Heat bares ice at Mount Rainier
CLIMBING – An unusually early-summer snowmelt created hazards on the Muir Snowfield at Mount Rainier starting in August.
Exposed bare glacier ice and crevasses have complicated travel on this route from Paradise to Camp Muir, which is popular for climbers and day hikers.
The terrain often exceeds a 25- to 30-degree slope. The steepness, coupled with the exposed glacier ice, make for slippery and hazardous walking.
Details: (360) 569-6009; http://tiny.cc/Muirbearings/
Rich Landers
Campground closing at Lake Spokane
The Lake Spokane (Long Lake) campground and boat launch will be closed for the season on Tuesday, the Washington Department of Natural Resources announced this week.
The early closure is due to budget cuts and maintenance, officials said.
Rich Landers
Wild turkeys foul La Conner
URBAN WILDLIFE – The wild turkeys that inspired the 2005 La Conner City Council to proclaim members of gobbling flock the town’s official bird have apparently overstayed their welcome.
The council of La Conner – a small, tourist town in northwest Washington’s Skagit County – is considering how to trim the growing flock of feral turkeys that showed up five years ago.
Suggestions include adoption programs, sending the turkeys to a farm and donating the birds to a “firearms safety course.”
Residents have been complaining that the birds ruin yards, peck at houses and leave behind clouds of feathers and droppings. Earlier this month, the council voted to thin the flock – now the question is how.
The flock has grown to 18 birds. The council thinks seven is a manageable number.
Skagit Valley Herald
Rail trail option topic in Colville
The possibility of creating rail-trails on a railways that run along the Kettle and Columbia rivers from Canada to Republic and Kettle Falls will be discussed at a meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Stevens County Sheriff’s Ambulance Training Center, 425 N. Highway in Colville.
Commissioners from Ferry and Stevens counties are scheduled to attend.
Rich Landers
Poker Paddle at Eloika Lake
Paddle for prizes in the family-friendly Poker Paddle for kayakers and canoeists from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, sponsored by the Eloika Lake Association.
The event will be staged from Jerry’s Landing Resort, located off Oregon Road, 22 miles northeast of Spokane.
Preregister through Spokane Parks and Recreation, 625-6200; www.spokaneparks.org (activity No. 10441).
Rich Landers
Salmon decline impacts bear viewing
Reports from ecotourism guides along British Columbia’s wild central coast indicate a collapse of salmon runs has triggered a decline of black and grizzly bear sightings.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this. There has been a huge drop in the number of bears we see,” said Doug Neasloss, a bear-viewing guide for 11 years.
Staff and wire reports