07/19/11 — What’s Happening

An end in sight to 1800, 1808 closures

Backcountry recreationists have gone four years without motorized access on the Forest Service 1800 and 1808 roads south of Bumping Lake, popular routes to trailheads heading into the William O. Douglas Wilderness as well as Copper Canyon and the Deep Creek Campground. Hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers, though, have been able to get past the washout areas from the 2006-07 winter floods that took out bridges over both roadways.

Motorized access is returning to those roads soon enough. But, for the next few months, there will be no access whatsoever, while the bridges are rebuilt.

Work crews began rebuilding the bridges over Bumping Road 1800 and Deep Creek Road 1808 earlier this month, with construction on both expected to be completed in September. The 1800 road beyond the bridge is expected to be open at that time, which will allow people to drive some 31?2 miles closer to trailheads leading to the American and Cougar lakes and the Pacific Crest Trail. Until September, though, hikers and horseback riders can still access those Wilderness destinations by taking the 971 trail around the north side of Bumping Lake.

The 1808 road itself, though, will remain closed beyond the bridge while crews repair additional road damage further up the road and may not be open to motorized traffic until next spring.

The construction areas for 300 feet on either side of the roads are closed to all traffic during the project, including hikers, horseback riders and cyclists.

Waterfowl calling championships on tap

Think you’ve got the goods when it comes to calling duck and geese into range during waterfowl season? Prove it. The Washington State Waterfowling Contest will take place in the Tri-Cities over the weekend of Aug. 6-7 at Wholesale Sports (6603 W. Canal St., Kennewick).

The event, sponsored in part by the Yakima Valley Chapter of the Washington Waterfowl Association, will begin with registration at 7 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6. The two days of competition will be highlighted by the Washington State Duck Sanction, the official Washington State championship of duck-calling, in which the winner qualifies to advance to the world championships in Stuttgart, Ark.

Besides the state-sanctioned duck-calling championship, other events will include Two-Man Duck, Two-Man Goose, Novice Duck, Pee-Wee Duck (ages 12 and under), Junior (ages 13 to 17) Duck and Goose, and Washington State Open events in both duck and goose.

For more information, call Yakima Valley chapter chairman Abel Cortina at 509-786-9196. Cortina is a past Washington State Duck Sanction winner and placed 16th among 68 callers at the 2003 world championships in Arkansas.

Vessel Inspections for free at Rimrock

Boaters can determine whether their vessels are in compliance with Coast Guard boating regulations a couple of weekends from now, when the Yakima Valley Boat Club and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary conduct vessel inspections at the club’s docks at Rimrock Lake on Aug. 6.

The inspectations, available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., are free to all Rimrock Lake boaters who bring their vessel to the club’s docks. The Auxiliary doesn’t issue tickets or fines for vessels not in compliance, but boat owners will know which items need to be taken care of. Those in compliance receive a USCGA Safety Compliance Decal — which doesn’t guarantee you’ll never be stopped and checked, but will identify you as a boater who has taken an interest in vessel safety.

The Yakima Valley Boat Club docks are on the south side of Rimrock Lake, at the southwest shore of Bear Cove. Expect congestion: The club’s annual “Rockett 60” sail races will also be held on that date.

For more information, call John Steenbergen at 509-945-3595; Sharan Panattoni, 509-965-1566; Larry Keeler, 509-961-1815; Dennis Teeter, 509-307-0978; or J.B. Hanna, 509-713-3213.

AROUND AND ABOUT

MITCHELL PEAK CLOSURE: As of last week, access to the northern trailhead for Skamania County’s Mitchell Peak (south of Swift Reservoir in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest) has been closed. While the forest land is managed by the DNR, the only access road to the trailhead (Forest Road 10) cuts across private ownership and the new landowner has gated access to the road just east of the intersection with the S-1000 Road. For now, the only access to Mitchell Peak trail is from the North Siouxon Creek trailhead, which is roughly 13 miles from the top of the peak.

COLUMBIA SOCKEYE: Columbia River anglers can retain up to four sockeye daily (minimum size 12 inches) through Oct. 15 between the Highway 395 bridge at Pasco and Wells Dam.

DNR BURN BAN: There’s a statewide burn ban on all DNR lands through Sept. 30.

BIRD ALERT

Satus Creek in the Yakama Indian Reservation turned out to be very productive this week for birders who enjoyed good looks at and were serenaded by a couple of red-eyed vireos. These birds were spotted in areas of dense white alder riparian woodland and surprisingly they were singing away at midday.

Birds of note along the pass included ash-throated flycatchers, Cassin’s vireo, warbling vireo, Nashville warbler, western scrub-jay, white-breasted nuthatch, cedar waxwing, yellow-breasted chat, lark sparrow, lazuli bunting, Cassin’s finch and Bullock’s oriole. Finally, just a few yards within the county line, an American dipper was working the boulder-lined banks of Satus Creek ,suggesting the bridge is a likely nesting site.

Other sightings from around the county included a pair of western scrub-jays spotted in a conifer tree at the corner of 22nd Avenue and Prasch, across from McClure Elementary School.

A quick stop at the containment pond at the 64th Avenue Walmart produced cliff swallows, killdeer and a spotted sandpiper that was perched on the top rail of the fence. A sora was calling from the pasture along North Wenas Road and, at Fort Simcoe, ash-throated flycatcher, gray catbird and yellow-breasted chat were noted. The Lewis’s woodpeckers were very vocal and calls of young birds from cavities could be heard, indicating they will soon be fledging.

A report also came in of a leucistic (lacking pigment in the feathers) black-billed magpie in Union Gap hanging out with a group for normally-plumaged magpies. This magpie is not all white but has some dusky coloration on it and it really stands out from the others.

Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 248-1963.

— Kerry L. Turley

ON THE CALENDAR

THIS MORNING: The Cascadians’ Tuesdays group is scheduled to head up Shriner Peak (a nine-miler with 3,400 feet of elevation gain), providing high-country snow conditions make that possible. The group meets at 7:30 a.m. at the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart. Come prepared for weather changes and bring lunch.

TONIGHT: Mount Adams Cycling Club’s WEEKLY 24- to 30-mile ride starts from YAC Fitness in Terrace Heights at 6 p.m. For online information about Mount Adams club rides and activities, go to www.mountadamscycling.org.

WEDNESDAY: The weekly Naches Loop ride, a 21-miler hosted by Mount Adams Cycling, gets under way at 6 p.m., beginning and ending at the SunTides Golf Course parking lot.

THURSDAY: The Cascadians’ Pokies will travel to Ohanapecosh for a trek to Grove of the Patriarchs and Silver Falls. For meeting time and place, call Mary Shinn at 509-966-9930 or Debby Cornue at 509-966-3085.

THURSDAY: Chinook Cycling’s weekly mountain-bike ride of the Cowiche Canyon trail circuit starts at 6 p.m. at the Scenic Drive trailhead. For more info on area mountain bike activities, call Jeff at Revolution Cycles at 509-452-0063.

THURSDAY: Looking for an easy bike ride to get started on? Mount Adams Cycling hosts an easy Greenway group ride for beginners and club newcomers every Thursday, taking off at 6 p.m. from the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart lot.

MONDAY: Chinook Cycling hosts a 15-mile “Mellow Monday” ride for beginners and newcomers, beginning at 6 p.m. at Wide Hollow Elementary (Nob Hill and 72nd). For more on the club’s activities, go to www.chinookcycling.com.