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Taking A Trip Without Leaving Your Front Door

Throughout the pandemic, I had a lot of free time. A lot of us did. And thus, we began to seek out things to occupy that free space. For me, it was rekindling my long lost relationship with books. A study produced by Global English Editing, an online proofreading service, found that Americans alone read recreationally (as in, not for academia or work purposes) 35% more in 2020 than previous years, and 25% more than that in 2021.

14 things to do in SW Oregon's Illinois Valley, from swimming holes to marble caves

My family moved to the Illinois Valley in Oregon's southwest corner when I was just a few years old, where my conscious memories begin and my formative years flew by. Growing up in one of Oregon’s most lush and simultaneously rugged areas, the same valley where my mother spent her own childhood, I find myself often thinking about the river valleys and mountains of home no matter how far I travel today.

The glory of Oregon's golden chanterelle: How to find, harvest and eat the state mushroom

In this episode, Zach and outdoors intern Skyla Patton prepare for the peak season for finding Oregon's delicious and beautiful state mushroom: the Pacific Golden Chanterelle. Skyla breaks down where and when to find chanterelles, how to eat it, how to get permits to harvest them and trickier questions including whether you can over-harvest the beloved mushroom.

Illinois Valley: Sleep in a treehouse, explore caves, swim emerald pools and eat some 'sweet cron'

In this episode of Explore Oregon, Zach and Skyla head down Highway 199 to visit southwest Oregon's rugged and beautiful Illinois Valley. It's a place where you can sleep in a treehouse resort, go off trail at the Oregon Caves National Monument, visit art galleries featuring crystal artwork and reach mountain swimming holes, alpine lakes and big summits with a short drive.