Nick Belcaster

The Cascade Loop: Washington’s Ultimate Road Trip

I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the magnificent nooks and crannies of northwest Washington, enjoying untold splendor along the way. But I had never driven the meandering scenic excursion known as the Cascade Loop. Described as Washington’s Ultimate Road Trip, the 440-mile loop traces an oblong circle from saltwater to the Columbia Highlands and back to saltwater, crossing the …

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Reef Net Fishing: Sustainabilty on the Salish Sea

In the spring of 1984, a team of scuba divers assembled on the rough cobble beach of Legoe Bay, located on the shores of Lummi Island in the Salish Sea. Along with a crew of archaeology students, their purpose was unusual. They were not there to search out the sunken remains of a ship but rather to investigate stories that …

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Searching for Phantoms: Wolverines in the North Cascades

 Inhospitable.  That’s it, in a word. Inhospitable. The word for today—and for this landscape. The three of us were working our way across the terrain of the North Cascades, ostensibly out here recreating but more accurately, persevering. Here in the shadows of the White Salmon Basin, the sun will not crest the north face of Mt. Shuksan for some hours …

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Backcountry Horsemen: Unsung Trail Heroes

At times, it’s good to take stock of who’s in your corner. Who’s willing to go to bat for you. And get dirty. These are friends one should keep. Now a friend that’ll brush out miles of your favorite hiking trail, on their own dime, and carry your tools for you? Now you’re talking our love language. If you explore …

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The Cold Shoulder

The gold Grand Marquis in the ditch was probably a sign. But that was a mile or so back now. Driving up Forest Road 39 has become a death-defying experience. The higher we go, the more the road surface devolves, glazed over in a sheen of glare ice. The first snow of the season has turned against us. I’m joined …

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The Finest Kind of Madness

Origin — a beginning. We all start somewhere. This is where the Madness begins, I suppose; In random passing, a glancing blow. Driving the sinuous byway of Washington State’s North Cascades Highway, some three hours after turning east from the high-test thrum of the Interstate corridor and onto the only road to cleave the wilderness of the North Cascades National …

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Sarah Finger: A Deeply Etched Love for Local Landscapes

After a quick burn on Galbraith or hike up in the North Cascades, Sarah Finger is likely to be the one across the bar from you slinging your après trail beer. But she also has a strong connection to that magnificent landscape you can’t stop staring at on the can of IPA you’re slugging down. She’s the artist who created …

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The Problem With Drones

Imagine, if you will, a pleasant afternoon of tranquil rambling in the green meadows of the North Cascades. But then you begin to be aware of a high-pitched buzz above you. Not a mosquito. A drone, hovering just overhead. Approximately the size of a toaster, with four rotors spinning rapidly and a high-definition camera slung beneath it. The spell is …

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Mebee Pass Lookout: John Scurlock’s Labor of Love

  Lost things can be hard to find in the wilderness of the North Cascades, so when aerial photographer John Scurlock spied the rough angles of a man-made structure among a zone of alpine krummholz, that last green gasp of stunted subalpine fir at tree line, he must have thought himself lucky. Remembering the comment of a climbing friend who …

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Woodstock Farm: A New Chapter in an Old Story

Even if you’re paying attention you might miss it. Eyes glued to the bends and curves of Chuckanut Drive just south of Bellingham, the sign for Woodstock Farm is an unimposing brown flash against a green backdrop. But take the turn down toward the water, and what appears is a gentleman’s estate that looks transported from the early 1900’s, perched …

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