Pat Neal

PAT NEAL: The joys of summer fishing

IT’S SUMMERTIME AND the fishing is easy. The fishing might not be any better than in the winter, but it never snows in summer and… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The problem with cougars

ONE OF THE most popular questions that we in the trenches of the tourist industry routinely answer is, “Are cougars dangerous?” This is a perfectly… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Fire Season

IT’S THAT TIME of year we star gazers wait for. When we journey to the mountain tops to witness the best meteor shower of the… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The simple pleasures of camping

IT’S THE SIMPLE pleasures of camping that I enjoy most. There’s the smell of burning driftwood and watching the sparks from the fire shoot up… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Finding blackberry heaven

I THOUGHT I had died and gone to blackberry heaven. It all started when I fell into a hole in a brush-covered slash pit. This… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: A short history of fraud

WHEN VIEWED THROUGH the lens of history, today’s current events are no mystery. In last week’s column, we tore the dirty laundry from the seamy… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The New Carpetbaggers

THANK YOU FOR reading this. Sometimes I think if you didn’t read this ,no one would, but you do. I know this from all of… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Telling the truth to tourists

NOW THAT THE tourists are here, it’s easy to remember why there’s a season on them. The Olympic Peninsula is a recreational wonderland that encompasses… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Summertime search and rescue

IT WAS ANOTHER tough week in the news, but what do you expect? It’s summertime and the living is far from easy if you are… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: A major miracle happening now

THERE’S A MAJOR miracle happening now, and you won’t read about it anywhere but here. This incredible event happens yearly hereabouts, but it is not… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Bale bucking blues

DRIVING AROUND THE old hometown can make you feel old. Gone are the days when the food in our markets was raised just down the… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Survival of the wilderness pests

THIS IS A story about wilderness pests. It is told as a warning to others. I remember this disturbing episode like it was yesterday. Because… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The camas are blooming

THERE’S A LITTLE piece of history blooming now right along U.S. Highway 101, a few miles south of Forks. The camas are blooming. In 1806,… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The call of the Swainson’s thrush

THIS MUST BE my favorite time of year. We’ve emerged from hibernation and all danger of frost has passed. The birds have returned from the… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The Olympic Peninsula driving guide

THE SIGNS OF the season are everywhere. The roar of the lawn mower, the stench of burning charcoal and the seasonal spike in gas prices… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: We’re opening the Upper Hoh Road

OFTEN WHILE GLIDING along the paved roads of the Olympic Peninsula, you wonder at the difficulty of travel in this land before the age of… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: A family favorite skunk cabbage recipe

THE SKUNK CABBAGE is a swamp-dwelling harbinger of spring. Named for its distinctive aroma, the skunk cabbage can produce knee-high yellow flowers surrounded by a… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Fond memories of opening day

ONE OF MY many guilty pleasures is to look through copies of old newspapers as a way of looking backwards. For example, in a 1965… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: De-extincting our salmon

WHO SAYS THERE’S no good news? Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based company, announced the birth of three dire wolf pups that represent the world’s first “de-extinction.”… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: A homesteader’s journal

SPRINGTIME MUST BE my favorite time of year. When even though the days are getting longer, there aren’t enough hours in the day to get… Continue reading