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Blog

The Outdoors is for Every Body

Jul 8, 2025Britt Coy

July is Disability Pride Month – a time to reflect on the achievements and daily experiences of the disabled community, and learn how we can work together to co-create outdoor spaces that are welcoming and accessible for Every Body. 

Read More from “The Outdoors is for Every Body”

Help Shape the Future of the North Cascades!

Help Shape the Future of the North Cascades!
Jul 1, 2025North Cascades Institute

The National Park Service is inviting public input on a new frontcountry planning process for the Ross Lake National Recreation Area along State Route 20—the most accessible …
Read More of Help Shape the Future of the North Cascades!

Spring 2025 Institute Photo Round-up!

Spring 2025 Institute Photo Round-up!
Jun 28, 2025stephanie_friesen

Why does spring seem like the most “blink and you miss it” of seasons? For sure, here at the Institute it’s when things are really revving up: …
Read More of Spring 2025 Institute Photo Round-up!

Joy in the Outdoors: A Juneteenth Reflection

Joy in the Outdoors: A Juneteenth Reflection
Jun 17, 2025Special Guest

Guest post by the Institute’s Welcoming & Belonging Advisor, Alma Busby-Williams, reflecting on the importance of Juneteenth and finding comfort outdoors. I learned from my great grandmother, …
Read More of Joy in the Outdoors: A Juneteenth Reflection

The Trees are Speaking: Lynda Mapes’ Dispatches from the Salmon Forests

The Trees are Speaking: Lynda Mapes’ Dispatches from the Salmon Forests
May 11, 2025Special Guest

To be in an old-growth forest is to feel cloaked, as if walking in a living terrarium, padding around a soft kingdom of green. Sitka spruce, western …
Read More of The Trees are Speaking: Lynda Mapes’ Dispatches from the Salmon Forests

Answering the Call of the Oregon Spotted Frog

Answering the Call of the Oregon Spotted Frog
May 2, 2025Special Guest

It is the last day of February, a no-jacket-needed, blue sky afternoon. The Twin Sisters Mountains, white with snow, highlight the horizon to the east. Within the …
Read More of Answering the Call of the Oregon Spotted Frog

The Healing Power of Nature: Mountain School at Seattle Children’s Hospital

The Healing Power of Nature: Mountain School at Seattle Children’s Hospital
Apr 28, 2025Britt Coy

Mountain School is an immersive environmental education program that has served regional fifth graders since 1990. During the 3-day program, students spend most of their time outside, …
Read More of The Healing Power of Nature: Mountain School at Seattle Children’s Hospital

Birding the Salish Sea: Scoters, Loons & Harlequin Ducks, oh my!

Birding the Salish Sea: Scoters, Loons & Harlequin Ducks, oh my!
Apr 18, 2025Special Guest

Guest post by Amanda Colbert Spring in the central Salish Sea is one of my favorite times of year to get out on the water and look …
Read More of Birding the Salish Sea: Scoters, Loons & Harlequin Ducks, oh my!

Wild Work & Community Connections

Wild Work & Community Connections
Apr 14, 2025North Cascades Institute

Since 2021, the Institute has provided paid service days to our staff. We encouraged everyone to use those hours to volunteer with a local nonprofit organization or …
Read More of Wild Work & Community Connections

Pacific Harvest: Watermelon Kelp Salad

Pacific Harvest: Watermelon Kelp Salad
Mar 30, 2025Special Guest

SEA VEGGIES BOOST YOUR HEALTH AND FLAVORS! The first time I tasted wild nori, it was served up in crispy handfuls from a recycled cereal box in …
Read More of Pacific Harvest: Watermelon Kelp Salad

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  • The Outdoors is for Every Body
  • Help Shape the Future of the North Cascades!
  • Spring 2025 Institute Photo Round-up!
  • Joy in the Outdoors: A Juneteenth Reflection
  • The Trees are Speaking: Lynda Mapes’ Dispatches from the Salmon Forests
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Inspiring environmental stewardship through education, exploration and connection since 1986.
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Take a picture it will last longer.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Take a picture it will last longer.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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And why not take a picture of picturesque Picture Lake with Mount Shuksan in the background. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Mount Shuksan is one of the most photographed mountains in the North Cascades. Not sure why 🤔. I guess if you like that whole snow covered mountain, lake reflection thing then it’s ok. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It lies just inside the park’s northwestern boundary and is the second tallest peak in the park. The mountain name, Shuksan is derived from the Lummi word [šéqsən], said to mean “high peak”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Who has been to Picture Lake before? 🙋‍♀️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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📸: Mike Ruggiero⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📍Ancestral homelands of the Nlaka’pamux, Nooksack & Coast Salish people
Happy #WildlifeWednesday! Often overlooked because Happy #WildlifeWednesday! Often overlooked because they are so common, American robins (Turdus migratorius) are pretty neat. 

🪶Robins like to live in wild places like woodlands, forests, and mountains. 

🪶They eat a variety of fruits including earthworms, insects, and berries. 
 
🪶Robins are known for their strong territorial behavior, and will even fight to the death to defend their area

🪶They lay unique blue colored eggs. The color of their eggs comes from bile pigments in their blood. 

🪶Robins can sing at night, especially in urban areas, influenced by artificial light and noise

🪶In spring, males attract females by singing, raising and spreading their tails, shaking their wings, and inflating their white striped throats.
 
How neat is that!

📸: Jeff Brennan
Happy Mushroom Monday! Morels are a pretty special Happy Mushroom Monday! Morels are a pretty special mushroom and are a prized find out in the wild. 

🍄 Morels are very difficult to cultivate so they are mainly foraged in the wild making them a treasured find. 

🍄 They are known for their distinctive honeycomb-like cap and hollow stem. They are related to truffles and share a close evolutionary relationship. 

🍄 Morels grow in specific conditions. They prefer damp woodlands, river bottoms, and areas with disturbed soil, like burn sites. 

🍄 They are a short-season mushroom and only  appear for a few weeks in the spring, adding to their mushroom mystique and culinary allure. 

🍄 Morels are known for their earthy, nutty, and rich umami flavor, especially when dried, but before you go chomping into one; they must be cooked!  Raw morels can contain toxins, so they should always be cooked before consumption. 

🍄 Always remember, never eat anything in the wild, especially mushrooms, unless you are 100% positive of the identification.  Always forage with an experienced forager and use field guides to help with identification. 

Have you ever had a meal made with morel mushrooms? How would you rate it 👍 or 👎?

📸: Hannah Black
Planning to visit North Cascades National Park thi Planning to visit North Cascades National Park this summer? Be sure to say Hi 👋🏽 to us in one of the Institute-operated shops in the park and check out our eclectic selection of souvenirs and gifts, including apparel, books, maps, jewelry, toys, art by local Washington artists and much more.

And if you can't make it to the Cascades, you can still shop online at ncascades.org/shop

#NorthCascadesNationalPark #NorthCascadesInstitute #shoplocal
We all have our moods. The Pacific Northwest is We all have our moods. 

The Pacific Northwest is known for being quite moody from its misty forests, foggy coastlines and dramatic landscapes. But that fog, mist, rain and overcast skies doesn’t stay forever. 

Summer is the perfect time to soak up that extra sunshine to save for winter, longer daylight and mostly snow free mountains. 

Where will you be adventuring this weekend?

📍Ancestral homelands of the Nooksack & Coast Salish people 
📸: @lostinwashington
July is Disability Pride Month – a time to refle July is Disability Pride Month – a time to reflect on the achievements and daily experiences of the disabled community, and learn how we can work together to co-create outdoor spaces that are welcoming and accessible for Every Body. 

📌 Read more in our latest blog post at https://blog.ncascades.org/odds-and-ends/the-outdoors-is-for-every-body/ 

#DisabilityPrideMonth #NorthCascadesInstitute
Grrrrr 🐯. Happy #WildflowerWednesday!! Columbia Grrrrr 🐯. Happy #WildflowerWednesday!! Columbian Lily (Lilium columbianum) is also know as a tiger lily and they’re pretty neat. 

🐯🪷 Columbian lily occurs in western North America primarily British Columbia, California, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. 

🐯🪷 Originating from a large white ovoid bulb, it is a widespread native perennial with one strong unbranched stem reaching as high as four feet and is identified with its orange or orange-red flowers with dark spots. 

🐯🪷 Its habitat is broad ranging from coastal scrub to prairies, meadows, coniferous forests, open woodlands, and roadsides. 

🐯🪷 Coast Salish and other western Washington peoples steamed, boiled or pit-cooked its bulbs. With a peppery flavor, they were mostly used as a flavoring, often in soup with meat or fish.

Have you ever seen a tiger lily in the wild? Leave a 🐯 in the comments. 

📸: Hannah Black
YOU can help shape the future of the North Cascade YOU can help shape the future of the North Cascades! 

The National Park Service is inviting public input on a new frontcountry planning process for the Ross Lake National Recreation Area along State Route 20—the most accessible part of the North Cascades National Park Complex. This is an opportunity to express your support for North Cascades Institute as the operator of the Environmental Learning Center and encourage National Park Service support for our operations and programs in the future. 

📌 Learn more about this planning process, find suggested comments to support the Institute, and access a link to submit comments by AUGUST 11th on our blog at https://blog.ncascades.org/institute-news/frontcountry-planning/ 
 
And MARK YOUR CALENDARS for in-person public meetings this month:
📌 July 15th | 5-7pm at The Mountaineers' Seattle Program Center 
📌 July 16th | 5-7pm at the Burlington Public Library

Thanks in advance for your input and support!
There was so much happening last week with not one There was so much happening last week with not one but two road openings and the holiday that we forgot to share and celebrate the 41st anniversary of the Washington State Wilderness Act!

🌲 Signed on July 3, 1984 the act permanently protected over one million acres of Washington State land, designating them as wilderness areas. 

🌲 This act established or expanded 23 wilderness areas, including notable locations like Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, and Henry M. Jackson. It also created the Mount Baker National Recreation Area and the North Cascades Scenic Highway.

🌲 The act aimed to preserve these areas for their natural character, offering opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation while prohibiting  development, motorized and mechanized equipment, with some exceptions for managing agencies.

Let's continue to celebrate and care for our Washington wilderness areas!

📸: @erin.hikes.pnw/@artsyhiker
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