Inspirations

Last week I took my family backpacking down the coast of Washington State - beginning about 12 miles south of the NW tip. The place is called Cape Alava and is the westerly most point of Washington State. What a huge inspiration!!!!! Between the natural beauty, the wildlife and the petroglyphs, it was hard to ask for more (except maybe a lighter back pack!) It wasn't a huge trip hiking wise, only about 12 miles over a few days. But it was very rich experience-wise.

I worked at an archaeological dig on the Ozette Indian Reservation, just north of Cape Alava, in 1980. An Indian village was buried by a mud slide 500 years ago. The mud made an oxygen tight seal. Fragile things, like cedar bark baskets were found, filled with clams on benches inside houses. It was almost Pompeii like in its complete preservation. I worked mostly as a tour guide at that site (because the other archaeologists didn't like giving tours and I loved it.)

A few days ago I met a man while walking on the Ozette beach. He had photographs taken in 1875 of the village built to replace the buried one. No doubt the photographer was traveling with fur traders. There were images of the canoe put in and the people who lived there.

The fresh trail inspirations will soon be paintings. Enjoy!