Take a Walk
Location: Orondo, Douglas County (north of Wenatchee).
Length: 2.5 miles of paved trail.
Difficulty: Flat to gentle.
By Cathy McDonald | July 25, 2002
Your dog loves to bound, unfettered, through old-growth forests, but you feel the need to obey the law, or at least avoid fines?
Though most hiking trails have a strict leash policy, or don't allow dogs at all, those within Mount Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest, but outside of wilderness areas, require only that you have your dog under "voice control."
By Heather McKinnon | July 25, 2002
If sand between your toes starts to feel as familiar as cellphone static, youre getting closer.
Closer, that is, to feeling farther away from it all. Which is probably why you'd be out here in the first place, leaving cares, concerns, worries and shoes behind as you partake in one of the greatest natural gifts our homeland offers up.
A beach walk, that is.
By Ron C. Judd | July 25, 2002
Hike of the Week
Waterfalls can provide a welcome relief when temperatures soar, and many hikers seek easier hikes on hot days. Franklin Falls and Denny Creek near Snoqualmie Pass are ideal in both respects.
These easy hikes feature cool, clear water -- waterfalls, streams and water-scoured rocks that make dandy water slides. The hikes are family favorites and begin from the same trailhead. Hikers wanting more exercise can continue on from Denny Creek to Melakwa Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
By Karen Sykes | July 25, 2002
To visit the Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic National Park is one of those special Pacific Northwest experiences.
A big part is the change in environment that occurs on the 19-mile Upper Hoh Road, which heads due east into the rain forest from U.S. Route 101, about 13 miles south of Forks. Like few places on Earth, you travel from a marine coastal environment to a temperate rain forest in a matter of minutes.
By Jeff Larsen | July 25, 2002
The most important building in Port Gamble these days may be the least impressive one in town. Unremarkable and unassuming against the stock of century-old architectural treasures, an 8-by-10-foot espresso stand is a surprising symbol for Port Gamble's renaissance. The little shack is the first new building to go up in this defunct mill town since 1920.
By Stuart Eskenazi | July 25, 2002
If you really want to get away from it all, try this: Unfold a map of Washington and run your finger across the state, ending in the far northeast. Give it a tap. That's it, a place even people who live there describe as "the forgotten corner."
Alongside a hefty north-flowing river, small towns with odd names dot the region, places called Usk, Cusick, Ione, Metaline and, as if they ran out of ideas, Metaline Falls. The county itself sounds foreign a French name that I first mispronounced "Pend Or-ee-elle," but quickly corrected to "POND-uh-ray."
By Connie McDougall | July 25, 2002
