Our Knowledgeable Guides

For a truly superior traveling experience in the Pacific Northwest & British Columbia, you deserve the expertise and passion of our local guides at EverGreen Escapes. Our specialist Driver / Guides are trained to impeccable levels to provide first-class service as they escort you through the most magnificent highlights of our region and impart their invaluable local knowledge of history, wild & marine life, as well as, flora and fauna and sustainability.

Many of our guides are professors, ecologists, marine biologists or have taught natural history both in the field and in the classroom.

Depending on your tailor made itinerary, we will match you with a guide that we feel best fits your destination, interest and activity.

DAN MOORE
My mission is to create an exciting and comfortable learning environment in which people feel inspired AND a sense of accomplishment.  A tour with me is about the overall experience, not just the bits of information you’ll learn. I grew up in Minneapolis MN and spent a large percentage of my childhood out exploring the wilderness and wild areas around home and afar.  In 1996, after graduating from college in St. Paul MN (Macalester College), I left to spend most of a year in South America – trekking and researching tropical forests in Bolivia, Peru and Brazil.  It is here that I discovered the importance of creating positive experiences for people in the outdoors - you can’t love what you don’t know, and people won’t protect what they don’t love.  I came back to the US in 1997 to get a graduate degree in Environmental Education from the  University of MN at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and shortly after completing that I moved to Seattle .  When I’m not leading tours and team building programs for Evergreen Escapes, I run a training program for adults to learn how to teach natural and cultural history and I am a guitar player in a local band. 

KIERON WEIDNER
From as early as I can remember I have been fascinated by the natural world. As I grew older and my understanding of the world evolved, I developed a deep concern for the integrity of what we call “nature”. It is this concern coupled with a powerful sense of obligation to preserve and protect the most valuable resource on Earth, our natural heritage, which has guided me in my adult life.
While earning my degree in Biology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, the majority of my coursework focused on the natural sciences. Featured areas of study included: Dendrology; Botany; Environmental Studies; Wildlife Biology; Geography; Organic Chemistry; Tropical Diversity and Ecology.  During college I spent four months studying and traveling in Costa Rica - where in addition to hiking and exploring as much I could between classes, I performed indedpendent research in Tropical Ecology. Upon graduation I was accepted to a UN sponsored, grad-level program called Ecosystem Management in Cultural Landscapes. I have lived, worked and played in a full spectrum of environments; the deserts of California, tropical Costa Rica, the lake country of the upper Midwest and the diverse temperate landscapes of the beautiful Pacific Northwest. In addition to studying the natural history, flora and fauna of each region - it has been my hobby to exlplore the recreational opportunities that exist there as well.  I love to share my knowledge and thirst for adventure with any who are willing to take the road less traveled and desire to gain some enlightenment through nature.

JEANIE JOHNSON

BIO COMING SOON!

SUNNY WALTER
Sunny is freelance nature photographer, writer, and long time nature photography tour guide.  After taking early retirement from Boeing12 years ago, she became Photo Editor of Washington Wildlife Magazine, was a contract photographer for Washington State Tourism for 3 years, and has photographed for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program for 15 years.   
Capturing great nature photographs depends not only on the quality of light, but also being at the right place at the right time.  Sunny Walter has traveled extensively throughout Washington to find the best nature photography locations and the best times of year to get spectacular photographs.  Sunny has guided Seattle Mountaineers Photography Group trips to these locations for 20 years and shares this information in her book, Washington Nature Weekends, 52 Adventures in Nature.  She also maintains a website with extensive links to good nature viewing and photography locations at: http://www.sunnywalter.com.
Sunny’s passion is to inspire people to get out and experience Washington’s natural beauty so they will develop a love of nature and a desire to protect our environment.  She is a member of the Eastside Audubon Board and active in their conservation activities.

TAMMY LELAND
Born and raised in the Montana, Tammy’s craze for mountain adventure was ignited by the awe-inspiring Rocky Mountains. For the past 22 years she has climbed, scaled, scrambled, skied, criss-crossed, trudged, trekked, hiked, biked and kayaked some of the Pacific Northwest’s classic adventures and hidden gems. Tammy has had a variety of careers all involving education and the environment: She has been the owner of an outdoor adventure company in Seattle, a program developer and educator, a coordinator for college environmental education, a back country crew leader for restoration and trail work in the North cascades and Alaska, a geologist in the Olympic National Park, wilderness guide in the Pacific Northwest and currently the co-founder and international program director of Crooked Trails, a nonprofit international travel company. She has earned a reputation as a passionate adventurer and traveler.  Wandering over 5 continents she spent her time learning from different cultures around the world. From these travels and her studies she has gleamed important lessons about sustainable tourism and began offering practical guidance as a tourism consultant and environmental educator.Tammy holds a Master’s of Environmental Education from Western Washington University and a Bachelors of Science. in Geology from the University of Washington. She wrote her masters thesis on the environmental, cultural and economic impacts of travel and developed an industry workshop on responsible travel.

KAREN SYKES
I was born in Shelton, Washington and have lived in Washington virtually all of my life. Presently I live in Seattle and share my house with three cats. I came to hiking by accident - I always say that the mountains found me. Yet I didn’t recognize my hiking abilities until I had walked 21 miles for Greenpeace in 1979. In 1980 I joined The Mountaineers and went on my first official hike. By the mid-1980s I was leading hikes for The Mountaineers, I had graduated from the Winter Travel Course (snowshoeing, snow camping) and Alpine Scrambling. By the late 1980s I had graduated from the Mountaineers Basic Climbing Course so I could lead Alpine Scrambles. Writing is my other passion. A published poet, I turned my writing skills to describing the trails I’d hiked, contributing reports to regional magazines. My experiences led to eleven years as hiking columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and publication of two books published by Mountaineer Books (“Hidden Hikes in Western Washington” and co-author of “Best Wildflower Hikes, Washington”), plus an article in National Parks Magazine featuring Olympic National Park.  I continue to lead destination, conditioning and naturalist hikes for the Seattle Branch of The Mountaineers and hike 2-3 times a week year-round alone and with friends. My photos have graced a few calendars and have been published in regional magazines and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. My greatest passion is exploring the Pacific Northwest, especially seldom-hiked trails. Hiking companions have become used to my veering off to check out barely discernible trails.