Sara Graham lives in Woodinville, Washington. She has lived in the Pacific Northwest her entire life and raised her family here. Since childhood she has loved sports and the outdoors. Starting in 1985, she competed in the 10k race on the University of Washington’s track and field team. She said running on a...
Sara Graham lives in Woodinville, Washington. She has lived in the Pacific Northwest her entire life and raised her family here. Since childhood she has loved sports and the outdoors. Starting in 1985, she competed in the 10k race on the University of Washington’s track and field team. She said running on a track slowly transformed into training for triathlons, trail running and gravel bike riding. She's also hiked the 93-mile Wonderland trail around Mount Rainier several times and biked upwards of 20 times around the mountain. “Mount Rainier is amazing, and it's in our backyard,” Graham said. “It's worth a two-hour drive.”
She earned her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from UW and she worked for the Gold Creek Sports Club, which is now the Woodinville Sports Club, as a fitness instructor for the past 25 years. And for about 20 years, she has participated in Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day (RAMROD). “My love for Mount Rainier is all about God’s creation,” she said. The blooming wildflowers, the peeking mountain and wildlife make for a serene escape. During the summer of 2020, she wrote a “Where’s Sara?” column for the Woodinville Weekly newspaper to document her outdoor travel around the state.
While organizing some belongings during the pandemic, Graham uncovered drawings of cartoon bears she had sketched when pregnant with her child in the early 1990s. As a side project, she thought it would be fun to make a children’s book out of the drawings. Bear Family Adventures is inspired by Sara's real-life adventures on Mount Rainier. The short story tells a fictional tale of a family of bears as they enjoy year-round adventures in Mount Rainier. She hopes to inspire families from around the state to get outside and explore Mount Rainier. “It’s a kids’ book, but it’s also for adults to see the real adventures that somebody can go do,” Graham said.
All proceeds from sales will go directly to the Washington’s National Park Fund, a nonprofit to support Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic national parks.