Favorite photos of 2009

I am very fortunate in that part of my professional duties here at North Cascades Institute include visiting our programs out in the field to photograph them. Every summer since I was hired as the communication coordinator, I’ve been able to get up on Ross Lake via Gerry Cook’s infamous Ross Mule, and this past summer I also got to explore the Methow Valley with the Naturalist’s Retreat, hang out at the Learning Center for our Thunder Arm Writing Retreat and “Will Write for Change” gatherings and listen to Jon Reidel teach about climate change while perched on the edge of Mount Baker’s Easton Glacier.
Here are a few of my favorite moments of being out in the field experiencing the amazing work of Institute staff and instructors; I don’t claim to be a great photographer, but sure get to experience many great times exploring this amazing Cascadian landscape!

Robert Michael Pyle, looking cool while teaching about butterflies at Early Winters Campground in the Methow Valley.

Dennis Paulson teaching dragonflies near Pipestone Canyon in the Methow Valley.

Bob’s beloved and trusty butterfly net Martha took a beating on this day, but she has been broken and fixed and broken again and fixed again several times, so I expect she’ll live on.

A highlight of the day was when Dennis discovered, and then netted, a rattlesnake near the mouth of Pipestone — a very versatile naturalist, that Paulson! (The snake was released unharmed moments later.)

Dennis Paulson.

Katie Roloson paints the scenery on the shores of Diablo Lake, with Colonial and Pyramid Peaks in the distance, during a class with Molly Hashimoto in the summer art retreat.

Gerry Cook of the National Park Service tells stories about a life spent in the North Cascades to the Parks Climate Challenge students oboard the Ross Mule.

With some in canoes and others donning flippers and masks, the Parks Climate Challenge students do water quality monitoring tests and search for red-sided shiners in Ross Lake near Lightning Creek.

Ashley Rawhauser, a biologist with North Cascades National Park, teaches Parks Climate Challenge students about water ecology on the shores of Ross Lake.

Jon Reidel, a a geologist with North Cascades National Park, teaches Parks Climate Challenge students about Mount Baker’s receding glaciers and other local impacts of the warming climate on the Railroad Grade trail.

Rick Bass considers the question “What is a story?” during a morning session in the 11th annual Thunder Arm Writing Retreat at the Learning Center.

Holly Hughes gathers her group in the Wild Ginger library to share poetry during the 11th annual Thunder Arm Writing Retreat at the Learning Center.

Kathleen Dean Moore gives students and staff a stirring Call to Action in the Lily Shelter during the 11th annual Thunder Arm Writing Retreat at the Learning Center.

Kathleen Dean Moore.

Rick Bass.

A salmon carcass in Diobsud Creek near Marblemount signals the end of good weather, long days and another year of inspiring times in the field and at the Learning Center with North Cascades Institute.