Thanksgiving 2023: Still Here and Grateful

 

Happy Thanksgiving season! I have intended on blogging more this year, but somehow the days, weeks, and months are flying by without any updates. So I'm here to say: Still here, lurking, and grateful, as always.

In the photo below, I'm swimming in the Salish Sea, which I've been doing a lot this past year. If you follow other Pacific Northwest Seasons social media accounts (see links below), you'll see numerous shots from regular swims in the sea with the Selkies, my homegrown swimming pod.

Honestly, "wild" swimming has moved ahead of hiking, kayaking, and even skiing as my primary outdoors activity this past year. Lots of gratitude for the Salish Sea, swimming in the sea, new friends (and old) who share this passion with me, and for the friendly seals we see quite often while we swim.

Of course I'm grateful for getting outdoors and the joy of movement, especially for some spectacular days hiking along the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park last summer. I am intending on blogging about it and likely will. It was such a thrill and joy to be invited by some good friends to be a part of a fun, scenic, rewarding, and memorable adventure!

Grinnell Glacier overlook, Glacier National Park, Montana

Bighorn sheep, awfully close to the trail. Glacier National Park.

I'm also grateful for my little fur nugget, Mittens (aka Yuki - it's a long story), who has been inside sharing my home for almost 2 years now after living outside as a feral for almost 10 years. While she's still quite skittish, she is the most affectionate cat I've been fortunate to call my pet (number four). 

I can tell I'm rusty on blogging, as this is a bit of a slapdash post. But while there is a lot be be concerned and alarmed about in our world today, there is much to be grateful for as well. I have always cultivated simple pleasures in my life, like the perfect pot of tea each morning, talks (and now more texts) and walks with friends and family, mini road trips and getaways like the marvelous day last Friday with two dear friends to get fresh seafood on Hood Canal, and so much more.

Hamma Hamma Oysters, Hood Canal, WA

While I would like to be a bit more profound, I'll keep it simple this year. I'm just happy to be here, for good health, for good friends and dear family, and the beauty of my home region. 

If you found your way here and are still reading, I'd love to hear some things you're grateful for this year in a comment below.

Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons! In between blog posts, visit Pacific NW Seasons on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Northwest photos and outdoors news.

Thanksgiving 2021: Random Gratitude

 

It's  a chilly, damp late fall evening as I'm writing this 2021 Thanksgiving post. I'm tired and worn down from the last couple months of work overload. 

To be honest, I'm worn down from the last almost 2 years of the pandemic. I'm not as resilient as I was as a young woman, and my family suffered a couple sad losses in the last year.

But, well, I'm still here, like the Salish Sea tides that rise and fall and rise again near my home. And as we get on in years, just being here is the ultimate gift, to witness life and all its messy loveliness. 

Take mushrooms. I'm increasingly intrigued and captivated by their weird and wonderful variety, their shapes and sizes, and that they spring up like a surprise each year. Did you know that their DNA is closer to human than plant? 

 I stalk them with my camera, and of course I live in good fungi territory. So here's to gratitude for mushrooms/fungi. There's so much more to learn about them.

I guess that leads me to another gratitude: curiosity. Without curiosity, human societies around the globe would be much less developed and advanced (although with the state of resource overuse and climate change, one can question the wisdom of some of our advances). But there is just so much to learn and read about in the world (and universe). Curiosity has led me to many excellent books as well, for which I'm grateful.

 

It was hard to think of a photo to match curiosity, so I grabbed the shot above of Yuki, the last cat standing of the colony of spayed/neutered feral cats I've helped manage and feed (along with my neighbors) since 2007. He has been successfully dodging coyotes, cars, racoons, crows, and perhaps an owl or two since at least 2013.

One of the bunch, Tashi, became my beloved pet who died at the end of 2020. Yuki is too feral to become totally domesticated, but he is a nice cat who talks to me and likes to be petted and scratched around the ears. I'm grateful for his feline companionship over the years, and sad he just lost his last buddy Jude. They kept each other warm at night.

I'm also grateful for ferry rides back and forth across Puget Sound/Salish Sea for visits to family in Port Townsend and Bainbridge Island, Washington. I will never, ever tire of the clarifying embrace of the stiff, cold breeze while standing on the front ferry deck as the vessel skims across the sea surface.

On my semi-regular trips to Port Townsend for Monday morning coffee/tea with the gang up there, I always stop at a park on Port Gamble Bay and walk along the bluff or down to the water's edge to take pictures.

I'm always the only one there on Monday mornings, and it's an incredibly peaceful escape from the city. As always, I'm grateful for the balm of nature.

I could continue rambling here on what is basically a stream of consciousness post. But just reflecting on these things bring even more things to mind for which I'm grateful. One can't forget friends and family to share adventures and the everyday.

 And I'm happy that it's always possible to make new friends and reconnect with old friends. They're all gold.

So what tops your list of gratitudes this year? I've barely scratched the surface. But it's a good exercise to get one thinking and appreciating all there is to be thankful for again.

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy Thanksgiving/holiday season. May you cherish just being here and remember, let's strive to look beyond what divides us to what binds us, with compassion and humanity. 

 And let's all strive to approach others with kindness.

Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons! In between blog posts, visit Pacific NW Seasons on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Northwest photos and outdoors news.

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2020: Gratitude in the Time of Covid

Every year I sit down to write a Thanksgiving post, and some years it's harder than others to come up with a list of gratitudes. But this year...it's 2020.

And despite environmental concerns, unprecedented wildfires, political and social conflicts, a global pandemic, and not being able to hug friends and family...yes, there is still much  for which to be grateful this year.

For starters, I'm grateful to live where I do, near a perfect sandy beach on the Salish Sea. In late January I started doing almost weekly plunges in the sea within about 10 minutes from my home. 

While my nearby beach is not a warm, tropical spot, it's thrilling to wade in offshore, then plunge into the chilly sea. It makes me feel like I've done something epic, even though often I'm swimming for less than 30 seconds. 

It's the ultimate Zen experience, being completely in the moment, shocked and exhilarated by the cold saltwater. I highly recommend giving it a try if you can.

Plunge buddies

As a self-employed business owner who works out of my home, I'm grateful to have several projects to work on this year. And honestly, working from home is not a change or adjustment for me. I've made my living out of my home office for over a decade.

I miss weekly mornings working at a few local coffeeshops/teahouses, where a friend often parked at the table beside me with his laptop too. It eased my cabin fever and was nice to be around others. I'm grateful all my favorite spots have managed to stay in business during this difficult time.

Thursday mornings at Miro Tea. Next year again?

I'm grateful that (so far) most of my friends and all my family have stayed covid-free. One good friend suffered from covid-19, but she was never hospitalized and is doing better after several months struggling to regain her breath and energy. For her improved health, I'm grateful.

I'm grateful for the friends I've gotten out hiking and kayaking with this year.
And for the power and joy of being out in nature here in the scenic Pacific Northwest. All that forest bathing and expansive landscapes and seascapes have been a strong balm to help ease the stresses of this year.

And I've caught myself in moments recently just feeling grateful for the precious gift of this life. In my office today, it hit me again. There was nothing extraordinary about sitting at my desk, but I felt gratitude for the everyday, of being here to experience life in all its imperfect, messy beauty.

 

So while I'm at it, here are few more things I'm thankful for:

 

-New friends

-Poetry, which is so apt this year to capture the ethos of this time

-Acts of kindness and compassion, to which I aspire

-Zoom and other video conferencing and livestreaming. I know it's not perfect, but it has been calming to see people's faces while catching up and "attending" book clubs, on-line events, and more.

-The joy of cooking. I've had some fun experimenting this year (although no sourdough yet). And also the joy of take-out to support some of my favorite local cafes and restaurants.

French toast a la Brewster

-The Marine Mammal Rescue Centre and Vancouver Aquarium up in B.C. for rescuing orphaned baby sea otter Joey this past summer and then livestreaming his growth into a healthy, happy otter meeting new otter friends at the aquarium. The volunteers are upbeat and diligent, and people all over the world have been watching.

Joey napping

So here's to giving thanks, even if at times this year it has been hard to feel it. I write this partly to remind myself, too. 

May you have a safe, happy holiday season. I'd love to hear some things you're grateful for, too, in a comment below!

Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons! In between blog posts, visit Pacific NW Seasons on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Northwest photos and outdoors news.  

Autumn in the Pacific Northwest: Huckleberries, Larches, and Good Rain

There's something indefinably magic about autumn that makes it my favorite time of year. And this year, we all can use some magic, right?

While it's a drippy rainy evening here in Seattle as I write this, we've had some brilliant fall color and weather. Our first frost is expected in a few days.

People this year are flocking and recreating outside in our forests and parks like never before. So today's post is about getting outside and celebrating late summer/autumn beauty in this splendid region.

Early Autumn

By late August, you can usually feel a hint of autumn at higher elevations in the Cascades. The sun travels lower across the sky, vine maples are starting to show a hint of color, and pesky bugs are no longer an issue.

Just before Labor Day weekend, I joined a friend and her daughter for a weekday hike near Snoqualmie Pass in the Mountains to Sound Greenway, less than an hour east of Seattle. We got an early start and felt a morning fall chill that later transitioned to mellow warmth.  

Within a couple hours we made it up to tranquil Mason Lake, where huckleberries were starting to pop out on shrubs around the lake. While sitting on the shore of this mountain lake in the soft warm sunshine, all that 2020 anxiety drained away for a spell.

 

But this being 2020, heavy smoke from the raging West Coast wildfires kept us inside for almost 2 weeks starting Labor Day weekend. I was lucky to get out a day ahead of the smoke to kayak off Vashon Island.

Early sign of fall on the beach

When things cleared up later in the month, I caught an early morning ferry to meet my aunt and friends for morning coffee at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington.

Olympic Mountains, predawn

After an hour sitting outdoors in distanced chairs, sipping hot drinks, and enjoying excellent conversation, we walked around Fort Worden State Park on what was an absolutely stellar, crisp early autumn day. I kept exclaiming out loud, "This is a perfect fall day!"

Historic Fort Worden building

And then there were huckleberries. I joined a small group of lovely women for a book club hike into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to discuss Twelve Moons by the late great poet Mary Oliver. Although the trail was plenty busy, we managed to spread out and stayed mostly masked.

Near the top of Mt. Sawyer, we filled emptied water bottles with huckleberries after discussing the lyrical poems. With a clearing sky and all that mountain fresh air too, it was another perfect fall day. (And the huckleberry tarts I made later were pretty wonderful too.)

Evergreen state

 October

And then there were golden larches. I'm addicted to seeing these deciduous conifers each October at their peak brilliance. This subalpine species only grows in a limited range, between elevations from 5,800 to 7,500 feet on the sunnier eastern crest of the Cascades.

On a midweek hike to Ingalls Pass in the Teanaway region near Cle Elum, Washington, I met up with my high school backpacking buddy Alice. Many years had passed since we tramped together along a trail, so it was a special day for me.

Mt. Stuart

In early October, even on a Wednesday trail traffic was steady. We both felt the elevation as we trudged upward a few thousand feet. But as soon as we topped out at the pass, glowing golden larches appeared everywhere and any dragginess we felt disappeared.

We hiked onward through and past groves of vibrant trees in the basin below. Just an awesome day!

Closer to Seattle, a couple girlfriends and I snuck out for a chilly, misty morning hike recently on a popular trail west of Snoqualmie Pass.

While it didn't rain on us that morning, by afternoon the next storm arrived. Our thirsty plants and forests throughout the region soaked up the much needed moisture. 

 

This is what we call a good rain. As I write this, snow is predicted even in the lower mountain passes later this week.

But where I physically feel the change of seasons most is during weekly brief open water "wild" swims in Puget Sound. When my plunge buddy and I started in January, the air and water were downright frigid. Then this past summer, we'd sit in the warm sun on the beach afterwards.

With October, we've been greeted by wind, rain, and sometimes fog, like in the short clip below right before our plunge yesterday. 

 

And yes, I think standing in the rain before plunging in the cold sea is actually pretty wonderful. :)

I hope you, too, can get out and revel in the changing season. 

Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons! In between blog posts, visit Pacific NW Seasons on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Northwest photos and outdoors news.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lowland Hiking around Puget Sound: Japanese Gulch

Now that the snow is flying in the Cascade and Olympic mountains, many of us hikers/walkers turn to lower-elevation places for our daily dose. Within an hour or less from Seattle, there are many places to walk in the woods and get a good workout.

This past weekend I ventured about 20 miles north to walk through Japanese Gulch in Mukilteo, close to Puget Sound. The gulch got its name from the many Japanese families who lived there in housing for millworkers for the Mukilteo/Crown Lumber Company, which operated there for about 30 years until 1930.

We passed several large stumps, evidence of the past logging here. What I would give to have seen this area before it was logged, when the grand old growth trees were abundant.

We printed out a map, but the trails on the ridge above the gulch are so twisty and hard to correlate to the map that we just took forks that seemed to head the general direction away from where we started (next to the dog park).

On a late November day, most of the leaves were down and covering the trails in a slick carpet of brown and gold. It's also muddy in some spots along the trails.

After about 20 minutes of walking down the gulch, then up the ridge, we had a peek-a-boo view toward the Sound at the only viewpoint along the way.

As we walked through the forest, there were a few jets and planes flying close overhead while coming in to land at nearby Paine Field. Boeing owned and used this area from the 1960s until 2007, and the railroad tracks in the bottom of the gulch accessed Boeing facilities. 

Actually the low jets were not all that bothersome, although I can't speak for the wildlife. However, black-tailed deer and numerous cool birds use the area.

Along the trails, there is much beauty to be observed in small details. Pay close attention and you'll spot lots of treasures in a winter woodland.

Maindenhair fern

A profusion of lichen

A friend says that water trapped atop a mushroom is a fairy pool.

About an hour (?) along, we took a fork down toward the stream that flows through the gulch and eventually crossed a small bridge. Then we headed back up the gulch.

This part of the walk, flat between the stream and railroad tracks, is not as scenic, but there were some interesting human-related remnants.

This old car has been in the gulch for at least 30 years.

A deep well riser above the stream.

Overall we walked about two hours with several stops (for me to take photographs), and I estimate we covered about 3.5 to 4 miles. There also wasn't much trail traffic; we passed less than half a dozen other people.

As we near the winter solstice, these walks in the woods, this "forest bathing," is fuel to keep my engine running through the dark months. Until we can get up and go skiing...

I'm interested in hearing about your visits here or other lowland winter hikes that you recommend in a comment below.

Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons! 

In between blog posts, visit Pacific NW Seasons on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Northwest photos and outdoors news.

When You Go
Mukilteo is about 20 miles north of Seattle, Washington, sandwiched between Edmonds and Everett along Puget Sound. To get there, from Interstate 5 take the Mukilteo Speedway (Hwy 525) into Mukilteo. Just before crossing the railroad tracks to the ferry holding area, turn right (north) onto 5th Street. Continue north on 5th for five blocks, then you'll see parking is on the right. There is no fee for parking or using the area.