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Recent Articles

Mountain School at Home “ACHOTUS” Ep4: J.D. Ross
Volver a imaginar el futuro de la Escuela de Montaña: Abrazar la educación centrada en los estudiantes
High school students reflect on climate change and their futures in the North Cascades
Recreate Responsibly: Winter Edition
Connections: Outdoor Learning During a Pandemic

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ncascades

Connecting people, nature and community through education since 1986. #ncascades

Looking for some cool activities to get your stude

Looking for some cool activities to get your students or kids outside and learning about the birds in your area. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Check out @audubonsociety Audubon adventures (link in bio) for fun, engaging activities you can do with young ones right in your backyard or in your neighborhood and learn about birds at the same time! #howneatisthat ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Some of the fun things you can do:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🦉 Learn how to draw a bird⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🦉 Learn how to grow your own bird food to use with your homemade recycled bird feeder⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🦉 Test your owl knowledge with fun quizzes⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🦉 Learn more about how to ID birds in your area⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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📸: @masonmaronphotography

If you are a local or have even just driven throug

If you are a local or have even just driven through, you know the farmlands, wetlands, estuaries, and marine waters of the Skagit Valley provide wintertime habitat for tens of thousands of birds, representing hundreds of species. Trumpeter swans, snow geese, bald eagles and peregrine falcons, among many others use this area as valuable feeding grounds throughout the season.

@skagitbirds is dedicated to helping residents and visitors experience the variety and abundance of bird life that make the Skagit Valley a treasured birding destination. Go to their website birdsofwinter.org to discover active birding sites across the region, guidelines for ethical birding, tours and workshops, and a whole lot more. Happy birding!

📸: Jeff Brennan

Monday mountain trivia:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Monday mountain trivia:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🏔 I lie just inside the western boundary of North Cascades National Park, am the second highest peak in the park and the fourth highest non volcanic peak in the North Cascades range ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🏔 I am located on the ancestral homelands of the Nlaka’pamux, Nooksack & Coast Salish people ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🏔 I know how to model pose and am one of the most photographed mountains in Washington, some daresay the world ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Who am I?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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📸: @bluemrb

If you've ever enjoyed a delicious meal in our Lea

If you've ever enjoyed a delicious meal in our Learning Center dining hall, it's likely Head Chef Justin Daniels was involved! In addition to offering up culinary delights here for many years, Chef Justin has been a visionary promoter of local farmers, fisherpeople, ranchers, and other food producers through our innovative Foodshed Initiative. He has helped promote the many benefits of eating locally to thousands of guests.

We’re sad to say goodbye as Chef Justin starts a new life in New Mexico, but we’re so happy to have him teach an online cooking class before he goes! In “Food That Made Me Love Food” Chef Justin will show us how to make Waraq Dawali, the Palestinian version of stuffed grape leaves. You’ll learn where to source grape leaves locally and how to prepare them for use. While the fillings you can use are infinitely adaptable, Chef Justin will demonstrate one recipe with lamb and one vegetarian option.

Feb 3, 4:00 PM: Food That Made Me Love Food

Learn more and register at ncascades.org/classes or call 360-854-2599 before 12:30 PM, Feb 3.

Throwback to our tastiest #mountainschoolathome le

Throwback to our tastiest #mountainschoolathome lesson, the recipe for Trail Cookies!

One of every student’s favorite Mountain School treats is the made-from-scratch Trail Cookies in their lunch sacks—which, as demonstrated here, can double as a hat. 😍 Packed with all sorts of chewy, crunchy, delicious goodness, Trail Cookies keep students energized for their days learning out in nature. And now you can enjoy them on your own adventures outside!

🍪“These cookies are one of the reasons we keep coming to and supporting NCI. Just teasing BUT they are wonderful and always a treat at the Learning Center. Can’t wait to get up into the mountains!”—Joan and Howard Voorheis

Find this lesson and all our Mountain School at Home resources at ncascades.org/ms-at-home

📸: Marilú Fernández Silva

📍Located on the ancestral home lands of the Upper Skagit, Nlaka’pamux, Sauk-Suiattle & Swinomish peoples

It’s almost the weekend! Will you be shredding t

It’s almost the weekend! Will you be shredding the gnar, having epic snowball fights, taking long quiet snowshoe hikes in the forest, catching snow on your tongue, looking lovingly out your window on a snow covered landscape because you like to live that warm cozy life? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We want to live vicariously through your safe North Cascades winter adventures! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Tag us @ncascades or use our hashtag #ncascades to be featured on our account and please #recreateresponsibly ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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📍Ancestral homelands of the Nlaka’pamux, Nooksack & Coast Salish people

Hosted at the Environmental Learning Center in Nor

Hosted at the Environmental Learning Center in North Cascades National Park, students in this intensive H-RMUR course enjoy the ideal remote setting for learning, with the comforts of private lodging and scratch-made organic meals, as well as access to surrounding winter recreation.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Combining 22 hours of online coursework and 5 days of in-person instruction, this training fulfills all educational requirements to recertify an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and upgrade to Remote Emergency Medical Technician (REMT). Instruction offered by respected provider @remotemedicaltraining. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Learn more and register at ncascades.org/hrmur or call 206-686-4878⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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📍Located on the ancestral home lands of the Upper Skagit, Nlaka’pamux, Sauk-Suiattle & Swinomish peoples

Sound on 🔊: Did you know the benefits of takin

Sound on 🔊:

Did you know the benefits of taking a walk in the great outdoors coupled with the sounds of nature are beneficial to our physical, emotional, and overall mental health?
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Benefits include improved circulation, increase in mood, as well as a decrease in anxiety, blood pressure & stress! Something perhaps we all can benefit from in these times of transition & upheaval.
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What are your favorite nature sounds?

🎥: @bluemrb
📍Ancestral homelands of the Upper Skagit, Nlaka’pamux, Sauk-Suiattle & Swinomish peoples

With an abundance of snow this time of year, the N

With an abundance of snow this time of year, the North Cascades offer ample ways to enjoy winter recreation. If your activities take you into backcountry settings, being in the know to #RecreateResponsibly should include avalanche awareness. Here’s a tip from www.recreateresponsibly.org/winter:

❄️TAKE NATURE SERIOUSLY: Know your limits. Avalanches can strike even the most prepared winter recreationist. Before going out on a snowy trail, check conditions with your local avalanche center or the National Avalanche Center online to determine local mountain weather. (For those getting out in the North Cascades, check out nwac.us for local conditions.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Remember that avalanche equipment is only as helpful as your corresponding training and decision-making in avalanche terrain. Know your gear and know your limits. Let people know where you’re going. Make choices that allow you to get back on your own. Get avalanche educated or hire a guide before you venture into the backcountry.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Find more tips for how to #recreateresponsibly at www.recreateresponsibly.org/winter

📸: Christian Martin

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