Category Archives: Featured Articles
The Big Red Island: Part 2
…today we present part two of Jason Albert’s the Big Red Island… Outdoor school began. Draped above our tent was an old-growth Tamarind tree. Sporadically we heard jostling in the limbs above. Unzipping the tent, my son gawked up. A … Continue reading
The Big Red Island: Part 1
This week we’ve got a special guest — Jason Albert. Like so many adventures, his family’s work trip to Madagascar started as an inspiring idea, got painfully epic in the process and ended up being the most important journey in … Continue reading
Trip Report: Sawtooth Wild Part II
We spent our second night at the most perfect backcountry campsite I’ve ever had. About 30 yards away, the creek rushed over more water-slide slabs and soaking pools. While Abby got dinner started, I pitched the tent on a sheltered … Continue reading
Trip Report: Sawtooth Wild Part I
Serrated granite ridges, punctuated by impossibly thin spires. Snowmelt cascading over polished slabs toward sapphire lakes. The Sawtooth mountains in central Idaho define alpine beauty. My most precious memory from our recent backpacking trip has nothing to do with any … Continue reading
Outdoor Classroom: Why exactly do fall leaves change color?
It’s official. Fall has arrived in the northwest. Not that we didn’t already have signs~ the sun setting earlier, cooler evenings. But today, the cloudless blue sky was quickly covered by a cloudy blanket. The wind whisked the mounting mass … Continue reading
Using the Facilities: Facts of Life at the Crag
“Teamwork, confidence and patience,” my nine-year-old daughter said without hesitation when I asked her for tips on learning how to pee outside. I laughed. She was exactly right though. It has been a long trail towards the mastery of using … Continue reading
Friday Stoke
Denver mom and climber Kira Riedel passed along this photo. On July 5th, Kira risked attracting the ire of annoyed drivers waiting in line at the busy gas station to capture this image with her son after his first back … Continue reading
The Everyday Conservationist
It was some ungodly early hour. I could hear the wind howling just outside. I donned a base layer, followed by a second fleece layer, and finally down parka, hat and face protection. I wasn’t really thinking clearly and the … Continue reading
Embracing the Edge: Maggie Jacobus
“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” I added this quote to my e-mail signature years ago. Not everyone gets it, but I bet you do because the desire to live on the edge—in … Continue reading
Baby Steps
We’re on a grassy bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The wind howls around us. Try as she might, my wife Laura just can’t seem to get her sweatshirt tied around the backpack carrier in a way that will comfort Levi. … Continue reading