The folks at REI yesterday sent out a press release about their Seattle flaghsip serving as the backdrop for a portion of Monday’s episode of “The Bachelor.”

It seems that the store was selected for a private “one-on-one date” to showcase the outdoor recreation interests of Jason Mesnick, the show’s bachelor. Mesnick, a single dad from Kirkland, visited the Puget Sound area with the five remaining women for Monday’s episode.

The date features the couple climbing the store’s 65-foot pinnacle, one of the world’s tallest indoor climbing structures, and enjoying “private time” in front of the two-story rock

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The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission late Thursday announced it was closing tunnels 46 through 50 on the Iron Horse State Park-John Wayne Pioneer Trail. There is no timetable for making repairs to allow the tunnels to reopen.

Here is the rest of the news release:

Washington State Parks hired the engineering firm, Kleinfelder, Inc., to conduct a safety review of falling debris hazards in the tunnels. The firm determined that tunnels 46 through 50 all contain segments that have moderate, high or very high hazard ratings. For the safety of recreational users, the Commission has decided

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The Mason County Bicycle and Recreation Map is now online. The map was released earlier this month.

Click here to see the online map.

Paper copies also are available from Mason County Parks, North Mason Chamber of Commerce and the Shelton Mason County Chamber of Commerce.

Registration for spring and summer Mount St. Helens climbing permits starts Feb. 2 at 9 a.m.

Climbing permits are $22 per person and can only be purchased via the Mount St. Helens Institute’s website, mshinstitute.org

"This year climbers will be able to gaze into the crater at the massive new lava dome that was erupted between 2004 and 2008 and see the glacier that was pushed aside by the eruption," Monument manager Tom Mulder said in a prepared statement. "Interest in climbing Mount St. Helens continues to be high. Even though our weekend climbing dates tend to

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I spent Friday and Saturday eagle watching on and along the Skagit River. I was in the Concrete-Rockport-Marblemount stretch and was able to catch the first day of the Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival.

If you want to check out the eagles, you better hurry as the number of birds in the area are starting to decline.

If you can’t make it up there this year, I thought I would post these photos.

If you want to plan for next season, the majority of the eagles are in the area in December.

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Les Stroud, the star of the Discovery Channel’s "Survivorman series, will be at the Seattle REI store on Saturday.

The survival expert and television host will be there to promote his new book titled "Survive! Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive." He’ll share highlights from the new season of the series "Survivorman."

Stroud also will tout the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger, a handheld product that combines GPS and commercial satellite technology. The device allows users to alert emergency responders to a location, allow family and friends to track their progress or

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From the Associated Press:

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. — Large chunks of falling ice hit a woman climbing Mount Hood and sent her 400 feet to her death on Wednesday, authorities said.

Brooke Colvin and her husband, Thad Stavn, were at about 10,000 feet on the 11,239-foot mountain when the accident occurred, said Clackamas County sheriff’s detective Jim Strovink.

Strovink said Stavn saw his 31-year-old wife hit by falling ice and thrown down the mountain. Strovink said Stavn was able to get to her, but she died instantly. Rescuers were trying to recover the body.

Stavn was

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Clif Bar is voluntarily recalling a host of its energy bars containing peanut butter as a national salmonella investigation continues.

Here’s the statement from the company:

On January 19, 2009, we announced a voluntary recall of 14 U.S and 4 Canadian products including CLIF Bar, CLIF Builder’s, CLIF MOJO, CLIF Kid Organic ZBaR and LUNA Bar, in the U.S. and Canada because the peanut butter in those products was sourced, for a limited period of time, from the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). PCA is a manufacturer and supplier of peanut butter for many food companies and manufacturers.

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