Do you already have a wish for your outdoor activities in 2026? In this column three years ago, I proposed to toss the word “resolution” in favor of “wish” (“Make a Wish Instead of a Resolution,” Jan. 5, 2023). While both require some work on our part, making a wish offers a more positive perspective. […]
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No More Falls!
A journey to increasing bone strength Though I wasn’t very physical as a kid, I became an “adult-onset” lover of fitness in my 20s, and have enjoyed walking, running, hiking and exploring the outdoors ever since. So in 2017, when I was diagnosed with osteoporosis, I couldn’t believe it. Two years later, I fell and […]
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Listers and Big Years
One of the best films of 2025 was a documentary you’ve probably never heard of (unless you’re a birder). It’s Listers, a low-budget gem that raced through the birding community like suet through a Downy Woodpecker, though you don’t have to be a birder to enjoy it. The film, which takes its name from the […]
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The Titaneer
It’s still dark when I reach the trailhead at Jedediah Smith Redwoods. I’d hoped to be the first person at the Grove of Titans before dawn, but a single Subaru beat me to it. On the trail, in the blue-gray light, I spot a man moving mindfully along the trail with a trash picker in […]
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The Ocean Is Coming: King Tides Offer Preview of Rising Seas
The highest King Tides of the year arrived in Humboldt County this week, offering both a spectacle and a warning. Unlike waves or swell, which are wind-driven, tides are the daily rise and fall of the ocean, created by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. They become “King” tides when the sun, moon, […]
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Spore’s the Merrier as the Mushroom Fair Turns 47
The 47th annual Mushroom Fair at the Arcata Community Center on Sunday attracted another packed house of fungi fanatics or mycophiles (lovers or devotees of mushrooms), foragers or mycophagists (persons who actively seek out and gather mushrooms for food), and mycologists (mycology is the scientific study of fungi). There also might have been a mycotoxicologist […]
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Luke Lemke Builds a Legend
After missing two weeks dealing with an injury, Luke Lemke stood under the overhang of the snack shack on a rainy night at McKinleyville High School. The junior varsity game was finishing up, and he was getting ready for his much anticipated — and needed — return to the field. His team the Arcata High […]
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Haunted Houses for Halloween
Editor’s Note: The North Coast Journal’s editorial staff would like to thank haunted house enthusiast Amber Saba for touring and scoring the local scare scene so we could cower in the safety of our newsroom. Below are her findings. Griffin Loch’s Scream-a-torium at the Scaregrounds Humboldt County Fairgrounds Thursday, Oct. 30, andFriday, Oct. 31, from […]
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Redwood Coast Music Festival
Last weekend marked the 33rd year of the Redwood Coast Music Festival in Eureka. The event evolved a long way from its original Dixieland jazz era into what organizer Mark Jansen describes as “a musician’s festival where players collaborate with each other and one that they all want to come to.” “The musical focus of […]
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North Country Fair Rising
“Rise Up!” was the theme for the free and family-friendly 51st annual North Country Fair on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 20 and 21, at the Arcata Plaza. The fair’s organizers said the theme was a reminder “that as a community we can work together to celebrate and advocate for a healthy environment, a vibrant alternative […]
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Riding All the Way
Three years ago, when I wrote about cycling from the Crannell Road exit of U.S. Highway 101 to the end of the Humboldt Bay Trail (“Cycling Along the Water,” March 10, 2022), I was not optimistic about being able to ride past the “End of Trail” sign in the foreseeable future. It wasn’t because I […]
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Birds of the Sea(sick)
A few weeks ago, I learned two very import things. First, the vast Pacific Ocean is home to numerous unusual and wonderful bird species. Second, they belong out there. I almost certainly do not. But when you’re on a quest to see at least 300 bird species in Humboldt County in a single year, at […]