Mazama

When Goat Creek built up steam with spring runoff, it gathered substantial debris on its way down the mountain. Lower Goat Creek Bridge — a vital link for winter and summer users on Founders Trail — did not withstand the fury of the water loaded with large woody debris. Logs, sticks, branches and other forest […]

The journey over the mountains to the west side is so pleasant in the summer. The long drive “around” and over Stevens Pass in the winter is just a fading memory — only to be resurrected when the snow flies and the North Cascades Highway barrier goes up. From here at the very end of […]

Guess what weighs as much as six blue whales: the amount of trash picked up on Washington state highways in 2022. In the 1950s and early 1960s, it was not uncommon nor frowned upon to toss litter from beer cans to trash from to-go food out the window. (My dad was notorious for such a […]

In 1903, the Carnegie Corporation awarded $10,000 to build a library in my Montana hometown — one of 750 of the original 1,689 that is still functioning as a library. All my childhood I scampered up the steps to the iconic building to write school papers and check out library books. It was an integral […]

Do you want prime rib in Mazama? You probably won’t find one to order unless it’s made of rock, i.e., a route on a rock wall. Goat Wall, located west of the Mazama Store on Lost River Road, is a glacially carved massif composed of meta-pyroclastics. That’s a mouthful if you are not a rock […]

On a recent horseback ride out of Mazama trailhead, my friend and I met a congenial couple on the trail. They were curious about our ride and the horses, how far we went, and whether this was the trail to the suspension bridge. Aware that the Mazama Store was the last gas stop for a […]

It is a well-known and oft used saying that “life is full of surprises.” I’m sure that it is true no matter where you live, but here in the Methow with the unpredictably of so many elements, it does seem like there are more surprises than I remember in the other places that I have […]

On the very rare occasion that our family went out to breakfast, I could not help myself but to order pancakes. Mom would always admonish that the “short stack” would be plenty for me. Even the short stack — after being lathered in butter and soaked in some kind of berry syrup — was usually […]

There are catch phrases all sports announcers seem to use such as “He. Could. Go. All. The. Way!” There’s another — when a team is down and looking to be the loser — and then an unexpected turnaround happens. “And just like that …” It was a “just like that” moment here in the upper […]

The night sky lit up with a spectacular display of sheet lightning followed by big claps of thunder last Thursday (May 4). Then came the rain, constant and drenching all night long — all this following the 80-degree weather snowmelt. Now there’s water, water everywhere — rivers, streams, creeks filled to the brim and overflowing. […]