Welcome

Dave Coate

A personal site spanning mountain travel, stewardship, fire lookouts, family adventures, and professional experience.

View from Sequim toward Protection Island

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Mountaineering

Trips, stories, and media collected from personal mountaineering experiences.

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Resume

Although I am retired, I may continue to maintain an active professional presence.

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Fire Lookouts App

A Python/SQL Server application hosted in Azure to manage Washington State fire lookout data.

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Highlights

A series of amazing pictures and videos collected over the years.

Stehekin bear encounter

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This video was captured from the deck of Kari's family Stehekin cabin. We were just settling in to sleep out on the deck in our bug tent, when this boy strolled by. Kari had startled him slightly when I started shooting this video. It was actually the second time that day we had seen him. He did not seem all that concerned about us so we saw no need to be concerned about him.

We slept out on the deck that night as we had planned. The locals in Stehekin have been careful not to habituate the bears, and one recognized the description of this bear as one that's often seen around the cabins. We humans do not need to be afraid or in competition with wildlife. In all the years I have been in the mountains of Washington, I have never seen a bear that seemed to be interested in humans, let alone aggressive.

Mount Jupiter hawks and eagles

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Kari and I backpacked to Mt. Jupiter in the Olympics, a former lookout site. This nine mile hike (one way) has no water, but we backpacked it anyway, betting there would be snow at the top to melt. There turned out to be only a few patches, including one at top. We like to backpack these trips in order to spend time at lookout sites. This time we were entertained by hawks and eagles dancing on the wind above us while we recovered from our big hike, melted snow for our water, and cooked our dinner. This picture is one frame from a video I took of the birds flying, dancing, and playing. Dinner and a show!

For more information about this hike and some more pictures, see Kari's trip report.

Eagle at Sequim

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This is a frame from a video I took at the beach down the bluff from the Dari Sequim house. The full, high resolution video can be viewed here. Come join us at the house for a Dari Adventure and Retreat featuring yoga, hiking, snowshoeing, and forest therapy.

Blue Lagoon sea turtles

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This is a frame from an amazing video I took of Hawaiian sea turtles on the Big Island. Kari's brother and his wife have a house on the north side of the island and recommended a number of favorite spots and beaches. This was taken at Kiholo Bay, otherwise known as Blue Lagoon, on the west side of the island, north of Kona. I am posting a link to the full video so that I can leave it at high resolution.

Fred Darvill with President Johnson

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This picture is of Kari's father Fred Darvill with President Johnson when the North Cascades National Park was established. As luck and a weird bit of social media alpha particle migration would have it, Kari and I met, and shared a weekend at the Sequim house, with Tom Hammond, president of the North Cascades Conservation Council.

This organization co-sponsored, along with the National Parks Conservation Association, a celebration for the park's anniversary at the Mountaineers Program Center. This is the kind of random-but-not-random happenstance that speaks of participation. I am sure that Kari and I will get involved in this event and others involving the park's history.

Devil's Dome

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On top of Devil's Dome in the North Cascades National Park, this was roughly the half way point in our 5 day, 50 mile, 12,000'+ gain backpacking trip. In some ways this was the most difficult backpacking trip I have ever done. It included a first night rain storm that was quite uncomfortable and discouraging. My choice of hiking partner, my Valentine, made it an outstanding trip!

Vatican frieze

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This picture was taken inside the Vatican. For some reason it has always spoken to me. At first I thought it to be simply funny, a strange thing to find on a wall in the Vatican. As I look at it more, I see multiple expressions depending on my mood. Certainly surprise and perhaps a bit of shock and awe. When I am feeling good, I see amazement. At my darker moments, contempt.