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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)

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Photo: Spring in the valley

By ELIZABETH EARL Peninsula Clarion

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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…

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

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Refuge Notebook: Celebrating wildlife mothers

This Sunday is Mother’s Day, a national holiday that President Woodrow Wilson designated in 1914 as World War…

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)

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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…

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)

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To get kids outdoors, plan then go

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Some moms worry about daycare, others about eating schedules. I spent the first eight…

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)

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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…

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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?…

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An Outdoor View: Campfires

While talking with one of my grandsons recently, he mentioned having a bonfire on a Puget Sound beach.…

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)

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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…

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)

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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…

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)

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Tsalteshi applies to expand trail system

More trails may be coming soon to the Tsalteshi Trails system. The nonprofit Tsalteshi Trails Association, which maintains…

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An Outdoor View: Distractions

While mindlessly surfing the Net the other day, I got to thinking about distractions. According to Macmillan Dictionary,…

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

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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…

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.

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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…

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)

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Travels, treks and trout

For some avid anglers, even the prolific fishing opportunities in the Last Frontier are sometimes not enough. That…

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)

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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.…

An American marten with a VHF radio collar was part of graduate research to assess if and why their distribution on the Kenai Peninsula has changed in recent years. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge) An American marten with a VHF radio collar was part of graduate research to assess if and why their distribution on the Kenai Peninsula has changed in recent years. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

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Refuge Notebook: American marten on the Kenai are climate change ‘winners’

I skied Resurrection Trail from Hope to Cooper Landing, a fun adventure that I haven’t done in several…

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An Outdoor View: Tomorrow’s charter

Judging by the increasing use of robots, in a few years they’ll be doing pretty much everything. Imagine…

In this June 2, 2014 photo provided by Scott Morris, Eszter Horanyi carries her loaded bikepacking bike over downed trees in New Mexico on the Continental Divide Trail. (Scott Morris via AP)

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Bikepacking adds a dose of fun to backpacking

By JOHN MARSHALL Associated Press PHOENIX — Backpacking is a great way to enjoy the outdoors with the…

This June 6, 2010 photo taken in New Market, Va., shows hydrangea blooming red and blue on the same bush. Hydrangea are coarse-textured plants that draw the eye because of their contrasts in shape or appearance. (Dean Fosdick via AP)

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Don’t forget about texture when planning your garden

The most popular element in landscape design is color, but texture is another important building block. Texture in…