RSSWhat's Happening
Yakima Herald-Republic
E-mail
Print
Comments
More 'Outdoors'
- Quail, partridge seasons start rolling on Saturday
- 09/30/08 What's happening
- 1800 road: People's choice
- A family affair
- Ethical conumdrum
- 9/18/08 What's happening
- Locally led team wins blanket trapshoot title
Most Read
- This feature is under development and will be available soon.
Campgrounds begin to close for season
With summer coming to a close, so too is the camping season nearing its end, with numerous Forest Service campgrounds in the Naches Ranger District scheduled for closure in the next couple of weeks.
On the Chinook Pass side along Highway 410, the American Forks campground has closed for the season, with the Upper Bumping Lake and Little Naches sites to close after the Northwest Land Management concessionaire pulls out next Monday. Lower Bumping and Lodgepole will both switch from NLM management back to the Forest Service on Sunday and will remain open until Oct. 31 at $10 per night.
Cedar Springs, Cougar Flat, Pleasant Valley will all close Saturday, while Cottonwood and Hells Crossing will switch from NLM to Forest Service management on that date and stay open through October. Sawmill Flat and Soda Springs will revert to Forest Service management over the weekend of Sept. 13-15.
On the White Pass (Highway 12) side, most campgrounds will be open through October, but not Willows (Saturday closure), Indian Creek (Sept. 13 closure). Some free self-service sites,like South Fork Tieton, Tieton Pond and the Indian Creek rec area, remain open but have no toilet or dumpster service.
Cycle event part of Goldendale festival
One bicycle touring event not included in last week's breakdown of similar events around the state will be coming up Sept. 20 in Goldendale, where the Golden Valley Bike Pedal will offer riders a choice of approximately 100-, 65- and 35-mile routes.
The event, sponsored by the non-profit Soroptimist International of Goldendale, is being held in conjunction with the Sept. 19-21 Goldendale Festival of Wheels. Registration is $50 for the 100-miler, $50 for the 65-miler and $45 for the 35-miler, with proceeds to prevent Soroptimist International's service projects, which range from breast cancer research to education assistance and aid to victims of such things as domestic violence and wars.
The Golden Valley rides will begin and end at the Goldendale Grange Hall, 228 E. Darland, where riders can also register on the day of the event. Riders may start at the open-highway ride anytime between 8 and 10 a.m. For information or registration, e-mail goldenbikeride@myway.com or go to www.cityofgoldendale.com/events.shtml.
The Festival of Wheels will include such events as motorcycle/ATV and rock-crawl play-days, "Outdoor Lawn Dragsters" on Main Street, a motorcycle poker run, live music and a street fair.
Gorge group begins fall hiking schedule
The Friends of the Columbia Gorge begins its fall hiking season Sunday, with activities ranging from fall-color trips, whitewater rafting and educational activities.
Notable programs for the fall season include a Sept. 21 whitewater rafting adventure on the White Salmon at a special discounted rate for Friends of the Columbia Gorge members; a Dallas Mountain Ice Ages Floods hike on Oct. 18; a Nov. 8 hike on the Cape Horn Trail; and bald eagle viewing at Balfour on Jan. 10, for Friends members only.
Most events are free and open to the public, though membership includes access to special members-only outings, a quarterly newsletter and more information on history and current events in the National Scenic Area. For more information, go to www.gorgefriends.org or call 503-241-3762, Ext. 103.
Bird Alert: plenty of reservation sightings
Local birders beating the brush around the Yakama Indian Reservation for migrating birds turned up some pretty good finds. Pom Pom Road south of White Swan was a hotbed of activity, with a bushtit topping the list. The birders were also able to study a rare valley visitor, the red-eyed vireo, alongside the more common warbling vireo. Other good sightings were gray catbird, Lewis's woodpecker, Bewick's wren, cedar waxwing and a mix of migrating warblers that included orange-crowned, Nashville and Wilson's warblers.
Sightings at Fort Simcoe included a Townsend's solitaire atop the Garry oaks, a flock of at least 10 purple finches, large numbers of violet-green swallows and one Vaux's swift. Another good migrant spot is the Moxee Experimental Station, where almost 40 species were tallied this week, including an immature black-throated gray warbler. This was followed by close studies of Townsend's warblers, which were plentiful.
A trip up Little Rattlesnake Creek on Bethel Ridge produced a surprise -- a northern saw-whet owl that crossed only yards ahead of the vehicle and perched in a fir tree beside the road. This was broad daylight, and saw-whets are usually strictly nocturnal.
Shorebird reports this week include killdeer, greater yellowlegs, spotted sandpiper, semipalmated sandpiper, western sandpiper, least sandpiper, Baird's sandpiper, red-necked phalarope, all noted at Wenas Lake; and killdeer, greater yellowlegs, western and least Sandpipers, long-billed dowitcher, and Wilson's snipe, seen in the flooded fields on Marion Drain Road.
A northern mockingbird was spotted at the corner of Benson and Alexander in Prosser, in Benton County. As only a few individual northern mockingbirds have been known to stray into Yakima County, any sighting reports would be appreciated.
Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 248-1963.
-- Kerry L. Turley
AROUND AND ABOUT
CAMPFIRES OK ALL OVER: The Bureau of Land Management (which oversees four recreation and camping areas in the Yakima River Canyon) on Wednesday joined the Wenatchee National Forest in lifting campfire restrictions that had been in place since the hot, dry stretch of mid-August. The Industrial Fire Precaution Level is also back at its lowest level, meaning National Forest wood-cutting is allowed all day.
BUOY 10 CLOSURE: The Buoy 10 area near the mouth of the Columbia River has closed to all salmon and steelhead fishing. The retention fishery for chinook salmon had already closed in that area, though coho catch rates had continued to skyrocket following that closure, raising concerns about the impact on protected wild salmon runs.
ON THE CALENDAR
SATURDAY: The Cascadians will hike to Third Burroughs in Mount Rainier National Park on Saturday. For meeting time and place, call Maurine Peck at 453-4244.
SATURDAY: The Yakima Hiking Club will hold a hike to Sheep Lake and Sourdough Gap, with the Sheep Lake hike a 4-mile round trip with 400 feet of elevation gain, an easy turnaround spot for anyone who doesn't feel up for the 7-mile, 1,100-foot gain to Sourdough Gap and Upper Crystal Lake. Participants will meet at 8 a.m. at the Fred Meyer parking lot (40th Avenue side) for carpooling. Total drive from Yakima to the trailhead is about 64 miles. Bring lunch, appropriate clothing and shoes, sunscreen and insect repellent, but not pets.
TUESDAY: The Cascadians' Tuesday hikers will go to Mildred Point and Van Trump Park, a 7- to 8-mile round trip with 2,200 feet of elevation gain. Participants meet at 7:30 a.m. at the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart parking lot and carpool from there.
THURSDAY (Sept. 11): Road construction on State Route 123 has forced yet another change to the Cascadians' Pokies schedule. The plan now is for a doubleheader hike from the Stevens Canyon Entrance at Mount Rainier National Park, with a faster group doing an out-and-back hike starting north on the East Side Trail, and a not-so-fast group hiking to the Grove of the Patriarchs and then down to Silver Falls and Ohanapecosh. For information on the East Side Trail hike, call Virginia Foley at 388-5575. For the not-so-fast group, call Jeanne Crawford at 966-8608.
SEPT. 13-14: The 2008 Rainier Mountain Festival in Ashford will feature climbing legends like Ed Viesturs, Dave Hahn and Seattle icons Jim and Lou Whittaker. Admission is free to the event at Rainier Basecamp (30027 State Route 706 E., Ashford), with highlights including competitions in such things as speed climbing, sled pull and erect-a-tent, a 5-mile trail run, mountain technique demonstrations, raffles, music and food.
SEPT. 20-21: The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, a free event of hands-on activities and "edu-tainment," takes place the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery at the mouth of the Icicle Canyon near Leavenworth. For information, go to www.salmonfest.org.
- Advertisement