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Outdoors

July 17, 2025
City of Camas crews travel along Lacamas Lake while spraying aluminum sulfate to the water on Tuesday morning in hopes of eliminating harmful algae blooms. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Camas treats lake to fight algae blooms

Lacamas Lake is getting a new weapon in the fight against toxic algae blooms. Crews from the city of Camas spent the early part of this week on boats spraying aluminum sulfate on the lake.

July 10, 2025
Sweeping views of the Columbia River Gorge are seen under fall sunlight from Cape Horn lookout in October. Cape Horn Conservancy will host work parties through the summer and into the fall to get the trail in peak condition. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian files)

Cape Horn trail getting needed work

One of the Columbia River Gorge’s most popular hiking trails, the Cape Horn trail east of Washougal, is getting some much-needed care thanks to volunteers from the Cape Horn Conservancy.

May 29, 2025
A mat of benthic green and blue-green algae is collected from the bottom of the Shenandoah River during a harmful algal bloom. A similar type of algae was first found in the Columbia River in late 2024 and has been connected to the deaths of two dogs. (Photo provided by U.S. Geological Survey)

Officials warn about algae in Columbia

Clark County Public Health is warning residents of new dangers related to algae growths in local waterways. Benthic (that is, at the bottom of a body of water) algal mats found along the Columbia River have been linked to the death of two dogs.

April 17, 2025
Fort Vancouver High School junior Carlos Lopez plants a yellow monkey flower plant April 9, 2025, at Baz River Front Park in Camas. Students from Hudson’s Bay and Fort Vancouver high schools spent the morning removing invasive species and planting trees and other plants to help restore salmon habitat through Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group’s Seeds to Salmon program. At top, a yellow monkey plant sits in a freshly dug hole at Baz River Front Park in Camas on April 9, 2025. (Photos by Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)

High-schoolers dig restoration project

About 35 students from Hudson’s Bay and Fort Vancouver high schools spent Wednesday digging in the dirt. They weren’t looking for buried treasure but helping to restore wetlands habitat at Baz River Front Park.

April 10, 2025
“March and early April are a great time of year for wildflowers in the eastern Gorge,” said Renee Tkach of Friends of the Columbia Gorge. This April view of yellow balsamroot and purple lupine carpeting vast Columbia Hills State Park, the easternmost park in the Gorge, shows why. (Scott Hewitt/The Columbian files)

Go east for gorgeous wildflowers

The sun shone bright, birds zipped around the sky and tiny, vivid purple, yellow and white flowers flared at my feet.