I headed up towards Mount Baker over Martin Luther King weekend to hold my vacation cabin listing open. Between customers I was engaged in  day and nighttime photography of the mountain and the stars from the upper deck.

Paying attention in this way brought back to me the peace and stillness of life outside the city and a greater appreciation of a get-away such as this!

This image is an overlay of the sunrise and evening stars, specifically the constellation Orion. I set-up my Nikon D7000 in interval mode to create star trails and thought the image of Orion the best. Orion shows in the early evening a couple of hours after sunset.

New York and the Adirondacks

As many of my friends know, I got a start in the outdoors when I was very young as my father built a ski lodge. Not just any ski lodge but the Mammoth Mountain Inn. I started skiing, hiking and swimming as soon as I was able and this eventually led to backpacking, rock climbing, river rafting and kayaking.

I've kept up the kayaking and over a decade worked my way through up through the American Canoe Association instructor hierarchy to become an instructor trainer educator.

One way this has paid off for me ties into my love of travel! In August I received a consulting contract in the Adirondacks to oversee an instructor trainer candidate and a Level 2 course held for the wonderful instructors of The Black River Outdoor Education Program.


Aside from the lovely environment in upstate New York, this also fed into my interest in real estate. We were told we would stay in the Wildflower guest cottage. Our cottage was a beautiful two story cottage on a grand scale made of hardwoods.

It is placed on a large piece of property which emulates a great camp such as the ones the early vacationers had. I like to call it a mini great camp!

On the main floor we found the master bedroom and bath, casual living area and a wonderful screened in porch where we managed to have our coffee one morning. The second story had the library and second bedroom with a wonderful four-poster bed.

Our cottage had a kitchenette but the dining room and commercial kitchen are in the lodge next door.

A stroll down a lane through the forest brought me to a carriage house with a horse washing station, and hidden in the woods were more homes and guest houses.

We had a wonderful screened in porch where I would have my coffee each morning. One day, out of the forest and myst, a lynx bounded across the grass. I can see it as clear as day, but didn't have my camera. 

We drove each day to Nick's Lake near Old Forge, New York for our classroom and then were often treated to steak, red wine and chocolate desserts.





My hosts, Jeff and Laura Liebel,  have a canoe and kayak company called WECANU and are also quite involved in the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (dear to my heart as I am the current president of the Washington Water Trail).

I ended up extending my stay and drove as far as Lake Placid, visited a friend on Lower Saranac Lake and toured the Wild Center Natural History Museum.

The architecture of the museum is inspired by studies that show that seeing the living world each day can make one happier and healthier! More than ninety-five percent of the spaces inside have a direct line of sight to the outdoors.

Overall it was an exceptional trip which fed into many of my interests!

Reminiscing of summer and fall, moving into Christmas

I didn't spend too much time at the computer this year - I mostly traveled with iPhone in hand!

After driving to the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City last August, I decided to visit the four corners area before heading to Yellowstone to visit my aunt.



I visited and camped at several national monuments, parks and native american sites. Navajo National Monument, Hubble Trading Post, Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde were some of my favorites. When it is hot I found it best to pull in near dusk and leave before noon.





From Mesa Verde I headed to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. I joined my aunt on an early morning "safari" and we were fortunate to see grizzly bears and a family of wolves in addition to the bison, deer and fantastic scenery.


As a tour guide I appreciated the knowledge and agenda. While I am a do-it-yourself kind of gal, I would highly recommend this tour.







Luckily I had a kayak course to look forward to in Florida.

After the course near Naples, I shot across the state to see The Adams Family in West Palm Beach and then toured the keys, accomplishing something I had always wanted to do - I got a certification in scuba! - I can stay under the water for long periods of time and keep company with the fish!

Amoray Dive Resort is one stop shopping for this. They were recommended by the local visitor's center as they had one of the last rooms (low-key with kitchenettes) available and it turns out one of their instructors, Dan, was available to work with me for two days. With his help I managed to plow through the text book, take the test and accomplish the pool and four dives.

Salmon la Sac

I went with friends on a little cross country ski trip near Rolsyn - up the river, up the road and then onto a little trail along the Waptus River.

Overall it was a beautiful day in our own private snow globe. The Salmon la Sac seemed to glow an iridescent green under it's cover of snow and ice, an image that will remain with me for a long time.

Exploring Issaquah Trails for Dog Walks

During a lull in the Northwest rain I was looking for a new trail and found one! It was more than bargained for but rewarding.

Cougar Mountain has a lot to offer so I drove out the Issaquah-Renton Highway until I found the first small parking lot. Off I set with Ci Ci on a nice steep incline.

At the top of the first incline I walked through a little valley complete with a boardwalk which elevated us above a muddy bog.

I eventually reached the top to find a bench that was just created last year. It has a cryptic saying : "May You Find Inner Peace, Tranquility and Safety on the Trails. Follow the Path to Bushido".

Of course this leads to another path; the path to finding the meaning of Bushido. The way of the warrior...which according to http://thebushidocode.com/ are rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor and loyalty.

Now the hike worked the body and fed the mind and spirit. As I said, rewarding...

As usual I tried to get a good track with the iPhone GPS and it tried to keep up although lost us in a couple of places. Here is a map-link to our hike and a link to pnwhikes.com where one can find more details.

The bench is on the top of the hill to the right of the track, although the GPS wasn't able to follow us there. The trail was easy to follow and well signed.

The Big Island

I joined friends on the big island of Hawaii and basked in Paradise for one week. As it was a last minute trip, I made it an adventure by having very few plans. Thanks to my friends, the iPhone, Yelp and word of mouth, I found great places to stay and took some wonderful hikes and swims.

As Yelp was so helpful I created an account and added reviews: Yelp Reviews.

Our trip to the Green Sand Beach was incredible. We hiked in along the coast watching humpback whales breach and then dove into the water as our reward. I swam underwater and thought I heard a goat bleating; of course it was really a whale sounding from outside the bay, but at first I was shocked as it seemed to be right next to me!

The picture of these whales as taken right off the deck of a house I shared with my friends at Moiliili, the last fishing village on the Big Island. As one local said, however, it is important to get off the deck and onto the lava.

Trip to Makah Bay

I drove to Salt Creek for my first evening on the Olympic Peninsula.

I woke early to a pink sunrise, but too tired to get up, I contentedly went back to sleep. To make up for it, Ci Ci and I walked Crescent Beach - a magical place no matter what the weather or swell.

In the morning I ran into a kayak friend at the Joyce store - he had a prototype carbon fiber touring kayak with a planing hull.

I drove to Neah Bay and bought a pound of smoked salmon from the famous shop that was featured in the New York Times.




Thus prepared, I went out for a warm-up paddle in the surf in my EzG, now wishing I had stayed out longer! The weather was perfect - sunny, glassy waves with a nice period - only to by followed by lesser quality swells and fog (still fun, but).

One of my goals was to try out my new Impex Mystic in the surf. Granted we had from two to four feet over the weekend - but I still had a chance to play around with it!

The next two days were a blast, and too soon I had to head for the ferry.

First iPhone 3G Movie

First day with my iPhone 3G - just had to play with the video while leading a Rainier tour. Here we are at the Nisqually River. Needs a bit of editing; maybe I should dive into Final Cut Express...

I later shot footage of Sunbeam Creek - love the sound of the river:

Instructor certification course for coastal kayaking

Alki Beach provides a lot of distraction during this inner-city workshop!

Puget Sound Sea Kayak Symposium

Heading to Tacoma today for the spring symposium. Great time to run into friends and kick off the season! I'll be teaching Tides and Currents, Basic Strokes and Refining the forward Stroke.