Ridgeline

This blog was originally created to log some of my hikes, so let’s do that. I’m staying at a cabin in the Cascades this weekend to spend time with family - reading, writing, playing cards and guitar. We’re right on the South Fork of the Skykomish in Index, Washington. I know it’s midwinter, and there was some consideration for a day trip over Stevens Pass to the faux Bavarian snowy mountain town of Leavenworth. But it was stunningly windless, cloudless and only in the low 40s. A sun-drenched Cascades bluebird day. (And we hadn’t brought skis.) So we headed up the Heybrook Lookout trail. It’s about 2.5 miles and 1000 feet vertical to reach an open fire tower with panoramic mountain views. With the weather, it wasn’t a surprise that th trail was crowded with lots of families and dogs. But honestly, cloudless and windless, and it could’ve been June as far as I’m concerned. No bugs, and even the mud was not bad; a little bit toward the bottom and a bit 2/3 of the way up. The only wind was ...

I’m finding myself in a particularly creative mood these days. 2025 has started out energized, optimistic, and hopeful, like never before. One rule I want to remember in the month of resolutions is that creators engage other creations. Writers read. Artists are viewers. Netflix currently has a biography in the works for release this year about Bruce Springsteen and the making of his Nebraska album . If you’re not familiar with it, it began as homemade demos on a four track tape recorder in his New Jersey bedroom in 1981. The songs are spare, dark, and hauntingly, beautiful. Jeremy Allen White is slated to star as Bruce Springsteen. As demos, on a four track tape recorder, he was limited to guitar, harmonica, and vocals. And somewhere, as he began sharing this material with his band for a full album, he came to realize that that cassette tape was the whole album. Which was a journey itself. "Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen on Amazon Music. Why am I sharing this? Well, I was c...

I’ve been tracking the likelihood of auroras and geomagnetic storms on and off ever since I moved to the Pacific Northwest. This year and next, are times of peak solar activity. But all too often, Sun and Earth weather never lineup. When there is a chance of seeing Aurora, it seems to come on a cold, foggy cloudy, rainy night. Or I miss an alert and find out about it after the fact from online posts by semi-professional aurora chasers. These are the ones I check most often:  Aurora Forecast | Geophysical Institute Aurora Viewline for Tonight and Tomorrow Night (Experimental) | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center And still have never seen one. Until now. The early May weather last night was clear and cloudless, combined with a KP9+ activity level. (I’m told that’s very high.) I debated where to go; I considered going out past Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades. Often, eastern Washington has different weather and has a better shot. But this time, I decided to head to different da...

 It's been a while since I posted here, but thought I'd share some news. After my cross-country trips in 2020 took to me to many new places, including Glacier National Park in Montana, the family and I returned there this month for a few days of hiking and exploring. Logan Pass, the Skyline Trail, and Going to the Sun Road are not to be missed! Skyline Trail View from Going to the Sun Road Hidden Lake near Logan Pass

Over recent summers, we've all come to love, hate, hear or tolerate the irony-drenched sounds of "Yacht Rock". Michael McDonald, Toto, Kenny Loggins and all the rest. Baby Come Back by Player. Soft rock of the 1970s and 1980s. I've come to believe there's a related, more recent, different and better genre. Beach Rock Radio It's the sound you heard walking down the beach in the 1990s, coming from a series of boom boxes. It's the music that was playing in the beach snack bar. It's the kid brother or sister of the alternative music your older cousins brought back from college in the 1980s.   Edgy, relaxed, pretending to be alternative with a healthy dose of pop mixed in.   I've been talking about with friends the past few years and am ready to unveil the genre.  Let’s consider some examples. Smooth, Santana with Rob Thomas:  with Santana is a top-level example. Ubiquitously the sound of summer -- not yacht rock, and not alternative. Take a Bow , Mad...