LEAVENWORTH With hindsight, it seems astonishing. But to Kjell Bakke, it was simply the way things were.
If you were a Norwegian tyke growing up in Leavenworth, not long after you learned to walk, you learned to fly.
Not in a plane, the way the Wright Brothers were doing it. Off the ground. On your own. With a little bit of the Cascade Mountains for a launch, and a lot of your own nerve as your navigation system.
By Ron C. Judd | January 29, 2004
SALEM, Ore. There was a time when a trip up the mountain meant strapping on two wooden slats, cutting conservative, artistic turns in the powder, maybe hitting a mogul or two but mostly keeping both skis firmly planted on terra firma. That was before Sputnik and snowboards and the feeling of weightlessness.
"Maybe it's the Mountain Dew advertising: Go big or go home," said Matt McFarland, general manager at Oregon's Hoodoo Ski Area, "Do the Dew. Be extreme. Be crazy. It's really setting in on people."
By Roy Gault | January 29, 2004
Hike of the Week
Hiking doesn't get much easier than the three-mile paved path at Langus Riverfront Park in Everett, which follows the Snohomish River and associated sloughs and wetlands and offers excellent wildlife viewing.
The 96-acre park also offers access to Spencer Island, jointly managed by Snohomish County Parks and Recreation and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, where a once-excellent network of trails is now in poor shape because of erosion.
By Karen Sykes | January 29, 2004
Birders' Top Spots
Location: Skagit County.
Habitat: Former farm located in 11,000-acre Skagit Wildlife Area refuge, with agricultural and riparian landscapes diked off from driftwood-covered mudflats.
Best seasons for birding: Winter, spring, fall.
January 29, 2004
CANNON BEACH, Ore. — Cannon Beach is never going to make it into one of those sunny summer songs by someone like the Beach Boys or Jan & Dean.
No "Warmth of the Sun" on this windswept strand. No "Surf City" and "two girls for every boy." Not with everyone so bundled up it's impossible to make gender judgments.
Most of the year, the sandy spot near the northern end of the Oregon coast is a beach like many in the Northwest, with cold, fog, wind and not a little rain.
By Gary A. Warner | January 29, 2004
Down where Lewis Creek tumbles through ledges of clay and rock, under mossy, fern-draped bigleaf maples and fir and cedar, you feel like you could be deep in the wilderness, 100 miles from the big city.
"It's like we were in the middle of nowhere," says Mary Ann Koth of Issaquah after hiking the Lewis Creek Canyon.
Actually, a busy interstate rumbles unseen less than a mile away, and behind the trees, houses with three-car garages line the rim of the gorge.
By Greg Johnston | January 29, 2004
Short Trips
To me when someone mentions the Yakima Valley, an agricultural vision dances through my brain -- and rightly so. The valley is famous for being one of the largest apple- and grape-growing regions in the state. The wine industry, in fact, has become one of the valley's most popular tourist attractions during the summer and early fall.
By Jeff Larsen | January 29, 2004
