There is no place on Earth like the Columbia Gorge! And if you are looking for a great hike in the gorge, be sure to check out Friends of the Columbia Gorge.

Friends regularly leads hikes in the Gorge in the spring and fall. They include easy strolls, strenuous climbs, fun scrambles, and moderate hikes. Many hikes have a wildflower, natural history, or geology focus. hiking season begins September 7 and will run through January. Please see our current schedule for more information. For a list of hikes we have led in the past, please see our hike archive. To register for a hike please click on the provided link under each listed hike and it will direct you to a online registration page.

At the coast there is the great Fort-to-Sea trail, and you should connect to the National Coast Trail Association http://www.coasttrails.org for more hiking at the coast.

Thanks to New York City Foundation member Del Miskie for alerting us to this great interview of Ed Norton, who talks about the HBO series he and Brad Pitt are doing based on Undaunted Courage. Thanks, too, to Bob Pawloski for finding the link! Enjoy.

"150 books, 200 years," a bibliography in honor of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, is now available at: http://www.secstate.wa.gov

The Governor-appointed Washington Lewis and Clark Trail Committee, the Washington State Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, and the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, have partnered to produce this bibliography. It is the third bibliography the three partners have produced in honor of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. The final bibliography will encompass the two hundred most significant books published about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Copies or reprints of nearly all the titles are available via interlibrary loan from the Washington State Library.

The Boy Scouts were amazed at the strong response they had to the Lewis and Clark Awards Program. More than 800 boys earned the top award based partly on completing the levels of difficulty with rafting the Clearwater River in Idaho as the most difficult challenge.