Indian hellebore is one of the most violently poisonous plants on the Northwest Coat, a fact recognized by all indigenous groups. This plant was, and still is, highly respected, for even to eat a small portion of it would result in loss of consciousness, followed by death. It is sometimes known as ‘skookum’ root, the [...]
Yesterday I headed out to Monte Cristo for a quick night out. I was in this area last fall when I visited Gothic Basin, but had not continued all the way down the main trail to the town site. Monte Cristo is an old mining town that was founded in the 1890s and lasted until [...]
The Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness in the Umatilla National Forest is a remote section of the Blue Mountains located in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. This past week I did a loop of about 60 miles in the Wilderness. I arrived at the Panjab trailhead in the Tucannon canyon at around 3PM on Saturday. The plan for [...]
I’ve been using Obenauf’s products on my boots and other leather products since last spring and have been constantly pleased with the results. Though I’ve replaced their White Jaguar Leather Cleaner with my standard Dr. Bronner’s soap that I use to clean everything else, their oil and leather preservative are great products. A couple days [...]
A lazy day of doing not much of anything sometimes makes me feel guilty. It requires that some evening activity take place — something which gives one the satisfactory feeling of accomplishing something of use during the block of waking hours. Today I chose to spend the evening in the woods. I thought I might [...]
A friend asked me which herbs I have in my kitchen right now. Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) Nettle (Urtica dioica) Peppermint (Mentha piperita) (not pictured) St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) I’ve also got an Echinacea tincture and locally wild-crafted Oregon Grape tincture in the [...]
A stye is a sort of pimple on the eyelid, caused by a bacterial infection at the root of the eyelash. The common treatment for the infection is applying a hot compress to the area, which encourages the stye to drain. I had a small stye on the inside of my lower left eyelid last [...]