Along the Central Oregon Coast lies one of the most interesting landscapes I have encountered in the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area stretches for 40 miles from Florence to Coos Bay, and holds a natural wonderland of wind-sculpted sand dunes up to 500 feet above sea level, tree islands, sand lakes, ponds, marshes and abundant wildlife. Wind, water, and time ...
Hiking
Backpacking Larison Creek
Our family is very fortunate to have some good friends who are hardy backpackers. One of the most important things I have learned about backpacking motivation is that friends who backpack with children can do a lot to encourage each other to hit the trails. Even outdoorsy folks like myself can lose motivation. There have been summers where the weather was hot, life was busy with the kids ...
Beyond the Hall of Mosses: Backpacking the Hoh River
Growing up with the Olympic National Park in my backyard meant that I spent my childhood getting to know all the local rivers and their hiking trails. The Dungeness, the Greywolf, the Elwha, the Soleduc, the Bogachiel, the Hoh, and the Queets became these living, breathing places that I regard as fondly as old friends. Since having children of my own, I think we've done too ...
Backpacking Trips: Threemile Lake
Last year we were looking for a good backpacking trip to do with some friends of ours, with all our kids ranging in age from 3-7. In my experience, three miles is generally a good rule of thumb for backpacking in a day with young children. This can certainly vary depending on the trail, how old they are and how accustomed they are to backpacking. In very good keeping with this rule, ...
A Walk in the Wetlands
One of the many things I love about living out in the country where we do, is being near a wildlife area and reservoir that attracts more than 250 species of birds all throughout the year. We drive past it every day on our way into town and see wild geese, pelicans, ducks, redwing blackbirds, and great blue herons. My kids are getting very good at spotting them. In the Fall hundreds of "V's" ...
Spring Arrives at Dorris Ranch: An Afternoon Walk in Photographs
Every spring, I like to go on walks at Dorris Ranch, my favorite park and living history farm. One clear March day I went with my children and our friends after school to gather nettles. We walked along the gravel roads winding through the filbert orchards and stopped at an old tractor for the kids to play while we picked at the base of an old tree. As I was picking the nettles, I kept ...
A Baker Beach Day Hike
One cold, frosty morning in February, my family woke up early, not minding the wintry weather, because we were headed for the ocean. As we crossed over the coastal mountain range, it became sunnier, and warmer, and before we knew it, we were in Florence and it was 60 degrees outside! We decided to explore a part of the beach we had never been to before, and held a long-standing curiosity about, ...
An Enchanted Valley Day Hike
One morning in late December, while the kids were on winter break from school, we got a group of friends together for a hiking adventure. I was feeling like exploring a new place, so I searched on the internet for some ideas. A place near Florence called the Enchanted Valley, caught my imagination. I was familiar with the Enchanted Valley up the Quinault River in the Olympic National Park near ...