Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Back in August, I spent 12 days walking an 80-mile segment of the Washington PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). So far I've featured the 1st three days and a bit, from our start near Crystal Mountain Ski Area to Chinook Pass, and a couple of days continuing south into the William O. Douglas wilderness. Last weekend we started into the Goat Rock s, and today we'll conclude the trip (so I can move on to the next one, and the one after that, and the one I'm about to do... I'm spending a lot of time in the wilderness and not so much working on that novel...). I left Hidden Springs, my 8th camp of the trip, fairly late. I didn't have a long hike planned for the day, so enjoyed my morning, taking time to contemplate the terrain I was about to hike through. The heart of the Goat Rocks. The trail promptly descended several hundred feet to Teiton Pass, deep in the forest (how wrong is that?), before climbing to a much more dramatic saddle with no name, but fantastic views. This...

Back in August, I spent 12 days walking another segment of the WA PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). Last week I featured the 1st three days and a bit, from our start near Crystal Mountain Ski Area to Chinook Pass. Today we'll hit the next couple of days, continuing south into the William O. Douglas wilderness. There should have been fantastic views of Mt. Rainier, at least in places, but alas, the weather continued to be uncooperative. I took off from Chinook Pass about 11 a.m, carrying just a little more weight than I like as I was prepared for 8 nights on the trail. The PCT actually crosses Highway 410 on the top of the sign marking the boundary of Mt. Rainier National Park. The clear morning was holding nicely, and lots of people were walking the mile to this pretty tarn. Continuing up, looking back across the Chinook Pass area to where I was in the morning. Having climbed 800' or so around the shoulder of Naches Peak (a hike around the peak is a decent 3-mile dayhike with views t...

In addition to the recent hike on the West Coast Trail, I enjoyed a few smaller adventures on Vancouver Island recently. Enjoy the photos! Besides the beaches on the trail, we visited Quadra Island and found some pretty beaches there. Tidepools with crabs, as well as tiny fish and shrimp (not shown). Comox Harbour Rebecca Spit. Of course, with a name like that, I had to visit! I also took a hike in the Paradise Lakes area of Strathcona Provencial Park. Paradise Meadows Battleship Lake Mountain stream Of course, a trip like this was also all about the ferries (all told, including the tiny "ferry" that took us down the lake to start the backpack trip, we rode 5). Large BC Ferries vessels to take us from Tsawassen (Vancouver BC) to Nanaimo. Leaving Vancouver, Mt. Baker dominates the skyline to the south. There's a sharp line where the muddied waters of the Fraser River flow into the Salish Sea. The small ferries that serve Quadra and the other islands are open-ended like the...