While living in Maryland, it was always our aspiration as a family to live in the West.

Of course, our idea of west at that time was really Colorado and the Rockies. We had hiked in Yellowstone and the Tetons, watched fireworks on the 4th of July in Jackson Hole, skied in Breckenridge and Steamboat, and I had paddled Browns Canyon and the Animas (CO) and the Selway (ID), and many other rivers. Early on, back on the East Coast, we really never thought that Colorado was only half-way west.

Our outdoor friends at the time, all part of the University of Maryland Trail Club, also spent time in the west, but what was different was our desire to pick up roots and actually move west full time. We had a timeline, as we wanted to make the move before my daughter entered high school. We thought it would be just too hard to leave for her after that.

Then, we took our first trip to the Pacific Northwest and immediately fell in love. We hiked in the Mt. Rainier and Mt. Saint Helens backcountry, crawled through lava tubes, camped in the Hoh Rainforest, hot tubbed with friends in Portland, and I (of course) paddled cold, wild, and beautiful rivers like the Skykomish and Ohanapecosh. Soon after, opportunity knocked and we jumped, packed our bags (and a moving truck), and went west.

At that time, our vision of the Northwest was huge trees, forests, fog, and mist. My desire was to wake each morning to the sight of snow and mountains out my window. That was in mind as we looked for a home, and we found the perfect landing spot deep in the woods (to see those mountain views, Mt. Baker and the Coastal Range in Canada, I just need to walk up my road a short distance).

Today, it seems strange that the beautiful coastlines of the Pacific Northwest, from southern Alaska to northern California, didn’t at first factor more into our feelings for this area! The coast of the Pacific Northwest (or Cascadia which extends as far as the salmon run) encompasses more than 2,500 miles in length. But actual coastal mileage doesn’t do justice to all the hidden, beautiful, and wild tidal shorelines in this region. Alaska, in its entirety, has more than 6,500 miles of shoreland, Washington and Oregon offer another 4,436 miles, and British Columbia’s (BC) shorelands add an amazing 17,000 miles (27,200 km).

While we have traveled all across this country and overseas, Cascadia includes many of my greatest experiences and remains at the top of my “to-do” list of future travel destinations. Wonderful explores like Port Renfrew and paddling along Vancouver Island’s Broken Group or the Bunsby Islands on the Wild West Coast (BC has more than 40,000 islands). Ferry trips to Washington’s San Juan Islands (only 400 islands and rocks!) and road trips to the Olympic Peninsula. Walking the sand along Oregon’s Canon Beach or listening to the tinkle of rolling black “cobble” in the waters off Yaquina Head Natural Area. Traveling the entire Inside Passage from Bellingham to Alaska and gazing at the Coast Mountains and the Tongass National Forest and sliding by the 3,600 islands that make up Haida Gwaii (Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaaior or “Islands at the Boundary of the World”). And my favorite place in the world, the Great Bear Rainforest, which I visit as much as I can but somewhere that I can never get enough of.

When we moved here, all of these were, if not unknown, then at least were not on what we saw as that initial and undeniable draw to Cascadia and the Pacific Northwest. Oh, how little we knew!

While our vision of the Northwest still includes mountains, huge trees and fog and mist, we are reminded daily that the best part of living here means you can be both skiing in the mountains and paddling along the coast on the same day. When you tire (if ever) of exploring the wonders of Washington and Oregon, you just need to look north to BC and Alaska and their unbounded and endless wilderness, beauty, and outdoor experiences. We are lucky to live here, and so thankful we made that fateful and wonderful decision so many years ago. The Pacific Northwest, Cascadia, is home. It defines our lives and values and has offered us so many adventures. Twenty-four years later, we still say (every day) “We Live Here!”
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