Outdoors

Outdoors Quagga mussels try to slip into Oregon, get stopped at checkpoint

By Associated Press Published: May 23, 2013 at 2:48 PM PDT Last Updated: May 23, 2013 at 2:48 PM PDT

An Eastern Oregon checkpoint aimed at keeping invasive species from hitchhiking into Oregon on boats has opened for the spring, and it found an infested boat the next day.

Outdoors Could wind energy be coming to the south coast?

By Sky Muller KCBY News Published: May 23, 2013 at 12:30 PM PDT Last Updated: May 23, 2013 at 12:30 PM PDT

A meeting regarding the potential for wind energy off the coast of Coos Bay was held at the North Bend Public Library Wednesday night.

Outdoors Life's a beach for lucky dogs free to run on sand (Photo Gallery)

By SUE MANNING, Associated Press Published: May 23, 2013 at 9:42 AM PDT Last Updated: May 23, 2013 at 3:03 PM PDT

Dog beaches account for a tiny fraction of the thousands of miles of U.S. shoreline, but they are treasured by pet owners and their pooches.

Outdoors Wild spring weather whips up double rainbows in Washington (Photo Gallery)

By Tyler Slauson Published: May 22, 2013 at 2:46 PM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2013 at 2:46 PM PDT

Outdoors May at 5,000 feet: 'Bring your Carhartts, bring your shorts' (Photo Gallery) (Video)

By KVAL News Published: May 22, 2013 at 12:01 PM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2013 at 6:21 PM PDT

Snow in spring isn't unusual. What's unusual were last weeks temperatures in the 70s followed by a blast of snow.

Outdoors Veterinarian: More marijuana means more poisoned dogs (Video)

By Michael Harthorne Published: May 22, 2013 at 11:44 AM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2013 at 7:40 PM PDT

More dogs than ever before are getting very sick from eating marijuana, and one local vet doesn't see the trend stopping anytime soon now that pot has been legalized.

Outdoors Snow, no! Traffic trouble on mountain passes (Photo Gallery)

By KVAL News Published: May 22, 2013 at 11:25 AM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2013 at 11:28 AM PDT

About 5 inches of snow fell overnight on Willamette Pass on Highway 58 and Santiam Pass on US 20. At least one crash has been reported on Santiam Pass as of 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Outdoors Investigation: REI bike frame failures result in lawsuits (Photo Gallery) (Video)

By Tracy Vedder Published: May 22, 2013 at 10:11 AM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2013 at 10:11 AM PDT

REI. It's a Seattle icon with a reputation for integrity. But a KOMO 4 Problem Solver investigation has uncovered a defect in that teflon reputation.

Outdoors Poop-sniffing dogs helping save whales all over the world (Photo Gallery) (Video)

By Jeff Burnside Published: May 22, 2013 at 10:05 AM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2013 at 11:18 AM PDT

A local dog named Tucker has a very special talent for tracking, and scientists say he's helping save wildlife -- including killer whales -- all over the world.

Outdoors Timber country: 'A beautiful place to live, a hard place to make a living' (Photo Gallery)

By JEFF BARNARD, Associated Press Published: May 21, 2013 at 2:28 PM PDT Last Updated: May 21, 2013 at 2:30 PM PDT

Nearly 1 million people live in Oregon's timber country. The region's troubles have reached a tipping point since the expiration last year of federal subsidies that were sent to rural counties across America for 11 years to offset revenue losses caused by reduced logging on federal lands to protect endangered and threatened species.

Outdoors "What does ''EF-4'' mean?' and other tornado FAQs

By Scott Sistek Published: May 21, 2013 at 11:48 AM PDT Last Updated: May 21, 2013 at 2:29 PM PDT

With tornadoes in the news lately I figured it'd be a good time to post answers to some frequently asked questions about the powerful storms.

Outdoors Rare island fox on the rebound from near-extinction

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Published: May 21, 2013 at 10:59 AM PDT Last Updated: May 21, 2013 at 10:59 AM PDT

A rare and tiny island fox is on the verge of making a comeback from near-extinction in the Channel Islands, a rugged and wind-swept chain off Southern California, officials said Monday.

Outdoors Detroit Lake fishing derby: 'Even though it was wet, we still had a blast' (Photo Gallery)

By Shannon L. Cheesman, Multimedia Journalist / Travel & Outdoors Published: May 21, 2013 at 9:58 AM PDT Last Updated: May 21, 2013 at 1:51 PM PDT

The skies might have been gray and the rain a little heavy at times, but that didn't stop hundreds of anglers from casting their lines into Detroit Lake over the weekend to catch some trout.

Outdoors 2 tourists killed in hot air balloon crash in Turkey (Photo Gallery)

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press Published: May 20, 2013 at 3:48 PM PDT Last Updated: May 20, 2013 at 4:44 PM PDT

A hot air balloon collided with another balloon mid-air during a sightseeing tour of volcanic rock formations in Turkey and crashed to the ground on Monday, killing two Brazilian tourists and injuring 23 other people on board, officials said.

Outdoors Northern Lights peek out in Eastern Washington (Photo Gallery)

By Scott Sistek Published: May 19, 2013 at 7:00 AM PDT Last Updated: May 19, 2013 at 12:55 AM PDT

As we mentioned in the blog Thursday, there's a particularly active sunspot on the sun right now.

It had, as its opening salvo while starting to face the Earth, unleashed a moderately strong solar flare that reached us late Friday, triggering a display of the Northern Lights that reached as far south as Colorado.