Pocket Wilderness

Signs of Beaver in Hamilton's River Park

I've always been attracted to the small wild places. Growing up near Puget Sound I would seek out the one spot of old growth Madrona forests along the see cliffs or run deep into the old clearcuts around my town to find a lonely spot with a view of the Olympic mountains.

A view up towards Blodgett Canyon a few minutes form our house on foot. 

In Seattle we lived near Discovery Park. It is hardly untouched but you could still find solitude and a view on some of the less traveled trails and beaches.

And another a few days later with more snow.

Now I am fortunate to live near the edge of one of the largest bits of Wilderness areas in the lower 48 states. We can be somewhere truly wild and remote with a days walk. I still treasure the small places though. The places you can reach after work or on a morning run. The places you can get to without needing a car.

Blodgett canyon is a long bike or run or a 15 minute drive from our house.

I think that everybody needs such places. A place you can go to catch the evening light after a crazy day or to be somewhere wild before a day at a desk be it a town park or a nearby trailhead.

A beaver pond up Blodgett.