Appeal Tribune | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022 | 1B OUTDOORS Lucy Urness goes night skiing at Hoodoo Ski Area. ZACH URNESS / STATESMAN JOURNAL FRIDAY NIGHT SKIING AT HOODOO Enjoy bonfires, live music, cheaper tickets Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK When the daylight disappears, Hoodoo Ski Area becomes a different place. h The stadium lights turn on, illuminating the white slopes in an eerie twilight while a man holding a flamethrower spits a reddish-orange stream of flame onto a bonfire just outside the lodge, prompting “oohhs" & "aahhs” from nearby children. h The chairlifts lurch skiers and snowboards up into the darkness, and from the top of the mountain, it looks as though you’re dropping into an illumi- nated bowl surrounded by dark mountains. h “It feels like this is a dream,” my 7-year-old daughter Lucy said on her first night skiing trip. h After a few runs, we head inside the lodge for pizza and are lured upstairs by the sound of bluegrass music. It’s a fantastic Eugene-based band called “Daniel and the Blonde,” and they play a nice mix of covers — heavy on the Dylan — along with fun original songs, including one about growing up in a ski town. Groups of skiers sit drinking beer and tapping their boots before cheering and shuffling back to the slopes. See HOODOO, Page 2B A big trout stock at a hidden gem, and three chances to be artistic east end of Foster Reservoir. The turn to the park is about a quar- ter-mile past North River Road (fish hatchery sign). Watch for the park en- trance sign on the right. The parking area and pond are on your left, next to the playground, after you drive into the park. According to the trout-stocking schedule, Sunnyside is scheduled to get 1,040 rainbows, including 40 “trophy” trout averaging about a pound. Fishing Henry Miller Guest columnist Talk about a Valentine’s treat from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Rainbow trout are scheduled to be stocked for the first time in 2022 during the week of Feb. 14 through 18 at Sunny- side Park Pond on the east end of Foster Reservoir. A visit to which provides an excellent opportunity to check out the family- friendly Linn County Park (online at Sunnyside County Park | Linn County Parks & Recreation (linnparks.com) be- fore the campgrounds open for the sum- mer. To my lasting regret, I didn’t even dis- cover this gem until I’d been here more than a decade despite numerous fish- ing, camping and hiking trips to Foster and nearby Green Peter reservoirs as well as Quartzville Creek and the South Santiam River. PAGING ALL ARTISTS In addition to stocked trout, Sunnyside Park Pond offers hot-weather fishing for warmwater fish such as bass and yellow perch. HENRY MILLER / SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL It’s an hour-and-change road trip from Salem. Take the Highway 20 exit just south of Albany eastbound through Lebanon and Sweet Home, then look for the Quartzville Road turn on the left at the Vincent van Gogh probably never had the biological accuracy of his depic- tion of the birds in his 1890 painting “Wheatfields with Crows” critiqued by an ornithologist. For this art competition, though, it’s all about the accuracy. Entries are open until Aug. 26 through Sept. 30 for three annual art competitions sponsored by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The winners will be featured on the 2023 Habitat Conservation, Waterfowl, See MILLER, Page 2B