Take a Walk
Length: Several miles
Level of difficulty: Flat to sloping dirt trails and grassy lawns (often muddy); boardwalk on parts of Foster Island Trail.
By Cathy McDonald | April 12, 2001
If you could spend five bucks and 15 minutes to ensure a long and happy life, would you? Of course you would! And one of the best things you can do for a tent is to use a groundsheet religiously. Carrying a groundsheet will add a few ounces to your pack, but that's a small price to pay for extending your tent's life span.
Many tent makers now offer custom-made groundsheets for any shape of tent, but these can cost around $100 and weigh more than a homemade job. Making your own groundsheet will only take a few minutes and cost you less than dinner at McDonald's.
By Kristin Hostetter | April 12, 2001
The next time you're driving from Puget Sound to Portland, consider a detour through the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge.
Awaiting you are vistas on both the Washington and Oregon shores of the Columbia, close encounters with waterfalls taller than the Space Needle, Native American legends, a Lewis-and-Clark history lesson and a gourmet lunch.
By Stanton H. Patty | April 12, 2001
TACOMA - Tucked under drooping brush the same shade as their feathers, delicate wood ducks float almost unnoticed on smooth waters. Listen carefully, though, and the rustling of wings gives them away. At Tacoma Nature Center, a 54-acre preserve that abuts a major arterial and dips under Interstate 5, visitors can lose themselves in an urban oasis of wilderness.
That's one point of the preserve. The other is to connect the community to the wilderness by offering outreach programs and field trips to keep adventurers of all ages interested, educated and entertained.
By Sandy Dunham | April 12, 2001
Most Washingtonians love Oregon's beaches, which are often warmer and drier than our own rocky shores. In fact, even though Oregon's coastline has "the highest rainfall in the entire state," its average 80 inches yearly is far short of our Olympic rain forest's precipitation. And, if you head far south to Brookings in Oregon's "banana belt," the average is closer to 10 inches.
Weather is just one of many topics covered in the useful new "Insiders' Guide: Oregon Coast."
By Irene Wanner | April 12, 2001
