Hi and welcome to North Idaho! I’m Laura and I love to be outside. I enjoy hiking, camping, skiing, snowshoeing and exploring with my husband, daughter and son. I love exploring North Idaho and the rest of North America.
There are so many things to discover in nature and I’m here to help you connect with nature on a deeper level and explore the curiosities of nature.
This website is all about the outdoors, whether local outdoor news, understanding nature, or ways to explore nature, from North Idaho to the rest of North America (I’m particularly fond of the western and northern sections).
I graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences, with an emphasis in geology and biology. I then decided to become an outdoor writer and completed the North American School of Outdoor Writing.
I started sharing my discoveries in 2009 when I began writing an outdoor column for my town’s weekly newspaper, the Bonners Ferry Herald. Since my first column on turtles I’ve written over 300 columns and have also written articles for Montana Outdoors, Backwoods Home magazine, BackHome magazine, The River Journal and Sandpoint Magazine.
If you have a topic which you’d like explored, please comment below or contact me on the Contact Me page.
Wishing you happy adventures!
Wow, Laura! This is great……you did a fantastic job setting your website up.
Thank you!
Very awesome, great job Laura
Nice website Laura. Maybe you could help us with a north Idaho waterfall segment for Outdoor Idaho.
Hi John, I would be glad to help. Sorry for the delayed response.
I just came across your blog Laura and love it. I live in New Hampshire and started a blog a couple years ago titled “Nature’s Garden Naturally” (NGnaturally@blogspot.com) so your name caught my eye. I see that you are taking some time off from your blog, but there is plenty of content for to catch up on for a while. Your children are only young once, so I can certainly understand the importance of spending time with them. My husband and I hope to visit Idaho next spring and may consider relocating there. I plan on doing a lot of research this winter, using your blog as one tool.
Great source of useful information about nature in these parts. Thank you for doing this
Art
Thank you. I enjoy researching and writing about nature.
Hi Laura,
I just discovered your blog and love it! Are you still writing?
Thanks! I’m currently not writing but hope to in the future. Enjoy!
You are providing a wealth of information on a wide variety of subjects. I’ve seen your reading list — which is good — but wondered about your educational background?
Hi Art,
I studied at the University of Alaska Anchorage and earned a Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences. My focus areas were biology and geology.
Thanks for reading my website.
Laura
Thank you Laura for sharing the beauty of nature as you see it.
Please post your articles on Facebook page
“North Idaho Wild Edibles and Medicinals”.
Thank you for the suggestion!
Hi we just moved to northern Idaho. Do you know of any places where I can find some groves of aspen trees?
Welcome! There are aspen groves at Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge.
Laura
Hi Laura,
Can you contact me about permission to use your photo of the Purcell Trench? I would like to use it in a published article.
Thanks!
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your interest. I will be in touch via email.
Thanks,
Laura
We recently set up a feeding station and have recorded over 20 species, a wonderful variety of birds!! Then the swarm of Pine Siskins moved in and all other species have left, HELP!!! Any advice????
How wonderful to see so many species! I would suggest setting up multiple feeders around your house like one in your front yard and one in your back yard to space them out. Maybe try different types of feeders. I’ve enjoyed watching pine siskins before and they preferred my open platform feeder versus my hanging feeder. Or try a different type of seed in each feeder and see if they prefer one and not the other. Hope these suggestions help!
Laura
Hi there, Our family loves picking wild huckleberries but we would like to expand our family hikes and find other edibles to pick. Any chance you know of locations for wild blackcaps, elderberries, currants, cranberries, etc?
I happily read you 2015 post about lichens in the Pacific northwest. Do you know of a lichenologistin North Idaho? I would surely love to have a “local” resource for learning and identification.
My grandfather, John Hugh Jones, was a mining engineer on the Eileen Dam project. He lead the construction of a coffer dam above the dam sight. On 6/1/1923 heavy rain took that dam out and J. Jones died in an attempt to save the project. I have looked and wondered where that dam was located specifically. Do you know or have sources to point me to. Thank you, Tim Jones Spokane, WA
Hi Tim,
Thanks for sharing a piece of history about your grandfather. If you google “Eileen Dam Boundary County Idaho”, Google Maps gives an accurate location of the dam. The small Moyie River Road on the east side of the railroad tracks can be muddy and full of ruts, so I’ve had to park closer to the railroad tracks and walk in. There is an unmaintained footpath down towards the dam.
Here is a link to old newspaper clippings compiled by the Idaho Geological Survey about Eileen Dam: https://www.idahogeology.org/Uploads/Data/MineDocs/SA0058_116.pdf . The Boundary County Museum curator and volunteers are also very knowledgeable about our local history (I’ve asked them questions on several occasions).
Good luck,
Laura
Hi Laura: Your website is like a breath of fresh air to me. Back in the mid 1950s I worked for three summers in the BRC program in the panhandle in camps north of Sandpoint. I’m a bit long in the tooth now, but think of those days with much satisfaction. I suspect those camps are long gone but they’re still on my mind.
Thanks for sharing such wonderful memories!
thanks mom