
2025 Fall Gathering

Event Details
Join us for a friendly autumnal gathering and overnight stay at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, Saturday, September 13 to Sunday, September 14. Enjoy mingling with long-time and new Institute supporters and staff and appreciate the signs of fall on Diablo Lake.
Together we'll share appetizers, beer & wine, and a buffet dinner Saturday night. After our bellies are full, we'll settle in for a presentation by local author and biologist Thor Hanson. Thor is a Guggenheim Fellow and winner of the John Burroughs Medal, and he’ll share from his latest book Close to Home - a hands-on natural history for any patch of Earth, combining story, science, and suggestions into one ultimate neighborhood field guide.
On Sunday, enjoy a delicious breakfast, then pack a brown-bag lunch to take away for later in the day. We’ll offer an outside nature activity led by an Institute naturalist, or we can recommend a local trail for you to explore on your own.
Additionally, you may choose to register for a Diablo Lake Fall Morning Cruise (10:45 am) or Afternoon Cruise (2:35 pm) with Skagit Tours ($30-35). Find more details about Skagit Tours here.
* "Cost with no lodging" option is a commuter rate and includes dinner and the presentation on Saturday.
*Due to limited capacity, we will not be offering single occupancy rooms for this event on our registration page. However, if that is your only option, please call us at (360) 854-2599 and we may be able to accommodate your request.
About Thor Hanson’s new book Close to Home
From migrating monarch butterflies casually moving through Kansas City to the language of neighborhood birds to the complexity of life in an overgrown lawn in New England — digging into the secrets of our local soil can help satisfy our sense of curiosity without leaving our backyards.
Close to Home is a hands-on natural history for any patch of Earth, combining story, science, and suggestions into one ultimate neighborhood field guide. Whether compelled by the urge to understand the health of our planet, by wanting tools to contribute to our local ecosystems, or just by simple critter curiosity — the opportunity to explore and learn lives right next door.