Opinion

PAT NEAL: The green crab blues

The green crab is in the news again. Scientists are tagging them to track their movements. The green…

The monument to the October 1808 wreck of the S.V. Nikolai marks the area where a handful of survivors built a refuge after escaping from the Quileute and the Hoh. The monument at 5333 Upper Hoh Road was dedicated in 2015. (Pat Neal/For Peninsula Daily News)

Opinion

PAT NEAL: Those crazy Russians are at it again

Those crazy Russians are at it again. In 2022, Russia made itself the laughing stock of the civilized…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: Remembering a guide’s friend

Like the good Book said, “There were giants in the land.” We lost one last week.

Opinion

PAT NEAL: A short history of winter

As a kid, I remember the old-timers saying, “We don’t have winters like that anymore.” Referring to sometime…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: Peninsula power problems

IT WAS A dark and stormy night. Then the power went out and it got darker. The storm…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: New Year’s resolutions

By now, I’m pretty sure we’ve all had it up to here with know-it-all newspaper columnists wasting valuable…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: ‘Tis the season of holiday stress

It’s been another tough week in the news. The holiday stress is running at a fever pitch.

Opinion

PAT NEAL: Yes, Virginia, there is a steelhead

I am 8 years old. My family and I have been fishing for steelhead all year and haven’t…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: My Christmas wish list

Call it the magic of the season or the true Christmas spirit. It’s time once again for my…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: Endangered species roulette

In last week’s episode, we broke the story about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declaring war on…

A barred owl perched on a road sign. (Pat Neal/for Peninsula Daily News)

Opinion

PAT NEAL: The barred owl menace

And so, another hunting season passes astern. I hope you did better than I did.

Opinion

PAT NEAL: How to have a happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. The word conjures images of black-robed pilgrims in white starched collars sitting down to dinner with their…

Marilyn Lewis as a young woman.

Opinion

PAT NEAL: She died with her boots on

In last week’s episode, we were celebrating the life of the Hoh Tribal woman Tsi-hos-tub. Called Pansy Martin…

Daughter of the Olympic Wilderness: The Life and Times of Pansy Martin Snell

Opinion

PAT NEAL: Daughter of the Olympic Wilderness

Read any good books lately? Daughter of the Olympic Wilderness: The Life and Times of Pansy Martin Snell…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: Fishing for excuses

Profiling and stereotyping have no place in a Wilderness Gossip Column. In last week’s episode, it was mistakenly…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: The great deer hunt

I spent all last summer cursing the day deer were invented for what they did to my garden.

Opinion

PAT NEAL: The great mushroom hunt

In last week’s episode, we examined the very real possibility of mushroom hunters getting lost in the woods.

Opinion

PAT NEAL: A reoccurring moisture trend

A REAL WOODSMAN doesn’t need a weatherman to know if it is going to rain.

Opinion

PAT NEAL: A winter forecast

THE SIGNS OF the season are certain. There is fresh snow on Mount Olympus. The vine maples are…

Opinion

PAT NEAL: The fall chore list

THIS MUST BE the most beautiful fall weather we’ve seen in years. But I’m not one to sit…