Rich Landers

The golden rule of wildflower etiquette is the three words kids don’t want to hear: “Look, don’t touch.”

Editor’s note: This story originally ran in the Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, edition of The Spokesman-Review.

It’s showdown time: The Almighty and his cutest creatures versus me and my tomatoes. Buckle up.

Backlogs of maintenance and routes littered with massive numbers of toppled trees have dramatically decreased trails available for exploring the Pasayten Wilderness in Washington.

Signing up for an African wildlife safari is a big deal.

When the lions left a kill, circling vultures converged. When the elephants hid from the sun, the focus shifted to 12 species of larks to identify. At sunset, owls materialized. A birdwatcher’s binoculars have little down time in the African bush

Our 22-day wildlife safari in Botswana had started with frank talk about safety. Maun-based outfitter Johnny Ramsden (www.royalewilderness.com) and guide Pat Malatsi had warned us to be especially alert at water’s edge to avoid dangerous encounters with hippos and crocodiles. They also emphasized that elephants, hippos, lions, leopards, hyenas, lethal snakes and other critters could show up in camp at any time, especially at night. We had no guns or pepper spray.

The early-summer mega bloom of beargrass on the upper half of Mount Spokane State Park and throughout much of high mountain areas of northeastern Washington and North Idaho has been especially hard to ignore.

When I was hired by The Spokesman-Review in 1977, fishing and hunting dominated newspaper outdoor writers’ coverage nationwide. But the Pacific Northwest summoned the outdoors beat to an even higher level.

A 31-mile water route up Lake Pend Oreille stood out to stand-up paddleboarder Jason Hershey as a challenge reminiscent of the Hawaiian Islands where he used to live, work and play.