Life

This undated photo shows cedar apple rust infection on cedar in New Paltz, N.Y. Cedar apple rust begins its seasonal cycle on cedar trees and is one of many diseases attacking apples, but not all apple varieties are susceptible. (Lee Reich via AP)

Advice to growers: Match the cure to the pest problem

The caller on the other end of the phone was worried: Her apple trees had suffered severely last year from cedar-apple rust disease, and she… Continue reading

This undated photo shows cedar apple rust infection on cedar in New Paltz, N.Y. Cedar apple rust begins its seasonal cycle on cedar trees and is one of many diseases attacking apples, but not all apple varieties are susceptible. (Lee Reich via AP)
Instructor Lee Kuepper leads a two-handed spey fly fishing clinic at Soldotna Creek Park on Saturday, May 13. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion) Instructor Lee Kuepper leads a two-handed spey fly fishing clinic at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska on Saturday, May 13, 2017. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Summer prep with fly fishing clinic

There’s no time for training once the summer fishing season is in full swing, so Lee Kuepper of Double Haul Fly Fishing took the opportunity… Continue reading

Instructor Lee Kuepper leads a two-handed spey fly fishing clinic at Soldotna Creek Park on Saturday, May 13. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion) Instructor Lee Kuepper leads a two-handed spey fly fishing clinic at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska on Saturday, May 13, 2017. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
Dr. Taz Tally (with his dog Zip), author of 50 Hikes In Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, will be at the Kenai Refuge Visitor Center on May 27. (Photo by Taz Tally)

Hiking in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

What type of trail am I hiking today? Do I need my hiking poles? Skilak Lookout Trail has that steep climb at the end so,… Continue reading

Dr. Taz Tally (with his dog Zip), author of 50 Hikes In Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, will be at the Kenai Refuge Visitor Center on May 27. (Photo by Taz Tally)

An Outdoor View: Bear time

If you haven’t done so already this spring, now would be a good time to think about bears. The Kenai Peninsula is home to black… Continue reading

Spring in the valley In this May 13 photo, the snowy Chugach Mountains stand over Vagt Lake near Moose Pass. Though ice is still breaking up on the high alpine lakes, the lower lakes in the valleys on the eastern Kenai Peninsula are ice-free, if cold. Vagt Lake, about a mile and a half down a trail that begins just off the Seward Highway near Moose Pass, is stocked with rainbow trout every year by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Coho salmon and Arctic grayling may also be available in the lake, according to Fish and Game. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Photo: Spring in the valley

By ELIZABETH EARL Peninsula Clarion… Continue reading

Spring in the valley In this May 13 photo, the snowy Chugach Mountains stand over Vagt Lake near Moose Pass. Though ice is still breaking up on the high alpine lakes, the lower lakes in the valleys on the eastern Kenai Peninsula are ice-free, if cold. Vagt Lake, about a mile and a half down a trail that begins just off the Seward Highway near Moose Pass, is stocked with rainbow trout every year by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Coho salmon and Arctic grayling may also be available in the lake, according to Fish and Game. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

An Outdoor View: Thrift stores and fishing lures

Editor’s note: Longtime Clarion outdoors columnist Les Palmer is scaling back on his writing. His column will appear every other week in the Clarion. On… Continue reading

Moose cows are notorious for being great mothers to their young. (Photo by John Morton)

Refuge Notebook: Celebrating wildlife mothers

This Sunday is Mother’s Day, a national holiday that President Woodrow Wilson designated in 1914 as World War I was unfolding. But, like most things… Continue reading

Moose cows are notorious for being great mothers to their young. (Photo by John Morton)
This undated photo shows stinging nettles in New Paltz, N.Y. Nettles is a weed and it stings, but it also is a healthful and tasty plant. (Lee Reich via AP)

Yes, stinging nettles sting. But they have many assets too.

At a time of year when weeds may be getting the better of you, what sweet revenge it is to turn them into an asset.… Continue reading

This undated photo shows stinging nettles in New Paltz, N.Y. Nettles is a weed and it stings, but it also is a healthful and tasty plant. (Lee Reich via AP)
In this January 2017 photo, Josh Peterson carries his daughter, Miriam, to fish at Sand Creek in northeast Wyoming. (Christene Peterson /The Casper Star-Tribune via AP)

To get kids outdoors, plan then go

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Some moms worry about daycare, others about eating schedules. I spent the first eight months of my daughter’s life obsessing about… Continue reading

In this January 2017 photo, Josh Peterson carries his daughter, Miriam, to fish at Sand Creek in northeast Wyoming. (Christene Peterson /The Casper Star-Tribune via AP)
Mark Laker launches a drone on an automated aerial photography mission to survey Aleutian Terns on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: Using Drones to monitor nesting Aleutian Terns

On the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near Headquarters Lake is a small colony of Aleutian Terns that nest alongside Arctic Terns. Aleutian Terns breed in… Continue reading

Mark Laker launches a drone on an automated aerial photography mission to survey Aleutian Terns on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

An Outdoor View: The perils of watching

Editor’s note: The Clarion previously published this column on March 4, 2005. What is the world coming to? More and more, I see examples of… Continue reading

An Outdoor View: Campfires

While talking with one of my grandsons recently, he mentioned having a bonfire on a Puget Sound beach. He said that the beach had fire… Continue reading

This undated photo shows Golden Bantam corn in New Paltz, N.Y. Golden Bantam is a delectable, heirloom variety of corn from which you can save seeds for sharing and for planting in years to come — as long it is grown in isolation from other varieties of corn. (Lee Reich via AP)

Plant some history in your garden with heirloom plants

You’re rummaging in the attic, in great grandma’s steamer trunk, and you come upon a dusty old packet of garden balsam seeds. An heirloom! This… Continue reading

This undated photo shows Golden Bantam corn in New Paltz, N.Y. Golden Bantam is a delectable, heirloom variety of corn from which you can save seeds for sharing and for planting in years to come — as long it is grown in isolation from other varieties of corn. (Lee Reich via AP)
A Dawn Redwood grows in Homer. Until it was rediscovered in China in 1943, this species was only known from fossil records. (Photo Paula Riley)

Refuge Notebook: Surprising trees grow on the Kenai Peninsula

Last June, I was enjoying the sun while listening to music at the Kenai River Festival. If I hadn’t been sitting (and it had nothing… Continue reading

A Dawn Redwood grows in Homer. Until it was rediscovered in China in 1943, this species was only known from fossil records. (Photo Paula Riley)
In this December 2016 photo, the sun peeks through the trees on the Tsalteshi Trails system near Soldotna, Alaska. The Tsalteshi Trails Association has applied to the Kenai Peninsula Borough for a Community Trails Management Agreement to expand the popular trail system to the south, providing a space for non-skiers to enjoy the trails in the winter. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Tsalteshi applies to expand trail system

More trails may be coming soon to the Tsalteshi Trails system. The nonprofit Tsalteshi Trails Association, which maintains about 25 kilometers of trails in a… Continue reading

In this December 2016 photo, the sun peeks through the trees on the Tsalteshi Trails system near Soldotna, Alaska. The Tsalteshi Trails Association has applied to the Kenai Peninsula Borough for a Community Trails Management Agreement to expand the popular trail system to the south, providing a space for non-skiers to enjoy the trails in the winter. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

An Outdoor View: Distractions

While mindlessly surfing the Net the other day, I got to thinking about distractions. According to Macmillan Dictionary, a distraction is “something that gets your… Continue reading

A caribou snacks on a sunny spring day. (Photo by Leah Eskelin/USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: Spring into Earth Day

It’s spring! I celebrate this fact in the sun warming my back, the drip, drip, drip of water melting off the roof, and the patchwork… Continue reading

A caribou snacks on a sunny spring day. (Photo by Leah Eskelin/USFWS)
Kara Johnston makes her way through a bouldering route on River City Wellness Center’s new climbing wall on Saturday, April 8, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska.

Rock wall offers new ascent for peninsula climbers

Local climbers gained a new foothold on the central peninsula April 8 with the opening of an indoor bouldering wall in Soldotna’s River City Wellness… Continue reading

Kara Johnston makes her way through a bouldering route on River City Wellness Center’s new climbing wall on Saturday, April 8, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska.
Soldotna resident Bruce King, a former fisheries biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, holds a rainbow trout he caught during a trip to Patagonia, Argentina in 2016. The areas he fished boasted trout upwards of 30 inches. (Photo courtesy Bruce King)

Travels, treks and trout

For some avid anglers, even the prolific fishing opportunities in the Last Frontier are sometimes not enough. That was true for Soldotna resident Bruce King,… Continue reading

Soldotna resident Bruce King, a former fisheries biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, holds a rainbow trout he caught during a trip to Patagonia, Argentina in 2016. The areas he fished boasted trout upwards of 30 inches. (Photo courtesy Bruce King)
This undated photo shows edamame harvest in New Paltz, N.Y. Freshly picked, green, young soybeans, known as edamame, are easy to grow and combine the flavors and textures of fresh lima beans and peas. (Lee Reich via AP) This undated photo shows edamame harvest in New Paltz, N.Y. Freshly picked, green, young soybeans, known as edamame, are easy to grow and combine the flavors and textures of fresh lima beans and peas. (Lee Reich via AP)

Edamame in the garden are flavorful and easy to grow

Move over, tempeh, tofu, miso, soy sauce, soy milk and other processed soy foods. Make way for edamame. This is the soybean in its most… Continue reading

This undated photo shows edamame harvest in New Paltz, N.Y. Freshly picked, green, young soybeans, known as edamame, are easy to grow and combine the flavors and textures of fresh lima beans and peas. (Lee Reich via AP) This undated photo shows edamame harvest in New Paltz, N.Y. Freshly picked, green, young soybeans, known as edamame, are easy to grow and combine the flavors and textures of fresh lima beans and peas. (Lee Reich via AP)