I am leaving after dinner tonight or first thing in the morning for my reboot trip to Washington. Even packed the car already and have a sort of plan. Mostly I am sticking with my summer theme: no plan, no reservations. But the basic idea is I will drive to Mt Rainier Park first (12.5 hrs) and do some easy hikes in the Tatoosh range for a day or 2, plus the Silver Forest, and hopefully see wildflowers and not go crazy with crowds. That breaks up the 15.5 hour drive to North Cascades National Park, where I will spend at least a week I hope, along with the Mt Baker area. I have 7-8 hikes/climbs penciled in and will see what looks good when I'm there. I also plan to drive the Mountain Loop Highway and scout for future trips, which will probably involve flying into Seattle, if there are any. With whatever time I have left I will head to Olympic National Park to do a few mountains and mainly hike the temperate rainforests. I have several ideas in mind there, but depending on energy level, and how things go, and weather, I may do them all or may not be able to. And there are lots of beaches to explore too, if I want. We'll see. I will be back if all goes well August 16 or 17 and will be doing shows again at that point. But I will only be printing pics of Montana or Washington by request. There were a few I really like from Idaho that I may have blown up and in stock. But perhaps not for a while.
Also, I am doing away with glass prints for now. I got a sample in the mail at last and am underwhelmed. The colors are odd and the amount of styrofoam, wood, and other materials involved in shipping make me uncomfortable at this time offering the product. I'd be producing a lot of trash and I pride myself on producing little, especially in how I eat, so I don't want to change that just to make a buck or two. Not that I've had any orders for glass prints yet, but that seems to be the going thing. I will look for another option and try another company at some point, if there is any interest by my adoring public. But until I know I can guarantee a good product, and ideally one that is somewhat not an environmental disaster, its out. Aluminum is still available and so are canvases. Those are quicker and easier to fulfill anyhow and both can be done approximately locally.
Triple Divide Peak, in Glacier, I should correct, is one of three "Triple Divide Peaks" in the USA. 2 are in California, however, and while taller and probably better climbs based on trip reports and pics I viewed, they are both much lamer in that they feed into 3 different watersheds in Cali, while Glacier's Triple technically feeds into 3 different oceans- which is what makes it special. However that is a bit of a stretch as you must trace hundreds of miles of rivers to reach the Arctic and count the Hudson Bay, which is only sometimes listed with the Arctic, though if it isn't the Arctic Ocean, the peak would still feed into the Atlantic, Pacific, and Hudson Bay, which is pretty cool too, no? The Continental Divide for those curious runs through the Rocky Mountains and is where on the east all water eventually feeds into the Atlantic and on the West all water feeds into the Pacific. There is a long Continental Divide Trail as well as the Great Western Trail. Both will take you from Mexico to Canada, and rival the Appalachian. I've done some of the Great Western here in Utah and it is often spectacular, and sometimes dull. But its a goal for some hearty folks. There is also the Pacific Crest and the Pacific Coastal Trail. You could spend your whole life going after Western mountains and never touch them all. Any peak along the Continental Divide feeds into 2 oceans and thus perhaps I am making too big a deal out of Triple Divide Peak on my questing list, as I would probably be short of water by reaching the top anyway, and I wonder how much water I'd really be willing to pour out to test the 3 paths to 3 oceans.
All for now. Here's hoping for a better trip. I've read that August is Washington's driest month and been told by former Washingtonians to expect to be dumped on by rain everyday. I'd settle for anything in the middle, and a drizzle now and again sounds great while sitting in Utah's heat.
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