Sunny Brae residents Natalia Collier and Adam Brown know this trail. Up Buttermilk Lane, past the middle school and left onto Margaret, where a large army-green water tank marks the trailhead and a concrete staircase on the right rises into the Sunny Brae portion of the Arcata Community Forest. Collier, Brown and their dog Casey […]
Outdoors
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Catching Air
On a blustery, gray Sunday afternoon, a cluster of trucks parked at the Table Bluff overlook. Undaunted by the chilly wind (in fact, cheered by it), several people hoisted awkwardly sized backpacks to the end of the bluff. From these packs, they unfurled yards of ripstop material and strands of Kevlar. They adjusted their gear […]
Posted inBest Of Humboldt
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 2013
Editor’s Note: Runners up are listed only if they garnered 50 percent or more of the winner’s total votes. Best Live-Music Venue WINNER: Arcata Theatre Lounge RUNNERS UP: Humboldt Brews, Arcata Playhouse Best Place to Shoot Pool WINNER: Toby & Jack’s RUNNERS UP: The Logger Bar, Rose’s Billiards Best Karaoke WINNER: Blue Lake Casino Wave […]
Posted inBest Of Humboldt
Bonus Round! 2013
Ah, the “bonus” category. Let us be very clear: Bonus does not imply “non-essential.” Rather, these are the things that get at the very essence of a truly Humboldt experience. We think you voters did a pretty good job capturing that in your replies — with a couple of gauche exceptions. (Wedding Rock. Really?) Without […]
Posted inNews
Bears Repeating
Annette Graebner is reinforcing the French doors in her Honeydew home with plywood. Last January she returned from town to find the refrigerator ripped open, kitchen cabinets torn apart and broken glass covering the floor. An urban dweller would suspect a burglar. Graebner knew right away that it was a bear. “After I cleaned up […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Buggin’
Yes, eating insects is disgusting. Not the actual eating part — I had some fried grasshoppers in Laos that were, well, sublime is not an overstatement. But I didn’t have to cook them. Cooking insects is a whole other barrel of fish, to mix metaphors. But the brave new world of entomophagy is all the […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Surfing with Sharks
If you want to learn to surf, you’ll find ideal conditions at Shelter Cove. The small, predictable, mellow waves that meet the crescent sweep of the cove are perfect for beginners, according to longtime surfer John Dowd. Since I’d never surfed before, it seemed like a great place to start. But first, surf conditions: You […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Great Deer Roundup
The hunger of deer is no greater than the fury of gardeners who seek to thwart the peaceful vegetarians. Just ask the Humboldt Botanical Garden’s deer wranglers, sturdy volunteers who scrambled up steep ravines, picked off bloodsucking ticks and nursed pokes and scratches from blackberry brambles in the great deer round up of 2005. While […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
In a World Without Humans
I’ve been intrigued by the tiny primates we call “tarsiers” ever since reading, long ago, a speculative essay in the now-defunct popular science magazine Omni that posed the question, “If humans hadn’t evolved, what other animal might have taken our ‘lords of the Earth’ top billing?” After considering the usual suspects — dolphins, bonobos, octopi […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Masochist, Meet ‘Peak Fun’
I met my husband on the Deschutes River, where we guided a group of (at-risk/delinquent) teens through rapids for a week. We measured the next four years of our courtship in miles of whitewater rafting, hiking and rock climbing. Initially it seemed so romantic, falling in love against a wilderness backdrop. But eventually, the unfortunate […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Next Time I’ll Try Skydiving
I hit 60 this past week, and my youngest daughter turned the ripe old age of 18 on the same day. To celebrate, and in my case, to prove that I was not nearly ready to kick the bucket, I suggested that we take on the zip line in the Arcata Community Forest. To my […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Good writers can be divided into two categories: recounters and listeners. Recounters make you want to hear their story. Listeners make you feel like you’re reading your own. Cheryl Strayed is a listener. Her immensely popular advice column, “Dear Sugar,” resounds with empathy, wisdom and universal positive regard. Reading her gentle words, you often feel […]