Introduction to the Natural World Course

***Students should register for only one field from each round, so one trip under Field Trip 1, one trip under Field Trip 2, etc.    

An Introduction to the Natural World course is designed for hikers, climbers, photographers, scramblers, and conservationists who want to learn more about the mountains they enjoy. Using the "Natural History of the Pacific Northwest Mountains" by Daniel Mathews and recommended apps, such as "Washington Wildflower Search" for plants and Merlin for birds (both free) as  resources, you will learn the basics of how to identify flowers, shrubs, trees, birds, mammals, butterflies and other forms of life. Instructors are volunteers, eager to share their knowledge and enthusiasm of nature. Field trips will be organized into smaller groups, with faster and slower paced options to accommodate all fitness levels. 

The course includes four presentations at the Mountaineers Program Center at Magnuson Park Seattle (April 17, May 8, June 12 and July 10; 7-9 PM), and four field trips (2 local and 2 in the mountains), plus one learning laboratory/stewardship session at the native plant garden adjacent to the clubhouse. You do not have to participate in all the activities to be able to graduate.  To graduate, submit a list of 100 identified species. We will celebrate your success and get to know other naturalists at a potluck on September 10. The goal is to have fun and to learn.

We get many questions about field trip dates.  We have to wait for snow pack and "bloom" conditions to pick the dates for the trips to ensure we go when conditions are prime, and not too early or too late.  Field trips will get posted here as soon as we set the dates.  To give you a general idea (NONE of these are set-in-stone), Field Trip 1 will be around April 18-23, evenings or half-day weekends in Seattle-area parks, Field Trip 2 will be around May 11-16, evenings or half-day weekends in Seattle and Puget Sound-area parks, Field Trip 3 will be around June 23/24 (could be a week earlier or later), one-day, in the East Slopes of the Cascades, and Field Trip 4 will be around July 28/29 (could be a week earlier or later), one-day, at Mount Rainier National Park. We will do our best, based on volunteer availability, to schedule weekend and weekday field trips.  Finally, our Stewardship opportunity, a half-day in the Mountaineer's Native Plant Garden at the Program Center, will take place around May 19/20.

This year, we would like to offer students the opportunity to attain the Low-Impact Recreationist Badge added to their profile.  For materials for this online and self-paced course, go here: Low Impact Recreation.

If anyone is interested in taking the course and finding the the tuition to be cost-prohibitive, please take a look at the Mountaineer's Financial Aid assistance:  https://www.mountaineers.org/membership/financial-assistance