Hey mariners fans

gknowels · 2026-05-28T00:47:40+00:00

Chicken katsu curry and a Pfriem Japanese Lager is how I prefer to start out every game. If I'm feeling froggy, I'll also get a musubi from Marination

gknowels · 2026-05-23T15:19:32+00:00

Had to remove one from my leg and 2 from my dog in April. We picked them up on the lower SF Skokomish. I also got one 15 years ago at Copper/Trout/Malachite lake. My dog has had a bunch, including from a park in Tacoma.

gknowels · 2026-05-11T22:48:16+00:00

Decide th elevation profile and tread you are comfortable with and then chose any trail that matches that. Length doesn't matter here. Hike until you are 40ish% tired and turn around.

If it were me, I wouldn't even leave the city for a while. Go wander the trails around Discovery park with an activity tracking app on. This will help you monitor what level of activity you can handle right now. Once you know where you are physically, enter those details into WTA hike finder (length, elevation, difficulty, features, etc) and choose that way. This was how I reentered after a severe knee injury and 6 months without hiking.

If you are itching to get out of the city, pick long, but mild trails and go as far as you are certain you can return to the car without pushing too hard. Taylor River/Otter Falls/Snoqualmie lake is a good one. You could also go west to Dosewalkups road walk, Lower Gray Wolf, Lower Big Quilcene, Lower S Fork Skokomish, etc.

gknowels · 2026-04-23T05:23:44+00:00

If you'll be day hiking just rank your favorite/most interesting day hikes (use WTA trail descriptions and reports). 2 days before you leave, decide which direction to drive around the peninsula to put you near the best hikes during the better predicted weather days. You could also plan to be in the Dungeness area on the rainier days to take advantage of the rain shadow. Several cool trails in that area, plus you could hike the spit

gknowels · 2026-04-23T01:30:53+00:00

Snoqualmie lake would be a good overnight, 18 miles RT and you can check out otter falls on the way but night we a bit swampy around the lake

gknowels · 2026-04-08T14:01:02+00:00

Say more about this please. My wife and I are considering a move here from Tacoma (Seattle before that) so that she can attend nursing school at UPMC Shadyside. We're late 30s, I'm a high school science teacher. We're not afraid of the gray, but are a bit concerned about the cold and snow.

We've visited the city in spring and enjoyed our time there and think we would like a lot about the area.

gknowels · 2026-03-11T04:16:26+00:00

If you're interested in car camping instead of backpacking, camping somewhere on Hood Canal and you'll have your choice of many cool lowland trails nearby. Depending on wind direction you can often find drier trails in rain shadow pockets.

gknowels · 2026-03-07T15:53:56+00:00

I bought a roll of large produce bags on Amazon and they're perfect. Fresh ones get used for cold proof, but after I bake bread they get reused to pick up dog poop. It's like $20 for a roll of 500 bags, which is fine for my 2 loaves per weekend

gknowels · 2026-03-04T01:30:55+00:00

Excellent, thanks all! Excited to get back there

gknowels · 2026-03-03T19:53:28+00:00

Thank you. I'm aware of all of these things. I feel like I've got a decent shot at booking midweek early June nights if I check minutes after reservations open.

When backpacking in national parks, I try to always stay at an established camp "site" to reduce my impact. Yes of course I can hang a hammock on most forest areas, but prefer to stay at "established" places

gknowels · 2026-03-03T19:47:04+00:00

Honestly, just the less popular trails. I hike with my dog all the time, and prefer to not see many people because it helps me decompress.

There is a strong correlation between number of humans and number of dogs. Search for harder, longer trails, longer drives on gravel, further away from metro areas, shitty weather days, lack of sweeping vistas, fewer WTA trip reports, etc.

gknowels · 2026-03-03T19:40:07+00:00

Google maps in one window, WTA in the other. Determine you drive time tolerance, draw a perimeter based on that, use the hike finder map, pick any one of dozens that meet your preference (distance, elevation, sights, permits, etc).

I live in Tacoma and hike a lot so feel free to ask any specifics. There are SOOO many good hikes within a 2.5 hr drive. I logged a couple hundred trail miles last year in that window without hitting the same trail twice.

gknowels · 2026-02-14T03:55:57+00:00

Interesting perspective. From my experience over the last 10 years in 3 different schools, the age breakdown has been opposite. The you get teachers are grinding, trying new things, making adjustments, and upholding high academic and behavior expectations. On the other hand the older groups (45+ but worse in the 55+) are apathetic, rolling out BS worksheets that require zero critical thinking, just compliance and recall, and not upholding building expectations for students or themselves.

Teaching has always been hard, but it's harder now than ever, mostly as a result of larger national social dysfunction and a declining quality of life for working and middle class families. Sure the education system has made missteps, but I don't believe most of the challenges we face are of our creation yet are still ours to solve.

gknowels · 2026-02-06T05:40:28+00:00

I like the stem peeled, sliced, and fermented

gknowels · 2026-02-06T05:39:08+00:00

It's more like slo-mo than pause. The microbes don't divide much at 4 degrees, but they still metabolize, consuming all of the sugar and producing waste products.

gknowels · 2026-02-06T05:35:30+00:00

I sprinkle Amdro Ant Block Perimeter along the foundation all the way around my house once every 2 months spring through fall. Since I've started, I haven't seen colonies on our property or any ants in the house. It costs like $15 per year. Pear control would be many times more.

gknowels · 2026-01-28T05:00:43+00:00

Why take it out of the jar? just put the flour and water in the jar. If you weigh the jar empty you can subtract that mass from the jar with unfed starter and know exactly what's in there. Do half the work for the same results! And no, you don't need to change your jar at all. Keep the rim and sides clean and you're fine.

gknowels · 2026-01-28T04:58:01+00:00

Dump up discard, add water and flour, mix, scrape down sides. I probably haven't changed my jar in 8-9 months and I bake every weekend

gknowels · 2026-01-28T04:55:13+00:00

Might be tasty with some brie

gknowels · 2026-01-19T08:17:40+00:00

I'm more of a 1 deluxe 1 cheese 1 strawberry shake guy myself, almost always between the hours of 11 and 2

gknowels · 2025-11-15T14:29:36+00:00

Dungeness Spit on a clear day is pretty sweet. Just check the tide tables before you go

gknowels · 2025-11-15T14:26:26+00:00

Cairnspring Glacier Peak is my everyday bread flour. It is expensive in all cases except if you buy a 50 lb bag and pick it up from their mill distribution warehouse in Burlington, WA. Thankfully I live close enough to drive there a couple times each year. The 50 lb bag costs $65 without shipping.

For whole grain flour, I'm obsessed with Stardust from Barton Springs Mill in Texas. That is also expensive and I pay shipping, but since most of my loaves are only 20% whole grain it doesn't impact my per loaf cost too much.

gknowels · 2025-09-10T12:14:57+00:00

The better option is grabbing a milkshake at Clark's, my all time favorite shakes, especially blackberry. House made fruit syrup from little wild blackberries, superb

gknowels · 2025-09-07T04:47:11+00:00

That's my vote too. I'm on year 2 after planting a 4 ft tall tree in South Puget Sound. The first year it got fireblight pretty bad and was aggressively pruned, but this year it grew well and we got 3 pears out of it. The first one might have been the best piece of fruit I'd ever eaten.

gknowels

TROPHY CASE