This week we have a special preview of Mossback, a companion podcast to the popular Mossback’s Northwest video series that airs on KCTS 9. The Mossback podcast digs deeper into the topics that fans want to know more about from the current season of Mossback’s Northwest. Hosted by Sara Bernard, each episode of this series will feature an interview with Mossback, Knute Berger, about one episode of the video series. The podcasts will provide stories and factoids that were left on the cutting...

Peter Rainier never set foot on this continent. Some tribal members suggest giving a more fitting name for Washington’s tallest peak. For the very first episode of Crosscut Escapes, we told a story about a mountain. Not just any mountain — the mountain. You know the one. It’s the biggest in the state, the one you can see from Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima and sometimes even farther away. You also know the name. It’s on beer cans, baseball stadiums, plumbing companies, street signs and beaches....

Ted Alvarez thinks birding is boring. But with so much interest in it now, he decides to investigate. The Pacific Northwest is a haven for thousands of bird species, from sage grouse to bald eagles to common finches. Many impressive migrations take place every year. And the enthusiasts who love spotting all these birds can be very enthusiastic.  Birding draws obsessives; there are bird societies, events and even competitions. But you know who really doesn’t care about all this? Crosscut...

Professor Steven Clark is on an ongoing quest to find a rare daisy that helps us understand the intricacies of evolution. Professor Steven Clark spends his days bushwhacking brushy trails until they turn into rocky scrambles, then vertical cliffs. It’s arduous work in service of a unique goal. He’s searching for the Columbia Gorge daisy, a rare flower that only grows in the trickles of water and tiny pockets of dirt in the wet, cliffside crevices of the Columbia River Gorge. You may or...

To find the mythical beast, members of the Olympic Project first analyze the evidence. Bigfoot, Sasquatch or whatever your favorite nickname; this giant, apelike cryptid is cemented in the minds of many Americans — and nowhere is that more true than in the Pacific Northwest, where reports of strange things afoot in the woods are relatively common. The beloved legend has given rise to enthusiasts galore, but it has also helped create a different kind of Bigfoot buff: one that takes a more...

Wild mushroom foraging can be deadly. But in a region crammed with thousands of edible species, it’s fiercely beloved. With its plentiful moisture and forest cover, the Pacific Northwest is home to some of the greatest proliferations of wild mushrooms in North America. Many people are inspired to hunt for them, but there’s a fine line between delicious and deadly. In Northwest forests, for instance, you can stumble upon beloved gourmet varieties, like morels and chanterelles, but also...

For outdoor adventurers, search and rescue teams provide a critical service, often for free — and it all started in Seattle. For outdoor adventurers in Washington state, potential trouble can be just a few steps away. The combination of topography, weather, glaciers, avalanches and technical ascents in the state's craggy peaks mean that even the most careful hikers can find themselves in danger. Most of them are lucky enough to never need outside help. But for those who do, mountain...

In this special episode, we speak with the director of the UW Climate Impacts Group about the ways that outdoor recreation is changing and what can still be saved. For a long time, climate change was more of a theoretical threat for many people. While certain events would underline the threat the scientists were warning the world about, they were rare enough that it was possible to ignore or quickly forget about the dangers ahead. That is becoming more and more difficult to do now as...

The adventure begins August 31, 2021. Host Ted Alvarez returns with six new episodes that will take you to the wildest places in the Pacific Northwest with the people who know them best. 

The shrub-steppe ecosystem may seem boring, but it is essential to the survival of grouse, orcas and people. When people think about Washington’s beautiful natural landscapes, most envision serrated mountain ranges, dense forests or perhaps the wild waves on the coast.  But historically, the ecosystem that has taken up more of the state than any other is one many have experienced only as a beige blur from the window of a car or airplane. This collection of rolling yellow hills, gray and...

Few rivers define a region like the Columbia, where tribal scientists are making headway in bringing back its most important species: salmon. Since time immemorial, the Columbia River ha been a food source, a dividing line and a driver of culture and politics throughout the Pacific Northwest. And since humans have lived on it, we’ve sung about it — from Native hymns to Woody Guthrie’s “Roll On, Columbia.” Ever since white settlers first came west, people have gone from relying on its...

Oceanographer Scott Veirs shows us how to listen for whales in Puget Sound, identify their signature sounds and maybe help save them. If Puget Sound has an animal celebrity, it’s the orca — specifically, the southern resident population of killer whales. About 70 individuals divided into three family groups, or pods, make their home in our waters for large parts of the year. Fans from all over the world follow every movement of the southern residents; they mourn every whale death; they...

During the pandemic, more people are spotting animals slinking around the neighborhood. It’s no secret that Washington state is home to many charismatic carnivores — wolverines, bobcats, cougars and bears (oh my!). But it might come as a surprise that plenty of them live in our backyards, literally. For years, healthy populations of coyotes, raccoons, bobcats and otters all have resided within Seattle city limits, while cougars and black bears haunt the suburbs and exurbs (though...

In 2005, Gordon Hempton made a single spot within the Hoh Rain Forest famous for its serenity. But now it’s noisier than ever. For outdoor enthusiasts, Olympic National Park offers a smorgasbord of ecosystems: rocky peaks, driftwood-strewn beaches and high-mountain meadows filled with wildflowers and bears. But its rain-fed temperate rain forests host some of the biggest trees in the world.  The Hoh Rain Forest captured audio ecologist Hempton’s imagination for its serene quiet, free from...

Mt. Rainier’s roiling innards make constant noise — and by listening, geologists can tell what kind of mood it's in. Looming on the horizon like a holographic ice cream cone (when we can see it), Mt. Rainier draws eyes skyward everywhere in Puget Sound. But fear mingles with our fascination: Is it going to blow? And if so, when? Thankfully, ‘The Mountain’ is one of the most monitored volcanoes in the world, and geologists can decode what’s happening with Rainier in part by isolating the...

Coming January 5, 2021. Crosscut Escapes asks big questions about what makes the region tick — and visits the wildest, most unique places to find answers.