Lakes

Among the great train rides, the one between Oslo and Bergen, Norway's two largest cities, has to rank near the top of the world's ever-diminishing rail journeys. It rivals the Panama Canal not only as an engineering feat; the comparison goes further because you leave Oslo at sea level, cross the roof of Norway and arrive at Bergen, also at sea level, seven hours later. You will pass through 200 tunnels, cross 300 bridges and traverse 15 miles of snowsheds. It was cold as we boarded in November.

CHELAN, Wash. - Just say the words "summer at the lake" in certain company, and you'll get a wistful smile, possibly followed by stories about fishing contests, belly-flops, mosquito bites, campfire songs, sexual awakening, lingering regret, family feuds, winterizing expenses and the prospect that the mortgage interest tax deductions for second homes might someday be disallowed. Now, say "summer at the lake" to a room full of Seattleites, and talk will likely turn to Lake Chelan.

With only 19 days before the newly restored Hansen Dam Recreational Center is open to the public, 375 pounds of catfish were dumped into the fishing lake Monday. The artificial lake and another for swimming will open Aug. 28, marking the initial phase of a 17-year project designed to restore the recreation area to its 1950s prominence among Los Angeles parks. The lakes will be opened to the public with daylong festivities Aug. 28.

Sylvain Georges rode alone for almost 114 of the 116 miles from Palmdale to Big Bear Lake during Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California on Friday. Then he had to hold the trophy. For that Georges needed help. The 28-year-old Frenchman on the AG2R La Mondiale team did his lonely journey at the front of the field and for his reward he got not only the fifth stage win of his career but a trophy that was three feet tall, two and a half feet wide and 39 pounds, according to the creator, Kirby Craig of Kirby's Carving's of Big Bear Lake.

Budget cuts have forced Los Angeles County parks officials to restrict swimming at three lakes this summer. Starting Monday, parks officials are closing beaches at Castaic Lake State Recreation Area in Castaic, Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas and Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays through Sept. 7. Beach closure signs will be posted at park entrances, parking lots and shorelines, a parks spokesman said.

When they drained the lake at Hollenbeck Park in Boyle Heights, somebody forgot to warn the ducks. As a result, a lot of waterfowl are rapidly becoming mud fowl, and as the summer progresses, they may have to learn to be dust fowl. But the ducks seem to be managing all right so far. And when the lake is refilled at summer's end, they'll have a far healthier puddle.

The state Division of Wildlife is stocking hundreds of high mountain lakes with fingerling trout dropped from hoppers mounted in Cessna 185 aircraft, aquatic biologist Sherman Hebein said in Aspen. The planes, traveling about 85 mph, get within 125 feet of the lake surface before releasing the fish so they don't dry out before they hit the water.

A lake in southern Chile has mysteriously disappeared. The lake in the Magallanes region in Patagonia had a surface area of about 10 acres and was fed mostly by water from melting glaciers. Juan Jose Romero, regional director of Chile's National Forestry Corp., said, "The only things left were chunks of ice on the dry lakebed and an enormous fissure."

A new landing strip has been opened to handle traffic in the busy airways over Los Angeles, but this one is strictly for the birds. The "airport" is a 1 1/2-acre lake at Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, complete with overnight and nesting facilities for migratory birds and their less-traveled cousins. The planting of seeds for grasses and native wildflowers was completed Monday, marking the finishing touches on the $350,000 project.

Officials plan to reopen two small fishing lakes in February after spending about $290,000 to seal the bottoms to hold water. The rehabilitation at the lake at Chris Carr Park will make it possible to revive a state-acclaimed fishing derby for disabled youngsters in the community. The derby is scheduled for April or May. Lakes at Chris Carr and Jack Greer parks were fenced off in March, 1991, when water leaked out. Botulism developed at both sites, and fish and other wildlife were killed.

Motion picture executive Brad Kembel and his partner Jimmy Ferrareze have bought the landmark James Eads How House in Silver Lake for $1.3 million. Designed by modern architect Rudolph Schindler in 1925, the restored and updated International Modern-style house had been priced at $4.995 million when movie producer and prolific renovator Michael LaFetra first listed it in 2008. The 2,426-square-foot home, a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, is considered a triumph of Schindler's early career and was influenced by his apprenticeship under Frank Lloyd Wright.

MAMMOTH LAKES - On the banks of a jutting little river, I'm trying to think like a trout thinks: Did I pay the mortgage on time? When do the Kings play next? Whatever happened to that sassy Helen Hunt? No, wait, those are my thoughts. Then, WHAM, something takes the lure and I'm officially a fly fisherman. Constantly looking for an activity where my deficiencies aren't quite so apparent, something outdoors where I don't have to run a lot, or strip down to my skivvies, or maintain eye contact for more than a moment, I am drawn now to fly fishing, not so much a sport as a Christopher Guest movie.

CLEVELAND - The Angels made two dramatic moves after a 3-2 walk-off loss to the Cleveland Indians Friday night, releasing veteran outfielder Bobby Abreu and swallowing the remainder of his $9-million contract while promoting dynamic young outfielder Mike Trout from triple-A Salt Lake. Both Manager Mike Scioscia and General Manager Jerry Dipoto said Trout, the speedy 20-year-old who was batting .403 at Salt Lake and can play all three outfield spots, will play every day, and there is a good chance he will be inserted into the leadoff spot.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The more the offense stagnates, the more fans clamor for Mike Trout , the dynamic outfield prospect who is tearing it up at triple-A Salt Lake, to be called up and inserted into the lineup. But there was no indication from Manager Mike Scioscia on Wednesday that the Angels are considering such a move at this time. "I don't believe anything is imminent, but when you play at the level Mike is playing at now, you become more of a focal point of fans, the media and the organization," Scioscia said.

A professor in the English Department at USC, David St. John employs natural landscapes in his new collection "The Auroras: New Poems" (Harper: 96 pp., $24.99) to explore psychological nuances, colorings and especially our limitations. The collection's opening poem, "The Lake," for example, brims with desire that is powerful, and yet, as St. John suggests, we are often incapable of fully appreciating or understanding what's before us. The Lake By David St. John Opaque the lake woke emerald The raw decorum of the night giving way To a slow extravagance the petal-felled touch Of skin & mist allowed by this First undressing of the day So much for beauty...

PHOENIX AT UTAH: 7:30 p.m. PDT Tuesday. TV: TNT. The resurgent Suns and Jazz are jostling with fading Houston for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs. It could be a last hurrah of sorts for Phoenix point guard Steve Nash, who has said he would consider playing elsewhere next season if the Suns don't significantly upgrade their roster. But Phoenix has already looked like a different team while winning eight of 12 games to move back into playoff contention. The Suns have won both meetings against the Jazz this season, including a 107-105 victory earlier this month at EnergySolutions Arena.

At a public hearing Wednesday, the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners will ask for input on its recommendation to reduce the size of two lakes to be built in the Hansen Dam Recreation Center. Financial considerations led the city and Army Corps of Engineers to agree earlier this year to reduce the size of the lakes from 15 to 10.5 acres, said Dallan Zamrzla, director of planning and development for the city Recreation and Parks Department.

Unless you fish, there's absolutely nothing to do on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. Nothing but laze in the sunshine, listen to the lap of sweet water under the hull, breathe air heavy with orange blossoms, and watch leggy shore birds stalk dinner in the shallows. Sunrises steal silently out of the horizon; sunsets spangle the waters with fire. To jangled Florida vacationers, it sounds like heaven.

SAN DIEGO -- A body, possibly of a Marine wife missing since Friday, has been found in rural Riverside County near Lake Skinner, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday. Authorities also have arrested a 27-year-old woman on suspicion of homicide in connection with the disappearance of 22-year-old Brittany Dawn Killgore, Sheriff's Capt. Duncan Fraser said. The suspect, Jessica Lynn Lopez, was found Tuesday morning in a San Diego motel after an apparent suicide attempt and was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center, Fraser said.

I'm crazy for oysters, always have been. At Hog Island Oysters near Bodega Bay, I've been known to down three or four dozen at a time, all shucked, slowly, by me. Wherever I'm headed, you can be sure I've got the oyster bars mapped out ahead of time. So when news came that a new oyster bar was about to open across from LA Mill in Silver Lake, I was thrilled. Even sweeter, the partners in the new spot are Dustin Lancaster and Matthew Kaner, the duo that brought Los Feliz the quality wine bar Covell.