Kate grew up in the woods of Garden Valley, Idaho, playing along the "crick" and building forts with her older siblings, roaming free until dark. After college and road-tripping around the west for several months, she settled in Oregon, where she operated an ocean-front bookstore/organic cafe, and then in Washington state, raising a big-hearted nature-girl (Anna, now 24), paddling the bountiful lakes, running forest trails, hiking through basalt canyons listening for canyon wrens, and basking in the sun with the mountain goats. Kate made her life-long dream to live in a fort come true by having a tiny-home built, where she lives with her dog, Ivy, in Horseshoe Bend. Kate has never won a single competition in her life, but *was* the best hacky-sack player at Boise High School in 1983. Like the birds she loves to identify, Kate's laugh can usually be heard before she is seen.Kate is happiest foraging in the forests of OR with her daughter, geeking out over lichen and fungi, and soaking in Idaho's hot springs.