November 8, 2026 - Single (Salmon) In Seattle

 

On this gorgeous fall day, this Chum Salmon is a little early to the party at Piper's Creek in Seattle's Carkeek Park. (I didn't see any others.) The salmon run is typically starts at the end of October and runs into early December. With a good amount of rain in the forecast this week, it just might provide the nudge for more fish to make their way up to spawn. 

A typical season might see 300 Chum Salmon make their way up this small urban creek. However, in 2024 over 3000 were counted with over 1500 in a single day! 

Nearby a Great Blue Heron patiently stalked their dinner.

A group of people armed with binoculars, telescopes and long lenses seeming to be looking at the same thing was the key to spotting a pod of Orcas across the Sound. It took a good pair of lenses to see them as they were over 5 miles away!  This is the best I could do with my 300mm lens.  The dorsal fin of an Orca is the tiny spot in the water. The Olympic Mountains tower in the background. 

 

October 31, 2026 - Reply Hazy Try Again

 

With the thick morning fog above the Snoqualmie River this viewpoint provides none. As with a Magic 8 Ball, one will have to try again.  Perhaps "Outlook Not So Good" would have been a more apt title!

October 29, 2026 - Peak Peek

 

 

Until a few days ago October was one of the driest on record. With temperatures and precipitation now getting closer to the norm, the snow level is dropping in the Cascades. 

With some assistance from a cell phone to get my exact position, an azimuth of the peaks, these images and a few minutes with an AI tool the names of these Cascade peaks east of Everett, Washington is now (most likely) known. This collection of peaks are part of the Monte Cristo Group - Kyes 7280', Columbia 7172', Monte Cristo 7136' and Cadet Peak 7186'. They are located west of Stevens Pass in the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness Area. 

The image below is of Mt. Persis at 5,464' located south (right) of the Monte Cristo Group. 

July 12, 2025 - Swim. Bike. Run.

 

Triathletes prepare to enter the water for the first portion of the Lake Whatcom Triathlon. The colored swim caps denote the course they will be tackling.  The Olympic course is a .9 mile swim, 24.9 mile bike and 6.2 mile run. The Sprint course is a .5 mile swim, 16.4 mile ride and 4 mile run.

April 26, 2025 - Victory at The Dual

 

The rowers in the University of Washington's Men's Second Varsity Eight (2V8+) boat celebrate their victory against University of California 2V8 boat in the 113th edition of the rivalry matchup known as 'The Dual'.  Washington has won 'The Dual' 78 times.  

The history of the Washington - Cal rivalry is storied.  The 2023 film "The Boys in the Boat" dramatizes the rivalry as the 1936 Washington JV boat wins the right to represent the US at the Berlin Olympics and (spoiler alert!) goes on to win gold.  In the years leading up to WWII, Washington or Cal won 11 of the 18 national championships.  

From 1920 to 1956 the US won a gold medal every time they were represented at the Olympics.  Only four American university teams have won gold medals at the Olympics.  The Naval Academy 1920 (Antwerp), Yale 1924 (Paris), University of California, Berkely 1928 (Amsterdam), 1932 (Los Angeles) and 1948 (London) and the University of Washington 1936 (Berlin).  

Cal and Washington have long been considered rowing powerhouses not just on the West Coast, but nationally.  Since the 1920s, the winner of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship has been considered the national champion team.  Cornell leads the nation with 26 national championships.  Washington claims 20 and California 19.  Washington didn't participate from 1973 to 1994 as the IRA Championship interfered with finals.  What a quaint notion!  Washington or Cal have won 20 of the last 27 national championships.  (No race was held in 2020.)  

This year, the California men's team won the Varsity Four and Freshman 8 races, but Washington retained the Schoch Cup for another year.

In the women's teams, the number three ranked Washington rowers topped the number 9 Cal women to take back the Simpson Cup.  They won the first and second varsity boat races with Cal winning the third and fourth varsity eight races.  Washington won the first varsity four race with Cal winning the second varsity four race

 

March 30, 2025 - Union

 

The Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle covers 230 acres of former old growth forest and includes a Japanese garden and a botanical garden.  It is divided into dozens of unique sections, much of it heavily canopied.  There is Azalea Way, Oak Family, Lindens, Winter Garden, Walnut Family, Viburnums, Magnolia Family, Rhododendron Hybrids and Witch Hazel Family just to name a few. There are over 40000 different species of plants here!

Suspended above one of the many side trails is "Union", an art installation by John Grade. Installed in 2023 it consists of 6300 individual cast resin parts framed in laminated ceiba wood suspended from nets above the trails. Each resin part looks like a magnified cell of a tree.  

March 29, 2025 - Front Row Seat

 

This bench at the Quad at the University of Washington bench has a prime view of the show the 29 Yoshino cherry trees put on each spring.  At 90 years old (60 years at this location), they've still got it!  Around campus are a number of earlier blooming, more colorful trees, but these are the ones that are the main attraction.

A sunrise on a mostly cloudy day isn't quite a sunrise is it?  This morning (7am) it was a choice between less color or more people.  And there will be a lot of people here this weekend!  

March 22, 2025 - Teamwork Is Everything

One of the many murals painted by the clubs, teams and classes that race through the Montlake Cut highlights the importance of working together through the technical steps of rowing - feathering, catch, drive, rhythm - that allows these 9 individuals to drive a 60 foot long, 3 foot wide, 220 lb shell (2200 lbs with rowers and coxwain) 13-15 mph for a mile and a quarter.

Today was the 124th Class Day Regatta for the University of Washington rowers.  At stake was pride and pins as the teams prepare themselves for the season.

March 8, 2025 - A Sign of Spring

At 47 degrees latitude, Seattle has one of the most extreme dark seasons in the continental US. Even after the third driest January on record, the city is ready to be done with the Big Dark.   

Fear not! Spring is near!  Tonight, we move the clocks forward.  Today there will be 11 hours and 33 minutes of daylight. Our first post 6pm sunset in several months occurred earlier this week.  The cherry blossoms are starting to show.  (The University of Washington peak cherry blossom is about two weeks ago.)  

The Husky Open, the first home rowing event of the year, is a reminder that Spring is just around the corner.  On a brisk, gray day, the UW Women's Rowing team competed against one another and a few Oregon State University and University of British Columbia boats.  After the 8s and 4s were completed, they rowed back to the Conibear Shell House, changed up lineups and raced again.  A full slate of junior and masters races for boys, girls, men and women from high schools and clubs rounded out the morning.