Connect with WTA

Our website, wta.org is a place for you to find information about local green spaces, updates on trails and moments of joy and inspiration. We hope you can connect with each other and to us on our social channels. Read past trip reports or share your own with the community.

In Person Events    

Koma Kulshan Chapter Field Trip: Cryptogam Ramble
Anacortes
March 11, 2023
Join in on this Washington Native Plant Society hike at Sharpe Park. Please bring water, lunch, layers, and a hand lens if you have one. Please register in advance by emailing Fred Rhoades at: fmrhoades@comcast.net. Follow the link for further details on the trail.

Nature Photography Workshop
Leavenworth
March 12, 2023 — 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
This workshop will cover the fundamentals of making nature photographs and will provide you with the skills to make amazing images of what you love. While this workshop is geared toward novice photographers, all are welcome to attend to improve their photographic skill set. The course consists of instruction and guided practice on the grounds of the Wenatchee River Institute. Participants must bring their own camera, but any type of capture device may be used (point and shoot camera, DSLR, mirrorless, hybrid and even cell phones). Topics that will be covered during the course include basics of composition, exposure settings, light quality and making the most of your equipment. This workshop costs $50 for non-members,  and $40 for members. Use promo code "alpine" if you're a member.

Hiking with Kids
Puyallup 
March 25, 2023 — 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
Join this workshop to learn about seasonal hike suggestions and tips to keep your kids engaged on your next family adventure. You don’t need to give up on hiking when you have kids. Spending time outdoors with your little ones is a great opportunity to make memories, develop a real connection to the natural world and get exercise and fresh air. If you are looking for some help planning a family outing, we have you covered.

Virtual opportunities 

Hiker Rally Day 2023
Virtual
Mar. 14th, 2023 
Ninety percent of Washington residents use trails, and legislators need to know. On Hiker Rally Day, WTA will help you share how important trails are to you and everyone in Washington. You don’t need to be an expert in public lands policy – anyone can be an advocate. Join us to learn about current issues for trails, connect with other hiker advocates and meet with your legislators. 

Ongoing Activities

Walk With a Doc
Walk With a Doc is a global community where doctors go on short walks with patients and members of the public. Each walk kicks off with a short presentation on a health topic followed by a short walk through a local park. Currently these walks are virtual due to social distancing measures, but will return to in-person meet-ups as soon as it's safe to do so. Walks are held in Everett, Olympia, Yakima, Spokane and St. Helens Oregon. 

Personalized Outfitting with an REI Expert
Get expert advice from the comfort of your home with our virtual outfitters. Video chat with our team to get the next great piece of gear, advice for an upcoming adventure, or explore the possibilities of a new outdoor activity. Book a live appointment today and connect with our team right from your home. Appointments are available 7 days a week from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. PST. Free. 

Self-guided Forest Bathing
The Washington Park Arboretum has several great resources for visitors to practice forest bathing, an approach to mindfully enjoying nature. Learn about the practice, find resources and share your experience with others. 

Volunteer as an Adventure Scientist
Help collect tree samples for a database that will be used to catch illegal timber harvests. Volunteer hikers collect leaves, seeds and wood samples and send them in to be tested, then the timber industry is able to check the wood that comes through their mills against this data to determine if it was harvested from an area where logging is permitted. 

Participate in Bird Counts in Your Backyard or Beyond
Community science programs are central to the efforts of Audubon scientists. You, too, can be a volunteer scientist and help save populations of bird species around the world. Programs in which you can participate include Hummingbirds at Home, Christmas Bird Count, and the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Be a Citizen Archivist for the National Archive 
Add tags to photos from America's Scenic Byways to make this resource more searchable for the public. First you must register, then you can pick the type of archiving you want to do and get started. There are more opportunities here as well, like transcribing historical documents about the first U.S. roads and trails to be built in Alaska. 

Environmental Film Festival
Explore the collection of current and past festival films now available for streaming. The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF) is the world’s premier showcase of environmentally themed films.

They/Them
Patagonia’s new film They/Them is a documentary that follows climber and guide Lor Sabourin into the sandstone canyons of northern Arizona, on a journey to piece together one of the hardest and most inspiring routes of their life. By embracing the strength in vulnerability, Lor has found the space to thrive and build a climbing community that others like themself can call home.

Mapping Seattle's Historic Orchards 
Help identify historic fruit trees in your neighborhood that may be remnants of historic orchards. This project aims to identify and preserve these heirloom varieties still growing in Seattle. 

Living Snow Project
The Living Snow Project mobilizes volunteers to collect and submit samples of pink snow so researchers at Western Washington University can study the microbiome of creatures living in these environments. Anyone in the mountainous US can participate with a simple phone app and a sample kit that can be picked up or mailed to you. 

Story Time at the Miller Library
The Miller Library at UW's Botanic Garden presents monthly stories about gardens, plants and nature. Tune in anytime to watch a virtual reading of a new book each month. 

Monthly eBird surveys at Wenatchee River Institute
Join WRI's knowledgeable naturalists on a birding survey around the WRI Campus! eBird is the largest biodiversity-related community science project in the world. Participants will be utilizing it to record observations of local wild birds. Each event includes four 15-minute stationary bird counts for an hour of birding. Total walking distance is a half mile, over a gravel path with two moderate hills. All skill levels are welcome!

The Great Spokane Parks Challenge
Now through October 6, 2022
Visit 24 eligible parks by the deadline and document your trips for a chance to win a prize. The first 70 people to complete the challenge will receive a daypack, and a donation will be made on your behalf to the Parks Foundation. Register in advance. 

OTHER Local & Amazing hiking communities

• PNW Outdoor Womens Group
• Inland Northwest Hiker
• Washington Hikers and Climbers
• NW Hikers Forum
• Refuge Outdoor Festival
• The Venture Out Project
• TrailKat
• Snowshoe Mount Spokane
• Get Out Fest

We also keep a list of many other local meet up groups and networks. While you might not be able to connect in person, you might find their online community is someplace you'd like to spend some time.

Explore these accounts and podcasts

• by land podcast - Hunter and backpacker Emory Wanger began By Land as a way to share his personal journey in the outdoors so others can learn from his time in the field, and to bridge gaps between outdoor communities.
• Cascade Hiker Project podcast - inspiring you to get out on the trail. Interviews make the show feel like a radio channel dedicated to hikes and backpacks.
• Dirtbag Diaries podcast - Climb. Ski. Hike. Bike. Paddle. Run. Travel. Whatever your passion, we are all dirtbags. Outdoor writer Fitz Cahall and the Duct Tape Then Beer team present stories about the dreamers, athletes and wanderers.
• For the Wild podcast - an anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land-based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth and consumerism.
• Outdoorsy Diva - Traveler, foodie, outdoor lover, & single mom featured in Huffpo Travel, BBC Earth Podcast, and listed as one of the top Black travel bloggers on the planet. 
• Outside Voices - inspired by one idea: the outdoors belongs to all of us. We all have a relationship to nature, whether through hiking, gardening, sacred ceremony or gathering at the local park. We aim to celebrate and amplify those who don’t always see themselves reflected in the “Great Outdoors” narrative.
• She Explores podcast - interviews, in-the-field recordings and listener submissions make up a tapestry of episodes covering themes such as solo hiking and camping; entrepreneurship; aging; diversity, equity and inclusion; conservation; motherhood; chronic illness, and feminism as they intersect with outdoor experiences.
• The Joy Trip Project - James Edward Mills' ongoing search to discover how to lead a harmonious life in balance with the natural world and the rest of humanity. 
• THE WILD podcast - explores how nature survives and thrives alongside (and often despite) humans. Taking listeners across the Pacific Northwest and around the world, host Chris Morgan explores wildlife and the complex web of ecosystems they inhabit. He also tells the stories of people working in and protecting the wild around us.
• thewildpod on Instagram - Get back to nature with surprising stories of wonder and resilience from the world of wildlife with ecologist @chrismorganwildlife

If you have a suggestion for the Hiker Events Calendar, please email the details and a link to Nicole Masih-Theberge at nmasihtheberge@wta.org