Potholes State Park, WA, Yurt Camping Trip, Day 2

Potholes State Park, WA, Yurt Camping Trip, Day 2

Potholes State Park, Eastern Central Washington State

Columbia National Wildlife Refuge

Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - Wikipedia

"Birdsong by day, coyote chorus by night. Dramatic cliffs and rimrock sit side-by-side with lakes, potholes, and marshes. Desert denizens and waterfowl sharing the same rugged landscape.

Comprising nearly 30,000 acres, Columbia National Wildlife Refuge is a scenic mixture of rugged cliffs, canyons, lakes, grasslands and sagebrush. The combination of lakes and surrounding irrigated croplands, combined with generally mild winters and the protection provided by the refuge, attracts large numbers of migrating and wintering mallards, Canada geese, tundra swans and other waterfowl."

Columbia National Wildlife Refuge is a scenic mixture of rugged cliffs, canyons, lakes, and sagebrush grasslands. Formed by fire, ice, floods, and volcanic tempest, carved by periods of extreme violence of natural forces, the refuge lies in the middle of the Drumheller Channeled Scablands of central Washington. The area reveals a rich geologic history highlighted by periods of dramatic activity, each playing a major role in shaping the land. The northern half of the refuge, south of Potholes Reservoir, is a rugged jumble of cliffs, canyons, lakes, and remnants of lava flows. This part of the Scablands, known as the Drumheller Channels, is the most spectacularly eroded area of its size in the world and was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1986.

Moses Lake City, Washington, (27,000 Population)

Othello, Washington

Hood Canal: Adventure I, Day 2

 Hood Canal: Adventure I, Day 2

Day 2

Breakfast at Halfway House.  Drove up Dosewallips Canyon Road.  Drove up to Lake Cushman from Hoodsport.  Stopped at Hoodsport for coffee, supermarket, and at Hamma Hamma for book, shrimp cocktail, salt.  Hiked around campground.  Dinner at Halfway House: Captain's Fish Dinner.  Campfire till rain puts it out.  

Here are some of my photographs from the area:

I will be posting my comments and notes, as well as my own photographs to this blog after May 9th.  Internet reception varies in these mountainous locations. 

Settled into my yurt at Dosewallips State Park, Brinnon, Washington.

Photos below are from the Internet.

Walked around the State Park with my Day Pack.  I place my Sling Bag inside my Day Pack. Used my old long staff as well as my cane.  Cool.

Weather: Low of 34F, and high of 47F.  Cloudy and 50% chance of rain.  Winds light at 6 mph.

Vancouver WA  110 miles north to Olympia

Olympia WA  23 miles north to Shelton

Shelton WA  41 miles north to Brinnon

Shelton WA  - Images

Shelton WA  - Information

Hood Canal, Fjord, WA

Lake Cushman, WA

Skokomish Twana Native Americans

Skokomish River, WA, Images

Potlach State Park

Hoodsport WA

Liliwalup

Hamma Hamma

Duckabuch

Brinnon WA

Dosewallips State Park WA  39 miles north to Port Townsend

Dosewallips SP Images  13 miles north to Quilcene

Dosewallips SP Campground

Dosewallips River Images

Dosewallips Oyster and Clam Harvesting

Quilcene

Dabob Bay

Port Townsend  215 miles south to Vancouver

Four Days at Grayland: Extensive Travel Guides, Yurt Camping notes, local cities and villages, reports, commentary, Yurt Camping Information, Native American Information.  Yurt camping on the coast in Oregon and Washington.  

Tai Chi Chuan at the Beach: Please join Michael P. Garofalo for a Taijiquan Meetup/Gathering/Retreat at Dosewallips State Park, 7 am, Yurt C.  I hang a kite on my Yurt that is shaped like a Salmon Fish.  Campfire chats and a little practice sharing.

The best book I used to study general travel options for the Hood Canal
for my trip in May 2024 was:
Olympic Peninsula with Olympic National Park. By Jeff Burlingame.
Moon, 5th Edition, 2024.

Shelton WA  - Images

Shelton WA  - Information

Hood Canal, Fjord, WA

Lake Cushman, WA

Skokomish Twana Native Americans

Skokomish River, WA, Images

Union WA

Hoodsport WA

Brinnon WA 

Dosewallips State Park WA

Four Days in Grayland  Camping at the Beach
Yurt Camping in the Coastal Pacific Northwest by Michael P. Garofalo.

Books I have found useful in my study of the Native American People of Olympic National Park (fournded in 1938) include:

Olympic Peninsula with Olympic National Park. By Jeff Burlingame. Moon, 5th Edition, 2024.

Images of America: Hood Canal.  By Michael Fredson. Arcadia, 2007.

Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula|: Who We Are.  By the Olympic Prninsula Intertribal Cultural Advisory Committee.  University of Oklahoma Press, 2015.  This book covers S'Kallam, Skokomish Twana, Sqaxin, Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, and Makah Native Americans in the area. 

The Olympic Peninsula. By Ericka Chickowski.  Moon, 2009.

Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Pacific Northwest.  By Allan and Elizabeth May.  Longstreet, 2000.

Tai Chi Chuan at the Beach: Please join Michael P. Garofalo for a Taijiquan Meetup/Gathering/Retreat at Dosewallips State Park, 6 pm, Yurt C.  I hang a kite on my Yurt that is shaped like a Salmon Fish.  

Four Days at Grayland: Extensive Travel Guides, Yurt Camping notes, local cities and villages, reports, commentary, Yurt Camping Information, Native American Information.  Yurt camping on the coast in Oregon and Washington.  

Images from the Internet

Twin Harbors State Park, Washington

We are going to camp at Twin Harbors State Park next week: Karen, April, Mick and I.

We plan to visit Centralia downtown and the Satsop decommissioned nuclear reactor along the Chehalis River as we drive into Aberdeen and then Westport.

I will be walking in the Shifting Sands Nature Trails inside Twin Harbors State Park.  

Clam digging from 4:30 to 7 pm. 

My Atrial Fibrillation heart disease has been acting up after 6 months of remission.  Hopefully, I can enjoy the activities at the beach.  I have a cardio conversion scheduled the day before Thanksgiving this month.  We shall see.  Studying the excellent book by John D. Day, MD, and T. Jared Bunch, MD, titled: The AFib Cure: Get Off Your Medications, Take Control of Your Health, and Add Years to Your Life. 2021.

Up before daybreak at our wood cabin C3.

Four Days in Grayland
By Michael P. Garofalo

La Wis Wis Campground, Washington

 Today, I travel from Vancouver north on Interstate 5 to Road 12, through Mossy Rock, Morton, Randle, and Packwood.  Washington Road 12 is a very good road.  It is 140 miles from Vancouver to La Wis Wis Campground, and a 3 hour or less drive.  

I will be camping two nights at the La Wis Wis Campground a few miles north of Packwood.  Here are some photographs from the Packwood area.  

I plan to explore the Cowlitz River today before setting up camp at 4 pm.  

I drove throught Lewis and Clark State Park Campground near Toledo.  

There are some excellent campsites right by the Cowlitz River
in the La Wis Wis Campgrounds, Loops A & D.

My campsite was not level and many roots.

Delights of Gym Rats

1978

2019

Get outdoors, garden, walk around, enjoy yourself.

Sing in the Sunshine

Paths to Fitness and Well Being

Day Hiking - A Good Read

I have enjoyed day hikes for over 60 years.  My day hikes have taken place mostly in California and Oregon.  I have not done any backpacking since 1973. I enjoy tent camping and taking day hikes in the area where I camp.  I take walks nearly every day of the week.  

There are many books, magazine articles, and webpages with information on walks, day hikes, and backpacking.  One book that I have found useful to read regarding day hiking is the following:

The Dayhiker's Handbook: An All-Terrain, All-Season Guide.   By John Long and Michael Hodgson.  Camden, Maine, Ragged Mountain Press, 1996.  Index, appencices, 216 pages.  ISBN: 0070291462.  An excellent guide to preparing for and enjoying long day walks in the desert, mountains, jungles, canyons and streams, in the forest and along the coast.  Practical tips and useful advice.  VSCL. 

That is me on top of North Dome in Yosemite.
Quite a challenging day hike.

Oregon Coast Walking Adventures

Oregon Walking and Camping

Walking: Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Facts

Back Home Again in Red Bluff

This past week, from 3/25 - 3/30, I was in Portland, Oregon.  I enjoyed visiting with my two children and their families.   We celebrated Easter in style!  

My son, Michael Delmer, is steadily recovering from his recent kidney surgery. He received a kidney transplant on 3/15 by a surgical team at the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland.  He had been on dialysis for four years.  

Karen has been helping to care for Mick in Portland since 3/20.  

Karen and I and drove from Vancouver to Longview, and then by Route 4 to Long Beach, Washington, and down to Cape Disappointment State Park.  

Back to four days of my home routines, unpacking, reading, walking, taijiquan practice, webpage creation, gardening, home improvement projects, chores, etc.  I go back to my job on Monday morning.  Looking forward to some dry weather for outdoor projects.  

Travel Guides to Washington and Oregon  

Walking: The First Meditation

"Walking is the great adventure, the first meditation,
a practice of heartiness and soul primary to humankind.
Walking is the exact balance between spirit and humility."
- Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild

"My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing."
- Aldous Huxley

Walking Website

Day Hikes in Oregon 

Meditation

Walking Meditation

Day Hiking in Oregon

Day Hiking in California, Oregon and Washington
A hypertext notebook by Mike Garofalo.

Our next camping and day hiking trip in March will be to Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon. We are staying in a yurt at the park. I plan to take long walks on the beaches, and hike up Neahkahnie Mountain.

My favorite travel guides to the Oregon coast are:

Day Hiking the Oregon Coast: Beaches, Headlands, Coastal Trail. By Bonnie Henderson. Seattle, Washington, Mountaineers Books, 2nd Edition, 2015. Index, 285 pages. ISBN: 9781594859090. VSCL.

Coastal Oregon. By W. C. McRae and Judy Jewell. A Moon Handbook. Avalon Travel Pub., 6th Edition, 2016. Index, appendices, 260 pages. ISBN: 1631212524. I use the 3rd Edition. VSCL. 

The photograph below was taken from the top of Neahkahnie Mountain, looking south. In the middle left is Nehalem Bay. We have gone crabbing in Nehalem Bay.