Cover photo courtesy Amy McCaffree
I had been freelance writing for “Northwest Runner” magazine for about five years when I landed my first story for “Out There Monthly” – a cover story about Nordic skiing, for the January 2006 issue. I have been a loyal contributor ever since.
Writing about the outdoors and living in Spokane are synonymous for me. New story ideas are everywhere. One of my most memorable cover stories I wrote was for the July 2008 issue—publisher Jon Snyder assigned the topic: a guide to regional old-growth forest groves with nearby campground accommodations. A fascinating topic that required me to conduct extensive research with limited sources available at that time. I didn’t grow up in the Inland Northwest, so I only started with a few place names provided by Jon. There was one guidebook about PNW old-growth forest hikes, but it mainly focused on groves in western Washington and the Cascades. I bought and read that book; interviewed forestry experts; and scoured rudimentary U.S. National Forest webpages, news sources, blogs and discussion forums to gather as much detailed information as I could find. After I submitted my final draft to Jon, I told him, “I feel like I just wrote a guidebook.” He replied, “Well….”—and revealed that his grand plan was to maybe eventually, someday, publish guidebooks based off Out There Monthly content.
I still think of all those old-growth forest groves I wrote about 16 years ago. I’ve since hiked among a few of them with my children and have photos of their tiny bodies standing by giant cedars. With every national forest wildfire, I continue to hope these ancient groves survive. So far, the Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars, near Priest Lake, has been spared, most recently by a 2021 fire.
Read “Where To Go To See Old Growth Forests in the Inland Northwest: A Tree-Hugging Love Affair” in the online OTO archives or at the magazine’s Issuu.com page.
Amy McCaffree is an Out There senior writer and has also worked as the managing editor (2010-2012), special sections editor, digital editor, and was “Out There Kids” columnist for many years. She lives in Spokane and enjoys walking/hiking with her dog, gardening, paddling, biking, camping and downhill skiing. Follow her on Insta @adventure_amy_spokane or TikTok @pnwadventureamy.
