Out & About: Permits in transition at Mount Spokane
OUTPAY – A Discover Pass is still needed for parking a vehicle in most areas of Mount Spokane State Park, but the requirement soon will transition to a Sno-Park permit.
About a foot of snow fell on the park last week before rain came.
“Technically, we don’t kick over to the Sno-Park permits until Dec. 1 when the winter (ski and snowmobile) trail grooming officially begins,” said Steve Christensen, park manager.
Sno-Park permits and Discover Passes both fund state parks operations, but Sno-Park funds are earmarked for winter plowing and trail grooming, he said.
“There’s often a transition between Thanksgiving and Dec. 1 when we’ll allow visitors to park with either one of the passes.”
Exception: Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park customers do not need to present a special pass on the days when the lifts are operating.
Wolf hunters’ harvest up from last year
PREDATORS – Wolf hunters seem to be increasing success seasons open in Idaho, Montana and, for the first time, Wyoming.
• Wyoming hunters have killed 34 wolves toward the quota of 52 in the state’s trophy zones.
• Montana hunters have killed 62 wolves this fall, up 11 from this time last year.
• Idaho hunters have killed 96 wolves; the state’s trapping season expanded on Thursday.
Turnbull’s Winterfest features wolves, elk
OUTFIELD – While the “elk tour” has been a popular annual Winterfest attraction, this year’s Dec. 8 event at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge also will feature a program on wolves.
“Meet the Wolves”, by Nancy Taylor of Wolf People is set for 11 a.m.-noon., followed by a chili feed. Preregistration required for the 9 a.m. refuge tour (formerly called the elk tour) of backroads normally closed to the public. Contact: looeezoleary@netscape.net or 235-4531. Cost: $5 donation.
Locals have role in Banff festival film
OUTFOCUS – The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour will conclude its three-day, sold-out run tonight at the Bing Crosby Theater: two dozen adventure films brilliantly displayed on the Bing’s new $12,000 viewing screen. (Coming soon: a $50,000 audio system).
Best quote came from disabled rock climber Pete Davis in The Gimp Monkeys : “The right attitude and one arm will beat the wrong
attitude and two arms any day.”
Tonight, the documentary Wild Bill’s Run will detail an adventurous 1972 snowmobile expedition over 5,000 miles of snow and polar ice between Minnesota and Moscow.
“Four people from Spokane helped shoot and edit the film,” said director Mike Scholtz. “Chris White and Michael Pickering of Comrade Studios, Clint Janson and Matt Vielle of Hamilton Studio.”
White composed the score on a Moog synthesizer (befitting the film’s 1970s setting), did the sound design and final edit for the Banff World Tour.