The Daily Outside: MTN PRIDE, Work Parties, Beach Cleanup … 3.21.26

Saturday splits wide open — alpine glitter and drag at elevation, muddy gloves in neighborhood parks, bees and seedlings and saltwater bravery down at sea level — all of it quietly insisting on the same thing: get outside, pay attention, leave something better behind.

Powder, pride, and a mountain weekend built on joy, visibility, and very good après

MTN PRIDE: Pride in the Pow
Hosted by Crystal Mountain Resort
Saturday, March 21 • 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Crystal Mountain Resort
33914 Crystal Mountain Blvd, Enumclaw
Weekend event • Mountain activities, parties, and a parade run

This is less “ski event,” and more full-spectrum mountain exhale — a weekend where turns, music, and unapologetic self-expression share the same oxygen. Pride in the Pow transforms Crystal Mountain into a high-altitude gathering of color, community, and that rare feeling of belonging while strapped into skis.

Saturday does the heavy lifting: morning mingle at the base, a midday Snow Beach Party above the clouds, then a Summit Après that leans joyfully into drag, spectacle, and a little competitive strut. By late afternoon, the gondola hums people back down, slightly sunburned, slightly euphoric. Sunday keeps the thread going with the parade run — a ribbon of color carving down the mountain — and a final round of music and connection at the base.

What to know before you go
• Runs Saturday–Sunday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
• Saturday: mix-and-mingle, Snow Beach Party, Summit Après, sweepstakes
• Sunday: Pride Parade Run, midday après, sweepstakes
• Open, welcoming, gloriously inclusive

Sometimes the Daily Outside climbs to 7,000 feet and throws a party.

More info: Crystal Mountain Resort — MTN PRIDE 

Waterfall hush, invasive weeds, and a morning that leaves the park a little stronger

McKinley Park Work Party
Hosted by Parks Tacoma Park Volunteers
Saturday, March 21 • 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
McKinley Park
Meet near the park entrance on Upper Park St, Tacoma
Free • Registration required • All ages and abilities welcome

This one starts as yard work and ends as quiet civic devotion. McKinley Park — all hillside trails and tucked-away water — asks for a few hours of hands-on attention, pulling back invasive growth so the place can breathe again.

It’s simple, useful, oddly satisfying: tools provided, gloves required, no experience needed. You work, you notice things, you leave with dirt under your nails and a slightly altered relationship to the park. No restrooms, which feels like a small but honest test of commitment.

What to know before you go
• Runs 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Registration required
• Tools and training provided; gloves required
• Rain or shine; no restrooms

More info: Parks Tacoma — McKinley Park work party registration

Blackberry bramble, salt air, and the slow defense of a shoreline

Dickman Mill Work Party
Hosted by Parks Tacoma Park Volunteers
Saturday, March 21 • 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
Dickman Mill Park
2423 Ruston Way, Tacoma
Free • Registration required • All ages and abilities welcome

Out on Ruston Way, the fight is against blackberry — relentless, thorned, always plotting a comeback. Volunteers show up anyway, clipping, pulling, holding the line between open habitat and green takeover.

There’s something grounding about doing this work beside the water: gulls overhead, bay stretching out, the sense that small effort stacks into something real. Tools, training, and even restrooms — a rare luxury — are part of the deal.

What to know before you go
• Runs 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Registration required
• Tools and training provided; gloves required
• Rain or shine; restrooms available

More info: Parks Tacoma — Dickman Mill volunteer work parties

Buzz, blossoms, and the humbling realization you’ve misunderstood bees your entire life

Attracting Native Bees to Your Garden Oasis
Hosted by WSU Extension Pierce County Speakers Bureau
Saturday, March 21, 2026 • 9–10 a.m.
McLendon Hardware – Tacoma
1015 N Pearl St., Tacoma
Free • Interactive presentation

This is where the idea of “a bee” quietly falls apart. Turns out there are hundreds, most working without honey-brand fame or cartoon representation.

The session keeps it grounded: how to recognize them, how to support them, how to make a yard worth visiting. It’s practical, quietly eye-opening, and likely to change how you plant moving forward.

What to know before you go
• Runs 9–10 a.m.
• McLendon Hardware, Tacoma
• Interactive presentation

More info: WSU Extension Pierce County Speakers Bureau — Native Bees session

Cold water, clean beach, and a little voluntary shock to the system

March Beach Cleanup & Cold Water Plunge (optional) at Jack Hyde Park
Hosted by South Sound Surfrider
Saturday, March 21, 2026 • 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
Jack Hyde Park, Tacoma
Free • Volunteer cleanup • Optional plunge

Here, stewardship comes with a side of adrenaline. Volunteers comb the shoreline, pulling plastic and debris from the tide line, turning small acts into something larger.

Then comes the optional part — the plunge. Puget Sound in March does not care about your comfort. Step in anyway. Come out laughing, swearing, or newly converted.

What to know before you go
• Runs 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Jack Hyde Park
• Cleanup plus optional plunge

More info: South Sound Surfrider — March cleanup and plunge signup

Forest walk, seedling in hand, and the quiet mechanics of how a park becomes a forest

Explore & Restore
Part of the Earth Matters Series
Hosted by Pierce County Planning & Public Works in partnership with Pierce County Parks and Pitch In For Parks
Saturday, March 21, 2026 • 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
Orangegate Park, Tacoma (Summit-Waller)
Free • Registration required • No experience needed

This one bridges knowledge and action. A walk through Orangegate Park unfolds into lessons on soil, canopy, and the long game of growing something that will outlive you.

If the weather cooperates, hands go into the ground. Trees get planted. And you leave with a seedling — less souvenir, more responsibility.

What to know before you go
• Runs 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Registration required
• Guided walk plus planting education
• Free seedling included

More info: Pierce County Earth Matters Series — Explore & Restore registration

Fresh buds, Hilltop sidewalks, and the early chapters of an urban forest

Hilltop Neighborhood Spring Walk
Hosted by Tacoma Tree Foundation
Saturday, March 21, 2026 • 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Peace Community Center
2106 S Cushman Ave, Tacoma
Free • Outdoor walk • Rain or shine

Spring shows up quietly — in buds, in sap, in young trees just beginning their long work. This walk slows things down enough to notice.

You move through Hilltop connecting new plantings to the older canopy, the street to the system, the moment to the decades ahead. It’s part botany, part civic reflection, part recalibration.

What to know before you go
• Runs 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Peace Community Center
• Rain or shine; paved route

More info: Tacoma Tree Foundation — Hilltop Spring Walk

LINK: The Daily Outside explained

LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory