When out on a trail, most of us look at the wilderness around us, absorbing the sights, sounds, and smells of the outdoors. Sure, we look at the trail because if we don’t, we’ll trip over a root before we know it. But how many of us look at the trail with “trail eyes”—that critical observation of the trail itself?  …

Teaching in the Rain: The Story of the North Cascades Institute, by John C. Miles. Chuckanut Editions, 2023   The North Cascades Institute has been a fixture of the northwest Washington landscape since 1986. In “Teaching in the Rain,” author John C. Miles tells its origin story, a story with so many moving parts it’s a wonder the Institute was …

We hear the words “paddles ready…paddles set…and hit” from our steersperson, and the outrigger canoe starts its glide through the water, gaining speed with our paddle strokes. We round the breakwater and out into the open water of Fairhaven Harbor. All of us relish this feeling of getting on the water and moving together. It feels like freedom. On quiet …

Arctic Traverse, by Michael Engelhard; Mountaineers Books, Seattle, 2024   What makes a travelogue a great read? In my opinion, it uses the trip’s events as a springboard for reflection and exploration and asks important questions about our impact on the landscape and what we can do to minimize it. The basic story of writer Michael Engelhard’s book, Arctic Traverse, …