A hike to Cape Flattery

August 10, 2015 Comments Off read Attractions, Pacific, The Great Outdoors, Travel, USA, Washington, West

It was a long road to Cape Flattery–almost five hours from my doorstep to Neah Bay, including a ferry ride across the sound. After stopping at the Makah Museum to pick up a recreation pass (required to park and hike on tribal land, and good for the entirety of the year in which it’s purchased), I drove the winding forest roads to the trailhead. From the trailhead, it was a short, easy hike to several viewpoint areas…and there I was, on the northwesternmost point of the continental United States, the deep blue-green waves relentlessly pounding on the sandstone cliffs, the distant Sitka trees blanketed in fog, a gentle rain falling, the few other people there also in silent awe of the beauty of the cape. On the way out, I saw deer calmly cropping on the side of the road and bald eagles circling in the sky. I hope to go back soon to hike the other, longer trail on Makah land: Shi Shi Beach.

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City of Roses: Portland’s International Rose Test Garden

July 22, 2015 Comments Off read Attractions, Oregon, Pacific, The Great Outdoors, Travel, USA, West

In 1905, Portland held a Lewis and Clark Exposition for the 100th anniversary of the duo’s stay in Oregon. For that grand event, the city planted half a million pink rosebushes along Portland’s streets. Two years later, in 1907, the “city of roses” held its first annual Rose Festival, a tradition which is alive and well today (as are many of the original rosebushes!).

Portland has long had a reputation for being where the weird comes to flourish, and it even holds true for their rose gardens. In 1917, rose enthusiasts came up with the idea of creating an American rose test garden, and not long after that, the International Rose Test Garden came to be. Portland also served as a “safe haven” for hybridized roses from Europe during World War I. Owing to their mild climate, roses absolutely thrive in Portland, and the International Rose Test Garden is a way for the worldwide rose enthusiast community to try different varietals for disease resistance, fragrance, and color as well as other desirable attributes.

From May through October, you can see and smell nearly 550 varietals of roses in the test garden, though they are at their heady, glorious peak in June (which coincides with Portland’s Rose Festival). And definitely take the time to stop and smell them all! They blew me away with their vibrancy, their color, their scent, and the way they aren’t just woody, thorny, shitty sticks like the roses I’ve tried to grow in my yard. Or the $50 hydrangea I planted this year that committed plant suicide a week later. Portland, lend me some of your flower-growing voodoo!

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Stay Awhile and Listen: A Trip to Diablo Lake

July 8, 2015 Comments Off read (f)Art, Everything is Terrible, Pacific, The Great Outdoors, Travel, USA, Washington, West

I think we’re all familiar with the fact that Pinterest is full of subtle deceptions and outright lies. Occasionally, I forget, and earnestly believe something that I should be looking at with a more critical eye. Like, for example, this photo of Diablo Lake that I immediately re-pinned on my list of places to visit:

That’s a barrel of lies, right? But no, a little searching and the state confirmed Diablo’s unique color:

“Fine glacier sediment feeds into the lake through creeks, giving the water its brilliant turquoise luminosity.

The Diablo Dam, named from a Chinook word influenced by early Spanish explorers meaning “devil,” was once the world’s tallest dam, standing 389 feet tall. Today, the uniquely colored waters of the lake are home to brown and rainbow trout. The surrounding glaciers grind rocks into a fine powder that stays suspended in the lake reflecting an intense turquoise color.”

Intense turquoise color? I’m in, let’s go take a trip to this magical lake!

….oh.

While there might be a slight turquoise cast when the sun is hitting the lake directly, it mostly just looks like a lake. Until you photoshop the shit out of it, that is.

Oh wow, so breathtaking! But why stop there? Come see the amazing ever-changing multi-colored waters of Diablo Lake, the greatest all-natural wonder in the world!

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