Our neighbor told us that she loves Haller Lake because there are no motors allowed; perfect for paddle boarding! Of course we currently only have our canoe, so we drive the 12 minutes to the lake and were very happy with what we found!! What a great local treasure! We’ll come back with paddle boards!
Our first trip to the Olympic Field Fly-In with the Cessna 172 was great!!
I did something outrageous and surprised my friend Matt (not Mark) for his 54th birthday in Columbia Missouri! April Float trip!! We got to do a long-time bucketlist item of mine, floating Cedar Creek which serves as the border between Boone and Callaway counties. I grew up caving and fishing Cedar, so it was a … Read more
My first trip across the Cascades to pick up some Fly WA Passport Stamps was lovely!
FINALLY got out for a nice weather flight near sunset. As we’re headed to a grass strip fly-in this weekend, I needed to get some soft field practice in, and what better place than Harvey Field (S43) in Snohomish! I got three takeoffs and landings in on the grass on a gorgeous evening; the flight … Read more
A quick proficiency flight up to the grass strip at Harvey in preparation for the Olympic field fly in
We snagged three more Fly WA Passport stamps on the way to Missoula and back!
Taum Sauk Mountain, Missouri, lies at 1,772 feet MSL and is ranked #41 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 22nd highpoint of 2004, and my 25th US Highpoint overall. Taum Sauk is a easy stroll along a paved trail in the woods and is located in Taum Sauk Mountain State Park in … Read more
Tahoma (Mount Rainier), Washington, lies at 14,411 feet MSL and is ranked #4 in elevation among US Highpoints after Alaska, California, and Colorado. This was my second attempt on Tahoma and I led my friend and amateur mountaineer “Derp” to the top. We spent a day practicing self-rescue and reasoned, quite foolishly, that there were … Read more
Borah Peak, Idaho, lies at 12,662 feet MSL and is ranked #11 in elevation among US Highpoints. This was my second attempt on the mountain after being thwarted without crampons or snow protection earlier this year in May. This is the only US Highpoint I’ve climbed with my brothers, and Mikey and I had a … Read more
Black Mesa, Oklahoma, lies at 4,975 feet MSL and is ranked #23 in elevation among US Highpoints. Black Mesa is one of the highpoints along with CT, MD, AND NV whose feature continues higher in the adjacent state. In this, Black Mesa rises higher into neighboring Colorado. One of my favorite places on this drive from … Read more
On the way to Black Mesa, Oklahoma, I stopped to check out this fantastically preserved cinder cone volcano in the desert. This is in a lava field with dozens (hundreds?) of other volcanic features. A road circles the cone and ends up at the base of the crater. A hiking trail circles the rim and … Read more
Timms Hill, Wisconsin, lies at 1,951 feet MSL and is ranked #39 in elevation among US Highpoints. This was my first business trip that resulted in a US Highpoint. I was working in Denver at a job that sent me to GE headquarters in Waukesha for a week of training. The hotel I was staying … Read more
Britton Hill, Florida, lies at 345 feet MSL and is ranked #50 in elevation among US Highpoints. This was the fourth US Highpoint I reached as part of a work trip after WI, TX, and HI. My job at Columbia Memorial in Astoria, Oregon sent me to Mobile, Alabama to train at CPSI for the … Read more
For our fourth edition of our Spring Break Spectacular, we would once again revisit Oregon, this time with FRANTS Chandler and Sheila at Mount Hood Meadows, aka SHREDDOWS, and soak in a mountain hot tub for two nights. Following this we would drive out to McMenamin’s Lighthouse Brewpub in Lincoln City, enjoy the tide pools, … Read more
On March 1st I took a hike with Mr. PUPS at Lord Hill Regional Park near Monroe, and found a surprising viewpoint! ~Four miles round trip, a great sunset hike!
Katt and I took a sunset flight on 2 March 2026 up to First Air Field (W16) in Monroe from Boeing Field (BFI). First Air is scheduled to close and I figured we might as well enjoy the short field practice at this once popular field. We executed a great short-field technique landing and immediately … Read more
Rick Ridgeway’s Life Lived Wild is a fantastic book about the high-altitude mountaineer who was one of the first Americans to summit K2 (seen on the cover). Far from one-dimensional, Rick shares 25 stories of his life as it transformed into family man and conservationist. Bring the tissues for the last chapter. This was an … Read more
