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There are moments in life that shine into that liminal space between who we were and who we may be. In those spaces are opportunities to sense the world in new ways. The choices we make are powerful. Camus said we might choose each day whether we want to step into the arena of life or remove ourselves from it. People …

 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 …

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.                                      –Robert Louis Stevenson   What comes to mind when you hear the term “forest bathing”? To be honest, the …

Five fire seasons weigh upon me. My knees, though they have only seen 24 summers, creak and snap with each step; my wrists, elbows, and shoulders crackle from having absorbed the shock of uncountable swings of my Pulaski into compact, dark earth; my feet bear the memory of miles, flayed raw. Five fire seasons in the Pacific Northwest, and my …

What I would really like, what I hope and dream for, is that people try to think outside of themselves when they are in wild places, or when they are in nature in any context, even in a  backyard!  What is our place here?  How do we share our planet with the other creatures who call it home?  Do we …

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 …

The history of outdoor recreation and preservation in America has always run parallel with the politics of land use. On one hand you have the visceral joys of experiencing soul-enriching activities such as hiking, camping, paddling, etc. On the other you have the eternal quest to monetize the land via development, resource extraction and the like. Yet these two vastly …

In the fall of 2005, I was given a 300+ year-old, 18-foot-long, red cedar log from a jumbled pile in the log yard of the Oeser Company in Bellingham,WA. A tag on the log indicated that it had been cut down by Georgia Pacific in 1982 at the base of the Twin Sisters Range in Whatcom County, WA. near the …

An alarming factoid has been floating around for a few years now: In a “business as usual scenario,” by 2050, plastics will outweigh fish in the ocean. This figure was first presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and is based on a study released in 2015 by the Ocean Conservancy. It says something about plastics, but it …

  “If we approached rivers, mountains, dragonflies, redwoods and reptiles as if all are alive, intelligent and suffused with soul, imagination and purpose, what might the world become?” “Who would WE become if we participated intentionally with such an animate earth?”                                       …