No matter the weather, Get Outdoors Day always seems to thrive.
Blazing hot temperatures, rain, hail or just an average June day. It doesn’t seem to matter much what it feels like outside, people keep coming back by the thousands. That was the case at Saturday’s National Get Outdoors Day, which had its Clark County iteration at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. This time around, temperatures stayed in low to mid-60s, with intermittent peeks of sunshine.
“We’ve had 90-degree weather. Last year we had hail. It doesn’t seem to matter,” said Gala Miller an organizer of the event with the U.S. Forest Service. “People in the Northwest always seem to come out. If it rains they’ll just step under a tree for a while and then continue on. It’s great to see all these people who are passionate about the outdoors.”
Saturday’s event had 38 different organizations represented, Miller said, all with some kind of outdoors theme. There was an archery booth, a fishing area, an outdoor rock-climbing wall, a horse kid’s could pet, cross-cut sawing and even “Pokemon Go,” which Miller said is technology that promotes leaving the couch and exploring.
“The purpose is to get people excited about and learning about the great outdoors and public lands and things they can do to stay healthy and active, and connect with nature,” Miller said. “It’s really about generating a greater appreciation of the outdoors.”