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Home » Blog

Hiking Humboldt Volume 1

August 21, 2023 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

The book will arrive in Humboldt the last week of August 2023 FREE eBook with paperback purchase until September 2023 Primeval forests harboring the world’s tallest trees. Sea cliffs, pristine beaches, and towering coastal sand dunes. Mountain prairies, meadows, and vistas. Rivers, lakes, lagoons, and bays. Bears, elk, seals, otters, and birds galore. And solitude […]

Backcountry Press Hat

June 29, 2023 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

Enjoying wildflowers while wearing Backcountry Press hat

Our NEW HAT* wants to join you for: Embroidered on a super comfy, soft-banded, foam-front trucker hat. *We hope you enjoyed our best attempt at the Backcountry Press version of a J. Crew catalog description.

California Book Award Gold Medal

May 20, 2023 by Backcountry Press 3 Comments

California Book Award Gold Medal

ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARDS The Selection Process Each year, The Commonwealth Club receives hundreds of books from California authors for award consideration. Thier dedicated jury spends several months assessing each entry, narrowing down the many submitted works to a group of finalists and finally the medalists themselves. Types of Awards The California Book Awards […]

Hiking Humboldt KIDS Released

May 5, 2023 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

Bay Laurel at Southern Humboldt Community Park by Josh Bennett.

This exciting new book, created to get kids and families outside exploring the natural wonders of Humboldt County, is now a reality. Hiking Humboldt Kids by Rees Hughes is the next book in the “Hiking Humboldt Series,” and is the result of a dynamic collaboration between Backcountry Press and First 5 Humboldt.  First 5 is […]

Birds of the Klamath Mountains

March 23, 2023 by Bella Fratkin 4 Comments

The Klamath Mountains are home to vast populations of bird species. This is due to diverse habitats including riparian corridors, coniferous forests, oak woodlands, chaparral, meadows, and rocky cliffs. Over 350 bird species call the Klamath Mountains home for some portion of their life. Many of the bird species found in the Klamath Mountains are […]

Webcast: The Natural History of the Klamath Mountains

February 15, 2023 by Backcountry Press 2 Comments

Take a journey through the biotic and abiotic wonders that define the Klamath Mountains and one of the most unique mountain ranges in North America. Ecologist and author Michael Kauffmann takes us on across the range based on his new book about the range that spans northwest California and southwest Oregon. We explore a variety […]

Greed and Destruction: Klamath Mountains Mining History

February 10, 2023 by Bella Fratkin 9 Comments

The Klamath Mountains are second to the Sierra Nevada in gold abundance in California. This abundance was, unfortunately, met by the festering greed of gold miners who lacked respect for the land and the First Peoples who resided there at the time of first contact. While there were laws for mining, the miners often disregarded […]

Cultivating Place

January 28, 2023 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

Cultivating Place

A Podcast Interview with Jennifer Jewell This week Jennifer Jewell, with the Cultivating Place Podcast, interviewed Michael Kauffmann and Justin Garwood. Michael and Justin have spent the better part of the last decade curating and editing a cohort of 32 additional expert contributors to a new, and really the first, comprehensive natural history of the […]

Headline Humboldt

January 7, 2023 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

This week on Headline Humboldt, author Michael Kauffmann is in the studio to discuss his new natural history book of the Klamath Mountains.

SF Chronicle: Best Books of 2022

December 9, 2022 by Backcountry Press 6 Comments

We are proud to say that the San Francisco Chronicle has selected The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History as one of the best nonfiction books of 2022!

California’s Deserts

November 15, 2022 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

Desert environments have always held a fascination for many, their stark landscapes notwithstanding. At first glance these seemingly-lifeless landscapes are actually home to hardy woody shrubs and succulents with amazing adaptations to survive in harsh desert conditions. In California’s deserts, all this changes when the onset of winter rains bring carpets of brightly colored annuals […]

THE KLAMATH MOUNTAINS: A NATURAL HISTORY

August 31, 2022 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

Filled with mystery conjured by unparalleled biodiversity, the Klamath Mountains tell numerous stories of evolution and resilience shaped over long periods of time. Geology is the defining character of this range, with numerous smaller mountain ranges forming a jigsaw puzzle of big-shouldered river canyons and sharp ridgelines. Within the Klamath Knot, the geology also shapes […]

Plant Life in California’s Deserts

May 14, 2022 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

For the past 15 years, Philip Rundel, has been developing this book through his long-term relationship and travels in deserts of the Southwestern United States, northern Chile, and Southern Africa. His vision is now a reality. California Desert Plants: Ecology and Diversity is a new book written by Philip Rundel, Robert Gustafson, and Michael Kauffmann […]

MarineBio.Life Features Allison Poklemba

April 27, 2022 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

In this podcast Kara Muzia, an ocean enthusiast and marine biologist interviews Allison Poklemba. They dive into the wonderful world of seaweeds! Allison shares how plants have fascinated her from a young age, why her move across the country for university was the financially responsible choice, and how she incorporated both botany and herbalism into […]

Nature’s Archive features Michael Kauffmann

April 26, 2022 by Backcountry Press Leave a Comment

Michael Hawk, the creator of Nature’s Archive, featured Michael Kauffmann a few weeks back. They discussed the many things that make conifers such an amazing group of plants including their evolutionary history, what makes them different from other trees, and gives us a special look at the amazing diversity of conifers in his area – […]

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Trivia Challenge: Wildflowers of the Klamath Mountains

https://backcountrypress.com/podcast-player/21109/trivia-challenge-wildflowers-of-the-klamath-mountains.mp3

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 19:11 | Recorded on July 8, 2022

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>> Papoose Lake Revisited << In November 2008, I >> Papoose Lake Revisited <<

In November 2008, I made my first trip to Papoose Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. That trip inspired my first blog post, with much writing to follow.

This first post was more about geology than plants because of the unique geologic character of the Papoose Lake Basin.

This month, almost 15 years later, I returned to Papoose Lake to conduct vegetation surveys as part of our Klamath Mountains Vegetation Mapping Project.

In many ways the basin is the same but in others changes are afoot.

Keep reading at our LI N K for reflections on 15 years of blogging through the eyes of a Klamath Mountain lake basin.

- Michael @michael.kauffmann

“In all the years I have spent standing or sitting on the banks of this river, I have learned this: the more knowledge I have, the greater becomes the mystery of what holds that knowledge together, this reticulated miracle called an ecosystem.”

- Barry Lopez, The Naturalist

#foxtailpine #klamathmountains #trinityalps #californianativeplants #wilderness #changeistheonlyconstant
💥HOT OFF THE PRESS: Hiking Humboldt Vol. 1 (2nd 💥HOT OFF THE PRESS: Hiking Humboldt Vol. 1 (2nd edition)

58 DAY HIKES IN NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA

The 2nd edition of this favorite guide book is filled with Fresh Maps, Additional Hikes, & Stunning Photos:

• Primeval forests harboring the world’s tallest trees.

• Sea cliffs, pristine beaches, and towering coastal sand dunes.

• Mountain prairies, meadows, and vistas.

• Rivers, lakes, lagoons, and bays.

• Bears, elk, seals, otters, and birds galore.

• And solitude – lots and lots of solitude.

Humboldt County offers all this and much more to the intrepid hiker.

Hiking Humboldt Volume 1 by Kenneth M. Burton presents descriptions, directions, accurate maps (including elevation profiles), and photos of hikes that are 5-15 miles in length throughout Humboldt County, CA.

• • • • •
SALE ENDS 9/10: get the eBook for free with your paperback purchase from @backcountrypress 🙌
• • • • •

In the seven years since we published the first edition of “HHV1,” we have heard from all sorts of Humboldtians who use the book as a hiking challenge — a checklist to complete them all. We hope this 2nd new & improved edition inspires even more people to do the same. We’d love to hear about your adventures —  tag #hikinghumboldt!

Have fun out there,
Michael & Allison

📘 Pick up your copy at our L I N K or find it at your favorite local shop: @eurekabooks @booklegger_eureka @northtownbooks @eurekanaturalfoods @northcoastcoop @blakesbooksmckinleyville

(Be in touch if your shop would like to carry this title as well!)

#humboldtmade #madeinhumboldt #humboldt #humboldtcounty #eurekaca #arcata #trinidadca #ferndale #sohum #lostcoast #northerncalifornia
FRUIT FLY TRAP TEST (🪰couldn’t not nerd out o FRUIT FLY TRAP TEST
(🪰couldn’t not nerd out on this fruit season outbreak)

Was really rooting for the Pinguicula!!

(Just trying to protect the peaches, @neukomfamilyfarm! 🙏❤️)

#fruitflytrap #scienceiseverywhere #carnivourousplant #pinguicula #harvestseason
🏆 Champion Klamath Foxtail Pine! (🌲 Pinus b 🏆 Champion Klamath Foxtail Pine!

(🌲 Pinus balfouriana subspecies balfouriana)

In 2010, I first found this tree while backpacking through the Trinity Alps Wilderness in far northern California.

Just last week, thirteen years later, my 11 year old son Sylas and I returned with tools to officially measure and nominate this tree.

While points fell just short of the overall champion, it is the second largest foxtail pine known and the largest of the subspecies of the Klamath foxtail pine.

It measures 24’ circumference 84’ tall 44’ crown spread for 383 AF points.

(I know what you’re thinking, but that actually stands for American Forest points. 🙃)

Tap our L I N K for the full story and learn how to measure a tree.

Klamath foxtail pines exist above 6500’ in the Klamath Mountains, often on serpentine soils. Find the one spot in this region you can actually drive to one in our book Conifer Country.

Foxtail pines are relatives of the Great Basin bristlecone (Pinus longaeva) and Rocky Mountain bristlecone (Pinus aristata). However, foxtail pines are endemic to California’s Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains. 

The best way to see this species is to hike to them. This particular tree required my son and I to do a 30 mile backpacking trip. It was full of wonder and beauty!

- @michael.kauffmann 

#foxtailpine #pinusbalfouriana #klamathmountains #conifers #conifercountry #californianativeplants #endemic #serpentine #pnw #pnwonderland #backpacking #trinityalps #wilderness #likefatherlikeson #treemagic #bigtree
🤩🎉🤩 You’re looking at the @northcoastjo 🤩🎉🤩 You’re looking at the @northcoastjournal’s pick for Best Local Author with the proprietor of the Best Bookstore @booklegger_eureka: @michael.kauffmann & Jen McFadden!

Such an honor, thank you all for your support! I know creating an account to vote was an annoying little hurdle, so extra thanks for leaping over it to cast yours! 💙

Also, how about the @cityofeureka’s Friday Night Market?! Talk about a vibrant little city by the sea!

#thankyou #iloveeureka #eurekacalifornia #independentbookstore #independentpublishing #humboldtcounty #humboldt #madeinhumboldt #humboldtmade
💎Orchid garden along the Smith River’s South 💎Orchid garden along the Smith River’s South Fork💎

The Smith is the most undeveloped and protected river remaining in California, and the largest completely undammed river from source to sea in the state. Much of the watershed features serpentine formations of the Josephine Ophiolite, and large areas are suited to rare plant life that thrives in harsh settings and in soils containing metals and minerals that are not conducive to typical forest growth.

The South Fork comes from higher elevations of the Siskiyou Wilderness where snow melt lingers and contributes to the basin’s highest flows through the spring.

Much of the Smith’s quality is attributed to nearly all the watershed being in public ownership as the Smith River National Recreation Area with legislated priorities on land and water protection. In addition, all of the 18 mile main stem and 320 miles of tributaries were designated as National Wild and Scenic Rivers in 1981.

This marked the first time that the streams of virtually an entire river basin were together designated in the National Wild and Scenic Ricer System as part of a watershed-wide approach.

💎 Stream Orchid, AKA Chatterbox (Epipactis gigantea)

Where have you found these stunning (and well camouflaged!) orchids blooming this summer? They’re surprisingly common, though often go unnoticed because they blend in so well with their surroundings. 

Featured 📕: Wildflowers of California’s Klamath Mountains

#wildandscenic #orchid #californianativeplants #serpentine #smithriver #klamathmountains #wilderness #wildcalifornia #delnortecounty #northerncalifornia
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