Backcountry Magazine 144 | The Backyard Issue

On the Cover: Above Donner Lake near her home in Truckee, California, Amie Engerbretson finds some light during a major storm cycle. "We started in the dark, hoping to score some shots with first light, but the clouds didn't cooperate," says photographer Ming Poon. "Amie and our crew were patient and reaped the rewards." [Photo] Ming Poon   THE PERSPECTIVES ISSUE THE WHITE WHALE Vancouver Island is famous for giant trees, logging protests, tidy Victorian gardens, Tofino's sweeping beaches and quaint seaside towns. Andrew Findlay knows the island offers more than meets the eye, including the rarely visited Comox Range. After years of staring at the glaciated peaks blocked by private logging claims and thick, trailless forests, Findlay gathered a few friends, borrowed a key to a locked gate and went searching for his personal white whale. IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE Megan Michelson left her home in Tahoe City, California, last summer as the Dixie fire made air quality worse than that of B