An under-the-radar hike with over the top views One spring evening, soon after we moved to Bend in 2003, we went to a slideshow on local hikes at a little outdoor gear shop down the road. The shop was Pine Mountain Sports, and the speaker was William Sullivan, and we’ve been fans of both ever…
PNW + West
Destinations and travel suggestions for exploring the Pacific Northwest and Western states of the US and Canada.
Firetower Lookout Camping
on Green Ridge Lookout near Sisters, Oregon Wildfires are certainly no picnic here in Central Oregon, and for most of fire season volunteers keep watch from high vantage points at fire lookout towers scattered throughout the region. In late spring and fall, however, those cabins-on-stilts are available for campers to rent. Renting a fire lookout…
PNW: Sea kayak through kelp forests
When you live in the Pacific Northwest, there are more adventure opportunities than time available. My PNW bucket list is still long, even after 18 years of living here. So when I saw the REI Adventures post offering a three-day sea kayak expedition through the San Juan Islands, I broke out my calendar and blocked…
Utah: Coyote Gulch, Part Two
Clean Water, Good Food, and Leaving No Trace I learned a lot on this backpacking trip to Utah. First, if someone invites you to hike a desert canyon in the springtime, you should immediately say YES. Second, water is the key to enjoying desert hikes—finding it, purifying it, and even slogging through it. And finally,…
Utah: Coyote Gulch, Part One
It started with a birthday message from Connor. “Happy birthday mom. Come out to Utah and we’ll go camping or something.” Who could resist such an offer from their 20-something son? What a gift! It did take almost a year to make it happen, but the following April I tagged on a three-day layover in…