Hope you saw my story on double chairs in today's paper.

Here are my 5 favorite doubles in the Washington Cascades:

1. Northway, Crystal Mountain
The slow ride gives you a chance to scope your next line.
2. Edelweiss, Alpental
Access to great runs like International and the gate to some epic backcountry terrain.
3. Seventh Heaven, Stevens Pass
A steep, short ride to some double diamond runs.
4. Paradise Double, White Pass
Look over your left shoulder for the state’s best chairlift view of Mount Rainier.
5. Keechlus, Summit East
Keechlus is out of commission this season, but there’s something cool a double still being a ski area’s primary lift.

Ocean anglers should see an increase in catch quotas for coho salmon this summer while fishing opportunities for chinook will likely be similar to last year. That was the assessment just released by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Three ocean salmon-fishing options were adopted earlier today by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, based on a strong run of coho to the Columbia River and the Washington coast, along with the need to protect wild salmon stocks.

The council sets fishing seasons in ocean water three to 200 miles off the Pacific coast. Last year the recreational ocean fishing quotas were 20,000 chinook and 20,350 coho salmon.

This year's recreational ocean options are:
Option 1 - 38,000 chinook and 189,000 coho
Option 2 - 22,500 chinook and 189,000 coho
Option 3 - 10,000 chinook and 168,000 coho

Option 1 introduces selective fishery for chinook salmon in Westport and Columbia River area fisheries. Selective fisheries allow anglers to catch and keep hatchery salmon, which are marked with a missing adipose fin, but require that they release wild salmon.

For nearly a decade, the mass marking of hatchery-produced coho salmon has allowed anglers to fish selectively in Washington's ocean waters. Mass marking of lower Columbia River hatchery chinook, known as "tules," has been under way since the mid-2000s, said a department news release. The council is considering using this management tool in ocean fisheries for chinook, said Phil Anderson, interim director. He represents the department on the management council.

"In a year like this, adding chinook selective fisheries in the ocean would help us meet or exceed our conservation objectives while allowing for meaningful recreational fishing opportunities in the ocean," Anderson said in a prepared statement.

As in the past, all three ocean options are based on selective fisheries for coho.

Final chinook and coho quotas will be part of a comprehensive 2009 salmon fishing package, which also includes marine and freshwater fisheries throughout Puget Sound and the Columbia River. State and tribal co-managers are currently developing those fisheries.

The co-managers will complete the final 2009 salmon fisheries package in conjunction with the PFMC process during its April meeting, the release said.

The deparment has three meetings set up to discuss the upcoming season:
Tuesday: Lacey Community Center, 9 a.m.
March 30: Westport. A time and location will be announced later.
March 31: Lynnwood Embassy Suites, 9 a.m.

Click here for more information about the salmon-season setting process, as well as a schedule of public meetings and salmon run-size forecasts.

Filmmakers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan will be in Seattle in April to preview their latest documentary “The National Parks: America's Best Idea.”

KCTS has announced the two will offer a free previe and talk about the six-part, 12-hour series on the creation of America’s national park system. The series is scheduled to air on PBS stations in the fall.

Filming for the series was done at Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks.

The event will be April 20 at 7 p.m. at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. Even though the event is free, tickets are required.

Click here to order tickets, or you can call 1-800-838-3006.

I'm working on a story about how to better store outdoor gear in your garage.

I would love to hear your suggestions on how to store your stuff for camping, fishing, paddling, skiing and snowboarding, hiking, hunting or any other activities you enjoy.

Feel from to comment here or send me an e-mail at jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com.

Laura Daugereau has dropped a second dog from her team, and is currently resting in McGrath. The Port Gamble musher is now in 54th place in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.

Daugereau reached McGrath at 12:27 a.m. Alaska time today, after leaving the Nikolai checkpoint at 5:38 p.m. Wednesday.

Mushers started the race with 16 dogs, but the 26-year-old Washington woman has dropped two dogs from her team. She dropped her first dog at the Finger Lake checkpoint because it had sore feet. She dropped the second dog in Nikolai.

Once she leaves McGrath, Daugereau will have a short 18-mile run to the checkpoint in Takotna, followed by a 25-mile run to Ophir. That is followed by one of two 90-mile runs on the course, to the checkpoint in Iditarod.

According to the race Web site, Daugereau has yet to take her mandatory 8- and 24-hour rest breaks.