Outdoors

171 Stories

This Bothell Santa spends his offseason keeping rose bushes in tip-top shape

Summertime is high season for Seattle’s rose growers and lovers. They’re a passionate bunch. John Harmeling is one of the best-known among them.
- Ruby de Luna
Heading outdoors? WA recreation prices go up as state tries to fix budget deficit

The 38% price hike is the first increase since 2011.
- Ruby de Luna
Sole survivor of deadly North Cascades climbing accident shares details

We’re learning more about the climbing accident that left three men dead in the North Cascades last weekend. The men were identified yesterday as 48-year-old Vishnu Irigireddy of Renton, 36-year-old Oleksander Martynenko of Bellevue, and 63-year-old Tim Nguyen of Renton. One man survived what the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office says was a 400-foot fall. It's one of Washington state's worst climbing accidents since 2014, when six climbers fell to their deaths at Mount Rainier. KUOW’s Kim Malcolm spoke to Seattle Times reporter Catalina Gaitán about what happened.
- Kim Malcolm
This one weekend a year, the North Cascades Highway is (unofficially) just for bikes

Washington State Route 20 is closed while crews remove months of snow and ice from the scenic drive through the Cascades. But one weekend a year, cyclists pedal through the mountains with the road all to themselves.
- Casey Martin
Unkept trails, cancelled programs. Washington state feels the impact of federal forest cuts

Dozens of people across Washington state who worked at national parks and forests have lost their jobs in recent weeks, as part of sweeping overhaul of the federal workforce by President Donald Trump. Those firings could cause ripple effects across state programs that benefit hikers, backpackers, and mountain bikers.
- Casey Martin
Cleanup at Seattle's Green Lake targets abandoned fishing lines that can ensnare wildlife

Abandoned fishing lines are the focus of a volunteer cleanup effort at Seattle’s Green Lake this weekend. The stray lines are blamed for killing two owls along the water’s edge in recent years.
- Amy Radil
The steep climb to unionize REI

The successful union drives at REI, Starbucks, and other companies that were historically seen as too difficult to unionize have revived a rusting labor movement. But whether that momentum is sustainable remains to be seen, particularly as organized labor becomes more polarized.
- Monica Nickelsburg
'Green vest’ workers fight for union representation on REI board

Unionized REI employees are determined to have a seat at the table of board directors at the beloved outdoor gear company.
- Monica Nickelsburg
How rich Seattleites can lease public land through a program meant to protect it

The city program to manage public shoreline street ends is funded with the fees that industrial interests and wealthy Seattleites pay to encroach on them.
- Katie Campbell
Beat the heat at Seattle's 'hidden beaches,' the pearls of the city's shoreline

Seattle has about 140 shoreline street ends, literally where the city’s streets meet the shore. Some end in small parks, others in pristine little beaches.
- Katie Campbell

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