Life

ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDTIONS, AUG. 15-16 - In this photo taken July 29, 2015, backpackers Samantha Journot and Luke Bakken of the Spokane Mountaineers climb or crawl through tangles of timber along the Boundary Trail in the Pasayten River drainage north of Winthrop, Wash. The area was ravaged by a wildfire in 2006. (Rich Landers/The Spokesman-Review via AP) COEUR D'ALENE PRESS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Outdoors club celebrates centennial

WINTHROP, Wash. (AP) — A 100-mile backpacking trip is a good start for sizing up a wilderness area as well as understanding what makes a… Continue reading

ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDTIONS, AUG. 15-16 - In this photo taken July 29, 2015, backpackers Samantha Journot and Luke Bakken of the Spokane Mountaineers climb or crawl through tangles of timber along the Boundary Trail in the Pasayten River drainage north of Winthrop, Wash. The area was ravaged by a wildfire in 2006. (Rich Landers/The Spokesman-Review via AP) COEUR D'ALENE PRESS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
This undated photo shows a cover crop that is ornamental even as it improves the soil in flower beds at Chanticleer Gardens in Wayne, Pa. (Lee Reich via AP)

Clothe your soil: Cover crops help enrich it

Cover crops are plants that gardeners and farmers have, since the beginnings of agriculture, grown not to eat but for the good of the soil.Blanketing… Continue reading

This undated photo shows a cover crop that is ornamental even as it improves the soil in flower beds at Chanticleer Gardens in Wayne, Pa. (Lee Reich via AP)

Conserving the Kings

I can’t remember the last time I fished for Kenai River king salmon, but it was at least four years ago, and then only once… Continue reading

Back to front, Nathan Lervold, Talon Musgrave, Atom Skeeba, Elizabeth Keys and Amber Hamar repair benches used for outdoor educational programs at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: Local kids do big work

This year’s Youth Conservation Corps program has come to an end. Every summer a few lucky, randomly-chosen local high school students apply for positions to… Continue reading

Back to front, Nathan Lervold, Talon Musgrave, Atom Skeeba, Elizabeth Keys and Amber Hamar repair benches used for outdoor educational programs at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

An Outdoor View: Why do we hunt?

Author’s note: This column first appeared in the Clarion on Aug. 14, 1987. I’ve edited it slightly for brevity. — LPThe sight of gold leaves… Continue reading

Deanna Wohlgemuth stands outside her camper on July 17, 2015 in Vancouver, Wash. Wohlgemuth's dubbed the camper "Matilda," which is a 1963 16-foot Aristocrat camper she rescued from the junk heap, she now rents it our for camping and events. (Natalie Behring/The Columbian via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Live small to live large: Vintage campers inspire bartender

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Sometimes, smaller is better.Just ask Deanna Wohlgemuth, who still lives with her children in the small first home she bought 15 years… Continue reading

Deanna Wohlgemuth stands outside her camper on July 17, 2015 in Vancouver, Wash. Wohlgemuth's dubbed the camper "Matilda," which is a 1963 16-foot Aristocrat camper she rescued from the junk heap, she now rents it our for camping and events. (Natalie Behring/The Columbian via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
This March 16, 2015 photo shows pink salmon cakes on sourdough with lemon herb aioli in Concord, NH. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)

Pink salmon offers lean, soft meat

With a delicate flavor, rosy pink flesh and a texture similar to trout, pink salmon offers a blank canvas for sauces and other flavorings. Pink… Continue reading

This March 16, 2015 photo shows pink salmon cakes on sourdough with lemon herb aioli in Concord, NH. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)

Fishing report: Silvers slow to show, reds still running

On Wednesday afternoon, a handful of anglers were enjoying the sunshine at Cunningham Park on Beaver Loop Road in Kenai, waiting for silver salmon to… Continue reading

This March 16, 2015 photo shows grilled coho salmon with sesame celery relish in Concord, NH. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)

Firm flesh, bright flavor with silver salmon

Coho, also known as “silver” salmon for its bright silver sides, offers a lighter, more distinctly flavored fish than king or sockeye. Coho’s orange-red flesh… Continue reading

This March 16, 2015 photo shows grilled coho salmon with sesame celery relish in Concord, NH. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)
Sockeye salmon returning to Bear Creek are one of those special events in nature that occur every season in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: The Kenai Peninsula rediscovered

Browsing through my grandfather’s stack of In-Fisherman Magazines as a boy was the first time I had ever heard of the Kenai River. At the… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon returning to Bear Creek are one of those special events in nature that occur every season in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

An Outfoor View: Jenna talks habitat

Author’s note: In yet another attempt to teach readers about fish and fishing by baiting them with a steamy romance novel, here’s yet another chapter… Continue reading

In this Aug. 3, 2014, photo, a grizzly bear walks through a back country campsite in Montana's Glacier National Park. Glacier National Park officials recommend that hikers stay in groups on all of the Glacier trails and make noise in grizzly country. (Doug Kelley/The Spokesman-Review via AP) COEUR D'ALENE PRESS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Follow bear safety rules to prevent trouble for everybody

SPOKANE, Wash. — Following guidelines for camping in grizzly country can prevent trouble for everyone, including the bears.A Spokane man experienced a good case in… Continue reading

In this Aug. 3, 2014, photo, a grizzly bear walks through a back country campsite in Montana's Glacier National Park. Glacier National Park officials recommend that hikers stay in groups on all of the Glacier trails and make noise in grizzly country. (Doug Kelley/The Spokesman-Review via AP) COEUR D'ALENE PRESS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
This July 19, 2014 photo shows typical terrain in the Bear Lake Corridor Trails area in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The corridor offers good day hikes in the eastern side of the park, using the town of Estes Park as a gateway. The park is launching a yearlong celebration of its centennial in September, and fall is a nice time to visit. (AP Photo/Lindsey Tanner)

Rocky Mountain National Park offers spectacular views

ESTES PARK, Colo. — No adjectives can do Rocky Mountain National Park justice. The jagged snow-draped peaks, rocky tundra, green valleys, and roaring waterfalls render… Continue reading

This July 19, 2014 photo shows typical terrain in the Bear Lake Corridor Trails area in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The corridor offers good day hikes in the eastern side of the park, using the town of Estes Park as a gateway. The park is launching a yearlong celebration of its centennial in September, and fall is a nice time to visit. (AP Photo/Lindsey Tanner)

Last week of July means reds, kings

It’s the final week of July, and on the central Kenai Peninsula, that means sockeye and king salmon.The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on… Continue reading

Alex Douthit, Salmon Buster's Guide Service Douthit dropped a group of personal use fishermen off at Cunningham Park and was waiting for another to arrive. "People seem more interested in king salmon than reds," he said. "Today is my last dipnet fishing trip for the year."

Anglers come from near and far to fish the Kenai

Tom Pelfrey, WasillaPelfrey, and a group were dragging a cooler of sockeye salmon up the shore toward Cunningham Park after a guided personal use fishing… Continue reading

Alex Douthit, Salmon Buster's Guide Service Douthit dropped a group of personal use fishermen off at Cunningham Park and was waiting for another to arrive. "People seem more interested in king salmon than reds," he said. "Today is my last dipnet fishing trip for the year."
A beautiful postcard shot of the boat launch at the Upper Skilak Campground, one of many lakes with boat trailer access on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo Credit Nick Longobardi/USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: At a loss for what to do? Camping opportunitites galore

Whether you enjoy lounging around listening to a babbling creek in Upper Skilak Campground, watching a colony of beavers collect logs for their lodge on… Continue reading

A beautiful postcard shot of the boat launch at the Upper Skilak Campground, one of many lakes with boat trailer access on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo Credit Nick Longobardi/USFWS)
Becca Miathias looks through a refractometer to measure salinity in an ocean water sample taken.

Kachemak Bay tour offers science, sightseeing

All we needed were red knit caps.On a recent weekday tour of Kachemak Bay, I felt like one of the crew of Jacques Cousteau’s famous… Continue reading

Becca Miathias looks through a refractometer to measure salinity in an ocean water sample taken.
The beach pea (Lathyrus maritimus) is one of two pea species on the Kenai Peninsula. The other species is vetchling, Lathyrus palustris, and neither is known to be poisonous. Vetchling is found in wooded areas while the beach pea is found along the shore. Photo by Jenny Archis/USFWS

Refuge Notebook: Eat your peas – just not the ones you find in the wild

The story “Into the Wild” is one of the most wildly popular Alaskan stories out there. Whether you follow the story with a sense of… Continue reading

The beach pea (Lathyrus maritimus) is one of two pea species on the Kenai Peninsula. The other species is vetchling, Lathyrus palustris, and neither is known to be poisonous. Vetchling is found in wooded areas while the beach pea is found along the shore. Photo by Jenny Archis/USFWS
A self portrait shows Josh Mumm hiking on a ridge near the Yentan River. (Photo courtesy Josh Mumm via the Homer News)

Homer man wins Wilderness Classic

In the grueling Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, where contestants race unsupported through the wildest country of Alaska, just finishing can be an honor. But when… Continue reading

A self portrait shows Josh Mumm hiking on a ridge near the Yentan River. (Photo courtesy Josh Mumm via the Homer News)

Fishing report: King fishing improves, sockeyes building slowly

There are more salmon streaming into central Kenai Peninsula streams, but anglers may have to put in some time to catch their limits.Sonar estimates from… Continue reading