Skip to content
North Cascades Institute North Cascades Institute
Donate
  • Discover The Institute, Environmental Learning Center & Ecosystem
    • Overview
    • North Cascades Institute
    • Job Openings
    • North Cascades Environmental Learning Center
    • North Cascades Ecosystem
    • Multimedia
  • Sign Up Learning Adventures for all ages
    • Overview
    • Classes & Events Calendar
    • Family and Adult
    • Mountain School
    • Conferences and Retreats
    • Skagit Tours
    • Youth
  • Retreat Book your conference or gathering
    • Overview
    • Activities
    • Facilities
    • Request Information
  • Blog Stories from the field
    • Blog Home
    • Naturalist Notes
    • Life at the Learning Center
    • Mountain School
    • Youth Adventures
    • Nature of Writing
    • Adventures
    • Field Excursions
    • Photography
    • Odds & Ends
  • Shop Apparel, gifts & souvenirs
  • Support Become a donor
    • Ways to Give
    • Donate Online
    • Give Big for Youth
    • Accomplishments & Reports
    • Impact Stories
    • Supporter Spotlights
    • Youth Programs and Scholarships
    • Saul Weisberg Catalyst Fund
  • Directions & visitor info
Donate
Blog

george holmes

Mountain School at Home “ACHOTUS” Ep2: George Holmes

Mountain School at Home “ACHOTUS” Ep2: George Holmes
Nov 18, 2020North Cascades Institute

Posts navigation

Blog

  • Blog Home
  • Naturalist Notes
  • Life at the Learning Center
  • Mountain School
  • Youth Adventures
  • Nature of Writing
  • Adventures
  • Field Excursions
  • Photography
  • Odds & Ends

Recent Articles

  • From the Trail: Phenology and Climate Change in the North Cascades
  • Service Days in Action: How Institute Staff Are Showing Up for Community, Conservation, and Care
  • From the Trail: The Secret Winter World Underwater in the North Cascades
  • YLA Life: Trust, Solving Problems, and Living inside a Garmin!
  • Unfathomable: Tahlequah’s Story
Enter your email to be notified when a new post is published!

Follow us on Instagram

ncascades

Inspiring environmental stewardship through education, exploration and connection since 1986.
⬇️ 🌲Help youth Take Root & Rise - DONATE TODAY🌲 ⬇️

This June 24–28, join Hiking My Feelings and North This June 24–28, join Hiking My Feelings and North Cascades Institute for a 5-day, 4-night immersive retreat in the heart of the North Cascades.

Set within one of the most ecologically rich and awe-inspiring landscapes in the country, this experience explores how time in nature supports physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Research continues to show that even small amounts of time outdoors can reduce stress, improve mood, and support overall health — and this retreat is designed to help you experience those benefits firsthand.
Together, we’ll move through mountains, forests, water, and dark sky using the Reciprocity Rx™ 4Rs framework: Receive, Reflect, Return, and Reconnect.

Participants will:
🌲 Hike through iconic landscapes, including the Maple Pass Trail (conditions permitting)
🌲 Engage in a hands-on stewardship project supporting the park
Explore reflective and creative practices to connect deeper to place, including landscape-based listening, nature journaling, and somatic work
🌲 Spend time on the water and under some of the darkest skies in the region
🌲 Gather in community to deepen connection to place, self, and each other

This experience is open to anyone curious about the intersection of nature, well-being, and stewardship — whether you're a care provider, a public lands supporter, or simply someone who feels called to spend more intentional time outside.

🌲 Learn more and apply: reciprocityrx.com/cascades
What an incredible evening yesterday with the one What an incredible evening yesterday with the one and only Terry Tempest Williams, as part of our Spring Nature of Writing Speaker Series. 

In her latest work, "The Glorians", Williams invites us to find grace in the unexpected and hope in our connection to the natural world and one another. Pick up your copy today at @village_books
SKAGIT TOURS ARE BACK! Beginning July 3, the Alice SKAGIT TOURS ARE BACK! Beginning July 3, the Alice Ross IV sets sail on the azure waters of Diablo Lake in the North Cascades! 

North Cascades Institute, in partnership with Seattle City Light, offers visitors fun, educational tours of Diablo Lake all summer. Experience jaw-dropping views of glacier-clad peaks, learn about the quirky history of the Upper Skagit Hydroelectric Project and enjoy lunch at the Environmental Learning Center!

Visit http://ncascades.org/skagit-tours to book your tour today!
Join naturalist and botanist Jazmen Yoder of North Join naturalist and botanist Jazmen Yoder of Northwest Natura on Saturday, June 13 for a hands-on, indoor-outdoor workshop exploring the art and science of natural dyeing. 

This immersive day blends ethical foraging, botany, craft and careful observation as we learn how to create vibrant dyes using plants, fungi, and lichens found locally in the Chuckanut Mountains. 

🌸 ONLY 3 SLOT AVAILABLE | Learn more and register at https://ncascades.org/signup/programs/natural-dyes-workshop-in-the-chuckanuts
Did you know the North Cascades has the highest co Did you know the North Cascades has the highest concentration of glaciers in the lower 48 states?

🧊 Glaciers in the North Cascades take a significant amount of effort to be reached as they are located in rugged and remote mountainous terrain.

🧊 Glaciers are a sight to behold due to their beauty, inaccessibility and history they hold, but more importantly they store water. Lots of water. 

🧊 They are natural reservoirs and provide 25% of the North Cascade regions total summer water supply.  During the dry months of June-September North Cascade glaciers release approximately 230 billion gallons of water each year. That water is used for irrigation, salmon fisheries, power generation and recreation. 

🧊 The beautiful turquoise color of Diablo Lake is made by glaciers. Their immense weight grinding on rock as they melt, depositing small silt sized particles of rock or glacial flour into the lake. Those particles are suspended in the water and refract sunlight giving the lake its iconic color. 

🧊 Climate change effects glaciers. They are retreating and becoming smaller. There are fewer glaciers in the North Cascades compared to 40 years ago. There are many people who make it their life’s work to study and inform the public about glaciers and their importance. The more you know, the more can be done to protect glaciers and educate people about their significance. 

Have you seen a glacier in the North Cascades? How would you describe it in one word?

📍Ancestral lands of the Nlaka’pamux, Nooksack & Coast Salish people
📸: @mikereidphotography
It’s April, it’s Spring and it means Earth Day is It’s April, it’s Spring and it means Earth Day is coming up in a few weeks. With Spring being a time of renewal and growth we wanted to take some time to check in. 

🌎 Here is an earthly meditation practice from @circularitycommunity to practice during your week and reflect on 🌬️🌊🪴

🌎 You can read this practice to your students, co-workers, community, or family to collectively connect with the earth and its elements. 

📸: @circularitycommunity
Spring may have just sprung but summer is coming. Spring may have just sprung but summer is coming. It won’t be much longer before we are dusting off our backpacking, camping and hiking gear to get to places in the high elevations of the North Cascades. 

What are some trips, hikes, climbs you are looking forward to once summer comes along? 

📸: @brandy___marie
With Spring here, many phenological changes are on With Spring here, many phenological changes are on the way. Phenology is the study of the timing and cyclical patterns in the natural world, particularly those related to the annual life cycle of plants, animals and other living things. Here’s an activity for early spring or anytime: A fistful of sounds 

🌷Go outside and find a spot you can stand/sit quietly for at least a few minutes. 

🌷 Open your hand in front of you so your palm is facing up. 

🌷 Close your eyes and stay as silent as possible for 2-5 minutes. 

🌷Everytime you hear a sound, fold down one finger until they are all down. 

🌷By the end of the time you should have at least 5 sounds and a closed fist or a fistful of sounds. 

🌷Share or journal about each sound you heard. Were they human made sounds, sounds made by nature, quiet, loud, familiar, unfamiliar etc.?

What did you hear?!

📍Ancestral homelands of the Upper Skagit, Sauk Suiattle & Swinomish people
📸:@tulipvalleyfarms
“There’s a lot going on between the birds, as they “There’s a lot going on between the birds, as they flit around chirping and singing,” writes Bellingham-based wildlife biologist and broadcaster Chris Morgan. “To us, it might just sound like beautiful little tunes. But to birds, and even other species in the forest,  there’s a whole hidden world of conversation out there— love songs, alarm calls, turf wars, parenting struggles — entire dramas unfolding above our heads. So what are they saying? And why are they saying it? Naturalist Libby Mills has spent almost her entire life learning how to make sense of what the birds are saying.”

On the latest episode of his podcast The Wild, Chris “takes a walk with Libby in her backyard where she helps us slow down, listen deeply, and try to better understand what’s going on in a bird’s world.” 

🦆 Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at https://www.kuow.org/stories/bird-watching-and-listening-with-libby-mills

🦆 Want even more feather fun with Libby? Join her for Spring Birding in the Methow Valley on May 29-31. Register today : https://ncascades.org/signup/programs/spring-birding-in-the-methow-valley-overnight
Follow on Instagram

Back to Top
  • Discover
    • Overview
    • North Cascades Institute
    • Job Openings
    • North Cascades Environmental Learning Center
    • North Cascades Ecosystem
    • Multimedia
  • Sign Up
    • Overview
    • Classes & Events Calendar
    • Family and Adult
    • Mountain School
    • Conferences and Retreats
    • Skagit Tours
    • Youth
  • Retreat
    • Overview
    • Activities
    • Facilities
    • Request Information
  • Support
    • Ways to Give
    • Donate Online
    • Give Big for Youth
    • Accomplishments & Reports
    • Impact Stories
    • Supporter Spotlights
    • Youth Programs and Scholarships
    • Saul Weisberg Catalyst Fund

Directions & visitor info

(360) 854-2599 info@ncascades.org Contact
North Cascades Institute
Careers Media
Charity Navigator: Four Star Charity
© North Cascades Institute|Privacy Policy
Design: Neal Maher, design for social change