Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Over the years, we have had the opportunity to raise money and awareness for a great group of local and regional non-profits. One of our objectives was to “Connect Active People” in the community, bringing together individuals, organizations and businesses. People in both Bellingham and Olympia are regionally known for their commitments to sustainability. We are fortunate to live in communities that care as evidenced by the list of “friends” that we have made through our efforts.

Thank you to all the people who have participated in the past- your work has added to the social fabric that make our region the best place in the world to live, work and play. We are proud of our story and happy to share it with our friends and families. Scroll through and think how these organizations have touched your life. If there’s an unfamiliar one, click and learn.

Bellingham Traverse

Action for Africa

Appliance Depot 

Center for Tribal Water Advocacy 

Chuckanut Conservancy

Community to Community Development 

Conservation Northwest

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County 

Ducks Unlimited 

Evergreen AIDS Foundation

Farm Friends 

Habitat for Humanity

The Hub Community Bike Co-Op 

Kulshan Community Land Trust 

Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association 

Opportunity Council 

People for Lake Whatcom

Project Sea Wolf

RE Sources 

Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition 

Sierra Club Mt. Baker Group 

Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group 

Surfrider Foundation 

Sustainable Connections

Washington Health Foundation 

Washington Trails Association 

Washington Water Trails Association

Whatcom Conservation District 

Whatcom Film Association – Pickford Cinema

Whatcom Parks and Recreation Foundation

WHIMPS Mountain Bike Coalition 

Whatcom Land Trust 

Whatcom Literacy Council

Womencare Shelter

Olympia Traverse

Friends of Capitol Forest

South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group

Olympia Area Rowing

SUP Cleanup – Olympia Chapter

People for Puget Sound

Conservation Northwest

News Flash: Mountain Bike Course Change (why didn’t we did we do this earlier?)

After our volunteer meeting tonight, Padden Transition Captain, Mike McAuley, had the great idea that we should simplify (but doesn’t shorten) the mountain bike course. It was an executive decision that makes sound sense. Please make sure that your mountain biker knows that the course has been modified and to follow the arrows and course markings. McAuley has this to say about the course revision, “this year, racers will start fast and finish hard.” We wish them luck.

Have fun. Be safe. Play nice.

Dear Chinook,

We applaud your efforts. This course was designed with you in mind. Here’s some special treatment to help you out during the day:

Take care of yourself. There will be one water stop on the first run, otherwise you are on your own for food and water. We will have water at the transitions if you need to fill a bottle or have a quick cup. This is a challenging course and we try our best to make it safe for you so you can have a ton of fun.

Gear distribution:  At each Transition Area you’ll have a designated location to place your equipment so you can easily get in and out. You may have 1 support person in the area helping you out.

Gear pick-up: We will be providing FREE Bike Delivery if you are unable to pick your bike up before the times listed below.
The bikes will be delivered to the Finish Line at Boundary Bay so you can get them there.

3:00 pm Mountain Bikes picked up from Lake Padden delivered downtown to finish line.

4:00 pm Road Bikes picked up from Fairhaven (Cascade Joinery) delivered downtown to finish line.

New kayak cutoff time: The cut off time for boaters to be in the water is 5:00 pm = You must be in the water by 5:00. period.

We hope you enjoy yourself.

The Traverse Team

We’re a week away from the 2nd Olympia Traverse.  If you’ve done this before or something similar you probably have an idea of how to do it.  If you’re new to this or unfamiliar with the area, here’s some information to help you have a fun, successful race.

Packets will contain detailed driving directions to navigate to/ from the Transitions.

The course for the Olympia Traverse (OT) starts 13 miles from Fish Tale Brew Pub in downtown Olympia.  Here’s an efficient way do the race with your team:

From Fish Tale or the downtown area, go to West Bay Park and drop off your watercraft. Do this by 8:30AM.

From West Bay Drive to Middle Waddell ORV Parking area for the start.  The mountain bike leg begins here.

If you have a very fast mountain biker, you may want to stage your road bike at Mima Falls Camp prior to the start.  Mima is about 10 minutes away by car (6 miles), but consider everyone will be leaving and heading that way at the same time after the mountain bikes leave.

The mountain bike course is 9 miles long. We estimate the fastest riders might be through in about 35 minutes- that would be an extremely fast time!

Get to Mima and watch your mountain biker arrive.  Parking here should be on Marksman road just as you approach the area.  Volunteers will help you with parking just outside of the transition area.  We want to avoid congestion and interference with the course and other users who may be in the camping area.  Road racers will be exiting on Marksman road.

After the road racer leaves and you’ve collected your mountain biker and gear, head for West Bay to drop off your paddler.  The quickest way back is to head out to I-5 and north to Olympia.  This will also keep team cars off the road course.

There is no parking at West Bay during the event.  We recommend you drop your paddler/rower off (remember- your watercraft should be here already) and drive to Swantown.  There’s a great viewing area of the water from the large parking area at Swantown Marina just west of the launch were paddlers will be exiting the water.

Mima to I-5

Road biker rides to next transition after tagging paddler/rower- When the road biker arrives at West Bay they will ride out of West Bay and over to Swantown to meet the rest of the team.  This is an easy, mostly downhill route to Swantown.

Paddlers/rowers race ~3.5 miles to Swantown. Runners will depart Swantown and head for Priest Point Park via a dirt pat along the water to  East Bay Drive. Teams can pick of their watercraft and head to the final transition when the runner leaves. Teams can park in a large lot at this intersection.  This is an excellent place to watch runners heading out and returning.  The Trek starts here and is .5 miles from the Finish.

Runners return on East Bay Drive and partway back on the dirt path to the final transition at Jefferson and Marine Drive.

That’s it!  Trek to the Finish line at Fish Tale and have more fun!

Discover Pass

The Olympia Traverse (OT) starts in Capitol Forest (CF), this year with the mountain bike course.  A new pass, the Discover Pass, is required to park your vehicle on state forest lands, including Capitol.  The effective date of this new law is today, July 1, 2011.

Do you need a Discover Pass for OT on July 23rd? No.  I’ve talked with our partners at Dept of Natural Resources who handle the permitting for activities in CF and July will be a month of education to help spread the word and inform forest visitors about the new requirement.  Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy the pass, just don’t worry if you don’t have one with you the day of the event- this year!  The pass will help stabilize funding for the agencies that support and help manage these lands.

Learn more about the pass at this website:  http://www.discoverpass.wa.gov/

Spawnsors

We have a host of new spawnsors for the OT.  Check out the Spawnsors page to learn a little about each and find links to these great businesses.  If you have need for lodging, gear support/rentals etc check these company’s out!

There is a load of impressive BAIT for the lucky top fund-raisers this year.  If you raise $500 for you favorite group you earn a chance to win: a bike from Joy Ride Cycles, stand up paddle boards and paddles from Alpine Experience, a kayak from REI.  Raise $100 or more: gift certificates from Bike Tech.

Learn more about how to Do Good and win some cool stuff!

REI Bellingham Traverse

Mark your calendar.

Saturday, September 17th, 2011

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary, The REI Bellingham Traverse is a multi-sport adventure race for solo, tandem and relay teams on a course that celebrates the lifecycle of wild salmon- raising money for local and regional non-profits. Follow latest updates in full at theNorthwest Traverse Blog.

5.5 mile Run, 6 mile Mountain bike, 18 mile Road Ride, 3 mile Trail Run, 4 mile Paddle, .5 mile Team Trek to the finish line atBoundary Bay Brewery.

The Traverse has raised over $60,000 for the Northwest non-profit community.

Friends with Benefits
We created this event to help our community connect. We encourage fundraising for 
Local and Regional non-Profit Companies as part of your efforts for this event.

Here our Top Picks for 2011:

Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association
RE Sources
Kulshan Community Land Trust
Whatcom Land Trust
Sustainable Connections
Whatcom Parks & Recreation Foundation
People for Puget Sound
Conservation Northwest

Registration Opens June 1st. Online only.

See you Saturday, September 17th, 2011

July 23rd , 2011

The Second Annual Olympia Traverse – a multi-sport adventure relay for solo, tandem and teams celebrating the life cycle of wild salmon starts out in the Capitol Forest and winds its way into downtown Olympia for a strong finish at Fish Tale Brewpub. A Big Fun, Family Event.

Chinook (solo) – Coho (tandem) – Chum (relay of 3-4 people)

Registration opens June 1st.

Working with the Department of Natural Resources, the City of Olympia and the Port of Olympia- this event has been a great new addition to the South Sound region.  The event helps to raise money for local and regional non-profits for the health and wellness of our community.

To connect with us Follow us on Twitter or Friend us on Facebook.

Preliminary Course Description:

Mountain Bike in Capitol Forest

Road Ride from Capitol Forest – West Bay Park in Olympia

Paddle from West Bay Park to Swantown

Run from Swantown out to Priest Point Park and back

TREK to finish with your team from East Bay near the new Children’s Museum.

Pricing 2011          early        middle               late

solo                        $60            $75                    $85

tandem                  $95           $120                  $135

team 3-4              $145            $180                 $195

We hope to see you July 23rd in Olympia.

Here is the list of LOST and FOUND items left over from 2010 Traverse. If you would like to retrieve your item, please call Traverse HQ at 360-527-2722

Purple MEC backpack with Saucony running shoes
Specialized cycling shoes (with food)
Mavic mountain bike shoes
Adidas Gazelle glasses with prescription insert

I have a feeling. It’s a feeling that I have had for weeks. The feeling (maybe my secret prayer) is this: It is going to rain on Saturday. I have the same view that Tom Robbins has- I love the RAIN, It separates the natives from the newbees. Enjoy this as you prepare for your weekend.

You Moist Remember This – a Tom Robbins essay excerpted from “Edge Walking on the Western Rim: New Works by 12 Northwest Writers”

————————————-

I’m here for the weather. Well, yes, I’m also here for the volcanoes and the salmon, and the exciting possibility that at any moment the volcanoes could erupt and pre-poach the salmon. I’m here for the rust and the mildew, for webbed feet and twin peaks, spotted owls and obscene clams (my consort says I suffer from geoduck envy), blackberries and public art (including that big bad mural the authorities had to chase out of Olympia), for the ritual of the potlatch and the espresso cart, for bridges that pratfall into the drink and ferries that keep ramming the dock. I’m here because the Wobblies used to be here, and sometimes in Pioneer Square you can still find bright-eyed old anarchists singing their moldering ballads of camaraderie and revolt. I’m here because someone once called Seattle “the hideout capital of the U.S.A.,” a distant outpost of a town where generations of the nation’s failed, fed-up and felonious have come to disappear. Long before Seattle was “America’s Athens” (The New York Times), it was America’s Timbuktu.

Getting back to music, I’m here because “Tequila” is the unofficial fight song of the University of Washington, and because “Louie Louie” very nearly was chosen as our official state anthem. There may yet be a chance of that, which is not something you could say about Connecticut. I’m here for the forests (what’s left of them), for the world’s best bookstores and movie theaters; for the informality, anonymity, general lack of hidebound tradition and the fact that here and nowhere else grunge rubs shoulders in the half-mean streets with a pervasive yet subtle mysticism. The shore of Puget Sound is where electric guitars cut their teeth, and old haiku go to die. I’m here for the mushrooms that broadcast on transcendental frequencies; for Kevin Calabro, who broadcasts Sonics games on KJR; for Dick’s Deluxe burgers, closing time at the Pike Place Market, Monday Night Football at the Blue Moon Tavern, opera night at the Blue Moon Tavern (which, incidentally, is scheduled so that it coincides with Monday Night Football – a somewhat challenging overlap that the casual patron might fail to fully appreciate); and I’m here for the flying saucers that made their first public appearance near Mount Rainier. I’m here for Microsoft but not for Weyerhaeuser. I’m here for Longacres Race Track but not for Boeing. I’m here for the relative lack of financial ambitions, the soaring population of bald eagles and the women with their quaint Norwegian brand of lust. Yes. Ya. Sure, ya betcha.

But mostly, finally, ultimately, I’m here for the weather. In the deepest, darkest heart of winter, when the sky resembles bad banana baby food for months on end, and the witch measles that meteorologists call “drizzle” are a chronic gray rash on the skin of the land, folks all around me sink into a dismal funk. Many are depressed, a few actually suicidal. But I grow happier with each fresh storm, each thickening of the crinkly stratocumulus. “What’s so hot about the sun?” I ask. Sunbeams are a lot like tourists: intruding where they don’t belong, promoting noise and forced activity, faking a shallow cheerfulness, dumb little cameras slung around their necks. Raindrops, on the other hand – introverted, feral, buddhistically cool – behave as if they live here. Which, of course, they do. My bedroom is separated from the main body of my house, so that I have to go outside and cross some pseudo-Japanese stepping-stones in order to go to sleep at night. Often I get rained on a little bit on my way to bed. It’s a benediction, a good-night kiss. Romantic? Absolutely. And nothing to be ashamed of. If reality is a matter of perspective, then the romantic view of the world is as valid as any other -and a great deal more rewarding. It makes of life an unpredictable adventure rather than a problematic equation. Rain is the natural element for romanticism. A dripping fir is a thousand times more sexy than a sunburnt palm, and more primal and contemplative, too. A steady, wind-driven rain composes music for the psyche. It not only nurtures and renews, it consecrates and sanctifies. It whispers in secret languages about the primordial essence of things.

Obviously, then, the Pacific Northwest’s customary climate is perfect for a writer. It’s cozy and intimate. Reducing temptation (how can you possibly play on the beach or work in the yard?), it turns a person inward, connecting them with what Jung called “the bottom below the bottom,” those areas of the deep unconscious into which every serious writer must spelunk. Directly above my writing desk there is a skylight. This is the window, rain-drummed and bough-brushed, through which my Muse arrives, bringing with her the rhythms and cadences of cloud and water, not to mention the twenty-three auxiliary verbs. Oddly enough, not every local author shares my proclivity for precipitation. Unaware of the poetry they’re missing, many malign the mist as malevolently as the non-literary heliotropes do. They wring their damp mitts and fret about rot, cursing the prolonged spillage, claiming they’re too dejected to write, that their feet itch (athlete’s foot), the roof leaks, they can’t stop coughing and they feel as if they’re being slowly digested by an oyster. Yet the next sunny day, though it may be weeks away, will trot out such a mountainous array of pagodas, vanilla sundaes, hero chins and God fingers; such a sunset palette of Jell-O, Kool-Aid, Vegas strip, and carrot oil; such a sea-vista display of broad waters, firred islands, whale spouts and sailboats thicker than triangles in a geometry book, that any and all memories of dankness will fizz and implode in a blaze of bedazzled amnesia. “Paradise!” you’ll hear them proclaim as they call United Van Lines to cancel their move to Arizona. They’re kidding themselves, of course. Our sky can go from lapis to tin in the blink of an eye. Blink again and your latte’s diluted. And that’s just fine with me.

I thrive here on the certainty that no matter how parched my glands, how anhydrous the creek beds, how withered the weeds in the lawn, it’s only a matter of time before the rains come home. The rains will steal down from the Sasquatch slopes. They will rise with the geese from the marshes and sloughs. Rain will fall in sweeps, it will fall in drones, it will fall in cascades of cheap Zen jewelry. And it will rain a fever. And it will rain a sacrifice. And it will rain sorceries and saturnine eyes of the totem. Rain will primitivize the cities, slowing every wheel, animating every gutter, diffusing commercial neon into smeary blooms of esoteric calligraphy. Rain will dramatize the countryside, sewing pearls into every web, winding silk around every stump, re-drawing the horizon line with a badly frayed brush dipped in tea. And it will rain an omen. And it will rain a trance. And it will rain a seizure. And it will rain dangers and pale eggs of the beast. Rain will pour for days unceasing. Flooding will occur. Wells will fill with drowned ants, basements with fossils. Mossy-haired lunatics will roam the dripping peninsulas. Moisture will gleam on the beak of the Raven. Ancient shamans, rained from their rest in dead tree trunks, will clack their clamshell teeth in the submerged doorways of video parlors. Rivers will swell, sloughs will ferment. Vapors will billow from the troll-infested ditches, challenging windshield wipers, disguising telephone booths. Water will stream off eaves and umbrellas. It will take on the colors of the beer signs and headlamps. It will glisten on the claws of nighttime animals. And it will rain a screaming. And it will rain a rawness. And it will rain a disorder, and hair-raising hisses from the oldest snake in the world. Rain will hiss on the freeways. It will hiss around the prows of fishing boats. It will hiss in electrical substations, on the tips of lit cigarettes and in the trash fires of the dispossessed. Legends will wash from the desecrated burial grounds, graffiti will run down alley walls. Rain will eat the old warpaths, spill the huckleberries, cause toadstools to rise like loaves. It will make poets drunk and winos sober, and polish the horns of the slugs. And it will rain a miracle. And it will rain a comfort. And it will rain a sense of salvation from the philistinic graspings of the world.

Yes, I’m here for the weather. And when I’m lowered at last into a pit of marvelous mud, a pillow of fern and skunk cabbage beneath my skull, I want my epitaph to read, IT RAINED ON HIS PARADE. AND HE WAS GLAD!

The Olympia Traverse course has taken many different facelifts over the last eight months but our main goal has always been to start at Capitol Forest and end at Fish Tale Brewery.  Well, mission accomplished!  We have put together a fun course that will appeal to all skill levels.  We are estimating finishing times for the rabbits at 3 hours and us turtles around 5-6 hours.

Below are links to a map of each leg.  These are not the most accurate representations of the run and mountain bike courses.  The mapping program we are using does not like to go off-road.  After each link turn by turn directions are provided.  If you are planning on pre-riding or pre-running these legs a DNR Capitol Forest Map is recommended.  You can get them at most bike shops in Olympia.

RUN – Start at Middle Waddell Trailhead parking lot and head North on Waddell Creek Rd.  Left turn onto Al Davis Rd.  Continue on Al Davis go over bridge and continue straight on gravel trail as it turns into Trail 40 Reroute.  Proceed to turn around point(1/4 mile up) and go back down Trail 40 Reroute.  Turn Right on Trail 40 and continue to Middle Waddell Trailhead.  3.8 miles.

MTB – Start at Middle Waddell Trailhead parking lot and head south on Waddell Creek Rd to Margaret Mckinney Campground.  Take Trail Green Line(GL) 6.  GL 6 turns into GL 6A.  At GL 6 T-intersection turn Right onto GL 6.  Follow GL 6 to Road E-9600.  Cross E-9600 and take Trail 10.  Follow Trail 10 until the GL 8 T-intersection.  Go Left on GL 8.  Follow GL 8 to Road E-9000.  Go Left on Road E-9000.  Follow Road E-9000 to Waddell Loop Trail.  Go Left onto Waddell Loop Trail.  Follow Waddell Loop Trail.  Go past the first GL 6 intersection(stay on Waddell Loop Trail).  At the second GL 6 trail go Left and follow GL 6 to GL 8 T-intersection and turn Left onto GL 8 and follow to Mima Falls Trailhead.  8.75 miles.

Road Bike – Participants will start from Mima Falls Trailhead parking lot and head south on Marksman Road. At T-Intersection turn left on Bordeaux Road. At T-Intersection turn left on Mima Road SW. Continue to follow Mima Rd SW and it will turn into Waddell Creek Rd. Follow Waddell Creek Rd to Delphi Rd SW. Cross Mudd Bay Rd (major intersection) Continue on Delphi.  Turn Right on 11th Ave NW.  Turn left on Evergreen PKWY. Follow Evergreen PKWY and it will turn into Kaiser Rd NW. Follow Kaiser Rd NW and it will turn into French Rd NW. At T-Intersection turn left on Crestline Dr NW. Continue to follow Crestline Dr NW and it will turn into Crestline BLVD NW. Follow Crestline BLVD NW and it will turn into Raft Ave NW. Follow Raft Ave NW to Harbor View Rd NW. Turn right on Harbor View Rd NW. Follow Harbor View Rd NW and merge on West Bay Dr NW. Turn left into the new city park called West Bay Park.  22 miles.

Paddle – Head north in West Bay past Tug Boat Annies then turn east and head towards Priest Point Park into East Bay.  Turn south and down the home stretch to Swantown Marina.  3.5 miles.

Trek – Leave the boat launch area of Swantown and head south along a trail then cross Marine Drive onto the newly constructed Jefferson St and follow it to the Finish Line at Fish Tale Brewery! 1mile.