Podcasts about methow valley

We are so excited to have Crystal Lariza of Never Come Down wtih us on No Simple Road this week. This episode spotlights the vibrant experiences of Never Come Down, a band that has carved its path across borders and bluegrass festivals, becoming musical ambassadors on a global stage. Excitement and exploration define our conversations with Crystal, as she shares insights into their transformative performances across Europe and beyond, including their pioneering impact as the first bluegrass band to grace the stage in Bosnia. The band's dedication to music education and cultural exchange shines brightly, emphasizing the universal language of music that bridges cultural divides. Through stories of cowboy hats, jam circles, and collaborations, we uncover the rich tapestry of influences that shape their unique sound and creative process. This episode isn't just about music; it's about the human connections formed through shared passions and the unpredictable paths life offers. From the intimate tales of life's lessons in the Methow Valley to the shared moments of camaraderie on tour, we explore themes of authenticity, community, and the beauty of the present moment. As we reflect on these stories, we're reminded of the wisdom in embracing the unexpected and cherishing the journey, with gratitude and a smile. Head over to www.nevercomedownband.com for tour info and more and follow them on IG @nevercomedownband -FREE SHIPPING from ⁠Shop Tour Bus⁠ Use The PROMO CODE: nosimpleroad -20% OFF & FREE SHIPPING IN THE US from ⁠The Grateful Mountain⁠ with the PROMO CODE: NSR20 INTRO MUSIC PROVIDED BY - ⁠Young & Sick⁠ MUSIC IN THE COMMERCIALS BY AND USED WITH PERMISSION OF: ⁠CIRCLES AROUND THE SUN⁠ OUTRO MUSIC BY AND USED WITH PERMISSION OF: ⁠CHILLDREN OF INDIGO⁠ No Simple Road is part of ⁠OSIRIS MEDIA⁠. Osiris Media is the leading storyteller in music, combining the intimacy of podcasts with the power of music

A veteran of over a decade on the U.S. Biathlon Team, Kelsey Dickinson is still packing her skis and biathlon rifle to the far reaches of the world. Along the way, her legacy is growing as a passionate advocate for her fellow athletes, and a pioneering leader for women in sport. Heartbeat co-hosts Tom Kellly and Sara Donatello spoke with Dickinson during a post-season spring break from her home in Bozeman, Mont., where she spends time while not training in Craftsbury, Vt.When Heartbeat last caught up with Dickinson in December, 2021, she talked about growing up in Washington's Methow Valley as a cross country skier, later finding her passion for biathlon at St. Scholastica College in Duluth, Minn. She also spoke about the role women coaches had made in her career – foreshadowing what she's been up to these last few seasons.Dickinson has taken her passion for the sport and become one of its most prominent advocates for change. She serves on the U.S. Biathlon board as an athlete representative and also represents her sport on the USOPC Athletes' Advisory Council. She's a gender equity athlete ambassador for the IBU, and served on the USOPC's DEI Core Team leading up to the 2021 Tokyo Games. She has played a vital role with the USOPC Women's Health Task Force, focusing on health-related issues affecting female athletes. She even served on a Team USA athlete advisory group that examined emerging digital assets, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).But amidst all of her giving back to her sport, one of the roles she cherishes most is serving as executive director of the Women Ski Coaches Association, the organization started by her college coach at St. Scholastica, Maria Stuber. What started as an initiative within NCAA programs, is now having an impact on a wide range of sports through programs like GearUp and Trail to Gold.Why does Dickinson devote so much time and energy with such passion? “Early on, I realized that for me to find meaning in sport, I really wanted to make it a place where my teammates or anyone, who wanted to be coaches could have the best experience possible.”Dickinson has seen the challenges through the eyes of some amazing female mentors, like Stuber, who have influenced her career.“I've had some experiences when I was younger that made me realize that, wow, like, sport doesn't necessarily put women and men on an equal level,” she said. “And it's not necessarily that anyone is trying to discriminate against women, but it just sort of exists in the fabric of the culture.”Dickinson has found a welcoming reception from U.S. Biathlon to the IBU to USOPC. “U.S. Biathlon understands that it to be to be a modern innovative sports organization, bringing in women voices and increasing diversity and is only going to benefit the success of the sport,” she said. “The bottom line – I think what U.S. Biathlon is doing is really important and essential for long term success.”Beyond equality initiatives, she sees her work benefiting other areas, including overall team culture and creating more coaches in the biathlon community, who can then grow their own junior programs.“I'm really glad that they're investing in this and taking the time to put their put their weight behind this program succeeding.”Reflecting back on her career as an athlete and an advocate, Dickinson speaks with confidence and satisfaction – as someone who can now see that the work she's been doing has been fruitful.“I've always felt this purpose that – my impact on sport. I would rather be remembered for making sport a better place for women than necessarily my results. That's always been driving me in this space.”Sport is fortunate to have an advocate like biathlete Kelsey Dickinson, who is a pioneer for change and not afraid to dive in and do the work. Through her eyes and experiences, this episode of Heartbeat showcases the impact athletes can have on their sports. Listen in as Kelsey Dickinson walks us through the myriad ways she's having a profound impact on sport.RESOURCESExplore these links to learn more and to get engaged in programs.Women Ski Coaches AssociationU.S. Biathlon Women's Coaching InitiativeNNF Trail to Gold Grant Program

All this week, Soundside has heard from local sound artists about their quintessential sounds of the Pacific Northwest. We’ve heard coyotes howling across the Methow Valley, the bygone squeak of a metro bus, and the rhythm of melting snow. Along the way we’ve asked for your favorite Northwest sounds. You sent us some good ones – the sound of North Cascades rain on a tent, and a chorus of frogs croaking in Marymoor Park. You also wrote in with your favorites: the grinding of espresso, the crack of Ken Griffey Jr.’s bat, and the mechanical sounds of fog horns, light rail doors, and Boeing airplanes. Thank you for all your submissions, and happy holidays. Related Links: KUOW - What is the quintessential NW sound? For Perri Lynch Howard, it's coyotes in the Methow KUOW - What does the NW sound like? Perhaps an old metro bus KUOW - Listening to the rhythm of snow melting in the Pacific Northwest See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does the Northwest sound like to you? It’s a question we’re asking local sound artists. And, over the next week, we’ll be hearing some of those sounds. Yesterday, Perri Lynch Howard shared the sound of coyotes in the Methow Valley. Today’s sound has a bit more of a metropolitan flare. This sound originally appeared on a compilation called phongraphy.org 1 on and/OAR records Guest: Christopher DeLaurenti, Seattle born composer and phonographerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does the Northwest sound like to you? Is it light drizzle on you window? The sound of waves pushing against rocky beaches or dry grass blowing in the Palouse. It’s a question that we’ve asked local sound artists in the area. And, over the next week, we’ll be hearing some of those sounds. Today, we take you to the Methow Valley. Guest: Perri Lynch Howard - Independent artist based in the Methow Valley Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

U.S. Poet Laureate and fellow meditator Ada Limón joins me today on Our Mindful Nature to chat about her Signature Project, 'You Are Here, Poetry in Parks.' Y'all this was a dream conversation for me - full of presence, hope and truth. Full of poetry and beauty even as we discuss climate crisis and environmental activism. Together, we delve into the origins of ‘You Are Here: Poetry in Parks', its deep connections between nature and poetry, and its aim to foster mindfulness and presence. Ada shares thoughts on the power of small actions amid climate crises, the inclusivity of the project's installations in national parks, and the importance of everyday nature. We also talk about the power of realizing that You. Are. Here. “'You Are Here: Poetry in the Parks' aims to deepen our connection to nature through poetry,” said Limón. “I believe the way we respond to this crucial moment on our planet could define humanity forever. In conceiving of my signature project, I wanted something that could both praise our sacred and natural wonders and also speak the complex truths of this urgent time. Above all, this project is about rising to this moment with hope, the kind of hope that will echo outwards for years to come.”   At the end, as a mini practice, Ada reads her stunning poem Sanctuary.Ada Limón is the twenty-fourth US Poet Laureate and the author of The Hurting Kind, as well as five other collections of poems. These include The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Award. Limón is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and American Poetry Review, among others. Born and raised in California, she now lives in Lexington, Kentucky.Learn more about You Are Here: Poetry in Parks: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/3-6-24-poetry-in-parks.htmFind Ada's book You Are Here; Poetry in the Natural World here: https://milkweed.org/book/you-are-hereThe Methow people were the first people to hear the sounds of Methow Valley, Washington that are included in today's episode. Thank you to Nick McMahan for today's nature field recordings, sound design, and editing; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at:nickmcmahan.cominstagram.com/brianna_podcastproSign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Watch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@ourmindfulnature

Welcome to the latest edition of the Exploring Washington State podcast, where we bring you the best of Washington State. In this episode, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Juliet Kennedy, the marketing director for the Twisp Chamber of Commerce. Juliet shared her insider knowledge of the hidden gems and unique experiences in Twisp and the beautiful Methow Valley. We hear about Twisp Fest which is being held on September 27th and 28th 2024. This annual event features a community potluck, art walk, and much more. Juliet shares some of the special events happening this year at Twisp Fest. Perhaps you want to see fireworks in winter? Christmas at the End of the Road is just for you. This annual event is held in Winthrop and is the celebration of the beginning of the holiday season. Maybe Mistletoe is your thing. Juliet shares details about Mistletoe Madness in Twisp. Spring time brings wild flowers and outdoor activities throughout the Methow Valley. Juliet shares some of her favorite hikes in the area. Summertime it's all about staying cool. Juliet shares some fun things to do in Twisp during the summer including checking out the Twisp Farmers Market. One of the oldest farmers markets in Washington State. Of course Twisp has a 4th of July parade that features all of the creative and fun things and people in the Methow Valley. Listening to this episode will make you pack up your car and drive to Twisp. There is so much to do and see in Twisp and the Methow Valley on of Washington States true gems. Connect with the Twisp Chamber of Commerce ☀️Visit the Chamber website

Hello to you listening in the Methow Valley, Washington!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.My client turned to me and said, “I feel like an archeologist unearthing a buried body of knowledge - about myself - that's always been there - within reach. Who I am is ready and waiting to be uncovered under the dirt so long as I am willing to go on a search to discover who I am.”When we take the time to unearth our true self we reconnect with our core essence. Down here in the dirt we can get reacquainted with our passions, values, interests, and talents we may have forgotten we possess. It's all there for the taking!What do we get from a journey of self-discovery? A deep sense of coming home, of belonging to choices that fulfill us while pointing the way to our Why, our Divinely-ordained mission or purpose. Once we know Who we are our Why becomes aligned with what's inside us creating personal and professional harmony for life.You're always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer,✓ Arrange your no-sales, Discovery Chat,✓ Stay current with Diane on as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer's Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicAll content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved. 

We loved getting to know Janet Fagan, an exceptionally skilled painter and printmaker who combines her distinct artistic styles to create captivating and evocative artwork. Drawing inspiration from the stunning natural landscapes of the Methow Valley, her creations vividly reflect her boundless imagination. They intertwine memories, optimism, a deep love for the natural world, and a profound compassion for humanity. For more about Janet, visit Janetfagan.com or find her on Instagram at Janet.fagan.artist For more about the Trashion Show, visit the Confluence Gallery Facebook Page to see not only Janet's creation, but the others as well.

About 50 years past the start of the Anthropocene (~1950), mountain towns were abuzz with people running on trails, rock climbing, backcountry skiing, and mountain biking. Rumor has it that even back then, there were complaints of crowded trailheads and spraying. And the athletes huffing and puffing up and down and across those hills likely hadn't conjured where they landed in the multi-faceted definition of the mountain athlete. Was the term "mountain athlete" even a thing? Nowadays, post publication of "Training for the New Alpinism," (2014) and "Training for the Uphill Athlete," (2019), we often find either ourselves or folks we know accessing professional coaching or simply reading up on how to become stronger, faster, and tougher in our mountain pursuits. Sam Naney and his wife Alison began Methow Valley based Cascade Endurance several years ago. Their business caters to mountain athletes seeking training plans, wellness tips, and general methods to keep the body and mind primed for a 12-month-long cycle of up and down and up again. The two were part of the first iteration of the mountain athlete coaching enterprise Uphill Athlete, and were offered a front-row seat to how mountain sport training culture has evolved. From weekend warriors to elite level mountain climbers, it's now possible to find myriad personalized plans. Hard to believe, a bit more than a decade ago, mountain athletes had to pilfer from well-founded running and cycling training principles. Terms like fast-twitch, slow-twitch, AeT and LT, and taper are part of the mountain craft vernacular.  With the proliferation of plans and videos, and yes, podcasts, we jump into the fray to offer a few things in this episode. We learn more about Sam's backstory. And we take a 10,000-foot view with him to discern some basics regarding training best practices as we approach the touring season. Think of it as a toe-dip rather than full-body cold water immersion. And we'll learn how he once was a lab rat of sorts experimenting with roller skiing and hyperoxic training...something not to try at home. You can find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing.The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

6am hour -- FLOTUS in Seattle today to tout cancer fight and research, one possible reason why the Senate dress code controversy is no big deal, the Mariner's playoff chances now that they play their top two rivals (Texas and Houston) to close out the season, the weekend's local tackle football match-ups, KVI's Lars Larson. 7:05am -- GUEST: Discovery Institute researcher in Seattle, Caitlyn Axe, crunched the numbers on how much money it costs to house homeless people in King Co. and compared it to what it costs charities like Salvation Army and Union Gospel Mission, the $10 million question: why did this Seattle program fail so miserably?, why Salvation Army and UGM succeed where the KCRHA plan failed; 911 call audio released after F-35 USMC pilot ejected last week in So.Carolina, Donald Trump asked to sign 28-yr-old bartender's tank top while campaigning in Iowa, the loudest complaints about surge/location of illegal undocumented migrants is now coming from the most liberal states in America, Donald Trump vows mass deportations if he's re-elected in 2024. 8:05am -- GUEST: US Congressional candidate, Leslie Lewallen, running against Marie Gluzenkamp-Perez (WA-3), why Lewallen wants to "put parents back in the driver's seat" for their kids

#49 - Join us for a wonderful conversation with Herbalist Rosalee de la Forêt on how connecting with wild medicinal plants supports an experience of joy and deep fulfillment in our relationship with the Earth. In this episode, Rosalee shares about the transformative experience of working with some amazing herbs including St. John's Wort, Elderberry, and Hawthorn, and how a sense of curiosity and wonder arises when we witness Nature. She also offers insight on the current phenomenon of plant blindness, and how getting to know herbs inspires an inherently joyful relationship of reciprocity in our experience with the Earth. Rosalee is passionate about inspiring people to turn to the healing gifts of medicinal plants and nature connection. She finds daily inspiration in the beauty of the Methow Valley in WA state where she has lived for the past 15 years. She is the author of the bestselling books Alchemy of Herbs: Transforming Everyday Ingredients into Foods and Remedies that Heal and co-author of Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. Rosalee is a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and was an herbal clinician for 6 years before dedicating her offerings to herbal education. In addition to writing books she teaches many online herbal courses about herbalism, nature connection, and medicine making. She is also the host of the Herbs With Rosalee podcast and YouTube channel. You can find Rosalee at: herbswithrosalee.comOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosaleedelaforet/On facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HerbalRemediesAdvice/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HerbsWithRosaleeFor more info visit Sara's website at: https://www.multidimensionalnature.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/multidimensional.nature/facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saraartemisia.ms/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@saraartemisiaLearn how to communicate with plant consciousness in the free workshop on How to Learn Plant Language: https://www.learnplantlanguage.com/

Episode 40 of The Herbalist Hour was a BLAST to record. Amanda and I drove to the Methow Valley in Washington state to hang out with Rosalee and Xavier de la Forêt. During the interview we chat about Rosalee's herbal origins, her mentors, violet, dandelion, her yarrow lawn, being a Francophile, and a whole lot more! There's even a couple of fun guest questions from jim mcdonald and John Gallagher. WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE You can learn more about Rosalee and her work at HerbalRemediesAdvice.com. Also, if you like The Herbalist Hour, you'll LOVE her show, the Herbs with Rosalee Podcast: CLICK HERE TO LISTEN or search "Herbs with Rosalee" in your podcast player of choice. Want more from Rosalee? Be sure to subscribe to her wonderful newsletter: SIGN UP A HUGE thanks to Rosalee for bein' on the show. Special thanks to Xavier for the wonderful hospitality and hooking up the delicious food.  And thanks to you, dear listener, for hanging out with us!  Please let us know in the comments section below if you had any takeaways or just want to say hi to Rosalee.  And a thumbs up would be super duper appreciated

Twisp is a small town located in the Methow Valley region of Okanogan County, Washington. The town's history dates back to the late 1800s when the first settlers arrived in the area. The town was named after the Twisp River, which flows through the area and is a tributary of the Methow River.In 1888, John Twisp, a surveyor, and his partner, Robert S. Fitch, opened a trading post and hotel in the area. The trading post served as a gathering place for the local residents, and the hotel provided lodging for travelers passing through the area. The post office was established in 1897, and the town was officially incorporated in 1905.Twisp quickly became a hub for agriculture, logging, and mining in the surrounding areas. The town's economy was heavily dependent on these industries, and it grew rapidly during the early 1900s. In 1907, the town's first sawmill was built, which brought more jobs and prosperity to the area.Throughout the 20th century, Twisp continued to grow and develop, but it also faced some challenges. The Great Depression and World War II had a significant impact on the town's economy, and many of its residents left to find work elsewhere. In the 1960s and 1970s, the town experienced a resurgence as people began to move back to the area, drawn by its natural beauty and outdoor recreation opportunities.Today, Twisp is a thriving community with a population of around 1,000 people. It is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts, who come to hike, fish, ski, and explore the area's many natural wonders. The town also has a vibrant arts community, with galleries, studios, and workshops showcasing the work of local artists and artisans.In summary, Twisp's history is one of growth, change, and resilience. From its humble beginnings as a trading post and hotel, the town has evolved into a vibrant and thriving community, thanks to the hard work and determination of its residents.Listen now to learn more about this fascinating Evergreen State town!A special thank you goes out to Al Hirsch for providing the music for the podcast, check him out on YouTube.Find merchandise for the podcast now available at:     https://washington-history-by-jon-c.creator-spring.comIf you enjoy the podcast and would like to contribute, please visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/EvergreenpodIf you have any questions, episode ideas you'd like to see explored, or just have a general comment, please reach out at Historyoftheevergreenstatepod@gmail.comTo keep up on news for the podcast and other related announcements, please like and follow:https://www.facebook.com/HistoryoftheevergreenstatepodcastFind the podcast over on Instagram as well: @HISTORY_EVERGREENSTATEPODCASTYou can also find the podcast over on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/@historyoftheevergreenstatepodThank you for listening to another episode of the History of the Evergreen State Podcast!

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on May 2. It dropped for free subscribers on May 5. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe for free below:WhoTom Fortune, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Heavenly and Vail's Tahoe Region (Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood)Recorded onApril 25 , 2023About Heavenly and Vail's Tahoe RegionHeavenlyClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Stateline, Nevada and South Lake Tahoe, CaliforniaYear founded: 1955Pass affiliations: Unlimited access on Epic Pass; Unlimited access with holiday blackouts on Epic Local Pass, Tahoe Local Pass, Tahoe Value PassClosest neighboring ski areas: Sierra-at-Tahoe (30 minutes), Diamond Peak (45 minutes), Kirkwood (51 minutes), Mt. Rose (1 hour), Northstar (1 hour), Sky Tavern (1 hour, 5 minutes) - travel times vary dramatically given weather conditions and time of day.Base elevation: 6,565 feet at California Lodge; the Heavenly Gondola leaves from Heavenly Village at 6,255 feet – when snowpack allows, you can ski all the way to the village, though this is technically backcountry terrainSummit elevation: 10,040 feet at the top of Sky ExpressVertical drop: 3,475 feet from the summit to California Lodge; 3,785 feet from the summit to Heavenly VillageSkiable Acres: 4,800Average annual snowfall: 360 inches (570 inches for 2022-23 ski season as of May 2)Trail count: 97Lift count: 26 lifts (1 50-passenger tram, 1 eight-passenger gondola, 2 six-packs, 8 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 5 triples, 2 doubles, 2 ropetows, 4 carpets)NorthstarClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Truckee, CaliforniaYear founded: 1972Pass affiliations: Unlimited access on Epic Pass; Unlimited access with holiday blackouts on Epic Local Pass, Tahoe Local Pass; unlimited with holiday and Saturday blackouts on Tahoe Value PassClosest neighboring ski areas: Tahoe Donner (24 minutes), Boreal (25 minutes), Donner Ski Ranch (27 minutes), Palisades Tahoe (27 minutes), Diamond Peak (27 minutes), Soda Springs (29 minutes), Kingvale (32 minutes), Sugar Bowl (33 minutes), Mt. Rose (34 minutes), Homewood (35 minutes), Sky Tavern (39 minutes), Heavenly (1 hour) - travel times vary dramatically given weather conditions and time of day.Base elevation: 6,330 feetSummit elevation: 8,610 feetVertical drop: 2,280 feetSkiable Acres: 3,170Average annual snowfall: 350 inches (665 inches for 2022-23 ski season as of May 2)Trail count: 106Lift count: 19 (1 six-passenger gondola, 1 pulse gondola, 1 chondola with 6-pack chairs & 8-passenger cabins, 1 six-pack, 6 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 2 triples, 1 platter, 5 magic carpets)KirkwoodClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Kirkwood, CaliforniaYear founded: 1972Pass affiliations: Unlimited access on Epic Pass, Kirkwood Pass; Unlimited access with holiday blackouts on Epic Local Pass, Tahoe Local Pass; unlimited with holiday and Saturday blackouts on Tahoe Value PassClosest neighboring ski areas: Sierra-at-Tahoe (48 minutes), Heavenly (48 minutes) - travel times vary dramatically given weather conditions and time of day.Base elevation: 7,800 feetSummit elevation: 9,800 feetVertical drop: 2,000 feetSkiable Acres: 2,300Average annual snowfall: 354 inches (708 inches for 2022-23 ski season as of May 2)Trail count: 94Lift count: 13 (2 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 6 triples, 1 double, 1 T-bar, 2 carpets)Why I interviewed himFor decades, Heavenly was the largest ski area that touched the state of California. By a lot. Four drive-to base areas serving 4,800 acres across two states. Mammoth? Ha! Its name misleads – 3,500 acres, barely bigger than Keystone. To grasp Heavenly's scale, look again at the new North Bowl lift on the trailmap above. A blip, one red line lost among dozens. Lodged near the base like the beginner lifts we're all used to ignoring. But that little lift rises almost 1,300 vertical feet over nearly a mile. That's close to the skiable drop of Sugar Bowl (1,500 feet), itself a major Tahoe ski area. Imagine laying Sugar Bowl's 1,650 acres over the Heavenly trailmap, then add Sierra-at-Tahoe (2,000 acres) and Mt. Rose (1,200). Now you're even.Last year, Palisades Tahoe wrecked the party, stringing a gondola between Alpine Meadows and the resort formerly known as Squaw Valley. They were technically one resort before, but I'm not an adherent of the these-two-ski-areas-are-one-ski-area-because-we-say-so school of marketing. But now the two sides really are united, crafting a 6,000-acre super-resort that demotes Heavenly to second-largest in Tahoe.Does it really matter? Heavenly is one of the more impressive hunks of interconnected mountain that you'll ever ski in America. Glance northwest and the lake booms away forever into the horizon. Peer east and there, within reach as your skis touch a 20-foot snowbase, is a tumbling brown forever, the edge of the great American desert that stretches hundreds of miles through Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.When Vail Resorts raised its periscope above Colorado for the first time two decades ago, Heavenly fell in its sites. The worthy fifth man, an all-star forward to complement the Colorado quad of Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, and Breck. That's not an easy role to fill. It had to be a mountain that was enormous, evolved, transcendent. Someplace that could act as both a draw for variety-seeking Eagle County faithful and an ambassador for the Vail brand as benevolent caretaker. Heavenly, a sort of Vail Mountain West – with its mostly intermediate pitch, multiple faces, and collection of high-speed lifts cranking out of every gully – was perfect, the most logical extra-Colorado manifestation of big-mountain skiing made digestible for the masses.That's still what Heavenly is, mostly: a ski resort for everyone. You can get in trouble, sure, in Mott or Killebrew or by underestimating the spiral down Gunbarrel. But this is an intermediate mountain, a cruisers' mountain. Even the traverses – and there are many – are enjoyable. Those views, man. Set the cruise control and wander forever. For a skier who doesn't care to be the best skier in the world but who wants to experience some of the best skiing in the world, this is the place.What we talked aboutRecords smashing all over the floor around Tahoe; why there won't be more season extensions; Heavenly's spring-skiing footprint; managing weather-related delays and shutdowns in a social-media age; it's been a long long winter in Tahoe; growing up skiing the Pacific Northwest; Stevens Pass in the ‘70s; remember when Stevens Pass and Schweitzer had the same owner?; why leaving the thing you love most can be the best thing sometimes; overlooked Idaho; pausing at Snow King; fitting rowdy Kirkwood into the Vail Resorts puzzle; the enormous complexity of Heavenly; what it means to operate in two states; a special assignment at Stevens Pass; stabilizing a resort in chaos; why Heavenly was an early snowmaking adopter; Hugh and Bill Killebrew; on the ground during the Caldor Fire; snowmaking systems as fire-fighting sprinkler systems; fire drills; Sierra-at-Tahoe's lost season and how Heavenly and Kirkwood helped; wind holds and why they seem to be becoming more frequent; “it can be calm down in the base area and blowing 100 up top”; potential future alternatives to Sky Express as a second lift-served route back to Nevada from California; a lift-upgrade wishlist for Heavenly; how Mott Canyon lift could evolve; potential tram replacement lifts; the immediate impact of the new North Bowl express quad; how Northstar, Kirkwood, and Heavenly work together as a unit; paid parking incoming; and the Epic Pass.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewThe first half of my life was dominated by one immutable looming fact: the year 2000 would arrive. That's how we all referenced it, every time: “the year 2000.” As though it were not just another year but the president of all years. The turning of a millennium. For the first time in a thousand years. It sounded so fantastical, so improbable, so futuristic. As though aliens had set an invasion date and we all knew it but we just didn't know if they would vaporize us or gift us their live-forever beer recipe. Y2K hysteria added a layer of intrigue and mild thrill. Whatever else happened with your life, wherever you ended up, whoever you turned out to be, this was a party you absolutely could not miss.This winter in Tahoe was like that. If you had any means of getting there, you had to go. Utah too. But everything is more dramatic in Tahoe. The snows piled Smurf Village-like on rooftops. The incredible blizzards raking across the Sierras. The days-long mountain closures. It was a rare winter, a cold winter, a relentless winter, a record-smashing winter for nearly every ski area ringing the 72-mile lake.Tahoe may never see a winter like this again in our lifetimes. So how are they dealing with it? They know what to do with snow in Tahoe. But we all know what to do with water until our basement floods. Sometimes a thing you need is a thing you can get too much of.In March I flew to California, circled the lake, skied with the people running the mountains. Exhaustion, tinted with resignation, reigned. Ski season always sprawls at the top of the Sierras, but this winter – with its relentless atmospheric rivers, the snows high and low, the piles growing back each night like smashed anthills in the driveway – amplified as it went, like an action movie with no comedic breaks or diner-meal interludes. How were they doing now, as April wound down and the snows faded and corn grew on the mountainside? And at the end of what's been a long three years in Tahoe, with Covid shutdowns leading into a Covid surge leading into wildfires leading into the biggest snows anyone alive has ever seen? There's hardship in all that, but pride, too, in thriving in spite of it.What I got wrongI said that the Kehr's Riblet double was “one of the oldest lifts in the country.” That's not accurate. It was built in 1964 – very old for a machine, but not even the oldest lift at the resort. That honor goes to Seventh Heaven, a 1960 Riblet double rising to the summit. And that's not even the oldest Riblet double in the State of Washington: White Pass still runs Chair 2, built in 1958; and Vista Cruiser has been spinning at Mt. Spokane since 1956.Questions I wish I'd askedFortune briefly discussed the paid-parking plans landing at Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood next winter. Limited as these are to weekend and holiday mornings, the plans will no doubt spark feral rage in a certain group of skiers who want to pretend like it's still 1987 and Tahoe has not changed in an unsustainable way. The traffic. The people. The ripple effects of all these things. I would have liked to have gotten into the motivations behind this change a bit more with Fortune, to really underscore how this very modest change is but one way to address a huge and stubborn problem that's not going anywhere.  Why you should ski Heavenly, Northstar, and KirkwoodFrom a distance, Tahoe can be hard to sort. Sixteen ski areas strung around the lake, nine of them with vertical drops of 1,500 feet or more:How to choose? One easy answer: follow your pass. If you already have an Epic Pass, you have a pre-loaded Tahoe sampler. Steep and funky Kirkwood. Big and meandering Heavenly. Gentle Northstar. The Brobots will try steering you away from Northstar (which they've glossed “Flatstar”) or Heavenly (too many traverses). Ignore them. Both are terrific ski areas, with endless glades that are about exactly pitched for the average tree skier. Kirkwood is the gnarliest, no question, but Northstar (which is also a knockout parks mountain, and heavily wind-protected for storm days), and Heavenly (which, despite the traverses, delivers some incredible stretches of sustained vertical), will still give you a better ski day than 95 percent of the ski areas in America on any given winter date.It's easy to try to do too much in Tahoe. I certainly did. Heavenly especially deserves – and rewards – multiple days of exploration. This is partly due to the size of each mountain, but also because conditions vary so wildly day-to-day. I skied in a windy near-whiteout at Kirkwood on Sunday, hit refrozen crust that exiled me to Northstar groomers on Tuesday, and lucked into a divine four-inch refresh at Heavenly on Wednesday, gifting us long meanders through the woods. Absolutely hit multiple resorts on your visit, but don't rush it too much – you can always go back.Podcast NotesOn Schweitzer and Stevens Pass' joint ownerFortune and I discuss an outfit called Harbor Resorts, which at one time owned both Stevens Pass and Schweitzer. I'd never heard of this company, so I dug a little. An Aug. 19, 1997 article in The Seattle Times indicates that the company also once owned a majority share in Mission Ridge and something called the “Arrowleaf resort development.” They sold Mission in 2003, and the company split in two in 2005. Harbor then sold Stevens to CNL Lifestyle Properties in 2011, where it operated under Karl Kapuscinski, the current owner, with Invision Capital, of Mountain High, Dodge Ridge, and China Peak. CNL then sold the resort to the Och-Ziff hedge fund in 2016, before Vail bought Stevens in 2018 (say what you'd like about Vail Resorts, but at least we have relative certainty that they are invested as a long-term owner, and the days of private-equity ping pong are over). Schweitzer remains under McCaw Investment Group, which emerged out of that 2005 split of Harbor.As for Arrowleaf, that refers to the doomed Early Winters ski area development in Washington. Aspen, before it decided to just be Aspen, tried being Vail, or what Vail ended up being. The company's adventures abroad included owning Breckenridge from 1970 to 1987 or 1988, developing Blackcomb, and the attempted building of Early Winters, which would have included up to 16 lifts serving nearly 4,000 acres in the Methow Valley. Aspen, outfoxed by a group of citizen-activists who are still shaking their pom-poms about it nearly four decades later, eventually sold the land. Subsequent developers also failed, and today the land that would have held, according to The New York Times, 200 hotel rooms, 550 condos, 440 single-family homes, shops, and restaurants is the site of exactly five single-family homes. If you want to understand why ski resort development is so hard, this 2016 article from the local Methow Valley News explains it pretty succinctly (emphasis mine):“The first realization was that we would be empowered by understanding the rules of the game.” Coon said. Soon after it was formed, MVCC “scraped together a few dollars to hire a consultant,” who showed them that Aspen Corp. would have to obtain many permits for the ski resort, but MVCC would only have to prevail on defeating one.Administrative and legal challenges delayed the project for 25 years, “ultimately paving the way to victory,” with the water rights issue as the final obstacle to resort development, Coon said.The existing Washington ski resorts, meanwhile, remain overburdened and under-built, with few places to stay anywhere near the bump. Three cheers for traffic and car-first transportation infrastructure, I guess. Here's a rough look at what Early Winters could have been:On Stevens Pass in late 2021 and early 2022Fortune spent 20 years, starting in the late 1970s, working at Stevens Pass. Last year, he returned on a special assignment. As explained by Gregory Scruggs in The Seattle Times:[Fortune] arrived on Jan. 14 when the ski area was at a low point. After a delayed start to the season, snow hammered the Cascades during the holiday week. Severely understaffed, Stevens Pass struggled to open most of its chairlifts for six weeks, including those serving the popular backside terrain.Vail Resorts, which bought Stevens Pass in 2018, had sold a record number of its season pass product, the Epic Pass, in the run-up to the 2021-22 winter, leaving thousands of Washington residents claiming that they had prepaid for a product they couldn't use. A Change.org petition titled “Hold Vail Resorts Accountable” generated over 45,000 signatures. Over 400 state residents filed complaints against Vail Resorts with the state Attorney General's office. In early January, Vail Daily reported that Vail's stock price was underperforming by 25%, with analysts attributing the drop in part to an avalanche of consumer ire about mismanagement at resorts across the country, including Stevens Pass.On Jan. 12, Vail Resorts fired then-general manager Tom Pettigrew and announced that Fortune would temporarily relocate from his role as general manager at Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California, to right the ship at Stevens Pass. Vail, which owns 40 ski areas across 15 states and three countries, has a vast pool of ski industry talent from which to draw. In elevating Fortune, whose history with the mountain goes back five decades, the company seems to have acknowledged what longtime skiers and snowboarders at Stevens Pass have been saying for several seasons: local institutional knowledge matters.Fortune is back at Heavenly, of course. Ellen Galbraith is the resort's current general manager – she is scheduled to join me on The Storm Skiing Podcast in June.On Hugh and Bill KillebrewFortune and I touched on the legacy of Hugh Killebrew and his son, Bill. This Tahoe Daily Tribune article sums up this legacy, along with the tragic circumstances that put the younger Killebrew in charge of the resort:By October of 1964, attorney Hugh Killebrew owned more than 60 percent of the resort. … Killebrew was a visionary who wanted to expand the resort into Nevada. Chair Four [Sky] allowed it to happen.In the fall of 1967, [Austin] Angell was part of a group that worked through storms and strung cable for two new lifts in Nevada. Then on New Year's Day, 1968, Boulder and Dipper chairs started running. Angell's efforts helped turn Heavenly Valley into America's largest ski area. …On Aug. 27, 1977 … Hugh Killebrew and three other resort employees were killed in a plane crash near Echo Summit.Killebrew's son, Bill Killebrew, a then-recent business school graduate of the University of California, was one of the first civilians on the scene. He saw the wreckage off Highway 50 and immediately recognized his dad's plane. …At 23, Bill Killebrew assumed control of the resort. A former youth ski racer with the Heavenly Blue Angels, he learned a lot from his dad. But the resort was experiencing two consecutive drought years and was millions of dollars in debt.Bill Killebrew began focusing on snowmaking capabilities. Tibbetts and others tinkered with different systems and, by the early 1980s, Heavenly Valley had 65 percent snowmaking coverage.With a stroke of good luck and several wet winters, Bill Killebrew had the resort out of debt in 1987, 10 years after bankruptcy was a possibility. It was now time to sell.Killebrew sold to a Japanese outfit called Kamori Kanko Company, who then sold it to American Skiing Company in 1997, who then sold it to likely forever owner Vail in 2002.When he joined me on The Storm Skiing Podcast in 2021, Tim Cohee, current GM of China Peak, called Bill Killebrew “the smartest person I've ever known” and “overall probably the smartest guy ever in the American ski industry.” Cohee called him “basically a savant, who happened to, by accident, end up in the ski business through his dad's tragic death in 1977.” You can listen to that at 26:30 here.On Sierra-at-Tahoe and the Caldor FireMost of the 16 Tahoe-area ski areas sit along or above the lake's North Shore. Only three sit south. Vail owns Heavenly and Kirkwood. The third is Sierra-at-Tahoe. You may be tempted to dismiss this as a locals' bump, but look again at the chart above – this is a serious ski area, with 2,000 acres of skiable terrain on a 2,212-foot vertical drop. It's basically the same size as Kirkwood.The 2021 Caldor Fire threatened all three resorts. Heavenly and Kirkwood escaped with superficial damage, but Sierra got crushed. A blog post from the ski area's website summarizes the damage:The 3000-degree fire ripped through our beloved trees crawling through the canopies and the forest floor affecting 1,600 of our 2,000 acres, damaging lift towers, haul ropes, disintegrating terrain park features and four brand new snowcats and practically melted the Upper Shop — a maintenance building which housed many of our crews' tools and personal belongings, some that had been passed down through generations.The resort lost the entire 2021-22 ski season and enormous swaths of trees. Here's the pre-fire trailmap:And post-fire:Ski areas all over the region helped with whatever they could. One of Vail Resorts' biggest contributions was filling in for Sierra's Straight As program, issuing Tahoe Local Epic Passes good at all three ski areas to eligible South Shore students.On wind holdsFortune discussed why wind holds are such an issue at Heavenly, and why they seem to be happening more frequently, with the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this year.On the pastI'll leave you with this 1972 Heavenly trailmap, which labels Mott and Killebrew Canyons as “closed area - dangerous steep canyons”:Or maybe I'll just leave you with more pictures of Heavenly:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 40/100 in 2023, and number 426 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Special forces fighters are using the skies above Methow Valley to learn how to pilot surveillance drones. They hope to take the skills they learn in north-central Washington back to troops fighting in Ukraine.

It's been more than a year since Russia invaded Ukraine. Thousands of fighters and civilians have died. With no clear end in sight, Ukrainian forces are taking all the help they can get – including from surveillance drone pilots, trained in Washington's Methow Valley.

On this week's episode of Peak Northwest podcast, we catch up with former host, Jim Ryan. Jim takes us through his nordic ski trip on the Methow Valley trail system, near Winthrop, Washington, for the latest installment of My Epic Adventure, a sub-series of the podcast. Here are some highlights from this week's show: You can spend the night on trail in reservable huts. How to get a trail pass for your trip. Subscribe to Peak Northwest anywhere you listen to podcasts. -- Vickie Connor and Jamie Hale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Methow Valley starts at the east end of the Cascades, at the headwaters of the Methow River. It includes the towns of Twisp and Winthrop, as well as the unincorporated community of Mazama. Residents of the valley experience the same four seasons most of us do — spring, summer, fall, and winter. But in the last ten years, a fifth season has crept into Methow Valley life: smoke season.

More than a century after the United States government took most of their land, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are getting small chunks of it back.

Phil Davis and his wife, Cathy moved to the Methow Valley in Washington State and fell in love. Not just with the land, but with the people and the history of this place. That history includes a landscape of hardship for the First People of this valley and the wild salmon who have made the 400-mile journey from the sea back inland here since time immemorial. Phil decided to write a story, with a salmon-eye view about what this journey means. Then he and Kathy went further and led a community effort to build something very special to honor the history, people, salmon and land of this place. Listen to Phil tell the story on this special episode of Save What You Love.

Chris Johnson is a mastermind character in this story - the guy behind the scenes building relationships and making connections to get meaningful and lasting stream restoration projects accomplished here in the Methow Valley and beyond. Founder of the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation (MSRF), Chris is a community builder, planner, advocate and leader. Listen in as we discuss his leadership role over the years, how MSRF started, the relationship between MSRF and the Methow Beaver Project, management strategies, conflict management lessons, and some of the current projects underway right now. https://www.methowsalmon.org/ https://www.facebook.com/methowsalmon/ We want your feedback! 509-289-2770 Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ Please consider writing us a review. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/methow-beaver-project/message

Bill brings decades of experience ranching in the Methow Valley to the table as he discusses how he has watched beavers shape landscapes over time. If you hear some background noise on this one (and maybe a dog) it's because I hopped in a truck with Bill and his dog for this interview. (In fact, if you have time, the YouTube video for this episode will be more fun than the audio podcast.) We ended up in a field of alfalfa trying to fix the motor on a wheel line irrigation system. Our conversation ranges from his frustrations with beavers, how beaver dams collect sediment and create meadows, the cycle of beavers on the landscape, what beavers do for fish, and the potential challenges of having beavers on your property if you're a rancher. The Methow Beaver Project does not necessarily agree with everything Bill said, but we appreciate his perspective from a life lived in Eastern Washington's working landscapes. Let's hop in the truck and go for a drive, shall we? We want your feedback! 509-289-2770 Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ Please consider writing us a review. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/methow-beaver-project/message

It's New Year's Eve,  why not blow 2021 away with a big ol' bong rip!?  Mr and Mrs Weedman are here to wish you a Happy New Year, but first we share cannabis news from around the world.  We've got articles about BioMass, Cannabis and Opioid Recovery,  Consuming with Your Parents, and more.  We close out our year with a most excellent joint from Washington's Methow Valley; fresh bud grown in prime Washington conditions.  We wish all of you a healthy, prosperous and fun filled 2022!  Happy New Year! Thanks for listening and as always, hit us up!Twitter: @weedman420podIG: @weedman420chroniclesemail: weedman420chronicles@gmail.com#ImHigh #Cannabis #StomptheStigma #LikeMyWeed #FreethePlant #CannabisEducation #LazyBeeGardens #DocksideCannabis #CannabisResearch #Weed #CannabisNews #OpiodEpidemic #Podcast @weedman420chronicles Article Links:* https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/why-marijuana-is-effective-for-opioid-recovery/* https://www.greenstate.com/culture/the-unspoken-etiquette-of-smoking-cannabis-with-your-parents/* https://www.marijuanamoment.net/new-marijuana-laws-take-effect-across-the-u-s-with-the-new-year/* https://hightimes.com/news/pair-of-cops-booked-after-being-caught-smoking-pot-in-mississippi/COPYRIGHT 2021 WeedMan420 Chronicles©

Dickinson is a fascinating young athlete. She was just six when her parents followed family friends in a move to Winthrop, Wash. at a time when the community was starting to make a splash as a premier nordic center in America. Cross country skiing became a way of life, with junior racing and high school as she forged her path in the sport. For Dickinson, her joy of shooting came early on an impromptu range. And while she followed her skiing dreams to Sun Valley after high school, she always kept biathlon in the back of her mind. She was recruited by biathlete and coach Chad Salmela to ski at St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. and quickly discovered another cultural hotbed of the sport in the Midwest.Biathlon ultimately became her sport direction, moving her way up the ranks from biathlon Junior World Championships to becoming a regular on the IBU Cup. In early January, she'll be one of a select group of U.S. athletes battling for the final Olympic spots for a spot in Beijing.One of the influencing factors in Dickinson's career has been women coaches, going back to her days in the Methow Valley and continuing on at St. Scholastic with Maria Stuber. She's channeled that passion into an organization, the Women Ski Coaches Association, which works to develop, retain, and advance women in ski coaching leadership.

A great place to listen to insects — and birds — is a remote mountain lake in the spring. The surrounding mountians and properties of the cold water make these lakes some of nature's great concert halls.  Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist and sonic guide for the this series, recorded the sounds of this lake in Washington's Methow Valley. The air is so clear of noise you'll actually be able to hear the tiny splashes of lake trout gobbling up insects from just below the surface. Now let's sit back, relax, and listen the natural concert. View this episode's Bird List Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and TwitterSign up to receive BirdNote's weekly newsletterBirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote's conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes was edited by Jason Saul and written by Ashley Ahearn and Mark Bramhill. Sound design by John Kessler and Laura Giannone. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

Alexa is the current Director here at the Methow Beaver Project. Listen in as we get down to the heart of our work and why it matters. We discuss the history of beaver trapping in North America, the radical changes to the land and ecology that resulted, how beavers are part of climate change resilience, why this work matters to Alexa personally, and why, in the face of so much environmental doom, beaver restoration offers realistic and much needed hope. Get the inside scoop on our mission, how we are funded as a nonprofit, and what Alexa does on a day-to-day level. As an ecologist and a farmer, Alexa works for sustainability in all practices and effective solutions to challenging conditions. She has called the Methow Valley home for the last 20 years but has worked across the western US studying songbirds, carnivores, plant communities, agricultural impacts on habitat and wildlife and wildfire impacts on riparian ecosystems. Her family has also commercially raised and sold annual vegetables and perennial fruits as well as provided well water services to the Methow Valley. Alexa completed her MS in Restoration Ecology at Eastern Washington University where she focused on beaver ecology and beaver mediated restoration of wildfire impacts in the Methow River watershed. We want your feedback! 509-289-2770 Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ Please consider writing us a review. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/methow-beaver-project/message

Good Morning it's Thursday July 22nd, and this is The Wenatchee World's podcast, Slices of Wenatchee. We're excited to bring you a closer look at one of our top stories and other announcements every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.    Today --- COVID-19 cases in Chelan and Douglas counties are ticking upward again.   Today's episode is brought to you by Equilus Group Incorporated. Equilus Group, Inc is a Registered Investment Advisory Firm in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Equilus Group, Inc- Building Your Financial Success. Learn more at Equilusfinancial.com. Member SIPC and FINRA.   -   Now our feature story…   COVID-19 cases in Chelan and Douglas counties are ticking upward again.   As of July 16th, 77 new COVID-19 cases have been reported over the past 2 weeks in Chelan County.   And in Douglas County, 53 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past 2 weeks.   Dr. Malcolm Butler, Chelan-Douglas Health District's health officer, said that it might be the case that we're starting up here just because we're starting up into another cycle.   Butler also said that the case increases are probably related to the Delta variant. It turns out, like many communities in Washington, the Delta variant has made its way here.   It is about twice as infectious as the Alpha variant, which already was twice as infectious as the original COVID-19 strain.    And now, Butler says the Delta variant is squeezing out the Alpha for its position as the dominant strain.   Another concern? The number of breakthrough cases the Delta variant is producing is higher than expected.   What does that mean? Vaccine breakthrough refers to a case where someone fully vaccinated against the virus gets infected.    So unlike the Alpha variant, cases of the Delta variant are producing breakthroughs at a disproportionately high rate.   Only about 4% of all COVID-19 variants scanned for mutations in the state are from the Delta variant, but it accounts for 12% of breakthrough cases with a variant.   And so far, the state identified about 2,925 breakthrough cases from January 17th through July 10. That's about .07% of total full vaccinations.   But Luke Davies, the Chelan-Douglas health administrator, says that those most at risk of severe COVID-disease and most likely to be hospitalized are still the unvaccinated.   He stresses that we still need to be cautious.    And public guidelines echo that. People who are not fully vaccinated in public spaces or in close proximity to other people while indoors are required to mask up.   There's still work to be done, in Chelan County, about 66% of eligible people have initiated vaccinations and about 59% in Douglas County.   Yes - the state has reopened and relaxed some COVID-19 restrictions, but it could have reopened sooner if 70% of people 16 and older had gotten at least one dose.    To hit this goal in the two-county region, another 915 people would need to be vaccinated.   Stay up to date on all things COVID-19 by visiting us at wenatcheeworld.com   --   Also,    A Wenatchee teacher and Methow Valley school nurse were honored this month by the North Central Educational Service District for their outstanding work with students.    The 2022 Regional Teacher of the Year is Wenatchee educator Tina Nicpan-Brown. And the 2021 Regional Classified School Employee of the Year is Adriana Vanbianchi of the Methow Valley School District.   Nicpan-Brown is a fifth-grade remote learning teacher at the Wenatchee Internet Academy. She leads her classroom instruction by focusing on drawing connections to the students' family interactions, culture and the community.   She's one of three elementary science teachers in Washington who have been selected as a state-level finalist for the 2020 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. That's the highest honor bestowed on science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science teachers.   Regional Classified School Employee of the Year Adriana Vanbianchi serves as the school nurse for all schools in the Methow Valley School District.    Vanbianchi has dedicated her career to improving the health of other people.   To her, being a school nurse during the pandemic is an undertaking that she wouldn't have wished on anyone. Still, she admits, she's enjoyed the challenge because she knows what a difference it made in the lives of our students, community, and economy.   --   Before we continue, a special thanks to our friends and sponsors at Confluence Health. The team at Confluence Health is grateful for the trust the community puts in them every single day. They are diligently working to improve the health and quality of life for our friends and neighbors. They are Grateful | They are Confluence Health.  Learn more by visiting them at ConfluenceHealth.com   --   Next - After several years of waiting, East Wenatchee's Caroline David has a new set of lungs.   56 year old David underwent surgery for a double lung transplant in March in Phoenix and is now recovering and doing quite well. She had been diagnosed in 2016 with pulmonary fibrosis, a condition where her lungs were covered in scar tissue and decreased in size.   In 2019, David and her sister Donna Taylor were working to raise money for David's $1 million lung transplant. Her insurance would cover the cost of most of the surgery, but they also faced expenses for the recovery.   They tried to raise about $50,000 thanks to the members of the community who supported her like co-workers, family and organizations.    The original plan was for David to get her lung transplant at the University of Washington, but after two years on the waitlist, she decided to look elsewhere.    And it turned out that the lung transplant might not have taken place if it wasn't for COVID-19.   When COVID hit she started working from home. So, she took the opportunity to look at other programs outside of the University of Washington..   She eventually looked into the program at St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center — Dignity Health in Phoenix. The medical center has a larger pool of potential donors and so the chance of getting an organ was higher.    Then, she was accepted in November. On March 11, she got a call that they had a pair of lungs for her and went in to prep for surgery. But the lungs weren't viable.   Then the next Monday, David got the call again. She came in prepped for surgery and this time the lungs were good.   David is still in Phoenix and plans to stay for the following year as she undergoes testing.   In the first year, doctors are able to stop most types of rejection, which is where the body's immune system attacks a person's lungs.   And for the rest of her life, David will still face the possibility that her body could start rejecting her transplant. She'll have to take immune suppressing medication. But so far everything has been going well….   At least except for the altitude sickness.   When David gets back to Washington one of the first things she wants to do is go on a hike, she said. She discovered she had pulmonary fibrosis when hiking up to Clara and Marion lakes at Mission Ridge in 2016.   But now with a new set of lungs, she'll be able to return to the trails she loves.   --   Before we go, some local history. Wenatchee Valley History is brought to you by NABUR [this is pronounced just like neighbor] – your trusted neighborhood community. NABUR is a free online forum you can trust to connect with your community, focus on facts & make a difference. Join the conversation! Visit wenatcheeworld.com/nabur .   Now, some history -    In 1991, the property that's now home to the Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth was put up for sale. Harriet Bullitt, a longtime owner of the neighboring property, bought all 67 acres to preserve the land.    Bullitt named the property Sleeping Lady after the mountain profile above the narrow valley. Historical and environmental considerations saved all 18 of the original buildings for the new site plan.    Then, in 1994, the buildings were remodeled to meet building and energy codes. New buildings were constructed to blend in with the original style.    Finally, Sleeping Lady welcomed its first guests in August 1995.     Thanks for listening. Today's episode is brought to you by Equilus Group, Inc- Building Your Financial Success. Learn more at Equilusfinancial.com.   The Wenatchee World has been engaging, informing and inspiring North Central Washington Communities since 1905. We encourage you to subscribe today to keep your heart and mind connected to what matters most in North Central Washington. Thank you for starting your morning with us and don't forget to tune in again on Saturday! Support the show: https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/site/forms/subscription_services/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new PSIA-AASI National Team will set the standard for snowsports instruction and embody the ski and snowboard experience. In April 2021, PSIA-AASI hand-selected the 37 team members – 8 coaches chosen last season and 29 team members selected spring 2021 – for their range of skills that allow them to serve as inspirational leaders and build enthusiasm for learning and having fun skiing and riding. Meet PSIA Cross Country Team member, Tulie Budiselich, who hails from Methow Valley, Washington. Learn more about Tulie: http://tiny.cc/meettulie

Arnot Reid has been a working mountain guide since 2004. She is a passionate seeker of shared adventures and perfecting the balance of learning and teaching. As an athlete, Arnot Reid is in competition with only herself, constantly pushing her own limits and trying to be the best mountain traveler she can be. Arnot Reid is the first American woman to successfully summit and descend Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen and has climbed the world's highest peak six times. Known as a determined, hard-working, and enthusiastic teacher, Arnot Reid has devoted her life to learning from the mountains and sharing that knowledge with others. In 2012 Arnot Reid co-founded The Juniper Fund to provide financial support to families of local workers killed in the mountains of Nepal, and she continues to be actively involved with the fund. Arnot Reid lives in the Methow Valley of Washington State with her husband, Tyler, where they spend their time playing in the mountains while running their respective guide services. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adventurers of The CascadePete Doorish and Bryan Burdo have set many First Ascents in the mountains of the Cascades in Washington. Pete is known for obscure and big wall first ascents along with some epic adventures that’ll leave your heart leaping for comfort. He has been climbing for over 50 years starting before the emergence of sport climbing and gym climbing. His passion evolved from climbing and first ascents to long adventures on High Routes in the Cascade mountains. Kyle Mccrohan wrote an article with some incredible adventures of a similar style. Bryan has set one of the longest bolted sport routes in the United States totaling 1800 feet of pitches no harder than 5.9. He had started setting routes during the emergence of sport climbing and using fixed protection. His route setting style emphasizes safety even on all difficulties of climbing including easy climbs which was an unusual practice of his time. He is a prolific route setter with 100’s of first ascents in the Methow Valley in Washington and many more throughout the state.Pete and Bryan have a deep friendship and a long history of adventures. Despite their passions no longer intersecting, they are close friends with ever-growing bonds. I see them as prolific adventurers climbing new routes in the Cascades in a time where climbing culture was emerging, beta was becoming less scarce, and adventure was more likely happenstance.I look at Pete and Bryan as the embodiment of an adventurer and how it fits into our modern lives. They pursued passions that required them to confront and manage risk. Our life is tremendously easier than that of the intensity of wartime or maybe the physical and psychological demands of our pre-modern life. It is not to say that we do not experience adversity, some more than others, but there is a value in physical and psychological adversity. We grow, improve, and transcend because of adversity. Imposing constraints on other people because you believe it to be good for them has a lot of inherent problems. Rather, voluntary suffering, adversity, and even risk of life(whether real or felt) through recreation(a self-inspired hobby) may provide us the benefits of living in a world not as safe and comfortable as ours without disavowing making the world a better and less severe place. It is not that a person goes out to face risk wanting to die, it is that someone goes out to face a risk they believe they can manage and the commitment is dire consequences. However, the aim is to experience play in the context of your recreation while managing the risk to live another day. This dynamic is powerful for self-development. For Pete and Bryan, over time they would find ways to more impeccably manage risk while achieving their goal. This encapsulates a kind of learning that I believe applies to a fundamental skill which is cost-benefit analysis. The cliche in our society is a partying teen pushing their limits and being foolish. Another example is Peter Doorish, partying into the night pushing his limits on a rock wall, and being foolish with wild bouts of adventure. However, this practice extends beyond your teenage and college years. Your recreational passions will last you as long as your body and love for the activity persist. As Bryan and Pete age in years and experience, they develop their risk-reward principles to a higher degree as a consequence of their chosen recreation. If you don’t have a career that imposes this skillset then how would you improve your ability to mitigate and take risks? Taking risks is an important skill in modern life that is no longer essential but highly rewarding financially and spiritually.

Adventurers of The CascadePete Doorish and Bryan Burdo have set many First Ascents in the mountains of the Cascades in Washington. Pete is known for obscure and big wall first ascents along with some epic adventures that’ll leave your heart leaping for comfort. He has been climbing for over 50 years starting before the emergence of sport climbing and gym climbing. His passion evolved from climbing and first ascents to long adventures on High Routes in the Cascade mountains. Kyle Mccrohan wrote an article with some incredible adventures of a similar style. Bryan has set one of the longest bolted sport routes in the United States totaling 1800 feet of pitches no harder than 5.9. He had started setting routes during the emergence of sport climbing and using fixed protection. His route setting style emphasizes safety even on all difficulties of climbing including easy climbs which was an unusual practice of his time. He is a prolific route setter with 100’s of first ascents in the Methow Valley in Washington and many more throughout the state.Pete and Bryan have a deep friendship and a long history of adventures. Despite their passions no longer intersecting, they are close friends with ever-growing bonds. I see them as prolific adventurers climbing new routes in the Cascades in a time where climbing culture was emerging, beta was becoming less scarce, and adventure was more likely happenstance.I look at Pete and Bryan as the embodiment of an adventurer and how it fits into our modern lives. They pursued passions that required them to confront and manage risk. Our life is tremendously easier than that of the intensity of wartime or maybe the physical and psychological demands of our pre-modern life. It is not to say that we do not experience adversity, some more than others, but there is a value in physical and psychological adversity. We grow, improve, and transcend because of adversity. Imposing constraints on other people because you believe it to be good for them has a lot of inherent problems. Rather, voluntary suffering, adversity, and even risk of life(whether real or felt) through recreation(a self-inspired hobby) may provide us the benefits of living in a world not as safe and comfortable as ours without disavowing making the world a better and less severe place. It is not that a person goes out to face risk wanting to die, it is that someone goes out to face a risk they believe they can manage and the commitment is dire consequences. However, the aim is to experience play in the context of your recreation while managing the risk to live another day. This dynamic is powerful for self-development. For Pete and Bryan, over time they would find ways to more impeccably manage risk while achieving their goal. This encapsulates a kind of learning that I believe applies to a fundamental skill which is cost-benefit analysis. The cliche in our society is a partying teen pushing their limits and being foolish. Another example is Peter Doorish, partying into the night pushing his limits on a rock wall, and being foolish with wild bouts of adventure. However, this practice extends beyond your teenage and college years. Your recreational passions will last you as long as your body and love for the activity persist. As Bryan and Pete age in years and experience, they develop their risk-reward principles to a higher degree as a consequence of their chosen recreation. If you don’t have a career that imposes this skillset then how would you improve your ability to mitigate and take risks? Taking risks is an important skill in modern life that is no longer essential but highly rewarding financially and spiritually.

My guest for this episode is Thom Nees, the executive director of Serve Wenatchee Valley who is also leading the effort to develop the Common Ground Community Housing Trust A community housing trust is a proven way to develop permanently affordable housing in a community. The simple mechanism is that a nonprofit owns the land and buyers purchase the home. This model has been successful in numerous communities, including Leavenworth and the Methow Valley.  The red hot housing market in the region is making it increasingly difficult for working families to afford homes, as anyone who is paying attention to the housing market can attest. This is an effort that can make a meaningful difference. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Look for an upcoming column on this effort in The Wenatchee World. 

"I spent a lot of years skiing near Leavenworth and now, in the past decade, in the Methow Valley. Railroad Creek Valley is a blend of those two snowscapes. The climate here is not quite as cold as the Twisp River, but the snowpack is deeper, and tends to be more consistent than Icicle Creek Canyon." - Drew Lovell Drew Lovell is a ski guide and avalanche forecaster in the North Cascades, as well as the Alaskan Wrangell-St.Elias region. Educated as a geologist at the University of Montana, Drew has previous experience as a field biologist and currently works as a mountain guide in the non-winter season. For the Gulo team, at work in the formidable North Cascades winter environment, Drew offers expertise with local snowpack, weather, and terrain, and a willingness to fill a backpack with heavy loads, from carcasses to camera equipment. Stephanie Williams, professional mountain guide and independent field biologist, is the project's co-founder and manager. Steph earned an undergraduate degree in Biological Science while working as a research assistant in chemical and landscape ecology at Boise State University. She also trained in alpine, rock, and ski guiding with the American Mountain Guides Association. Steph loves exploratory skiing and climbing, particularly in remote terrain, and especially with her husband, Drew Lovell. The Gulo is a perennial source of inspiration. Photographer, wildlife tracker, field biologist, and co-founder David Moskowitz spearheads the photography for the project and its interface with Conservation Northwest's ongoing citizen science efforts in the region. David has produced film and authored three books: Caribou Rainforest, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest, and Wolves in the Land of Salmon. He enjoys long mountain runs, alpine climbing, and backcountry skiing. For more information about their project, visit cascadeswolverineproject.org Also, contribute to community science by submitting a field observation (tracks or sighting) at https://forms.gle/VrJeiJNoPhnPF69Q6 The current Holden Village community of nearly 40 staff all successfully pass a strict quarantine period with social distancing, masks, and COVID testing upon entering or reentering the Village. To learn more about Holden Village, visit: http://www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org The Holden Village Podcast is accessible through Apple iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, and most podcast apps. To contact the podcast author, podcast@holdenvillage.org

In this episode of the PNWild podcast, Jeff and Bob are joined by their mentor and dear friend James Cusumano. James Is a very accomplished hunter he's the one who opened jeff and bob up to the world of backcountry hunting and the high buck hunt. James grew up in the heart of Washington state's mule deer country, the Methow Valley. If you enjoy some old stories and listening to a successful hunter give tips and tactics on mule deer you're in for a real treat. www.pnwild.com

Today qualifies as what you might call a bramble ramble. Looking at dotted lines on my maps at home, I decided to try to make the run from the Lone Pine campground up to the hairpin turn. At least, that’s where at least two maps claimed a trail existed. I’m not saying they’re wrong. I’m just saying I didn’t make it quite that far.

As much as I love the valley, I’ve spent long enough appreciating its beauty from within. I needed to get out into the high country or I was going to lose my mind.

If I lived in Twisp I’d be out on the Twisp river more. That’s for sure. The valley connects to so much, and eventually terminates just over a pass from the Early Winters drainage! But it isn’t exactly close Winthrop.

I’ve attempted this little run before, in the other direction. It’s a surprisingly long haul AND STEEP, given that it’s all basically shrub steppe. Today, I had the time window to finish the run, so I was pleased to be able to keep pushing.

As summer keeps rolling on, I keep rolling up valley. Another warm day sent me to Mazama to run, and I chose the old logging roads up Sandy Butte. Mostly to keep cool.

I saw a huge wall of smoke headed my way and I stopped. I worried it might be a grass fire, and tried to figure out my best course of action. Good practice, but I quickly realized it was just pollen. But it was a LOT of pollen.

In spite of all that driving, I went out past Mazama for today’s run. I went out to a little waterfall along Cedar Creek.

I rushed out of the house after inhaling a pint of green juice, two cups of coffee and a peanut butter and fried egg sandwich with chia seeds. I kind of felt all of that that on the way up. Good ultra training, if anything.

There are a LOT of old roads, game trails and side paths in this area! I see more every time I explore. I think it was good to connect that sense of ignorant hubris to the feeling of being lost. No doubt this is often how it happens, especially at dusk.

Ran too far. Mathematicians talk funny, but feel open to new ideas. Physicists love to tell stories, but can be pessimistic about new ideas at times.

hat got me thinking about how hard it is to teach an introductory course. You absolutely cannot get into all the motivating details in a first pass, especially in a topic as general as quantum mechanics. And that’s okay, but it really necessitates a point of view or a theme.

Back in action! I'm starting to document the start of my Monsterous Moonshine Project.

This week, one of long-time leaders of the Inland Northwest arts community, Karen Mobley, pays a visit to talk about her newest creation, a book of poetry. Also, Chris Maccini introduces us to a regional singer-songwriter who took the plunge and entered NPR’s country-wide Tiny Desk Concert competition, and Dan Webster offers his take on a new movie. Music today is a bit of ragtime piano from the Methow Valley’s Bill Hottell.

"What appears to have been meteor smashed through the skies above the Okanogan today. People have reported it as far south as Richland and as far north as Tonnasket. "

"Down the road, below the bluff in some guy's small field, there were like five or so toms all puffed up, gobbling around the spraying edge of a sprinkler. The late afternoon sun was shinning through their lighter feathers. It was a really weird scene. Where they showing off for a hen? Where they taking a shower? No idea. But in the middle of this scene was a guy just hammering away at something, oblivious to his company."

So much of the obvious lines between Twisp and Winthrop involve state lands that are now closed. Running from Sun "Mountain to Elbow Coulee to Aspen Lake to Deadhorse and back to Twisp has been something I’ve been keen on for a while now. But it will have to wait. It's DNR land. Additionally, Pipestone is also closed. And word is that the Rattlers have woken up early this year. Rattlers are no fun when they're still barely awake and a little... slow."

"My main goal was reaching the Mazama store, with its cookies and sandwiches and cold drinks. That more than enough to propel me forward on what was stacking up to be a considerably flatter, road heavy run."

"Approaching the Winthrop Trailhead I was being followed by a truck, which drove up after me with an alarming amount of speed. There’s a new sign on that gate that said 'Caution: Motorized Vehicles' in mailbox sticky letters. So I assumed it was related, and took Black Bear instead. For whatever reason the truck never made it past the gate."

"As usual, I didn't fully appreciate the distance to Mazama. The dirt road was calm and lonely until the last bit of downhill - past the second cattle guard, where I had two cars coming up! Gnarly!"

"Upon my return the hatchery trailhead, I found the gate had been closed! Like. Closed and locked! And I still had to run home. Bummer. There goes another one. "

"Different kinds of work are impossibly hard at different times of the day. I don't have the brainpower to make serious decisions after 4pm."

"Late at night my dad texted and started asking about exercise planning. He can still go Stand Up Paddle boarding - The State of Hawaii is fine with you in the water, its the beaches they want clear - and the weather has been so good he wants to be out there every day. Although he's rightly worried about over doing it."

"Because the pie was so good, we couldn't keep it all to ourselves. We broke the rules. Sort of... It was like watching some meta, real life TikTok."

"Lots of folks have been practicing with baking or cocktails or making lattes at home... Some of the happiest times of my life were hovered over that stove, cooking black beans in a cast iron skillet, eating them, sprinkled with goat cheese wrapped in corn tortillas."

"Finally! It was a warm day! Shorts. Sun glasses. and Trucker hats."

He asked me where I was from. A twinge of guilt ran through me as I said "Winthrop". He tossed his head back, "I live just over there." They called my name and I greedily started wolfing down my coffee cake.

Yesterday was a sad day for the valley

Our focus this week remains on the COVID-19’s disruptive effects on the arts at all levels and in all dimensions. We’ll spend time with Methow Valley artist and art teacher Erik Brooks and Spokane Symphony Music Director James Lowe. Dan Webster drops by to share another visual diversion for this homebound time, and we’ll hear from Nathaniel de la Cruz, another of the CdA Symphony Young Artist winners.

"I turned around, and very carefully hustled back down to the main road. The sun came out for a bit as I sailed down the hill, past the golf course, and lightened my grip a bit. My back brakes are feeling a little loose. I’m not sure how I’ll get them replaced. Are bicycle brakes considered essential business?"

"I road my bike down wolf creek road. I explored a bit up 5005 towards the Virginian Ridge, but it was covered in snow. They’ve been logging this area since the fall, and it’s been a long while since I’ve been upon the ridge."

"The silver lining, I believe, will be a really nuanced view of the roads and trails I do manage to run on. "

"The transition from biking to running — as part of a single outing — is quite a different story. Each time I got off the pedals my legs feel like dead weight. Especially if there was any uphill pedaling."

"After noon I rode up the Chewuck, counter clockwise. It was about 55F. I tore up FS 37 for a bit, but it got dark and foreboding so I turned around and crossed the river."

"I also cleaned the entire drive train and discovered a few shocking things. First, the front sprokett was almost detached and had a few loose screws. And one was missing! Yikes!"

"Every morning I wake up I make coffee, three eggs, half a can of black beans, some meat, some greens and whatever adornments I can chop up and add to the mix, a second cup of coffee... and then... I guess it depends."

"Everything transformed so fluidly, so completely, that it's almost not worth talking about."

While she was an environmental reporter, contributing stories to OPB, Ashley Ahearn was based in Seattle. She also had a podcast called Terrestrial. A couple of years ago, she uprooted her life, moved east and became part of a small rural community in Washington’s Methow Valley. She’s continued to report on environmental issues, including climate change, contributing to the local newspaper and public radio outlets, as part of a year-long rural reporting fellowship funded by Ecotrust. That organization provide financial support to the Methow Valley News, but had no control over the selection or content of the stories covered.

Episode #24 the Ground Shots Podcast features a field recording of a morning spent with Epona Heathen and her child Rainan outside their camp at the 2019 Saskatoon Circle Gathering in the Methow Valley, near Twisp, Washington. Epona sings a few striking and emotive songs for me, and speaks about her intentions behind her music. This episode is especially focused on Epona's song ‘Our Lady of the Sunflower,' an ode to the Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza sagittata (Asteraceae), a common and gloriously beautiful plant of western turtle island that paints the hillsides yellow in Spring.   In this conversation with Epona, we talk about:   octave mandolins and Epona's relationship with the instrument some occasional comments and conversations from Rainan, Epona's child, in the background some of the seasonal and life cycle themes that inspire Epona's music Epona's journey writing music for Rainan and connecting with her ancestors for him Epona's Irish and West African roots in the mountains of western North Carolina opening up to the love of the land faces us with the grief of it's loss too Epona's relationship with the Arrowleaf Balsamroot plant Sitting with the land when grief arises Epona sharing some of the wisdom that Finisia Medrano shared with her over the years an experience Epona had in Hell's Canyon a few thoughts on tending the wild food gardens 'hoop' in the west thoughts on the coyote and modern culture   Links: The Heathen Family on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_heathen_family/?hl=en Epona's personal instagram: https://www.instagram.com/once_epona_tone/ A collaborative music project of Epona and Alex Heathen: Mirror Fauna. https://mirrorfauna.bandcamp.com/ Bob Gernandt instruments– octave mandolin/ irish bazooky: http://www.gernandt.com/ A book I think folks should read to follow up on our coyote talk in the conversation: 'Coyote America' by Dan Flores Movie trailer on film being made about Finisia Medrano called ‘The Life of Fin:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vv9V-K7wc0 Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute to our grassroots self-funding of this project.  Support the Ground Shots Project with a one time donation: paypal.me/petitfawn   Our Instagram page @goldenberries Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Produced by: Opia Creative  

A great place to listen to insects — and birds — is a remote mountain lake in the spring. The surrounding mountians and properties of the cold water make these lakes some of nature's great concert halls.  Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist and sonic guide for the this series, recorded the sounds of this lake in Washington’s Methow Valley. The air is so clear of noise you’ll actually be able to hear the tiny splashes of lake trout gobbling up insects from just below the surface. Now let's sit back, relax, and listen the natural concert.

Sometimes things happen that are essentially beyond our control and impossible to know when they will end or what the consequences will be once they are over. Wildfires and other natural disasters are good examples of these kinds of experiences. Generally speaking, these are considered "traumatic events" and while different people experience these things with more or less discomfort, the signal of danger turns on the stress response for everyone – given a long enough time in stress, even the calmest and brave ones amongst us start to get short tempered, make poor decisions and feel the impacts on our health. These challenging times have an impact on us. A real, sincere, important to recognize impact - the effects of which can be minimized if we have some important information and practical things to do. This StressLess audio series was created for my community in the Methow Valley during the Carlton Complex fires in Northern Washington in 2014. That was a very stressful time for my neighbors and myself. With the help of our local radio station Kroot 97.5, I produced these recordings to help share some simple ideas about how our bodies and nervous systems respond to stressful events, and what that information can tell us about how we can care for ourselves and our families while going through bad stuff. Many of my neighbors assured me that these recordings were helpful to them in calming and attending to their own stress response and I hope they will be helpful to you or someone you know (please pass it on). When going through a dangerous event that will last long enough for you to take stock of what's going on...it's a good idea for you to work on behalf of minimizing your body's sense of stress and excessive effort and activation. I hope you will find enough moments of safety along the way that will allow you to do that. These recordings will share many different ideas on how you might do so. Wishing you the very best. - Twig, November - 2017 Full Episode Transcript:  01 01 – Introduction to Twig's StressLess Series for Getting through Wildfires and other Natural Disasters [00:00:00] This is an episode from Twig's stress series for getting through wildfires and other natural disasters. You can find all the episodes at stressless-guide.com. [00:00:10] Greetings to you. My name's Anthony Wheeler. I go by twig. You can think of me that way. Think of me as that guy named Twig. You probably don't know me except perhaps a person of late or maybe the internet has suggested that you might take a listen to some of the audio programs that I've created over the years to help people that are going through acutely stressful experiences helped to minimize or decrease their stress response so as to minimize the chance of being traumatized after a dangerous thing has happened. In this way, this series that you've come upon today or have here to listen to is about what we might do for ourselves and our families, our communities, when threatened by a wildfire or other natural disaster or event that is going to be long lasting, without a certain end, with unknown consequences and generally quote out of our control. In short what can we do when things are really really hard and it feels like they're going to keep going that way? [00:01:19] Since you don't know me maybe I'll mention a few things here that will be helpful to you. One is that since 2004 I've been heavily involved with and dedicated to the Somatic Experiencing® therapy community and the "New Traumatology." These are different either therapeutic modalities or the science that is coming out into the world these days about how the autonomic nervous system works, how stress works inside of the human body, how it impacts our nervous system and thus our behavior and what we can do for ourselves and one another to help ourselves feel safer in a dangerous world or after a dangerous event. [00:02:02] And that's how we can limit the impact of th...

Robert and Tony continue their trek through the Methow Valley and visit the Grand Coulee Dam. They stock up on food, take another rest day, and watch a laser light show, all before jumping on Highway 2 and heading for Spokane.Don't forget to follow us @7lambpodcastswww.facebook.com/7lambpodcasts

This episode features Sarah Brooks, the ebullient associate director of the Methow Valley Conservancy, a land conservation organization that is modeling creative community building in North Central Washington. We discuss the powerful ways that the conservancy engages neighbors in Methow Valley in building a future that supports economic sustainability, stewardship of the land and caring for the human beings who live there. She shares with me  her passion for not only the beauty of the land but also the sense of community that makes living there worthwhile. We talked about how the conservancy and others seek to find common ground to discuss challenging issues that affect the valley. She also spoke of how the wildfires of 2014 and 2015 galvanized the nonprofit leaders in the valley to work together more effectively and consistently. The practice of viewing the community as a whole rather than as isolated  parts is far more conducive to creating abundance and long-term success. She also shared deep insights about fundraising. She has adopted a philosophy of being a "broker of dreams" who works with "game changers" (people who want to make a meaningful difference. She has a deep appreciation and understanding how communities can be successful and there many lessons that any community or organization might want to adopt or adapt. We spoke at the Nonprofit Practices Institute at Campbell's Resort in Chelan. 

This podcast features Bishop Emeritus William Skylstad of Spokane, who has been an outspoken advocate  of the need to find a principled balance between the needs of human beings and the needs of nature — that the two are interconnected and inseparable. He was an architect behind the groundbreaking 2001 Pastoral Letter on the Columbia River watershed. Skylstad will give a public speech  at 7 p.m., April 23, at Kuykendall Hall at St.Joseph Church in Wenatchee titled: "The moral dimensions of climate change:  A call to prudence, the common good and environmental justice.  Skylstad, who grew up on an a small apple orchard in the Methow Valley, offers a thoughtful way to think more holistically  about our responsibility to fellow human beings and our environment. He speaks eloquently of caring for the land, caring for people and  community as the essential element of moving society forward in a constructive way.