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alaska, gold rush, history, mule, pack animals, yukon
The Pack Horses and Mules of White Pass Trail
Corey forrest, Female Trailblazer, fishing, Mother's Day, trailblazer, trap fishing
Corey Forrest: Fishermom
alaska, gold rush, molly walsh, walsh, whites pass
Mollie Walsh: The Angel of White Pass
DIY, Profile
How to Kill, Cook, and eat dungeness crab
angler action foundation, brett Fitzgerald, fishing, florida
A Life on the Water: Brett Fitzgerald and the Angler Action Foundation
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Denali Damsels
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Filson Food: Surf & Turf Alaskan Style
43 Articles
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."...
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We Helped Restore a Forest Service Lookout Tower That Was Almost Consumed by Flames
A team of eager and passionate Filson employees, together with the National Forest Foundation, were wrapping up a restoration project at First Butte lookout tower, the fourth tower our team...
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White's Boots: 168 years of handmade tradition
Bootmaking is one of those occupations that, done properly, wears well over time for both the boot’s owner and the bootmaker. And in nineteenth-century America, this was a handcraft occupation,...
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Something Worth Saving: Fire Lookout Restored by Logging Town Community
As you climb up the tower steps, layers of jagged peaks within Washington’s Cascade Range emerge in every direction. Below, wild river valleys carve through the sea of forests around...
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What is an Estuarine Wetland?
An estuarine wetland is a brackish habitat where freshwater meets the saltwater. Estuaries contain nutrients and sediment from both the land and sea connecting the two and fueling an abundant...
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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...
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Bellingham to Alaska with Drifters Fish
In April 2020 the crew from Drifters Fish set off from Bellingham, Washington to Alaska - over a 3,500-mile journey - for the start of the annual salmon season. Read...
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Profiles
Lael Johnson - Olympic Peninsula Fly Guide
Lael Johnson is a fly fisherman and guide on the Olympic Peninsula. His passion for the anadromous fish of Washington’s coastal rivers is contagious. He loves these fish, these rivers,...
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Encounters with a Game Warden - Tales from the Field
As a vital, but often unseen, part of our outdoor landscape, game wardens are jacks-of-all-trades—part policeman, part researcher, part educator. They are the folks on the frontlines ensuring that the...
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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...
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Why the Skagit River Watershed Matters
Nothing feels small on the Skagit River. It emerges from the Cascade Mountains, the ridgelines rising suddenly and severely, compressing the landscape and framing the view with their immense, sharp...
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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...
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Profiles
Conservation Northwest: Keeping the Northwest Wild
For the 7.5 million residents of Washington state, most, if not all, have used or will use I-90 at some point. This interstate connects the two largest cities in the...
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Profiles
North Cascades: Bastion of the Wild
Sitting like stone guardians just below the Canadian border, the North Cascade mountains are keepers of the wildness that once roamed unchecked across North America. Soaring high into the skies,...
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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...
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Pacific Fishermen Shipyard: The Origins of Ballard’s Oldest Working Shipyard
Pacific Fishermen Inc., or “PacFish,” as it is known to the many boat builders, ship crews, employees, family members and stakeholders in the Ballard community, can be traced directly back...
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Profiles
Deep Sea Fishermen's Union
Back at the turn of the last century, a hardy group of men roamed the wooden docks of Seattle. Grizzled and gruff, they would spend days out on the unpredictable...
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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...
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Profiles
The Glaciers of the North Cascades
North Cascades National Park counts more than 300 glaciers along this northwestern spine of mountains—and that’s just inside the park boundaries. The North Cascades are the most glaciated place in...
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Profiles
Puget Soundkeeper: On the Water Every Week, Stopping Pollution Every Day
On any given day, Puget Soundkeeper’s boat patrol team can be seen monitoring the waters of Puget Sound for illegal pollution and activities that violate the health of our waterways....
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Profiles
WSDOT Ferries
Twenty thousand years ago, a glacier tall as six Space Needles whittled the valley between the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, leaving a complex inland seascape. The First Nations people who...
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Profiles
Seattle Maritime Academy - 50 Years of Training Seaworthy Mariners
Long before Seattle was a tech town, or even an aviation town, it was a maritime town. In fact, it still is. And although some brag that Seattle has more...
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Profiles
The Ocean's Top Predator: Puget Sound Orcas
Black fins sliced the water and rose higher and higher, close to our boat. With a puff and a blow, the orcas surfaced: members of J pod, the southern resident...
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A Day of Celebration: History of the Chittenden Locks
Started on September 1, 1911 and completed in 1916, the Hiram Chittenden Locks, alternatively called Seattle’s “Big Ditch,” or “Ballard Locks,” as they are commonly referred to today, helped make...
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Profiles
For the Love of Wooden Boats: Port Townsend's Shipwrights Co-Op
Southeast of Port Townsend is a gravel yard where large boats balance on blocks of wood and slender steel stands. Removed from the water, the vessels reveal pleasing, functional curves....
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The History of Ballard: The First 100 Years
Today, the neighborhood of Ballard is well known for its restaurants and atmosphere. However, the history of this Seattle hamlet is a story of industry, community, and entrepeneurship.
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The Oldest Continuously Running Sawmill in North America
Port Gamble was a gamble that paid off for 142 years as the longest continuously running sawmill on the North American continent. Like many logging towns, it faced boom years...
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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...
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70 Years of Seattle Mountain Rescue
Imagine for a moment you’re miles deep into your favorite backcountry and you’re unable to get out. It’s 1936. You’re using gear that today sits in vintage displays-- leather boots,...
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Cooper River Trail
Some of us like hiking and some of us like fishing; a lot of us like both. The Cooper River Trail is the perfect trail for those who like both....
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PNW Workers: Western Neon
If you've walked Seattle's streets after sundown, you've laid eyes on Western Neon's craftsmanship. Since 1985 they've put their radiant stamp on our booming town. Along with the logo and...
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Blue Heron Lodge: Forks, WA
“I love teaching folks how to appreciate the water; the ruggedness and beauty of the river are something special. I like to share with people a means by which they...
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Food & Recipes
Westland Distillery: Seattle's Source for Single Malt Whiskey
Seattle's Westland Distillery has made a name for itself by focusing on creating spirits that are a representation of it's Pacific Northwest roots. While much of whiskey in America trends...
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Family At Sea
Morgan Lohrey has been sailing for as long as she can remember. Suppose it to say that a sailing life has not been an unlikely outcome given that her father...
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Way of Life: Westcott Bay Shellfish Co.
Erik and Andrea Anderson greet us like old friends as we walk onto their dock stretching out into Westcott Bay off San Juan Island in Washington. As at any family-run...
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Trade Stories: Kiliii Yuyan of Seawolf Kayak
Seattle-based kayak-builder and photographer, Kiliii Yuyan, spends much of his time either paddling the waters of the Pacific Northwest or documenting indigenous communities of the North. His skills are helping...
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Guinevere's First Grouse: Learning to Hunt in the Olympic National Forest
Patrick Colleran has spent summers exploring the Wilderness of Oregon, Montana, and Idaho as a Wilderness Ranger and backpacking guide. Alison Riley is a former hiking and rafting guide who...
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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...
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Field Guide: Wingshooting in Central Washington with Red's Fly Shop
With sparse deserts and plains, sprawling coastal tidelands, and the only temperate rainforest in the contiguous United States, Washington is home to one of the most diverse climates of any...
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Wooden Boat Building with Erin and Evan Walsh
After growing up in the Midwest and meeting in sprawling Chicago, Erin and Evan Walsh yearned for a life that was more connected to nature. After finishing design school and...
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Behind the Cover: Filson Flies with Photographer Peter Sutherland
In early June, a small number of Filson employees boarded a float plane with a charter set for the remote lake community of Stehekin, Washington. Flying under the ceiling of...
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From Birmingham to Bellingham with Photographer Ryan Russell
Ryan Russell is a music photographer hailing from Birmingham, Alabama. Over the past 13 years, he's shot some of the biggest acts in rock including Paramore, Manchester Orchestra, Death Cab...
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Sheep Shearing in Western Washington with Nich Hance McElroy
Nich Hance McElroy is a photographer based in Vancouver, BC. Since 2010 he's owned and operated a small scale sheep shearing business in Western Washington, which takes him - along...
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