Outdoors

Fly fishing

A lifetime ago, I lived in Germany, where a goal of one day running a 5K turned into a marathon, mostly because I was prone to getting lost on the many wooded trails. I had a hard time finding people to play outside with me, for the Germans are Wednesday and Sunday afternoon walkers, and the cultural expectation of my parent-peers was that women put their children before everything else, and most certainly before “sport.”

A long-billed dowitcher hunts crustaceans and water worms at the Saltese wetlands in this Aug. 8 photo by Gavin Rolwes.

Washington game wartdens are investigating the illegal killing of a black bear in Pend Oreille County. 

There’s always somebody at the Spokane Hatchery.

STEVENS PASS – Washington’s hardest-to-pronounce mountain biking trail might also be its most fun.

Riverside State Park will be closed for some time as officials begin to assess the damage from the wildfires that blackened parts of the park and destroyed hundreds of homes in Spokane last weekend.

Anglers will get a chance to target fall chinook salmon the Snake River soon, albeit with a somewhat restrictive bag limit.

Fly fishing

With the impacts of climate change, it appears the question is not if we are going to be overrun with flood or fire, but when. Many neighborhoods in Spokane received their ill-fated answer last week, as the flames swallowed trees, homes, and the evidence of lives lived and curated in collections of family portraits.

A long tailed weasel hangs out near the patio of the Doris Morrison Learning Center above the Saltese Lowlands in this July 26 photo by Jim Summers.

Josh Mills watched smoke rise Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the day glued to his phone, horrified by the devastation wrought by the fires that torched hundreds of homes in Northwest Spokane.

Washington Fish and Wildlife commissioners routinely disregarded government transparency laws, skirted conflict of interest rules, and sparred with agency leaders, but their actions and behavior did not reach the level of serious misconduct, according to the findings of a nearly yearlong investigation released Friday.

There were a few hiccups early in Wrigley’s fishing career.

Fly fishing

A bumblebee works on a flower near Four Lakes in this July 19 photo by Gary Miller.

Two more anglers have landed spots in Idaho’s fish record books.

This year, I have a tomato bush that is nearly as tall as I am. It split stalks low in its growth, and shot out in all directions, lush and thick with leaves and blossoms. Small green tomatoes are forming now, giving the plant a heavy sway when I walk by, pleased by the hope of harvest. The odd thing is, it is not in my garden.