Nature
Winter Survival Strategies: Learning from Wildlife
Unlike some species of wildlife that must hibernate to survive, we can get outside, eat good food with friends, and stay active.
Beyond Smokey Bear: Teaching Kids About Wildfires
Smoke billowed in patches from Hall Mountain on the east side of Sullivan Lake in the Colville National Forest when my family arrived for our …
The Princely Ponderosa
So often in my neighborhood or a trail close to town, I stop to look a majestic, thick-trunked ponderosa up and down. Sometimes it’s one …
Ana Maria Spagna: Gone Native
She fills her pockets and her pack and her shirt and loiters long, too long, until our companions move on up the trail. Miles from here …
Lake Wildlife: What’s that Bird?
Besides mallard ducks and Canada geese, here are other bird species you’re likely to see while paddling or boating around lakes in Eastern Washington and …
A Sea of Red in a World of Ice
Each spring a striking transformation takes place on mountain glaciers and snowfields across the Pacific Northwest. Large swaths of the bright, highly reflective snowpack that …
The Human Traits of Magpies
The first time I encountered the mischievous antics of a black-billed magpie was during my first cross-country drive. I was setting up camp in Arches …
Fire on the Mountain
When the Grateful Dead sang, “Fire on the Mountain,” they didn’t mean forest fires. Ten years later James Hansen delivered his global warming report to …
Slow, Steady, and Deep: The Far-Reaching Effects of a Mountain Snowpack
The snow is off the roof. Hopefully we are done scraping our windshields. But we can look out and still see snow in the high …