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Out & About

By Al Thomas, Columbian Outdoors Reporter
Published: July 3, 2013, 5:00pm

Campgrounds open on west side of Mount Adams

TROUT LAKE — The high-elevation campgrounds on the west side of Mount Adams are open, the Forest Service reports.

According to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest website, open camps include Takhlakh Lake, Killen Creek, Olallie Lake, Horseshoe Lake and Keenes Horse Camp.

Pinchot road No. 23 from Trout Lake to Randle is open across Baby Shoe Pass, as is road No. 25 from Pine Creek to Randle across Elk Pass.

Divide Camp trail No. 112 and Killen Creek trail No. 113 are under snow at elevations above 5,000 feet. South Climb trail No. 183 is logged out to the snow line at 6,100 feet.

Indian Heaven Wilderness also has patches of snow. Camping spots at Thomas Lake on trail No. 111 are free of snow, but patches remain between Thomas and Rock lakes.

Gifford Pinchot road No. 99 open to Windy Ridge viewpoint

Road No. 99 to Windy Ridge Viewpoint on the east side of Mount St. Helens opened today.

The road also provides access to Meta Lake, Norway Pass trailhead, Miner’s Car and other attractions.

Forest Service rangers will offer daily activities at sites along road No. 99 including Windy Ridge, Donnybrook and Harmony.

Two recreation sites to close for fish pond construction

COUGAR — Two small recreation sites in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest will be closed for several months beginning Monday as part of the salmon and steelhead restoration effort in the upper North Fork of the Lewis River.

The Muddy River day use site on road No. 25 and the Clear Creek dispersed camping site off road No. 93 will be closed to the public completely until December while PacifiCorp builds acclimation ponds for young salmon.

Frank Shrier, PacifiCorp principal scientist, said when the ponds are complete they will have low visibility and not affect normal summer access.

PacifiCorp’s 50-year license to operate the three Lewis River dams requires restoration of salmon and steelhead to the upper watershed.

Mount St. Helens fun ride slated for July 27 at Kalama Horse Camp

COUGAR — The Mount St. Helens chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen will have their annual fun ride on July 27 at Kalama Horse Camp in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

A pancake breakfast will be served at 7 a.m. and the first riders will leave at 8 a.m. Both short and long loop rides are scheduled.

Fee camping is available on a first-come basis.

For additional information, call 360-798-6836.

Oregon tries tiger muskies to revive perch-infested reservoir

BAKER CITY, Ore. — Approximately 25,000 young tiger muskies have been stocked into Phillips Reservoir in an attempt to restore a once-thriving fishery for rainbow trout.

It is the first time tiger muskies — a sterile cross between muskellunge and northern pike — have been released in Oregon.

Tim Bailey, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, said it is hoped the predator muskies will crop a runaway population of yellow perch.

The 5-inch tiger muskies came from the Wyoming Fish and Game Department. Even at 5 inches, the tiger muskies are expected to feed on young perch immediately.

Phillips Reservoir used to produce 14- to 16-inch trout in the 1970s and 1980s and generated 38,000 angler trips a year.

Seventy-seven percent of fish in the lake are small yellow perch and angler visits have plummeted to about 3,100 a year.

In 2011, Oregon stocked tiger trout, a sterile cross between a brown trout and brook trout, to feed on the perch and offer a trophy-size fish to catch.

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Columbian Outdoors Reporter