A Terrible Beauty: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act
If you have ever wondered about the North Cascades, or about mountains, or about the need to be surrounded by wild places, take a quick[Read More…]
Articles by: Thom Schroeder
Explore North Cascades National Park – Meeting and Social for NCCC
Update your summer recreation plans after hearing presentations about hiking, backcountry camping and trails, mountaineering, wildlife and other natural and cultural resources from park staff
Evolv Maximus Approach Shoe Review
These easily worked as hiking boots to the top of the trail on Si and then with ease as more of a rock shoe for scrambling up the haystack to the true summit.
Klymit Pad Reviews
I’m going to be up front about these Klymit pad reviews: I am an ounce-counter, and I am a Neo Air fan. Ever since lying down on one when it came through the REI studio after years prior spent side-sleeping in the wilderness on Therm-a-Rest Prolite pads the Neo Air was a game-changer. Plus the fact the regular weighed in at fourteen ounces and packed down to the size of a quart Nalgene. Added to an arsenal of über-light overnight gear (bag and stove-pot-combo primarily) this pad meant I had even fewer reasons to never not spend the night in the wilderness.
Give Me A Mile: Musings on the Suiattle Rebuild
Listening to them meander about days gone by made me wonder, though; were they all just grumpy and griping about why things couldn’t just be the same? Should I have told them to get over it? Things change. Ethics change. Rivers change. The ebb and flow of it all.
Hiking Through the Blisters
So ask a climber why he climbs? Betcha one of the most-cited reasons would be to get away from it all. To get back to basics so to speak. To be hot. To be thirsty. To be in pain at least a little from something maybe a sore back maybe a scraped knee hopefully nothing much worse but just generally not the same as just sitting on a couch back home. It’s all about the elemental it seems. We won’t remember the pain anyway.
Whatcom Photos by Thom
We’re already excited about all the goodies in the North Cascades and missing them so much already! Right now most of them lay hidden and inaccessible, but right now is the perfect season to plan! Check out these great views for inspiration in planning your next trip to the North Cascades. Photos by Thom Schroeder.
Whatcom Pass – A Journey for a Glimpse
It smelled amazing. A certain alpine freshness. I found the campground and a spot on which to toss my pack before heading up the last couple hundred feet and quarter-mile through heather to the pass for a bit of a break. I crested it with views east into the Little Beaver Valley and Whatcom, enormous, rising from the rocky ridge that led south. Challenger was blocked from view. I’d climb higher in a bit to see it. And then Luna – the loneliest mountain – from even higher.
August Photos by Thom
Our showcase photographer this week is also a backpacker, climber, writer and musician. His favorite place to climb is the North Cascades. These beauties by Thom Schroeder make us want to go climb up there!
Black Diamond Ultra Distance Z-Poles
The thing about über-light gear is they make me skeptical of them, which is somewhat funny since the weight of every piece of gear I consider is pretty much the first thing I check. But these poles were no exception: I second-guessed their sturdiness since it didn’t really feel like I was carrying anything in my hands.
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