Cover photo courtesy of Shallan Knowles
Free Outdoor Entertainment
- Chelan-Douglas Land Trust is hosting a free Hike for Health series each month throughout the year. The mid-summer outings are at Chelan River Trail on July 20 and Stormy Creek Preserve on Aug. 17. For each event, participants can choose between a guided interpretive walk or a self-guided hike and will receive a ticket for a raffle drawing for health-centered prizes.
- Aug. 4 is the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act, a fee-free day for entry to all National Parks.
- Start indoors on Aug. 17 with a showing of the film The Big Burn at the Rex Theatre in Thompson Falls to mark the 114th anniversary of the 1910 wildfires, then follow it up with a hike on the Pulaski Trail outside Wallace on Aug. 18 with Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. Friends of Scotchman Peaks will be offering several other free summer outings in July and August, ranging from foraging to family camping to strenuous backpack trips.
Fundraisers
- Okanogan Highlands Alliance will be hosting their annual Get Lost trail race and camping weekend July 6-7. Enjoy beautiful Lost Lake and learn more about OHA on Saturday, then lace up for Sunday’s trail race with distance options of 3, 7 or 10 miles.
- Support Kaniksu Land Trust’s Pine Street Woods in Sandpoint at “In a Landscape — Classical Music in the Wild” the evening of Monday, July 29. Pianist Hunter Noack will play a grand piano, and the audience is encouraged to wander through Pine Street Woods while listening via wireless headphones. Tickets are $40.
Conservation, Stewardship & Volunteer Opportunities
- American Hiking Society is hosting a week-long volunteer vacation in the Hurricane Creek drainage of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Aug. 10-17. Due to grant funding for this project, there is a reduced registration fee of $250 for this pack-supported backpack trip with meals and snacks provided by AHS.
- Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance will be hosting a volunteer work party at Jungle Hill near the Kettle Crest on July 20-21 as a portion of their Kettle Fest event.
- Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness will be leading several trail work projects throughout the summer, including work on their namesake trail on July 13 and an overnight trip to Star Gulch July 27-28.
- Hells Canyon Recreation Collaborative and Idaho Trails Association will be partnering for a project at the historic Kirkwood Ranch in Hells Canyon on July 15-17. Volunteers will receive jetboat transportation to and from the project location each day, along with materials that need to be staged for a bridge replacement project. The work will consist of helping move materials closer to the project site.
- Idaho Trail Association has a full summer schedule, with highlights including a Fault Lake daytrip on July 13, multi-day offerings like their Pend Oreille Divide project Aug. 15-18, and week-long adventures like their project at Heart Lake in the Mallard Larkin Pioneer Area from Aug. 4-10. See their website for the full list.
- Pacific Northwest Trail Association will add trail maintenance projects to the volunteer calendar throughout the summer, including unique opportunities to help pack in supplies for backcountry professional trail crews. One such opportunity is in support of the Whistler Canyon crew on Aug. 10-11. Traditional trail work events will also be available.
- Wallowa Mountains—Hells Canyon Trails Association will be moving trail projects to the high country for the summer season, including projects at North Fork Catherine Creek July 14-18 and North Minam Meadows Aug. 2-6.
- Washington Trails Association will be hosting Spokane-area daytrip projects at Mica Peak and Mount Spokane throughout the summer months, as well as backpacking trips including the Salmo Loop Aug. 1-4 and the Shedroof Divide at Shedroof Mountain Aug. 16-19.
