PNW

  • New Zealand Mudsnails

    New Zealand Mudsnails

    My local creek is the site of a foreign invasion. You wouldn’t know to look at it; it seems like an ordinary urban creek, full of jagged rocks, algae, and litter; maybe some ducks skimming along the top. But according to the bright yellow sign by the bridge, there may be thousands of invaders lurking

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  • Condors, Crows, and Thunderbirds, Oh My!

    I can hear it before I even open my eyes for the morning. It’s like walking by a stadium; thousands of rowdy voices clamoring together. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sit up on my knees in bed and peer through the dusty screen out across our cold, grey backyard. In the distance, I

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  • Remnants

    Remnants

    Whenever I peruse the woods and shore at Matthews Beach, just a few yards from the residential creek that so captured my attention several years ago, I hope to find something interesting and significant half-buried in the sand or nestled beneath the frothy fern fronds and ivy roots. Luckily, I have found many interesting items

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  • Lavender Blue

    Lavender Blue

    Sequim is the crown jewel of lavender in Washington state, and it’s easy to see why!

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  • Licorice Fern

    Licorice Fern

    I remember the first time I read the word “licorice fern.” It was stamped clearly into the stone wall of one of the staircases at Multnomah Falls. I had recently emigrated to the west side of Oregon from the high desert of the east side of the state, for school, so I was taking every

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  • Olympic National Park: Shi Shi Beach Backpacking

    Question: Why do people love backpacking so much? And why haven’t I done it yet? Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, it’s more than a little silly that I haven’t gone backpacking before. I’ve tent-camped a hundred places, hiked a hundred more, but never the two together. My encounters with backpacking have been purely

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  • Deception Pass State Park

    In case you have never yet heard of Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey/Fidalgo island in NW Washington, let me enlighten you. It is one of the most engaging hikes I have ever been on, and I’ve now been there twice in a month! It’s not difficult, only reaching about 500 or so feet of

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  • Book: Wintergreen

    Book: Wintergreen

    Wintergreen: Rambles in a Ravaged Land, by Robert Michael Pyle Challenge: A book based in your current town or region (Willapa Hills is close enough to Seattle, right?) Rating: 5/5 stars Review: This is a lovely book. I have now purchased a fine hardback copy for myself, and I suggest you do likewise. I feel

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  • Approaching Home: Painted Hills & Craters

    Idaho came on fast! We bid the snowy bosoms farewell, going over an impressive mountain pass, then before we knew it we were in Idaho Falls. Bam. This time we learned, and called the Boise/Meridian KOA there first to make sure they were open. Then more of Idaho, until we reached Craters of the Moon

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  • Photo of the Week: Glass Art in Edmonds!

    My mom is up for the weekend, and my sister and I both had today off (whoopee!) so we decided to go to Edmonds. We painted our own pottery there at Glazed and Amazed a couple years ago, so my sister suggested this time we make our own glass art! It was interesting. A very

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