The National Park Service just announced it has restricted open campfires in portions of Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Effective today, campfires are banned in the following three campgrounds along the NPS-managed portion of Lake Chelan: Flick Creek, Weaver Point and Manly Wham.

This restriction means that no campfires are permitted until further notice. This includes using wood, briquettes, or any other fuel in the fire pits provided or in any kind of open fire pan or barbecue grill or other device, said a Park Service news release. Pressurized liquid gas camp stoves and enclosed solid fuel fire that utilize a wick to distribute a flame are allowed.

The closure parallels a widespread ban on campfires in the lower portion of Lake Chelan in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. In the remainder of Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, North Cascades National Park, and Ross Lake National Recreation Area, open camp fires are permitted only in established fire pits in designated campsites as usual.

Open fires are not permitted in other areas at any time.

Visitors are urged to exercise great caution with all fire. Do not burn toilet paper. Discard cigarettes properly.

Oh, how a well-timed thunderstorm can save the day.

Like the rest of Puget Sound, Mount Rainier has been feeling the heat. At noon on Wednesday, the temperature reached 80 degrees at Paradise – that’s at 5,400 feet of elevation.

That’s when a thunderstorm rolled in.

The .12 inches of rain that fell in about two hours helped drop the temperature 15 degrees in the same span. It only warmed back up to 70 by 6 p.m.

But lightning caused some issues, including a strike that damaged some of the phone and electrical systems at the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center. Park staff were still assessing the damage this morning.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced late Wednesday that Lake Wenatchee will open for sockeye salmon fishing.

Here is the press release:

Effective date/time: Wednesday (one hour before official sunrise) until harvestable fish numbers have been caught.

Species affected: Sockeye salmon

Daily limit: The daily limit per angler is two sockeye 12 inches in length or longer.

Location: Lake Wenatchee in Chelan County.

Reason for action: The 2009 return of sockeye will be sufficient to provide for the Lake Wenatchee spawning escapement goal, and additional fish will be present to provide for sport fishing opportunity. While the sockeye run is relatively late throughout the Columbia River, a very robust Lake Wenatchee run is predicted.

Other information: Single point barbless hooks required. No more than three hooks may be used. No bait or scent may be attached to the hooks. Knotless nets are required. A night closure will be in effect. Legal angling hours are one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. Bull trout, steelhead, and Chinook salmon must be released unharmed without removing the fish from the water.

Release sockeye with one or more holes (round, approximately 1/4" in diameter) punched in the tail of the fish (caudal fin). These fish are part of a study and have been anesthetized; the FDA requires a 21 day ban on consumption of these fish.