The Wilds of Washington

I greatly enjoy going out of doors, it keeps me healthy in so many ways. The fresh air livens me, a good brisk breeze awakens a certain part of me that I forget is there while sitting at my desk processing data all week. The weekend comes and I get the thrill of exploring a new place or feel the comfort of revisiting a spot I have been so many times, a second home. 

I am also lucky to live in the great northwest where we have so many ecosystems and beautiful places within a 2 hour drive. The west side of Washington is the peninsula, which holds the Olympic mountains, Elwha river, the Hoh rainforest, and a craggy coast line. The winds that come off the ocean, which blow in white froth coated waves that crash vehemently against the beach, are quite exhilarating. In contrast there is a certain muffled silence while trekking through the moss covered rainforest, the giant old growth trees towering  overhead like ancient sentinels.

Washington's southern region is bordered by the Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge began formation millions of years ago as over 200 basalt lava flows covered the area. Then about 12-15,000 years ago there were a series of catastrophic floods that created the Columbia River Gorge/Basin. This series of events created a very dramatic landscape with steep walled cliffs lined in places with basalt pillars and water falls. There are hundreds of dams along the course of the Columbia River, which produce 50% of the electricity for Washington State. The Yakima tribe's telling of the creation of the geological formations is quite compelling.

The east is scrubby desert plains designed by ancient volcanoes and a massive flood.

The north is mountains upon mountains as the north cascades stretch into Canada, remote, rugged, and precipitous.

Enjoying the great out doors

My eyes revel in the landscapes of soft trees contrasted with hard rocky edges, the rare deep blue sky with wispy edges of clouds high in the atmosphere, or the still waters of a lake or the Puget Sound expanding before me. When you stop to listen and look with mindfulness there is an abundance of life. A frog chirrups from soggy dip in the forest floor, fiery red and yellow mushrooms peak their heads out from under the leaf litter, a flock of bushtits flutter and fluff in a rhododendron nearby, and a grey squirrel chitters and scolds from the safety of the doug fir above.