Skip to content

Donate

Search for:

Search for:

Menu

Discover The Institute, Environmental Learning Center & Ecosystem
Blog Stories from the field
Sign Up Learning Adventures for all ages
Retreat Book your conference or gathering
Shop Apparel, gifts & souvenirs
Support Become a donor
Directions & visitor info

Donate

Get updates

Blog

pioneer

Mountain School at Home “ACHOTUS” Ep3: Lucinda Davis

Mountain School at Home “ACHOTUS” Ep3: Lucinda Davis

Dec 2, 2020North Cascades Institute

Posts navigation

Blog

Blog Home
Naturalist Notes
Life at the Learning Center
Institute News
Mountain School
Youth Adventures
Adventures
Field Excursions
Photography

Recent Articles

Goodbye Saul, Hello Bec!
The Search for the Perfect Trail Bar
Land Acknowledgements: Why and How Are Nature Centers Using Them?
“So Long, Saul” Online Retirement Celebration
An Evening with Saul Weisberg and Friends

Follow us on Instagram

ncascades

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

Located on the west slopes of Kulshan (Mount Baker

Located on the west slopes of Kulshan (Mount Baker) is the Coleman Glacier. It is the largest glacier on the the mountain at 2.25 miles long and has a surface area of 1,285 acres.

Between 1980 and 2006 it has retreated 1,443 ft

Check out aerial photos from @john_scurlock spanning eighteen years of the Coleman Glacier terminus. Flights conducted on July 19, 2003 & July 10, 2021

Head to our story and swipe up to read more about the photographs & the impact climate change has on glaciers

📸: @john_scurlock
📍Ancestral homelands of the Nooksack, Coast Salish & Nlaka’pamux people

Have you suspected that spending time among trees

Have you suspected that spending time among trees is good for you? Does this sound way too obvious to even say?? Well, it may be even better for you than your intuition says. Recently the Japanese tradition of shinrinyoku ('forest bathing') has gained traction in scientific and outdoor communities with oodles of studies and talks emerging on the topic. People are really excited about the scientific validation of an otherwise self-evident fact!

On Sept 5 in Fairhaven’s 100 Acre Woods, you’re invited to explore the fundamentals of this new contemplative outdoor practice with practitioner April Claxton. She will share research on the health benefits of time spent in nature, as well as the principles of Shinrin Yoku before guiding us through a grounding sensory walk. And when you go home, you will have a new outdoor practice that can serve you for the rest of your life!

FOREST BATHING: Sept 5 (AM & PM sessions)

Sign up at ncascades.org/classes⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📸: @stephaniejfriesen

Lookin good Dakobed (Glacier Peak)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, Dakobed is one of Washington’s most remote and isolated volcanoes. It requires a long approach, glacier travel & technical mountaineering skills. What a view from the top it must be though 😍🏔⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Anyone climbed Dakobed before? How would you describe the view from the summit? 🤯🏔😮⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📸: @happyjoecappy

North Cascades campgrounds may be packed this summ

North Cascades campgrounds may be packed this summer but we still have space for you: AUGUST 12-14 and AUGUST 26-29

Base Camp stays at our Environmental Learning Center campus put you in the heart of North Cascades National Park and include:

• Accommodations in our comfortable guest lodges
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner made with local, organic ingredients
• Learning activities provided by our staff naturalists
• Easy access to nearby North Cascades trails and recreation

Visit ncascades.org/basecamp to reserve your stay.

📸: 1-Katie Manz; 3-Ross Miller; 4-Rick Allen; 5-Jodi Broughton; 7-Chris Nosko

📍Ancestral homelands of the Upper Skagit, Nłeʔkepmx Tmíxʷ, Swinomish, Syilx Tmix (Okanagan), and Sauk-Suiattle peoples

❄️ The Boston glacier is the largest glacier i

❄️ The Boston glacier is the largest glacier in North Cascades National Park. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❄️ It’s approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) long and nearly 3.5 mi (5.6 km) wide⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❄️ Extending in an arc from the north of Forbidden Peak, flanked by Boston Peak to the southwest and Buckner Mountain to the east ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❄️ The Boston glacier has been in an overall state of retreat since the end of the Little Ice Age around 1850. After a moderate advance in the mid 1900s, it’s retreat resumed and its terminus has lost 1,470 ft (450 m)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Have you ever seen the Boston glacier or been adventurous enough to climb one of its surrounding peaks?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📸: @ryan_cairnes⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📍Ancestral lands of the Nlaka’pamux & Syilx tmix (Okanagan)

Do you know what creatures made these tracks? Fin

Do you know what creatures made these tracks?
Find out in our upcoming field course: SUMMER WILDLIFE TRACKING

On August 21st, we’ll be joined by Chris Byrd on the banks of the Stillaguamish River to learn about the hidden world of animals through basic wildlife tracking skills. Chris will cover…

🐾 Identification of genus and species to know who's out there

🐾 Gait interpretation to understand what was happening

🐾 How to age the tracks for a sense of time and behavior

We will also learn more about the signs animals leave behind that reveal behaviors such as finding food, reproduction, establishing territories, or staying hidden to avoid being someone else’s meal.

REGISTER: ncascades.org/classes

🔥🏠 There are currently 93 fire lookouts in W

🔥🏠 There are currently 93 fire lookouts in Washington still standing in their officially used locations⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🔥🏠 3 lookouts are located in North Cascades National Park⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🔥🏠 2 of those lookouts were seasonal homes poet/writers Gary Snyder & Jack Kerouac, where they crafted some of their iconic works⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Can you name any or all of the fire lookouts in the park?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📸: @sarina_pizzala

We are BACK, we are EXCITED, and we are OUTDOORS!

We are BACK, we are EXCITED, and we are OUTDOORS! This summer’s first round of Youth Leadership Adventures has been a huge success, with 24 students completing 8-day hiking and canoe-camping trips in the North Cascades backcountry. We have 17 more students gearing up to leave TODAY and a final group heading out in August.

A HUGE shout out to our instructors Jen, Eric, Hannah, Emily, Iman, and Sam and our amazing YLA leadership team of Julie, Elle, and Mia who have been working for months to ensure the gear, routes, safety plans, and food are all in place for participants to have an amazing adventure.

THANK YOU for your support of this program. Together we are helping young people discover and build their leadership strengths, create inclusive communities, and identify pathways to a sustainable vision for the future.

Learn more about this program at www.ncascades.org/youth.

📍Ancestral home lands of the Upper Skagit, Nlaka’pamux, Sauk-Suiattle and Swinomish peoples

🌻 July 26-31 is #BlackBotanistsWeek2021⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🌻 Black botanists week is a social movement inspired by Black birders week to showcase and amplify hidden faces and voices of Black people who share a love for plants and nature and/or work with plants ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🌻 Black botanists week aims to inspire and encourage better representation of all botanists from diverse fields and knowledge foundations⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🌻 Follow @blackbotanistsweek for more info ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📸: @blackbotanistsweek

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Discover
Sign Up
Retreat
Support

Directions & visitor info

(360) 854-2599 info@ncascades.org Contact

Get updates

Careers Media

© North Cascades Institute|Privacy Policy