The Power of Joy

A beautiful star filled night, head out the window of the gondola the whole ride home after skiing down to the village with torches in hand, watching the tops of frosted pine and aspen trees glide by in front of white and craggy peaks. A walk through town past restaurants full of smiling diners looking into each other's eyes and excited to be exactly where they are. Blessings to a beautiful life shown and voiced to the stars and red rock and shining snow surrounding me before walking into my condo to find a stocking that magically appeared while I was gone. Gratitude and contentment and passion for my life and this world and all who are in it on this very special night - a night as special as every one that has come before and has yet to come

I spied this bike in my sister's garage. A little air, a bolt and a right pedal from the local bike shop's spare parts bin, and I have a ride! Western PA is full of cricks and hollers - those are creeks and the small drainages they create to the rest of you - and there is a road through every holler and another one up and over every hill in between. That's the good news. The bad news is that there's almost never any shoulder and they've built giant shopping complexes in areas still served by the country roads created for farmers who tilled the fields beneath the Wally Worlds and Targets that displaced them. However, once you escape (or avoid) these slices of traffic-clogged panic, the road riding here is fantastic! Quiet roads through hill and holler with a mix of corn and fallow fields stretching out to the hazy horizon. Navigation is a bit tricky, as the roads follow the cricks and don't necessarily go where you think they would. I relied on the remn...

I jumped on a flight from Seattle to Pittsburgh after seeing Jackson Browne at the Ste. Michelle winery last Friday night. He opened with an acoustic set with David Lindley, his guitarist on his classic hits and a stringed instrument virtuoso. David played with the band as well, showcasing his talents throughout the night on what appeared to be a lute, a lap steel, a dobro, a fiddle and maybe even some sort of sitar (we did not sit close and I am not an expert on acoustic instruments). The acoustic set, capped off with a solo performance by David about head cheese and rotten sandwiches served to the musicians backstage at a Marin County Health and Wellness Festival, was my favorite. Jackson came back with a stellar band and delivered what the crowd wanted, showcasing their true talents with an encore set of the blues standard 'Buy me a Mercury' and his own reggae-vibed song of hope. His values, songwriting, voice and authenticity...

The Chuckanuts may not be wilderness, but they are mountainous, wild, and just outside my door. Wednesday I rode a good chunk of them on a pretty good 9 1/2 hour tour on an absolutely perfect summer day. Riding from home on the south side of Bellingham, we headed to the Chuckanuts on the Interurban Trail, turning left to ascend through Arroyo Park . A new set of switchbacks on the lower part enabled my first clean ascent of the connector to the Hemlock Trail . The first 'summit' was the intersection of Hemlock and Pine and Cedar Trails, 1400' and 3.8 miles from Arroyo Park, followed shortly by the lakes themselves, the first of six lakes on the tour. When I don't have all day, a quick left at the intersection to descend Pine and Cedar Trail to Old Samish Way and back to Arroyo makes a great 75 - 90 minute tour and workout. But we did have all day, taking a rather faint right just before the main trail descends to Cedar Lake. This connector was a bit overgrown, as i...

I haven't run much since I hit that 'knees hurt' phase of life that just happened to precede several knee injuries requiring surgery. Yet it is such a simple and minimalist way to get out into the local splendor and get an endorphin fix. Lately I've been playing with these foot gloves called Five Fingers from the sole maker Vibram. They are best taken in small doses at first, but I'm thinking the conscious approach to running they require may help lead me back into being able to enjoy longer runs. This quick clip was shot on the Connelly Creek trail just behind my house, part of the local trail system that makes living in Bellingham so attractive. Recreational amenities like local parks, the Greenways trails, the trails on Galbraith and in the Chuckanuts, and public launch sites like Mud Bay are more than simple amenties. They also contribute to the local economy and the community by attracting passionate, active, and generally positive folks to  live, play, an...

Dancing through the world on foot, wheels, and in boats is superfood for my soul, but does requires fuel and maintenance for my body. After a day of fever and nausea and another spent struggling to eat or drink, I was finally able to refuel last night with a full pot of rice and a quart of lemonade (the only two things that didn't turn my stomach - go figure). That short bout of sickness magnified my gratitude for my exuberant mind and body and increased my awe and sympathy for those who live with any chronic disease.  Samish Flats with Taylor Oyster Beds in lower right corner at low tide on 7/2 Last Saturday, Sue and I heard the gun go off at 10:49 am from the trail to Oyster Dome , 3.2 miles and almost 2000' from the car.  The blast marked the low tide for the summer and the start of Saturday's BiValve Bash , arguably the toughest 250 yard run in the nation. Cars jammed on the shoulder below the trail The hike past the Bat Caves to the top of Oyster Dome is a ch...

The chance of rain for the next week, according to Cliff Mass' Weather Blog , is 8%: payback for certain weeks of the year that have a slightly higher chance of precipitation! With temps in the 70's and 80's and clean blue skies, the splendor of the weather accentuates and magnifies the local splendor. Mud Bay, the RR trestle, Clark's and Governor's Points Last night I enjoyed that splendor from my surfski in Mud Bay, launching from a small beach in Chuckanut Village . With a full moon tomorrow, the tide was in all evening, crucial to avoiding a long walk to the water through the very sticky namesake of this bay. Calm seas mirrored the calm skies as I paddled through and beside the eroded oddities of Chuckanut Sandstone and below one of Bellingham's newest parks, Woodstock Farm . I made a quick circle beyond the railroad trestle and then ducked back to the beach in time for dinner, grateful for the privilege of paddling in paradise just a few miles from h...

A mountain bike trip to Squamish? I wasn't too sure I wanted to spend any of this glorious weather in what always struck me as dreary suburban sprawl at the end of Howe Sound (on the way to the further suburban sprawl and eventual wonders of Whistler). However, Tom had a place to stay in town and is one of my favorite riding buddies, so I jumped into his Subaru and headed north. Tom's son, pro snowboarder and North Face athlete Lucas Debari , was in Squamish to rock climb and invited us to crash at the home of a fellow TNF athlete off surfing with his family in Costa Rica. After a quick drive through Vancouver, we turned off 99 onto Clarke Avenue and were greeted by the Chief gleaming in the moonlight. In the morning, I realized I was in a town more akin to the Chamonix of North America than a Vancouver suburb as I enjoyed this view while sipping coffee on the deck. Tom, co-owner and the creative force behind Milano's in Glacier, knew Chris Fulton. a local rider, wh...

Perfect evening for the inaugural surf ski paddle of the summer. Felt comfortable and stable but not in shape yet to pull the boat at hull speed for very long. I had just thought of a service to offer - a listening booth - at Burning Man if I decide to go when a young fisherman on the dock began to hassle me for being too close. Although I engaged with what I thought was curiosity and compassion, I failed to stop the exchange from escalating. Hmmmm - something to think about as I head off with Tom for 2 days of mountain biking in Squamish!

Fun does come with some details, and yesterday was full of them. First up was installing new levers for the speed reducers on my V2 Jenex roller skis, since the shorter days (dark by 9:30!) has me thinking about the upcoming ski season. I broke the original lever in the midst of interval training for this year's Ski to Sea. The new part from Len and the gang at V2 came as a pair of U handles which I have to say are worth the cost, even if I did have to scrounge around Hardware Sales for the mounting bolts which were not included!  Next up was mounting saddles onto the bars on our CR-V so I can start paddling my Huk i surfski before ski season actually does arrive. Then I transferred the bike rack to transform the rig into a total playmobile. Seemed easy enough, but before I knew it I weas changing lock cores in the Yakima towers, coming up with some kind of warning flag for the Huki which extends about 10' behind the bumper, and removing the spare tire from the back do...

The bike jumped forward as I snapped out of the left hand corner and down toward the Oyster Creek Inn on Chuckanut Drive . Rocketing past the Taylor Shellfish turnoff, I layed the bike over as far as I dare to arc right and across the classic bridge over Oyster Creek. Any thoughts I've ever had that staying fit and strong was a hassle or a sacrifice seemed totally ludicrous. Suffice it to say that the benefits far outweigh the costs. Snapping upright after the bridge, I jumped onto the pedals and stood to power over the next hill without downshifting, carrying my joy and giddy glee right past the Oyster Bar , Chuckanut Manor and out into the Skagit flats. Although it was a sunny summer Sunday, traffic was light and I was able to enjoy the sun dappled madrones, the sandstone cliffs, and views of Cypress, Samish and other San Juan islands that lay west of the Chuckanut coast. The shoulder near the start of the trail to the Oyster Dome and the hang glider launch was packed wit...