Geology of the North Cascades:  A Mountain Mosaic by Rowland Tabor and Ralph Haugerud, drawings by Anne Crowder,  Mountaineers Books   When hiking through the North Cascades, have you ever wondered about the rocks underfoot and the peaks you’re climbing? Hikers curious about the geology of our region but new to the subject, as well as geologists who want to …

You won’t want to miss the Washington Trails Association’s (WTA)  third annual Crescendo concert on April 24 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. This celebration of music and nature is a collaboration between the Northwest Symphony Orchestra (NWSO) and WTA.  Experience photos from WTA’s annual Northwest Exposure Photo Contest on the big screen while listening to sweeping melodies performed live by …

Positively Uncivilized                             By Rena Priest, Raven Chronicle Press, 2025 Studying the epigraph to 2021-2023 Washington poet laureate Rena Priest’s new essay collection, “Positively Uncivilized,” is a worthy endeavor. 19th-century journalist Ambrose Bierce expands the definition of “positive” to mean “mistaken at the top of one’s voice.” …

18 -20 mph winds and three to four foot swells met us as we paddled our kayaks out of Lund Harbor heading north. Waves sloshed over the boats, and, even though we had skirts and rain gear, they soaked us. Steering was next to impossible. Our intrepid group of seven was just beginning a trip to Desolation Sound with the …

In Timberline’s Embrace                                  By Jean L. Waight, Resource Publications, Eugene, Oregon, 2025 If we are fortunate, many of us have a special mountain place that is our spiritual home, a place we return to over and over, where we become our true selves.  Bellingham …

Pacific Harvest: A Northwest Coast Foraging Guide                                                    By Jennifer Hahn, Mountaineers Books (2025) In “Pacific Harvest,” author Jennifer Hahn takes us on an eye-opening journey through Pacific Northwest ecosystems. A teacher of sustainable wild food …

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, …