Travel & Outdoors Articles
The Most Treacherous Terrain
When a group of snowboarders took to the Cascades backcountry last March, they entered some of the most treacherous terrain in the Pacific Northwest. Not even a seasoned avalanche expert could save them from what happened next.
By David Laskin
Ski Movie Mogul Warren Miller Refuses to Go Downhill
Warren Miller inspired legions of skiers with his goofy, self-narrated ski-bum films. After the sale of his company—and a lawsuit—Miller agreed to never appear in, narrate, or direct another ski film. But now, nearing 90, he refuses to go downhill.
Montana Luxury Ranches
With 300-count sheets, marble showers, and camp butlers, cowboy getaways ain't what they used to be.
30 Perfect Day Trips
Get out of town with a culinary adventure, a scenic drive, or one very unusual form of skydiving—all within 90 minutes of Seattle.
Return to Red Mountain
This is the story of how a patch of dirt in Benton County became the wine world’s desert rose.
Insider's Guide to Olympic National Park: Saving the Park
When federal funds dwindle, volunteers step up.
The Elwha's Last Dam Summer
It began 25 years ago as a radical idea: destroying two dams to save the Elwha River. It ends this month as a commonsense solution. Gentlemen, start your jackhammers.
Insider's Guide to Olympic National Park: Poet of the Park
Tim McNulty serves as unofficial poet laureate of the Olympics.
Insider's Guide to Olympic National Park: Art of the Park
Every medium presents the peninsula through a different lens.
Insider's Guide to Olympic National Park: The Marmot Brigade
Scientific grunt work is in the hands of Olympic hikers.
Insider's Guide to Olympic National Park: Follow the Ranger
The smokey the bear hat leads us on a bear hunt.
Seattle's Love-Hate Relationship with July
Our dysfunctional relationship with the finest month of the year.
Trail Mix
20 trails where you can hike, bike, and hug a tree, all within one hour of downtown.
By Craig Romano and Allison Williams
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Prairie Land
An Oregon town anchors a valley of big ranches and gorgeous prairies.
By David Laskin
The Most Sexed-Up, Image-Shattering Tourism-Promotion Video You Will See All Year:
Google “Leavenworth” and “Woody Goomsba”
Hittin’ the Skids
You don’t have to be a gearhead to geek out for rally driving, but a need for speed helps.
Bear Afoot in the Park
Glacier National Park is an ideal summer destination. Just be sure to bring the noise.
By Seth Kolloen
Discovery Channel
When naturalist John Muir spied Alaska’s Inside Passage via canoe he was rendered speechless. Wait till you see it from the fourth-floor deck of a modern ocean liner.
Your Own Private Idaho
The military, European industrialists, conspiracy theorists, and weekend vacationers—everyone around Lake Pend Oreille wants a piece of the Gem State.
By Jim Gullo
Clam Dips
Urban refugees discover shellfish pleasures in the pristine wilds of the Long Beach Peninsula.
Gliese Club
Astronomers agree that Seattle's the place to be this month. But that's where the consensus stops.
The End of the World
Boardwalks, beach marvels, native treasures, and salmon skins in the Northwest's far northwest.
Party Crash Landing
From a lawsuit filed by Bellevue resident Jewel Thomas against American Airlines for terrifying her during a September 2008, Seattle–to–New York flight that was diverted to Chicago O’Hare due to an onboard power failure.
Ship of Ghouls
Even out at sea, ghost hunting is a deadly serious search for why things go bump in the night.
10 Top Winery Visits
To truly appreciate wine, sometimes you have to look outside the glass. Here are 10 must-see wineries for Washington oenophiles.
By Lia Steakley Dicker, James Ross Gardner, and Jessica Voelker
Up in the Air
Life—and everything else, for that matter—looks a little different when you’re climbing a tree.
Maritime Masterpieces
Two British Columbia islands save a family vacation from itself.
By David Laskin
Wild West Limo Scene
Rogue limo drivers poach fares and menace passengers, while those who play by the rules lose out.
Hike and Bike: Mount St. Helens
Lucky us: We live near some of the best hiking and mountain biking trails in the Pacific Northwest. Want to break a sweat? Take a stroll before lunch? There’s a trail for that.
Edited by Laura Dannen
Hike and Bike: North Cascades
Lucky us: We live near some of the best hiking and mountain biking trails in the Pacific Northwest. Want to break a sweat? Take a stroll before lunch? There’s a trail for that.
Edited by Laura Dannen
Hike and Bike: Olympic Peninsula
Lucky us: We live near some of the best hiking and mountain biking trails in the Pacific Northwest. Want to break a sweat? Take a stroll before lunch? There’s a trail for that.
Edited by Laura Dannen
Hike and Bike: Seattle Metro
Lucky us: We live near some of the best hiking and mountain biking trails in the Pacific Northwest. Want to break a sweat? Take a stroll before lunch? There’s a trail for that.
Edited by Laura Dannen
Hike and Bike: Central Cascades
Lucky us: We live near some of the best hiking and mountain biking trails in the Pacific Northwest. Want to break a sweat? Take a stroll before lunch? There’s a trail for that.
Edited by Laura Dannen
Blast from the Past
Mount St. Helens erupted 30 years ago this month. It changed more than just the landscape.
Go! Road Trips 2010
Seattle’s nice, but rolling out of town in the springtime is even sweeter. Here, five excuses to load the trunk, get behind the wheel, and put rubber to asphalt.
By James Ross Gardner, Jessica Voelker, Christopher Werner, David Laskin, and Lia Steakley Dicker
Sea Change
An acid peril is rising from the depths and falling from the air. It kills local oysters and threatens everything that lives in the sea.
Into the Wild
No one expects to land in a survival situation. And that's why being prepared is the secret to making it out alive.
26 Perfect Saturdays
We've planned out a year's worth of memorable days—urban explorations, out-of-bounds adventures, and relaxed, cultural happenings of the very Seattle kind.
Flight Club
Need a new perspective on the city—and want to leave your recession-era problems on the ground for a few hours at a time? Go to pilot school.
By Jim Gullo
My Island
Five locals on five isles—San Juan, Whidbey, Vancouver, Anderson, and Galiano—dish on how to make the most of your next island sojourn.
Edited by James Ross Gardner
The Longest Mile
You gotta be a fanatical runner—or crazy—to run an ultramarathon. Seattle’s Scott Jurek is a little bit of both.
By Sean Leslie
Let It Rain
A spring hike through the Olympic rain forest can be a muddy, waterlogged exercise in environmental immersion. And it’s wonderful.
All Washed Up
Flotsamologists never know what they’ll uncover on Washington’s stormy shores—and that’s the point.
52 Weekends
52 destinations for each weekend of the year.
By James Ross Gardner, Jim Gullo, Courtney Nash, Lia Steakley Dicker, Jessica Voelker, Christopher Werner, and Laura Cassidy
Eagle Eye
Getting up close and personal with bald eagles is inspiring, impressive, even a little intimidating. Best of all, though, it's easy.
By Roger Brooks
Digging In
If you want to try Washington’s best bivalve, grab a bucket and head to the beach.
By Jess Thomson
35 Northwest Playgrounds
Great outdoor summer adventures in the water, on the ground, and high in the sky.
Swim with the Fishes
A diver discovers unearthly—and inhuman—delights beneath the sea.
By Langdon Cook
Paradise Redone
Mount Rainier’s Paradise Inn is open again—and summer may never be the same.
By Jim Gullo
Early Game Plan
The proactive Seattleite’s guide to enjoying a super-sliding, high-flying, great-dining time at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Into the Wildland
For Kurt and Anne Kutay—and thousands of travelers—that first dance became a rumba round the world.
Rocky Mountain Express
Wake up to Nordic skiing and trainspotting in Essex, Montana, after a sleeper car slumber party.
