SEQUIM — Traveler’s Journal presentations will be conducted this spring at the Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road in Sequim.
Traveler’s Journal is an adventure presentation speaker series that serves as an annual fundraiser for Olympic Discovery Trail projects. The Thursday night presentations will kick off this week and run through March 26.
There is a suggested donation of $10 at the door. Proceeds will benefit Olympic Discovery Trail projects.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the presentations will begin at 7 p.m.
The speakers and presentations include:
Thursday: Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska: Mountaineering, Rafting and Sea Kayaking Over Five Decades.
Speaker: Henry Florschutz.
A Port Townsend resident since 2014, Florschutz has been traveling since he was a teen. Even though he has traveled to many parts of the world over the past 50 years, he continues to plan future travels.
Feb. 26: Drawn by Birds, Captivated by Cuba.
Speakers: Bob and Enid Phreaner.
During their working years, the Phreaners made do with hiking and backpacking as they had little time for travel. Since they moved to Sequim in 2012, they have traveled less frequently, but they have traveled to more remote locations. They have shared their experiences previously through the Traveler’s Journal series.
March 5: One Month in Africa, Top to Bottom.
Speakers: Steve and Mirja Wilson.
Sequim residents since 2008, Steve and Mirja Wilson volunteer with Sequim Wheelers and are frequent travelers. They research and design their own trips, whether biking through France, going on safaris or kicking back and enjoying a cruise.
March 12: Ten Weeks Traveling Light — Packing for the Long Haul in the Netherlands.
Speakers: Steve Durrant and Chris Carlson.
Durrant is the director of the Puget Sound to Pacific Collaborative, an initiative of the Peninsula Trails Coalition, North Kitsap Trails Association and the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation dedicated to completing gaps in the Olympic Discovery Trail and Sound to Olympics Trail to connect the ferry terminals on Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean at La Push.
Carlson is a landscape architect, retired from a career leading the National Park Service Rivers Trails and Technical Assistance Program in the Pacific Northwest, Metro Portland Parks and the University of Minnesota.
In addition to their riding in the Pacific Northwest, Canada and the Midwest, the pair have cycled together on extended trips in Finland, Denmark, England, Ireland, Belgium, France and The Netherlands.
March 19: Wildlife of the Scandinavian Arctic.
Speakers: Ken and Mary Campbell.
The Campbells are wildlife and nature photographers who have spent more than 45 years exploring all seven continents in search of extraordinary wildlife. Their photographs have been featured in local and national magazines, brochures and calendars. They volunteer with the Feiro Marine Life Center and Olympic National Park, and they conduct monthly Coaster Observation and Seabird Survey Team surveys for a citizen science program at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
March 26: Tasmania.
Speaker: John Gussman.
“I first became interested in photography as a means to share the natural beauty of the places I traveled,” photographer John Gussman said. “My first darkroom was in my closet in my apartment bedroom, and I had tin foil over the window and my roommate called me Moleman as I spent so much time in the dark.”
After getting a degree in photography, Gussman began to work full time in 1973 as a staff photographer for a newspaper in the Bay Area. He moved to Washington state in 1979 to be closer to wilderness, and with Olympic National Park as his backyard, he began to photograph this new natural playground.
