Pat Neal

PAT NEAL: Sweet backpacking bliss

IT WAS GOING to be one of those days. From the dawn’s early light to the twilight’s last gleaming, it was one of those days… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Baiting the tourists

FROM THE ACIDIFIED ocean to the melting glaciers, the Olympic Peninsula has seen an unprecedented invasion of tourists searching for solitude while waiting in line… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The bears are awake

“WHERE CAN I see a bear?” the frantic tourist asked. This is a common question among the seasonal visitors to the emerald green playground we… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: A bad bunch of bugs

IT IS DAYLIGHT in the swamp. The faint cooing of the band tailed pigeon ushers in the dawn of another soggy spring day. Beneath the… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Sasquatch Days are here

IT’S TIME ONCE again for the third annual Sasquatch Days in Forks this Memorial Day weekend from May 24 to 26. The Sasquatch has haunted… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The story of ‘Lightning Boldt’

“LIGHTNING BOLDT,” IS a biography of Judge George H. Boldt by John C. Hughes, Chief Historian for the Office of Secretary of State. It’s a… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The best Mother’s Day present

MOTHER’S DAY IS coming up. I had a great mother. I know because I am not writing this from prison. It wasn’t my mother’s fault… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The best Arbor Day ever

HOW WAS YOUR Arbor Day? Traditionally celebrated on the last Friday in April, Arbor Day is probably the most significant holiday you’ve never heard of,… Continue reading

Pat Neal, left, and former Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher John Brewer. (Pat Neal)

PAT NEAL: Free speech isn’t free

There were giants in the land. We lost one last week. John Brewer died on a fishing trip on the Bitteroot River north of Darby,… Continue reading

Pat Neal, left, and former Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher John Brewer. (Pat Neal)

PAT NEAL: The first salmon

THE BLOOMING OF the salmonberries marks a change in the season. In the old days, these blossoms signaled the beginning of the spring Chinook run… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Spill some salmon here

IT WAS ANOTHER tough week in the news. The bad news was the loss of 25,525 salmon smolts that did not survive the March 29… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The daylight digs

THE END OF steelhead fishing season was the day my universe came crashing down. I remember it like it was the day before yesterday, because… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Twilight forever and ever

THERE’S A DISTURBING trend in modern journalism for reporters to use fleeting celebrity references as an excuse for responsible reporting. It was never that way… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: A question of flowers

THANK YOU FOR reading this. Sometimes I think that if you didn’t read this, no one would. You can count on me to expose the… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The de-extinction of the 100-pound salmon

Who says there’s no good news? Recently scientists claimed they are on the verge of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction! These large, hairy,… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Smells like spring fever

THERE MAY BE nothing more beautiful than pussywillows in the snow. Unless it’s the white blossoms of the Indian plum above the pale, yellow flower… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: To build a fire

Camping isn’t just for summer anymore. The woods, beaches and campgrounds are full of campers in the dead of winter. These are not the carefree… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: Fishing from a sinking boat

It was another tough week in the news. Steelhead fishing on the Olympic Peninsula has gotten so crowded you’ll want to bring your own rock… Continue reading

PAT NEAL: The 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision

It’s been 50 years since the Boldt Decision of Feb. 12, 1974. The world has changed. You can see it in the barren rivers, smell… Continue reading