Ashford News

Ashford, Wash.- Pressing my right boot into the snow, I anchored its 10 metal spikes like sprinter's cleats in the blocks.

Although it's late in the season, there are still plenty of opportunities to see the fall leaves in their full colorful glory.

Although it's late in the season, there are still plenty of opportunities to see the fall leaves in their full colorful glory.

Get out the buckets; it's huckleberry time in the mountains of Western Washington.

While flowers might be past their peak at Sunrise, this is time to see them at their most colorful at Paradise.

While flowers might be past their peak at Sunrise, this is time to see them at their most colorful at Paradise.

The Emmons Glacier approach to the summit of Mount Rainier, Wash., is shown above Camp Schurman on June 14.

Sometimes it seems as if half the hiking population in Western Washington has taken to the hills.

When New York filmmaker Ryan Sands came to Ashford last year for the Rainier Independent Film Festival, he had had writer's block for a year.

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest's high-elevation campgrounds, such as Takhlakh Lake, Olallie Lake, Chain-of-Lakes and Walput Lake, are scheduled to open by late June.