a couple years ago […]
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Driving with My Father
To give my brother and his wife a break, I take my 97-year-old, Alzheimer’s riddled dad for a couple of days every month. By mid-morning, I’m stir-crazy and Dad is getting antsy. So, the days go something like this: “Hey Dad, it’s Sunday, how about a drive?” Never mind that yesterday was Sunday and tomorrow […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Godwit Days
When you live in a place as awash in natural wonders as Humboldt County, it can be easy to take it for granted. Towering redwoods with trunks as thick as Volkswagens? Just look out the window. Miles of rocky coastal beaches with endless tidepools to explore? Been there, done that. But how about backroads that […]
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Without an Exclusive Second Week, Fair Racing Faces Competition
Horseracing at the 2023 Humboldt County Fair will once again overlap with races at Golden Gate Fields for the second week of the fair after four out of five California Horse Racing Board commissioners voted to keep the status quo. Jim Morgan, special counsel to the Humboldt County Fair, and others consider the competition for […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Intertribal Project Celebrates Traditional Boat Building
Marc Daniels-Aygagnax had a dream to build a nigilax, the traditional open skin boat of the Unangax (Aleut) people. In 2014, he founded the immersive MakeAccess Iqyax Apprenticeships with his wife, Leah, teaching Native youth traditional boat-building. He had built single- and double-hulled kayaks, but the nigilax was different. Knowledge of how to build it […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Staying in Touch
Some sports are like foreign languages — infinitely easier to learn when you’re younger. Once humans reach a certain age, our hips, knees and balance operate as they always have, and it’s much harder for our body to move in new, contrasting directions. For example, if you are a runner or a cyclist, your joints […]