Tours:  We began in 2016, conducting week-long camping tours in the Southwest where we examined the layered geology of the Colorado Plateau.  In 2024 we are not offering any Southwest tours, so we are working on one-day geology tours in Western Washington and three-day tours in Eastern Washington.

Through our shuttle service, we offer personalized driving tours of Mt. Rainier. However, sitting in a car or strolling through a visitor center gives one a very meager encounter with the Mountain. You really need to get out and hike several miles to get a sense of the enormity and grandeur of the Mountain. We do not provide guide service on the trails. (That requires a special permit from the Park–for good reason!) We can drive you to the trailhead and offer suggestions about destinations, but for the best experience, you need to get out of the car and onto the trail.

Enumclaw Geology

We are working on one-day geology tours in the neighborhood of Enumclaw. If you are interested, ask to be added to our email list.

Pacific Northwest Geology. We are also working on a three-day tour of the geology of the Pacific Northwest. Again, if interested, ask to be added to We hope to arrange some single day or weekend tours in the Pacific Northwest. If you are interested, be sure to get on our email list.

Trailhead Shuttle service near Mt. Rainier.  Our office is in Enumclaw, WA, gateway to the north side of Mt. Rainier National Park, Crystal Mountain Ski Resort, and the surrounding wilderness areas. Our speciality is the trailheads in the South Cascades. The Norse Peak Wilderness, The William O. Douglas Wilderness, Goat Rocks, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier. However, we also assist people with trailhead transportation elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Whether you are looking for help shuttling your vehicle from the start to the finish of an outdoor adventure or need transportation to the wild places from Seatac airport or the train station in Seattle or Auburn, WA, or the bus stop in Enumclaw, we can help. Call or text: 253-350-1211.

Guide Service. When we are not in the Southwest we are at home on the farm in Enumclaw, WA, and are intimately familiar with the trails and wilderness areas mentioned above. If you need help planning a hiking/biking/backpacking trip in this area, give us a call.

History: Talking Rocks began as week-long camping tours exploring geology in southern Utah, northern Arizona, and southern Nevada. We slept in tents or under the stars, studied geology and paleontology with Gerry Bryant of the Colorado Plateau Institute and occasionally other geologists and paleontologists. We ate incredibly delicious food prepared by Robert Johnston. We hiked to breathtaking overlooks and fascinating outcrops and enjoyed conversations around the campfire probing the great questions of beauty and justice, meaning and ethics, God and humanity, geology and theology. We hope to resume Southwest tours in 2025.

The photos and commentary below are focused on our Southwest tours.