Lost! Again! Glints of sunlight streaked the trail and the old-growth trees on either side stood as silent as snow. As I wandered deeper and deeper into the forest along tiny threadlike paths, surrounded by more sorrel than I’d ever seen in my life, I felt as if I was in a fairy tale and […]
hiking
Posted inGet Out
Corkscrew Trees and a Crooked Trail
Perfect weather on Aug. 1 and a desire to be among the first to walk the newly opened Crooked Trail brought my wife and me to the adjacent and newly open-to-the-public ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway — a 125-acre Yurok Tribe-owned and managed preserve just north of Orick. The new entry gate read, “Welcome to ‘O […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
When Nature Gives You Rain, Visit a Waterfall
While I don’t mind hiking in a drizzle, particularly in the redwoods, where rainfall is broken by the canopy (“Forest Bathing in the Redwoods,” Get Out, June 15, 2023), the intense rain of recent months kept me away from favorite trails. Finally, on Easter Sunday, after a few days without a storm, I felt it […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Wind Power, Dreamy Dunes and Cool Carrots
This week we’re looking into the nuts and bolts of the proposed offshore wind power operation, from construction to environmental impacts, as well as where the project stands and what public concerns are. We’ve also got a look at the otherworldly landscapes of the Ma-le’l Dunes North and a cool carrot recipe from Turkey. Hit […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Ode to the Wooden Walking Stick
Quadrapeds are better evolved for traveling over the planet than we are. With only one foot to recover from the missteps of the other, we bipeds are continually courting disaster. But with a walking stick we become tripedal, crossing creeks from rock to rock or on logs barely big enough to bear our weight. On […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
A Day’s Drive to 10 Beautiful Places
My wife, Louisa Rogers, and I offer what has become a popular class through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), Cal Poly Humboldt’s continuing education program for learners aged 50 and better. It’s so popular that our recommendations for “destinations that lie easily within a day’s drive” have made it into print, right here. (Note: […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Along the Historic Yurok Loop
No matter how many times I walk along the Yurok Loop, I never tire of it. Whether sunlight dapples the forest path or the leaves glisten from mist, it makes no difference; just seeing the little wooden bridge at the start of the trail makes my heart leap. The Yurok Loop is a 1 ¼-mile […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Around Mount Tamalpais
I grew up in the shadow of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. I explored fire roads and trails, even sneaking onto the peak the night before high school graduation with friends and then toasting the sunrise with oranges and champagne before hiking down to the Mountain Theater for graduation. I also grew up in the […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Sea To Summit: Grasshopper Peak
The general consensus among most cyclists is that once you ride Grasshopper Peak in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, you can check it off your bucket list and not repeat it. But that’s not how it went for me. Earlier in the summer I had joined some friends to climb 10,000 feet in one day, which […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Sea to Summit: Salmon Mountain
My alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. I immediately questioned why I torture my heavy limbs and black hole of a mind in this way. Then I remembered that Lizzie Odell was sleeping in the guest room of our small house, and her dad Errin was waiting for us at Freshwater Lagoon. The plan for […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Get Out into the Fog
If someone had told me 20 years ago that I would come to love fog, to find solace in its soft and moist embrace, I would have dismissed the prediction. As a young adult, for 10 years I lived in Milan, which is located in the Po River Valley, land of impenetrable fog. During the […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Sea to Summit: Signal Peak
My planning for Signal Peak began with, “Where is this?” I had never heard of Signal Peak before. It’s to the southwest of Black Lassic, sort of behind it as you approach from the northwest. There are several routes, all of them challenging. I didn’t want to go alone, but wasn’t sure who else might […]