Mt. Spokane Summit Road Closed

The road to the summit of Mount Spokane remains closed this week because of a lingering patch of ice and snow near the top of the mountain.

Numerous sightseers over the holiday weekend were surprised to see a locked gate across the road just past the Bald Knob campground.

“No one up here remembers the snow blocking the road this late in the summer,” said Pete Wood, Mount Spokane State Park manager.

A snowcat used by television crews to service towers at the top of the mountain tried to plow the road last week, but there was too much ice in the snowpack to move, Wood said.

Warmer weather this week could open the road within a week, he said.

Volunteers join against poaching

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department enforcement officers will conduct an “Eyes in the Woods” training program for volunteers Thursday, 7 p.m., at the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council Center, 6116 N. Market.

The session includes 1 hours of instruction on what dedicated outdoors people can do to help fish and wildlife officers clamp down on fish and wildlife crimes. Info: 487-8552.

Girl catches possible world-record fish

Tiffany White, 13, of Mossyrock, Wash., caught a 27.44-pound mackinaw at Priest Lake on Thursday. The fish could be an International Game Fishing Association world record in the association’s relatively new category for fish caught by junior females.

White was fishing with Priest Lake guide Gary Brookshire, who said the fish was caught in 130 feet of water just off Pinto Point in Indian Creek Bay. The fish took a Frisky Jenny fly trolled on a downrigger.

The fish was landed in a “torrential downpour,” Brookshire said.

The required documentation has been submitted along with photographs and line samples to the IGFA, he said.

Hunt drawings completed in Idaho

Hunters who have drawn tags in Idaho hunts for deer, elk, antelope and fall black bears will be notified by postcard by Saturday, the Idaho Fish and Game Department has announced.

Results also can be learned by calling (900) 896-3729 at a charge of 75 cents a minute. The information is free on the Internet on the department’s web site at www.state.id.us/fishgame. Click on “What’s new.” Be sure to have your hunting license number in hand and ready to enter for either the Internet or telephone queries.