Spokane Valley Rockhopper

Spokane Police Range

Well here we go again.  Another summer of training gunfighters from all over the state of Washington.  I say summer, even though it is early May, because the temperatures over here in the Spokane Valley have been in the mid 80′s (high 20′s C) all week.

The Weather Map

Looking for a little weekend mountain bike ride, I checked in with the local experts at Wheelsport Cycle shop near my hotel.  The owner, John Abernathy, basically dropped everything and took the time to outline several of his favorite local trails.  I did a little research of his top 3, and chose the Saltese Uplands for my first mountain bike sortie.

Saltese Uplands

Before I type another word can I just take a second to say thanks to John, and all those other local bike shop folks, who always seem willing to do whatever they can to help out a traveler, and fellow rider, with whatever they need.  They are the true ambassadors of the sport!

So, on to the ride.  I rolled out at about 0530 and was on the trail by 0600 hours.  I had the place to myself and the cool 50′ish temperatures were just about right for this coasty boy.  As John had described, there was plenty of climbing.  I clawed my way up single track switchbacks all the way to the top.  The rolling grassy hills were covered with wildflowers and teeming with birds.  The sun was up and trying to burn a hole through the early morning low clouds.  I had wonderful views of Liberty Lake and the mountains of Idaho, just above the lake.

Arrowroot Balsamroot

Sunrise on the trail

When I wasn’t stopping to film or take photos I was hauling a$$ down this trail.  I got back down to the base of the hill just about the time I was thinking ‘breakfast’…

Movie time

Once again my magnetic GorillaPod did the job.  Here is a picture of the mini tripod clinging to some fence wires.

The last half mile of the trail runs fairly flat along a rural road.  As I was blasting along I heard the distinctive squeaking of a marmot somewhere atop a giant granite boulder.  As soon as I located him… I realized he was a “her” because she had a little baby marmot following along right with her.

Yellow-bellied marmots

In case you’re wondering that photo was taken with my video camera.  Much better that I would have expected, if I do say so myself.  I’ll have a little movie mash-up at the end for the story.  Stay tuned for that.

Evening along the Spokane River

The next Rockhopper excursion entailed waiting until after sunset. Primarily to to miss the oppressive mid-day heat, but also just to enjoy a little night ops.  The 60 mile long Spokane Centennial Trail was conveniently located right outside my hotel, tracking along the Spokane River.  I wanted to head west on the trail to Mirabeau Park for some photos.  I was interested to see if the “water feature” would have any cool accent lighting for night shooting.

Mirabeau Falls

Well, as you can see, no accent lighting but still pretty cool.  Actually it was two kinds of cool because there was a nice refreshing mist blowing off the waterfall as well.

Night Ops

Finally a little slow speed photography as the very last rays of sunlight faded into the western sky.

Sunday morning found me back in the saddle, headed east to Idaho.  The weather had cooled slightly and, for the moment the wind was down.

Wildflowers along the trail

Jamming down the trail was joy.  The bunnies and quail out numbered the people about 50-1.  However, when I did encounter other cyclist they were, more often than not, flying.  Before I slowed, or turned, or stopped, or did anything I made a very careful 360 scan to make sure I wasn’t going to get a 10 bike enema.  It was common to see a whole pack of lycra princesses, all kitted out with their triathlon bars, flat out hauling freight.  Caution was the word of the day.

Smell the lilacs

As for me, well I had plenty of time to stop and smell the flowers.  When I rolled up on this bunch of lilacs the fragrance was heavenly.

800 indian horses

Reluctantly I rode away form the ‘lilac break’ and continued east.  Just about a mile short of the state line I stopped to read a granite marker at the side of the trail.  I was looking at site where, in 1858 the US Army, in their quest to suppress any further battles with the local native americans, killed 800 of their captured horses.  Well I guess if roadside historical markers are put in place to make one stop and think… This one has done it’s job fairly well.  With my ‘faithful steed’ leaning on the marker, I read the chiseled inscription and decided I needed to watch the movie, Man From Snowy River again.

Back in the saddle, I rode on as far as the Cabelas store in Post Falls, ID.  After a little shopping spree, and some photos, I was heading back west.

Idaho Moose

I guess I didn’t notice the wind starting to develop from the west.  Insidious at first, coming from behind me.  Then relentless, once I turned around in Post Falls, Idaho and headed back to Washington.  There is a reason that all those Coast to Coast cyclists start on the pacific coast and to the atlantic coast.  Bicycle tourists agree, the wind is like a never-ending hill.

As promised here is a little movie of my Spokane Valley Rockhopper adventure:

Ok, that’s a wrap!  Thanks for watching – reading – following.  Until next time.  Kat

Bayview Spring Campout

Padilla Bay

We’re just back from a little overnighter at Bayview State Park, up on Padilla Bay.  The weather was fabulous for spring in the Pacific Northwest… Check that – Super Fabulous!

Travis and Teresa got a new tent so they were excited to test it out.  As the enormous structure started to take shape… A shadow was cast across the land

Sorry I didn’t get any photos of their new tent, butI thought I would share a few photos from our weekend.

Windy day on the water

This very spot, 6 hours later, would be about two miles of mudflats.  That makes Padilla Bay an especially productive birding area.  Migratory birds stop here to feed and rest on their journeys to and from northern breeding areas.

Windsurfers were flying too

The fresh 18-20 knot winds brought out a few windsurfers.

Giant S”mores

But the real joy was just an abundance of time, clowning around camp.  Teresa came up with the “recipe and ingredients” for these giant s’mores.  Toasted marshmallows stuffed into an ice-cream sugar cone, topped by Hershey’s chocolate bars.

I am still recovering from the sugar raging through my blood stream… but man they were yummy.

Travis broke out his giant bubble maker and quickly had zeppelin sized bubbles flying all over camp.

Are you starting to see a pattern here?  Big tent, big s’mores, big bubbles = BIG FUN!

Suzie “air sculpting” Travis’ bubbles

Booker and Travis reading at the fire

Of course no evening would be complete without a sunset over the bay photo…

Sunset on Padilla Bay

Remington (Remy) enjoying some bacon and eggs

The next morning after a few seconds of deliberation it was decided that the group would forego my offer to make pancakes for everybody and we would all go out to breakfast.  Susan piled into TnT’s car for the 4-5 mile trip to the restaurant, and I blasted down there on my Rockhopper.

Early morning on the Padilla Bay trail, with miles of mudflats brought out the shorebirds.  I paused a few times to watch the ariel ballet of 200 small sandpipers (maybe dunlin) dancing across the clear blue morning sky, swooshing back and forth, like a white and brown paintbrush.

A lazy morning allowed for Travis and Remy to take a little combat nap while Booker, Teresa, and Suzie went down to the beach to look for crabs.  I found myself flopped out in my camp chair, with my feet propped up on the picnic table, playing some ukulele.

Booker walking point on the wildlife refuge trail

Our day was capped off by a hike through the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Reserve and a visit to the interruptive center.

Teresa & Travis (aka TnT) and Suzie

“Dude, did you see the size of that thing”?

So if you go, don’t miss a visit to the Breazeale Interpretive Center.  There are a number of very interesting, and very kid friendly, displays to educate, entertain, and maybe even inspire us all.

That’s it for now.  Kat

The Built-in Desk

Duke using his brand new tape measure

Ok, here is a little follow up to the story about the third bunk bed.  In an effort to use every little bit of space and in order to give the bigger Dudes a quiet place to do their homework, we designed and built a double desk and bookshelf.

The plan was to attach a bookshelf to the wall, with a work light on the bottom.  Then to build the desk so it just slides into the space under the third bunk.  After some hasty measurements I sketched out this rough draft.

The rough draft

Once I got the “ok” from Leane, Richie, and the Dudes it was time to start making some sawdust – and I made a lot of it.

Things started taking shape pretty quickly and before too long something that looked like a bookshelf and a desk appeared in my garage.

The desk

The bookshelf

After a little bit of sanding (one can never have too much sawdust) it was time for paint.  We chose a bright white to try to match some IKEA cabinets in the room and to reflect as much light in the room as possible.

Suzie applying the white paint

Then finally it was time for the install.  Needless to say with all the helpers I had that was a piece of cake.

The desk goes in

Note to all parents:  This next part is Top Secret, skip this part.  Having once been a little boy myself, I was convinced that the desk needed a secret compartment.  So, after sending Leane out of the room, I showed the dudes the hidden compartment I made in the desk.

Looks like and ordinary toe kick

But behind the velcro attachments…

The Dudes, checking out the hidden compartment

As a finishing touch Suzie painted the underside of Duke’s bunk a nice bright white too.

The under bunk paint job

We liked the way the white paint reflected the light under the bunks and made it more enjoyable to read bedtime stories at night.

Cade got his bookshelf set up

I gotta say Cadence was pretty excited.  He was trying to pile his books on the shelf even before I had all the screws in.

Well, that about it for this edition of the Adventure Journal.  

A final note:  As Suzie and I were driving home Leane sent us this photo of Duke and Cade reading at the desk.  I think that pretty much says it all.

Happy Dudes = Happy Grandpa

The desk is all setup

Thanks for following along, Kat

Frenchman Coulee

Steel Stallion

Ok, I’m getting to the Frenchman Coulee hike, but first check out a few photos from the Wild Horses Monument.  These stunning steel stallions were placed high on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River in 1989 as part of the Washington State centennial celebration.  Since then thousands of people passing below on I-90 have looked up and been surprised by the herd of wild mustangs galloping along the ridge top.

Wild Horses on the Ridge

Silhouettes galloping across the sky

Overlooking the Columbia

After scrambling around with the horses for a while we headed up river a few miles to an area know as Frenchman Coulee.  A sagebrush scrubland of giant basalt columns, sand dunes, desert wildflowers and a wonderful plunging waterfall.  Note: if you travel here in the heat of summer you’ll still have sagebrush and basalt columns but the wildflowers and water will be a just distant memory.

Local map

Our hike was gonna be about 4-5 miles round trip, with a very minimal 200 feet of elevation gain.

Walking the Coulee

Wildflowers everywhere

Looking back

Below the falls

Well, we picked a beautiful day for a desert hike.  The temperature stayed about 60 degree F, and wind never got to more than a gentle breeze.  If you check out the picture above and follow the two dark basalt ridges in the distance… we started at the far end of the second ridge. That’s one of the things I like about desert hiking.  Views that go on and on for miles.

So if you wondering if there was going to be a video at the end of this story.  Well, here you go:

That background music was Mustang Sally, from the movie The Commitments, and Friend of the Devil, by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman.

See you later

So following that little adventure we were back home for about 17 hours and then off on another camping trip with the Dudes. Stay tuned..

Kat

The Triangle Of Death

Camp at Fort Casey

Don’t miss the movie at the end of the story……

April Fools Day!  In 2007 the day took on a very special significance to me.  That was actually the day of my retirement from Law Enforcement.  That is why it is especially fitting to take off on a trip or adventure on April 1st every year, just to celebrate the blessed event.  As it turned out my retirement was a bit of an April Fools joke on me because I fell into a pretty sweet little part-time hobby job at the Criminal Justice Training Commission and I have been working a bunch ever since.  But that’s another story.

This story is about my Triangle of Death tour and camping trip to Fort Casey and Fort Warden.  And right off the bat Fort Casey had a little bit of an April Fools joke to play on me as well.  Typically, mid-week in early spring one could expect to go to almost ANY state park in Washington and have the place pretty much to yourself.  There would always be the occasional retired couple in a giant RV puttering around, but that is it until summer.

When I pulled into the camp ground at Fort Casey the place was jam packed, and there were tons of people schlepping around up on the hill at the actual fort.  Well I did manage to find a camp site and just to prove that I’m not completely anti-social I jumped on my Rockhopper and rode off to explore the fort.

Ok, it’s time for your history lesson:

The Triangle of Death

The whole concept of the “Triangle of Death” (or Triangle of Fire, if you prefer the milk toast version of the name) was to build a series of harbor defense forts in key positions along the entrance to Puget Sound.  The three main artillery batteries were at Fort Casey, Fort Warden, and Fort Flagler.  The 3 fort’s geographic location, as you can see from the maps, formed a triangle of concentrated fire at a choke point where enemy ships would have to pass in order to get further down into the sound, where they could damage the Bremerton Navel Shipyards, Seattle, and the the state capital in Olympia.

WWI Coastal Defenses

This harbor defense plan was put into place around 1897 and the first battery at Fort Casey came into service in 1902. In the following years leading up to WWI dozens of additional smaller gun batteries were commissioned and staffed, and then in what appears to be an almost unforeseen development, along comes this goofy little flying machine… later, commonly referred to as the airplane, and it sets the whole coastal defense game plan on it’s ear.

The airplane could fly out over the horizon and attack enemy ships long before they entered the protected water of the Straight of Juan De Fuca.  Not only that, but the coastal defense forts were not very well protected from enemy air attacks.  So by the later years of WWI many of the large 10″ disappearing carriage guns and the 12″ breach loading mortars were disassembled and shipped to the European battle fronts.

Archival Image of Guns

The forts were used as training and induction centers during WWII, but by the mid 1950’s most of them were decommissioned and several are now administrated by the Washington State Parks.  The result of this military buildup, over 100 years later… A fabulous playground of pathways, bunkers, and tunnels that may take the energetic explorer years to discover.

 Now back to the ride…

I knew knew my way around these big guns and their huge concrete bunkers pretty well. In addition to many visits over the years, back in another lifetime I used to teach a police bicycle patrol school here.  We hosted up to 70 cops from all over the Pacific Northwest and Canada and spent a week instructing them in all aspects of “Bike Patrol”.  The highly technical riding in and around the bunker structures was usually the most challenging for the student officers and it wasn’t unheard of for a wrist to get sprained, a knee to get scraped, or in one case… A collar bone cracked!

Admiralty Head Lighthouse

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Admiralty Head Lighthouse open for the day.  I dropped in for a visit.  They had a fourth order Fresnel lens on display and by getting lined up with the focused beam of the lens it was easy to see how a small light the equivalent of a 40 watt bulb could be seen for 17 miles out to sea.  I watched a little video of the big carriage guns in action and climbed the spiral stairs up into the light tower.

From the lighthouse I did a little more riding around and then rolled on back to camp for a cuppa.  Eventually the sun came out for a bit when it was low enough to peek under the clouds.  I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, writing, and playing ukulele.  After some dinner I took a little hike along the beach and got geared up for some Rockhopper night ops up at the fort.

Night Ops

Sunset from the top of the gun battery was magnificent.  The wind had picked up a little and it had a bit of a bite to it as it blew in across the straights.  As darkness fell the Columbia black-tail deer came out of the woods and blanketed the grasslands surrounding the fort.  You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting one of those guys, and they were really bold.  As I rolled down one forested path I found it was blocked by a couple of deer.  The first one stepped off into the tree line but the second just stood his ground until I was right on top on him.  At which point he bolted away.

Beautiful Sunset

I finished the evening listening to the opening night of the Mariners’ season and playing a few uke tunes by a blazing fire.  I had a notion that I’d take a nice hot shower right before bed but, sadly, after dropping a few quarters in the coin slot, I couldn’t get the blasted thing to work.  Crap!  Well as long as the sniveling lamp is lit, let me just toss this out there too.  What’s the deal with all the generators running for hours, and why in the world would need to have a 150 watt spotlight above your trailer door on ALL NIGHT LONG?  I thought the idea of “camping” was to get away from all that stuff… You know, peace and quiet, see the stars, smell the sea air… (Of course I’m typing this on my iPad, in my van with the heater on, enjoying a cup of coffee.)

The M/V Kennewick

Morning arrived with a thick marine layer of fog.  The plan was to leave the van at Fort Casey and pedal aboard the ferry, sail over to Port Townsend, and then ride up to Fort Warden.  The second point in the Triangle of Death.

For my readers from other places on the planet you may recognize some of the photos and video from Fort Warden if you ever watched the movie “Officer and a Gentleman”. Much of that film was shot on location there.  That fort is also a state park and the site of everything from music workshops to a kayak symposium during the course of the year.

In the Shipping Lanes

The most striking difference I have found from Fort Casey is the gun batteries, tunnels, and bunkers at Fort Warden sit back from the water, on a forested hill.  More secluded, giving it more of a feeling of riding through a rabbit’s warren.  Once up in the gun  batteries you’ll come to an intersection every few yards and wonder, “hum, I wonder where that trail goes”?  Very Wizard of Oz like.

But I’m getting ahead of myself:

Port Townsend

I made a foggy, uneventful crossing aboard the M/V Kennewick.  Job number one in Port Townsend was getting some breakfast.  With that done then it was on up to Fort Warden.

Deer Crossing

Once again this place was like Disneyland for Rockhoppers!  Miles and miles of interconnected trails.  More concrete bunkers and gun batteries.  Columbia black-tailed deer on every corner.  I spent several happy hours exploring – and still covered only a fraction of the fort.

One stop of note was the Port Townsend Woodworking School.  It occupied a small building at the back of the conference center.  I invited myself in and was welcomed by the staff.  I learned that this was an actual school, with actual students, and regularly scheduled classes.  Those of you familiar with the whole concept of “school” might be saying “duh” right about now, but in this world of virtual everything and digital everywhere…  Well, it’s just nice to know that there are still people passing on those old world hands on skills to the younger generations.

Port Townsend Woodworking School

Point Wilson Lighthouse

I made it down to Point Wilson lighthouse.  That old girl was looking much worse for wear.  It was automated way back in 1976 and that may have been the last time anyone hit it with a paintbrush.

What happened next was just another unavoidable incident in my long life of such incidents…  I looked out across the sound and saw the ferry boat steaming across the straights.  I had absolutely no choice and no control in the matter.  I instantly started sprinting the several rolling miles back toward town, to see if I could beat the boat to the dock. Forget about the fact that I had initially planned to take a late afternoon boat, the race was ON!

I rolled down the ferry dock with minutes to spare, unfortunately there was no one around to see my victory finish line shenanigans.  I think I’m ready for this weekend’s Paris-Roubaix race… That is to watch the Paris-Roubaix.

Ok, since you made it this far, here is the movie:

See you next time…

Well that’s about it for this edition of the Adventure Journal.  Thanks for following along on my travels.

Kat

Bobbing For Grey Whales

The Number 2 Marker

A couple of days ago I read a report advising that the migrating grey whales that visit Port Gardner Bay every spring were back in town.  So I hatched a plan to paddle out and visit with them for a while.

The forecast was for clear and sunny weather, so the thick blanket of fog that greeted me in the morning was no real surprise.  Of course I could have waited till the afternoon for the fog to burn off, but alas, time and tide wait for no man.  I knew the whales tend to feed on an incoming tide, and since high tide and sunrise were both happening about 0700 hours, I figured I better just launch  at dawn as planned.

The Bay

The Chart

I pulled up to the Hermosa Beach Road “launch area”.  It was really just a pile of logs and a gravel beach that I had used as a launch site many times over the years.

I scrambled my kayak over the logs and pushed off into the beautiful sunlit bay.  Thick banks of fog still lingered out on the big water, but for the moment all was well and the world was coming to life.  Several bald eagles were busy ripping up a fish.

I had no specific plan other than to just head out into Port Gardner Bay and Port Susan and see what happened.  The light NNE wind at 4 knots was just enough to insure that my fingers would remain just about frozen all morning.  I pottered around for a couple of hours without any whale sightings, just lots of seals and seabirds.  In case you need me to translate – Pottering in a boat is just like Noodling on a bicycle.  Basically just goofing off.

I did make a little movie while I was away at sea.  Spoiler Alert – I didn’t see any whales.

I sure like that Van Morrison song “Into the Mystic”.  Thanks Van for letting me use it on the video.

Navigation by Compass

Well eventually the fog rolled in and swallowed my whole world.  I took a hasty compass heading so I could be sure of my return voyage.  Then I set off into the ever thickening fog, listening to the eagles, watching the angle of the waves, and keeping an eye on the compass.  Truth be told, my dead reckoning was slightly off because I forgot to account for that pesky 4 knot breeze pushing my tiny boat off course a bit.

That’s about it for this edition of the Adventure Journal.  Sorry, no whales.  But the moral of the story is you’re never gonna be visited by whales surfing your couch, or surfing the web so I was delighted to spend the morning “Bobbing for Grey Whales”, even if they didn’t pop up for a visit.

Thanks for following along.  Kat

The Third Bunk

The Original Double Bunk Bed

Way back in November of 2007 Susan and I built a pretty nifty bunk bed set for Leane and Richie’s two (at the time) Dudes.  Solid 2×6 timbers, and an indestructible frame design have stood the test of time…

Yeah, time… Cadence, that little blonde haired guy sitting on the top bunk is now in first grade, and that other little screamer, Kingston, is five years old.

Oh, and wait there’s a third little dude, Duke.  At 2-1/2 he’s all but outgrown the crib that he has been sleeping in.  So we decided to add a third bunk to the set.

Duke and Kingston – note the crib

A rough sketch of the plan

As you can see from that photo, space is at a premium in the Dude’s bedroom so this was gonna take some crafty design ideas.  We considered lots of options, but in the end Leane had the winning idea.  Lower the existing top bunk down a few inches and then add a third bunk above where Duke’s crib currently sits.

I scratched out this rough drawing, and then me and the Dudes measured everything in the room at least 3 different times.

At that point it was off to the store to buy a stack of lumber.

Solid 2×6 construction

My router jig for the ladder

Just like the original bunk beds I started assembling the third bunk in my garage.  I basically needed to build the whole thing, and then take it apart for transport.

It takes shape

As the pieces came together it became apparent that this baby was huge!  I had to build the whole thing just so I could lay out the new ladder.

Seven steps to the top

Carpenter app

I was delighted with the way the ladder came out.  Kingston and I used my iPhone app to get the exact angle of the original ladder (20.5 degrees) so I could match that on the new ladder.

As a slight upgrade to the new ladder (or Cadence’s ladder) I decided to rout out a small mortice for the stair treads to slide into.  It made for a really clean, perfectly tight fit once it was glued and screwed together.

The Paint Locker

Once I had it all assembled we took it apart and Suzie applied a few coats of polyurethane finish.  We bought a really nice mattress with a comfort top cushion for Cade’s new bunk.  Yep, this was gonna be a 3 way switch.  Each dude would be moving up to a new rack.

So with the bed all dissembled and loaded in our VW Camper van, Suzie and I headed down to the Dude’s house before first light.  We needed to get this baby built and have everything cleaned up in time for most of the crew to go to the ballet later that day.

Bubba and Richie remove the old ladder

Leane had almost everything out of the room when we got there so we jumped right into removing the original ladder and lowering the original top bunk.  The ladder would need to get trimmed down later to fit the new height of the bunk.

I got to say this project went super easy, thanks in no small part to having Richie and Leane there to help, and Grandma Suzie to help entertain the dudes (when they weren’t actually helping me).

Kingston was in and out of the operation all morning, and Duke was pretty much in on everything.

Suzie sending up my helper

My helper

My other helper

That’s my muscleman son-in-law, Richie holding up the world.

Get off there you slacker….

I’ll leave a blank space here____________________________________________ for the reader to fill in their own caption for this photo.  (feel free to share that in the comments section below).

Like Legos, but way bigger

Under the watchful eyes of our end-users the assembly continued.

Many hands make light work

I did have a special little surprise in store for Leane.  Many years before (in my past life as a SWAT guy) Leane was always eager to assist with our team training events.  Among the many scenarios she helped with, I think we had the most fun with the maritime boarding operations.  On one occasion our team was practicing boarding of a pair of derelict old tug boats that were moored in the Snohomish River.

The team boarding the tug

Assaulting the wheelhouse

Well, we both happened to notice a very cool brass plate affixed to the Captain’s stateroom door, and since the old tug was scheduled to be salvaged anyway…. we kind of “salvaged” that brass name plate.  It found it’s way to an obscure place on a wall in our guest room.  Until today!

The brass name plate

The NEW Captain’s Quarters

I think Leane was pleasantly surprised with the re-purposing of our maritime treasure, and certainly Cadence approved.

The Third Bunk in place

The Captain

Well that’s about it for this little project.  Everything just dropped into place, almost as if we planned it.

Thanks for following along with our building project.

Kat