The Filson Journal

Filson X Alaska Airlines

For more than a century, two iconic names from the Pacific Northwest—Filson and Alaska Airlines—have exemplified a steadfast commitment to quality and service. Together, they’ve helped define what it means...

Profiles

Alaskan Musher: Lauro Eklund

With his father, Neil Eklund, Lauro spends long days working with his dogs and exploring Alaska’s remote and rugged interior. With hopes his dogs will one day soon lead the...

How To's

Dos and Don'ts of Traveling in Rattlesnake Country

Local outdoors expert & lifelong Texan, Cory Emerson, helped us navigate the desolate limestone hills and canyons of Texas Hill County to put our new gear to the test. The...

Profiles

The Fire Inside: Photographer Kiliii Yüyan

Award-winning National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan, joined us on our recent trip to the Alaskan Arctic, where he was consumed in his mission to capture the stoic essence of a...

Northwest Beaver Mechanics

Founded in 1988, Northwest Seaplanes is based in Renton, Washington, and has a fleet of five Beavers and one De Havilland Otter, aircraft called the "best bush planes ever built."...

Top Natural Hot Springs in the West

The rejuvenating benefits of hot springs are well documented, for both body and mid. File these six standout natural soaking pools away in your “must-visit” places. Be sure to plan...

The Great Cascade Tunnel

Between Seattle and Chicago, a train called the Empire Builder rolls on 2,206 miles of steel track. It leaves daily on a 48-hour trip, gliding past splendid vistas including Glacier...

A Guide to Overlanding the North Cascades

The North Cascade Mountains of Washington attract all types of recreationists during the spring and summer months, from locals to tourists, from hikers and climbers to high mountain anglers and...

Shmulik Avital & Spiegel - The Hub of NYC’s Moto Community

Shmulik Avital seems to know everyone who rides a motorcycle in New York City. His restaurant, Spiegel, has become the hub of the city's adventure motorcycling community.

Profiles

Climber Fred Beckey: Spirit of the Mountains

If you listen hard enough, you can hear Fred Beckey’s spirit whispering among the towering peaks and hidden valleys of the Northern Cascades. Around campfires, bar tops, or anywhere that...

Filson Moto Collection

Whenever you set out into the wild, be it the icy hell of Alaska or the rocky forests of the Pacific Northwest, you can’t do better than to have a...

How To's

How to Filson's Guide to Conifers of the Cascades

Washington’s forests are home to more than 25 unique species of trees. We’ve put together a comprehensive guide on how to quickly identify the 5 key varieties in the North...

How To's

How to Avoid Attacks in Bear & Cougar Territory

Consciously or unconsciously, humans, bears, and mountain lions, along with many other large mammals, all speak the same language with their bodies. The body language of an unleashed dog on...

Profiles

Kate Mitchell - NOMAR

An old homesteader once told Kate Mitchell, “That was about the year you figured you weren’t going to starve to death.” By then, much of the community enjoyed wanton luxuries...

Profiles

Leif Whittaker: My Old Man & the Mountain

My Old Man and the Mountain is Leif Whittaker's engaging and humorous story of what it was like to "grow up Whittaker"―the youngest son of Jim Whittaker and Dianne Roberts, in...

Journey to the Yukon: Passage Aboard the Steamships from Puget Sound to the Far North

The month of July 1897 was an exciting time to be living on the West Coast. Steamships with names like Excelsior and Portland were docking in the ports of San...

The Sinking of the SS Clallam

Hazardous weather conditions. Small craft advisory. Strong wind warning in effect. These are common warnings to mariners who may be considering the Strait of Juan de Fuca—the passage running between...

How To's

How to Read a Navigational Chart (the basics)

A map will show you where to go. A nautical chart will help you plan your trip, tell you where (and where not) to go, tell you when to go...

A Wanderer's View of Starved Rock State Park, Illinois

As far as state parks go, Starved Rock is tall. Something to be said in a flat, corn-centric state like Illinois. But from its massive Cottonwoods and Oaks that first...

Matt Blodgett: Feet on the Ground and Hands in the Work

Matt Blodgett is a full-time construction worker with a penchant for observation. A collection of disposable cameras stowed in his tool belt, jacket, and truck provide the means in which...

What is White Sands?

Great white dunes march across the New Mexico desert.From the tallest dune, some 60 ft tall, it’s hard to fathom the world around you. Climb skyward, and your eyes would...

Mikael Kennedy's Filson Photo Diary

As a talented photographer from New York City, Mikael Kennedy, is always on the go, escaping from the city to calmer ground with his Filson tote and camera. This time...

Brian McGeehan on Fly Fishing in Central Patagonia

Brian McGeehan leads annual hosted trips to Patagonia and is the owner and outfitter of Montana Angler Fly Fishing in Bozeman, MT. He has been guiding fly fishing trips in...

Rhon Bell's Late Season Maine Camping Trip

Maine-based Rhon Bell of Backwoods Plaid, takes Filson along for a late season camping trip navigated by bush plane. This remote access provides access to moose, top notch salmon fishing...

Alone Together, Part 2: Brian Merriam Faces Death Valley

Brian Merriam is an artist and musician, currently devoting the majority of his time to film photography. Originally from upstate New York, he has resided in Brooklyn for the last 8...

In Your Words: Ralph, 12 Years Later

‘In Your Words’ explores the incredible stories we’ve received from Filson fans across the globe. Send us your own experiences with our clothing or product here for a chance to be...

One Week in Antigua with George Barnett

George Barnett’s Polaroid photographs recount tales as timeless and storied as the woods themselves. At only 20 years old, the Kentucky native offers furtive glimpses of not only the mystery...

Search for Golden Dorado by Brian McGeehan

Brian McGeehan is an outfitter and owner of Montana Angler Fly Fishing based in Bozeman, MT. Brian is also an avid international angler and leads annual trips to Argentina, Chile and...

5 Favorite Places to Camp with Jeff Thrope

Jeff Thrope of outdoor lifestyle blog, Cold Splinters, is always on the road looking for the next adventure and oftentimes the adventure finds him. His love and adoration for the...

Mikael Kennedy's 5 Favorite Places in America to Photograph

Photographer and adventurer, Mikael Kennedy, takes us on an insightful journey through his favorite places to photograph in the US. We’re biased to the Oregon coast, of course!I was asked...

How To's

How to Rent a Forest Service Cabin

If you’re looking for a vacation rental that is slightly more adventurous than usual, it’s worth looking into renting one of the USFS fire lookout towers or backcountry cabins. Learn...

How To's

What to Pack for a Backpack Fly Fishing Trip

Backpacking is a great way to re-familiarize yourself with the often-elusive feeling of spare time. With a little extra planning, you can turn a backpacking trip into a fly-fishing trip....

How To's

3 tips for Backcountry Preparedness with Coalcracker Bushcraft

Outdoor recreation provides an opportunity for people to learn and explore. It allows people to spend time with family and friends, view wildlife, and experience nature. These experiences however, could...

Captain Whidbey Inn

The Captain Whidbey was built in 1907 from logs and stone found on site by Chris Fisher and his son Edward. In the years since, it has served as a...

In Print: Claire Jenck's Road to the Ocean

Winter brings the best northwest waves. When friends find out I surf in Washington, they are usually incredulous. “No, what? In winter? But it’s so cold” they say. I should...

In Print: Eric Jackson's Snow, Surf and Steelhead

Eric Jackson is always ready for a challenge. You may recognize him from the massive hucks in his latest snowboarding film, Alignment. Or perhaps you’ve seen photos of him fly-fishing...

Jessie Allen: More Than Miss Wyoming

Gathering around a campfire, fifteen women join for dinner. We spent the day riding horses to a secluded, high-alpine lake where we practiced yoga, fly fished and hiked to a...

After Wildfire

A bike-pack fishing trip through a scorched landscape was not the trip that Ashlee thought she was going to take - but the things she saw and the experience she...

Celebrating the National Parks Centennial: Elliot Ross and the Range of Light

Elliot Ross is a New York City based freelance photographer. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, his interest for the photographic medium, for far flung places, and for observing the effects of...

Behind the Book: Elliot Anderson Dreams of the Iditarod

Born in the heart of dairy farming country, Elliot Anderson (better known as "El"), was raised hunting, trapping and fishing in the north woods of Wisconsin. El’s father David imparted...

Life As A Merchant Marine with John Dunaway

With oceans that refuse to relinquish any of their might regardless of our technological advances, the modern sailor continues to face the same elements which all that have sailed upon...

Northern British Columbia, The Alaska Highway & Weak Coffee: Roadtripping with Circa 1983

CIRCA 1983 is Owen Perry, a Canadian interactive designer and photographer by trade. Specializing in landscape and travel photography, Owen wants to create a sense of wonder about the natural...

Fire and Ice: 3 Months Traveling with Photographer Tanner Wendell

Tanner Wendell Stewart is a Seattle-based Emmy Award winning photographer, born and raised in the small town of Enterprise, Oregon. He moved to Seattle in 2006 to more fervently pursue...

Fly Fishing on the Outlaw Trail with Michael Cevoli

Photography by Michael Cevoli. Michael is a commercial and documentary photographer. A graduate with honors of both the bachelor’s and the master’s program at the Rhode Island School of Design,...

Fly Fishing Through the Winter with Justin Salem Meyer

Justin Meyer is a photographer based in Des Moines, Iowa.He explores trout fishing his home waters of Northeast Iowa year round.—There is a solitude found on the winter waters.The hustle...

How To's

Filson Field Guide: Spend a Weekend in the Olympic National Forest

One of Filson’s favorite destinations from Seattle is the Olympic National Forest, and with it the promise of old-growth hemlock and fir, as well as awe-inspiring and unbounded views of...

Explore the End of Summer: 4 Late Season Hikes in the Northwest with the WTA

Washington Trails Association is a member-supported nonprofit that works to protect trails and promote hiking in Washington through volunteer trail maintenance, education and advocacy, and inspiring the next generation of hikers. Learn...

Field Guide: Winter Steelheading on the Olympic Peninsula

Winter Steelhead are some of the most difficult and rewarding fish to search for, as weather conditions and swollen rivers with low visibility all stand between the angler and their...

Field Guide: Duck Hunting the Skagit County Coastline

A 3-hour drive from the Filson Headquarters in Seattle will put you knee-deep in slate-gray water throwing dry flies for Steelhead, forging through a marsh with duck decoys in hand,...

To The Top of Texas with Photographer Philip Anderson Edsel

Amidst the vast, monochromatic plains of West Texas, there rises up from of the arid earth a mountain range, seemingly out of nowhere. The Guadalupe Mountains span the border of...

Chasing Ghosts: Himalayan Snowcock Hunting in Nevada with Larry McKurtis

Larry McKurtis is a writer and amateur photographer living in Northern Nevada. He prefers sleeping in the dirt, pushing himself to delirious exhaustion, and getting to the marrow of the...

Reflections on a Northern Baja Quail Hunt with Sinuhe Xavier

Sinuhe Xavier is a commercial photographer and director invited to join the Director's Guild of America in 2008. When he is not telling stories for his advertising clients he can...

Camping at Enchanted Rock with Asher Moss

Camping in Texas is like camping in the fiery furnace of hell. Scorpions, spiders, red ants and mysterious creatures of the sky that appear as the sun drifts off to...

Filson Field Guide: Exploring Glacier National Park

Eric Bowley & Ben Schuyler are explorers of the Pacific Northwest. Eric currently devotes most of his time indoors to handcrafting silver spoon rings. Ben manages a coffee shop in...

Winter Camping in the Eastern Sierras with Farhad Samari

Farhad was born in Iran, raised in southern California, and lives and works in Los Angeles. His love for photography grew out of his interest in all things creative. His...

Behind the Scenes: Finback Films and the Story of Ed

Have you seen the feature fly fishing documentary Low & Clear? If so, you'll know exactly why it was hailed as 'the best fly-fishing movie ever made' by Field &...

Giving it All to the River: Fly Fishing the Sierras with Elias Carlson

The massive trout rose gently from a deep shadow between the boulders. A muscular shimmer in the green water. It seemed unconcerned with the unusual strength of the tiny nymph...

Aeolian: Sailing the Washington Coast with Jamie Swick

Jamie Swick, an outdoor and story-telling photographer specializing in film, calls Oregon home. A sailor, writer, and life-long woodswoman, her ethereal perspective on the natural world aims to capture quiet...

Exploring St John USVI with Overland Empire

Waking up at 2:30am to catch a plane isn’t exactly at the top of everyone’s list of things they want to do. But here we are, throwing our bags in...

Reflections on a Rhode Island Ramble: Fly Fishing with Forest Woodward

Forest Woodward grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. At the age of one he was fortunate to meet his best friend Jacob, and over the course of the...

How To's

New Arrivals

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Filson X Alaska Airlines

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How to Build and Use a Sling

The Pack Horses and Mules of White Pass Trail

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Mollie Walsh: The Angel of White Pass

National Forest Elemental Series: The Breath of a Nation

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A Life on the Water: Brett Fitzgerald and the Angler Action Foundation

Denali Damsels

Filson Food: Surf & Turf Alaskan Style

Discover the world of Filson

Filson X Alaska Airlines

Alaskan Musher: Lauro Eklund

Dos and Don'ts of Traveling in Rattlesnake Country

The Fire Inside: Photographer Kiliii Yüyan

Northwest Beaver Mechanics

Top Natural Hot Springs in the West

The Great Cascade Tunnel

A Guide to Overlanding the North Cascades

Shmulik Avital & Spiegel - The Hub of NYC’s Moto Community

Climber Fred Beckey: Spirit of the Mountains

Filson Moto Collection

How to Filson's Guide to Conifers of the Cascades

How to Avoid Attacks in Bear & Cougar Territory

Kate Mitchell - NOMAR

Leif Whittaker: My Old Man & the Mountain

Journey to the Yukon: Passage Aboard the Steamships from Puget Sound to the Far North

The Sinking of the SS Clallam

How to Read a Navigational Chart (the basics)

A Wanderer's View of Starved Rock State Park, Illinois

Matt Blodgett: Feet on the Ground and Hands in the Work

What is White Sands?

Mikael Kennedy's Filson Photo Diary

Brian McGeehan on Fly Fishing in Central Patagonia

Rhon Bell's Late Season Maine Camping Trip

Alone Together, Part 2: Brian Merriam Faces Death Valley

In Your Words: Ralph, 12 Years Later

One Week in Antigua with George Barnett

Search for Golden Dorado by Brian McGeehan

5 Favorite Places to Camp with Jeff Thrope

Mikael Kennedy's 5 Favorite Places in America to Photograph

How to Rent a Forest Service Cabin

What to Pack for a Backpack Fly Fishing Trip

3 tips for Backcountry Preparedness with Coalcracker Bushcraft

Captain Whidbey Inn

In Print: Claire Jenck's Road to the Ocean

In Print: Eric Jackson's Snow, Surf and Steelhead

Jessie Allen: More Than Miss Wyoming

After Wildfire

Celebrating the National Parks Centennial: Elliot Ross and the Range of Light

Behind the Book: Elliot Anderson Dreams of the Iditarod

Life As A Merchant Marine with John Dunaway

Northern British Columbia, The Alaska Highway & Weak Coffee: Roadtripping with Circa 1983

Fire and Ice: 3 Months Traveling with Photographer Tanner Wendell

Fly Fishing on the Outlaw Trail with Michael Cevoli

Fly Fishing Through the Winter with Justin Salem Meyer

Filson Field Guide: Spend a Weekend in the Olympic National Forest

Explore the End of Summer: 4 Late Season Hikes in the Northwest with the WTA

Field Guide: Winter Steelheading on the Olympic Peninsula

Field Guide: Duck Hunting the Skagit County Coastline

To The Top of Texas with Photographer Philip Anderson Edsel

Chasing Ghosts: Himalayan Snowcock Hunting in Nevada with Larry McKurtis

Reflections on a Northern Baja Quail Hunt with Sinuhe Xavier

Camping at Enchanted Rock with Asher Moss

Filson Field Guide: Exploring Glacier National Park

Winter Camping in the Eastern Sierras with Farhad Samari

Behind the Scenes: Finback Films and the Story of Ed

Giving it All to the River: Fly Fishing the Sierras with Elias Carlson

Aeolian: Sailing the Washington Coast with Jamie Swick

Exploring St John USVI with Overland Empire

Reflections on a Rhode Island Ramble: Fly Fishing with Forest Woodward

Tricks of the Trade: The 5 Best Travel Photography Tips with David Alan Harvey

Wagons West: Exploring Palo Duro Canyon with Tyler Sharp

Wooden Boat Building with Erin and Evan Walsh

Peter Marshall Sets Out to Retrace 1905 Historic Canoe Route

Pouring Down the Bourbon Trail with George Barnett

30 Years in Filson: A Musician's Story