RSS7/10/08 What's Happening
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Four-wheelers slate major trails cleanup
A major Ahtanum trails clean-up effort by four-wheel-drive clubs, hosted by the Yakima-based All Wheeler Off Road Club in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources, will take place July 26.
The cleanup event will be entered around the Ahtanum multiple-use area west of Tampico, focusing on three ridge trails -- Sedge, Whites and Foundation Ridge, including Trail 613, the Strobach trail, Blue Lake and the Darland loop. Volunteers should plan to meet at the Ahtanum Sno-Park at 10 a.m. (look for the All Wheelers sign). Volunteers will then be invited to a post-cleanup potluck barbecue at about 5:30 p.m.
Click here for a link to cleanups and work parties open to the public. For more information, call Wade Kabrich, safety/education director for the All Wheeler club, at 949-7887.
Lost Lake receives state's last triploids
Lost Lake -- not the one in Yakima County, but the one in Kittitas County on the hill west and behind Keechelus Lake, about six miles south of Snoqualmie -- last week became the last lake in the state to receive its 2008 stocking of triploid trout.
Last Wednesday's plant by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife put 1,033 triploids into the 145-acre natural lake, which also has Eastern brook trout and some small, naturally-produced kokanee. The triploids -- so-called because they have three chromosomes instead of two -- average about 14 inches long and 11/2 pounds at the time of planting.
The lake is accessed off Interstate 90 by taking the Stampede Pass Road 54 and turning west on Lost Lake Road 5480.
Lakes proposed for rotenone treatment
Several lakes in Grant and Franklin counties are among the array of Eastern Washington fishing waters being proposed for rotenone treatments to reduce their populations of of undesirable fish species that compete with game fish.
The lakes being proposed for rotenone treatment are spread around the eastern side of the state, but the ones most likely to impact local anglers include Desert, North Desert, Aztec, Dune, Lizard, Meadowlark, Harris, Sedge and Tern lakes and
16 ponds in the Desert Wildlife Area in Grant County, plus Worth and Powerline lakes in Franklin County.
Four public meetings have been set this month to discuss the project -- Monday in Olympia, 7 p.m. Tuesday at the WDFW regional office in Ephrata (1550 Alder St. NW), July 18 in Spokane and July 29 in Colville.
Bird Alert: Chicks lead to woodpeckers
Noisy chicks are a big help in locating woodpeckers this time of year, as some of our local bird enthusiasts found out this week. In an Aspen grove along the Bethel Ridge Road, the birders found an American three-toed woodpecker nest with noisy young, and a female that was gleaning insects from a nearby bunch of burnt trees and other dead lodgepole pines. A little further east they found a Williamson's sapsucker nest at the base of a talus slope. Further along in Cash Prairie they found a hairy woodpecker nest, with an adult feeding the whining young.
Clear Lake is a great birding site and the alders around the lake were alive with the songs of yellow warblers and MacGillivray's warblers, and warbling vireos. Also noted in the area were willow flycatcher, Hammond's flycatcher, Clark's nutcracker, blue grouse and wild turkey, The lake itself produced views of ring-necked duck, Barrow's goldeneye, and common merganser.
A trip to Tieton Meadows provided a bird list more typical of a Western Washington trip with such species as pileated woodpecker, Pacific-slope flycatcher (an amazing number of 15 were noted), brown creeper, winter wren, Swainson's thrush, hermit thrush and varied thrush.
They were excited to observe a pair of red-breasted sapsuckers, fly catching from the old silver snags near Leech Lake at White Pass old silver snags. Other birds of note here include Vaux's swift, olive-sided flycatcher, gray jay and chestnut-backed chickadee.
Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 248-1963
This week's correspondent: Kerry L Turley
AROUND AND ABOUT
STURGEON RULE CHANGE: Starting Saturday, all white sturgeon caught in the Columbia River between the Bonneville Dam and The Dalles Dam must be released. Fish managers' harvest guideline of 700 was exceeded by last weekend.
WINTER SPORTS MEETINGS: Upcoming meetings of advisory committees on the state's snowmobile and non-motorized Sno-Park programs are open to all winter sports enthusiasts willing to drive to Wenatchee. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission's advisory committee for non-motorized recreation will meet 7 p.m. July 18, 8 a.m. July 19 and 9 a.m. July 20, with the snowmobile advisory committee to meet July 25-27 under the same time schedule. All meetings will be at the Chelan Public Utility District, 327 N. Wenatchee Ave.
ON THE CALENDAR
SATURDAY: The Yakima Hiking Club, a group that began as a recreational outlet for county employees but has since opened to outsiders as well, will hold a 4.5-mile round-trip hike to Mesatchee Creek Falls, with 500 feet of elevation gain. Participants should be at the Fred Meyer parking lot (along 40th) at 9 a.m. for car-pooling (it's 56 miles one way); anyone expecting to use his or her car should have a Northwest Forest Pass (or pay a $5 parking fee), and anyone just riding should expect to chip in for gas. Sturdy shoes, lunch/snacks, water and camera are recommended. Dogs on leashes are permitted, but there's a creek crossing on a log that might be difficult for a dog.
SATURDAY-SUNDAY: The Cascadians' schedule includes a hike to Fife's Crater on Saturday, a 10-miler with 3,200 feet of elevation gain, and an intermediate hike on Bear Creek Mountain set for Sunday. For information on meeting time and place for either hike, call Maurine Peck at 453-4244.
TUESDAY: The Cascadians' Tuesday hikers will meet at 7:30 a.m. at the 40th Avenue
Bi-Mart parking lot to embark on a hike (yet to be determined). It's always wise to bring plenty of water and lunch/snacks.
WEDNESDAY: The Mount Adams Cycling Club road cyclists and non-members will take off at 6 p.m. from the Fred Meyer parking lot off 40th Avenue on their weekly 25-mile loop ride to Naches. E-mail anotherjones@earthlink.net for more information.
THURSDAY (JULY 17): The Pokies' next hike, another one reflecting a change from the Cascadian newsletter, will be to Union Creek Falls. For meeting time and place, call Alice Whitaker at 966-0546.
— Yakima Herald-Republic
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