High Country News March 18, 2013
Feature
Field notes from a solo paddle in Alaska’s Inside Passage
A journalism professor kayaks alone for nearly 1,000 miles, dealing with difficult seas, icebergs, orcas and bears.
Secret getaways of the National Landscape Conservation System
A desert hiker finds a lot to like in little-known Bureau of Land Management gems.
Current
Visitors to public lands seek different experiences than in the past
With demographic shifts, trendy activities like wildlife viewing and kayaking are increasing faster than traditional activities like hunting and backpacking.
Volunteering provides a special experience in national parks
Retirees and interns donate millions of hours in national parks, and get to know the parks intimately.
Tribal casinos expand and go upscale
To attract more customers and revenue, many Western tribal casinos are adding resort hotels, golf, spas and fancy restaurants.
Strolling San Francisco with a special guidebook to street trees
“The Trees of San Francisco” walks you through a unique urban forest that has hundreds of species from around the world.
A photographic journey through Montana’s vanished towns
When a state tries to erase towns from the official highway map, a lot is at stake.
Editor's Note
Travel, HCN-style
Editor’s note for HCN’s second annual special issue on travel in the West describes some quirky personal trips.
Dear Friends
HCN takes a break
The next issue of HCN will be out April 15; reprint of corrected mountain lion deaths chart
Essays
Kids in the backcountry: The earlier, the better
A father understands what’s gained by taking his kids deep into the backcountry again and again as they’re growing up.
Westerners love erotic landscapes
The Western landscape is full of arousing features.
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