CULTURE | DIGEST
OUTING COLVILLE NATIONAL FOREST 901 West Sprague Ave, Spokane | 509.227.7638 LOCATION:
BROADWAY CONCERT SERIES at THE BING
Tacoma Creek
DISTANCE FROM SPOKANE:
approx. 60 miles
All four show for $72
DATES: June 26-29 AVERAGE HIGH/LOW TEMPERATURE:
69/53 degrees
ELEVATION: 2,410 ft.
Tacoma Creek in the Colville National Forest.
D
on’t let the name fool you. Tacoma Creek is nowhere near the south Puget Sound city. The small mountain tributary runs through the Colville National Forest’s southeastern edge and drains into the Pend Oreille River. The primitive (read: no potable water and no toilets) Tacoma Creek camping area, slightly northwest of the tiny town of Cusick, Wash., is a convenient hour’s drive from North Spokane. This particular weekend’s excursion was more wet than dry, with rainstorms seeming to burst out of nowhere — drenching our meadow campsite in minutes — so being prepared with tarps, ponchos and waterproof footgear was critical to camper morale. When it wasn’t pouring, there were plenty of nearby hiking and ORV
CHEY SCOTT PHOTO
trails to explore, but our preferred mode of transportation was mountain bike. On one of these occasions, my companion and I were stopped dead in our tracks at the sight of a smaller — perhaps a juvenile — black bear peeking over a stand of bushes at the edge of the trail, about 15 yards ahead (Pro tip: after waiting a moment, we pedaled back to our campsite singing the opening credits to Game of Thrones at the top of our lungs to frighten away any others.) Just up the access road from our campsite, the small Sportsman’s Pond proved to be a consistent moose locale. At one point two adults and a calf sloshed through the still waters together. With nature all around, our stay at Tacoma Creek was a refreshing break from the city grind. — CHEY SCOTT
For Your Consideration
TAKE IT ALL IN!
BY CHEY SCOTT
PRESENTED BY
BLOG | From the time I was old enough to stand on a chair and hold a rolling pin, baking has been my No. 1 calling in the kitchen. Specifically, baking cookies. So when I recently discovered the baking blog SALLY’S BAKING ADDICTION (sallysbakingaddiction.com) while searching for a new cookie recipe, it seemed like fate. If only a balanced diet consisted of eating baked goods for every meal… With hundreds of original recipes for breads, muffins, snacks, cakes, pies, bars (lots of the creations are “healthy,” glutenfree or vegan) and the occasional non-sweet treat, the most ambitious baker wouldn’t run out of new goodies to try for months. Aside from her blog, baker Sally McKenney also published a cookbook by the same name.
BOOK | There are more than a dozen varieties of buttercup flowers growing in the Pacific Northwest, but do you know which variety grows here? It depends on where, but the most common variety in Eastern Washington is ranunculus glaberrimus, or the sagebrush buttercup, according to the intuitively organized and comprehensive WILDFLOWERS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, a field guide to regional flora by Mark Turner and Phyllis Gustafson. Containing entries for 1,220 wild, flowering plants across Washington, Oregon and parts of Northern California, it’s an outdoor guide that comes in handy wherever you’re exploring. Plants are easily organized by blossom color and then number of petals, and each entry contains a color photo, range map and description.
BEAUTY | After discovering the locally made skin-care line ORANGE THYME, I just might toss out all the commercial lip products I’ve stashed everywhere. Orange Thyme’s allnatural, hand-poured balms come in a variety of delightful flavors, like creamsicle, rosemary mint, cherry gingerale, huckleberry and orange clove. The balms are scented with food-grade flavorings, which means you’ll be craving (in a good way) whatever flavor you’ve got on all day. The brainchild of Rachel O’Brien, Orange Thyme was featured at the recent Bazaar arts market, and has a weekly booth at the Emerson-Garfield Farmers Market, as well as an online store, shoporangethyme.com. Aside from lip balm, the company also offers a tantalizing array of soaps, scrubs, lotions and body butters.
Tickets at Ticketswest.com and 1-800-325-Seat
JULY 10, 2014 INLANDER 39