West Coast

Orange Skies. Endless Smoke. Our Climate-Change Future Is Here.

Heather Hansman

The Best Road Trips in the U.S.

The Editors

Life in the West During COVID-19

Madeleine LaPlante-Dube

Searching for the World's Biggest, Most Endangered Whale

Heather Hansman

Bundyville: The Remnant

Why two bombings that rocked the tiny town of Panaca, Nevada, help us understand who really owns public lands in the West

Jul 18, 2019

The Meteorology Behind California's Crazy Waves

Why was the ocean so nasty along the West Coast on Sunday and Monday? It’s all thanks to a low-pressure system thousands of miles away and a meteorological phenomenon called a fetch. Let me explain.

Dennis Mersereau

Dec 18, 2018

On Alaska Airlines, gear counts as your first bag, and it’s only $25.

10 Reasons Why Alaska Airlines Is Our Favorite Carrier

For one, it makes headlines for excellence and not for, um, dogs dying in its overhead bins

Anna Callaghan

Jul 1, 2018

Bikepacking the West Coast in Search of Steelhead

In the first chapter of Blackburn Designs film series, Water Cycle, Brian Ohlen bikes around the west coast in search of Steelhead.

Sep 21, 2017

Oregon's Coastline Is a Dreamland

When Jay Worsley got his brand new DJI Inspire Pro, he knew he had to test its limits. So he booked a ticket to Oregon and drove the coast in search of ocean landscapes.

Feb 17, 2017

The tumbleweed, or Russian thistle, is famous in popular culture as a solitary nomad rolling across the open road. Its history in America dates back to 1880 when the Department of Agriculture began getting reports of a weed rapidly growing in South Dakota. It has since spread to every state in the country except Florida and Alaska, thriving in dry, disturbed land—particularly the kind found along the highways, rivers, and drainages of the American West.

In recent years, millions of them have buried roads, buildings, and even entire towns as climate change and longer drought periods make the situation worse. However, the tumbleweed has become more than just a nuisance, the plant has gained a measure of cultural acceptance as it puts down roots in communities across the West.

Denver-based photographer Theo Stroomer is in the middle of his third winter photographing tumbleweeds. Here, he shares some of his favorites images of the invasion from the last three years.

Photo: This was one of the first images I made for the project. Hanover, Colorado, got hit with a tumbleweed storm a few years ago and I drove down to see it for myself. As I drove east, I started seeing more and more tumbleweeds along the road. I found Bertha Medina clearing off her barn and knew I had to stop. She said it was OK to take her photo, as long as I helped her afterwards, so I got some hands-on experience. They are prickly, ornery things, not hard to move, but very time consuming.

We Never Thought Tumbleweeds Could Look This Beautiful

Denver-based photographer Theo Stroomer is in the middle of his third winter photographing tumbleweeds. Here, he shares some of his favorites images of the invasion from the last three years.

Theo Stroomer

Feb 8, 2017