Archive for the ‘Summer Recreation’ Category
By Michelle Portesi
With all the rain we’ve had and the continuation of snow melt, now is the time to hike the favorite trails along the local waterfalls before they dry up for the summer.
Just off Highway 89 south at Emerald Bay is the Eagle Falls Trail head. This is a great hike to start getting your summer hiking legs back, as it isn’t a very long hike, nor too overly strenuous. It’s perfect for spring conditions and spectacular photo ops. Dogs love it and older kids should handle it just fine too.
You’ll wander up California State Park made granite stairs that are interspersed with dirt trails as you wind your way up to Eagle Lake, following Eagle Falls the entire way. (I kept thinking of the song ‘Stairway to Heaven’ the whole time we were doing it. Heaven it was…)
The bridge in the distance at Eagle Falls, Lake Tahoe
Turn your view back down the falls to the east, and you will see Emerald Bay, the rest of Lake Tahoe and South Lake Tahoe in the distance. The narrow inlet into Emerald Bay looked so shallow, one might be able to wade across it to the other shore. We’ll have to try that when we do our next hike in the area. It can be accessed from the Rubicon Trail out of DL Bliss State Park, (Go Take A Hike, Part 3 )
… or the hike from the Emerald Bay parking lot down to Vikingsholm. (Future blog post to come on that hike!)
On the Eagle Falls Trail. Emerald Bay and the Rest of Lake Tahoe in the distance.
The Trail splits. Veer to the right and wander up another couple of hundred yards to Eagle Lake. As I recall, the trail doesn’t continue all the way around the rest of the lake …unless you want to bushwack it. It was time for us to turn around anyway, as there was a beer with our name on it waiting for us elsewhere.
Eagle Lake. Video phone camera shot doesn’t do the lake justice!
Another perfect day at Lake Tahoe. Now it’s time for a tasty beverage on the deck at Sunnyside Resort on the way home. I told you there was a beer with our name on it waiting for us! And you sure can’t beat this view!
Have you fallen in love with Lake Tahoe yet? If so, call Lynn Richardson to find you the perfect Lake Tahoe or Truckee home!
The Deck at Sunnyside, West Shore of Lake Tahoe
THINK OF ME, LYNN RICHARDSON, FOR ALL OF YOUR LAKE TAHOE AND TRUCKEE REAL ESTATE NEEDS!
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by Tim Hauserman
Every Thursday evening from 5 pm to 8 pm between now and August 20th the heart of downtown Truckee is closed to cars. Instead you will find food trucks, a beer garden with a live band, a farmers market, an arts faire with dozens of booths full of interesting hand made and local items, and a whole lot of happy people.
At Truckee Thursday you can eat tacos and sliders and tater tots covered with lamb, then follow it up with a chocolate dipped ice cream bar. Getting thirsty? They got homemade lemonade and beer. You can check out clothing, and earrings, and photographs. You can buy a book, a shirt, a painting and anything else that mike strike your fancy as something you need to adorn your house, body or mind. You can dance to the music, and sometimes dance to the sounds of the trains roaring just a few feet behind the band. But mostly, you can spend a warm summer night slowly strolling through the crowd, and experiencing Truckee’s awesome meet and greet with an eclectic mix of locals, second-home owners and visitors.
Every age demographic finds Truckee Thursday as a meeting spot. The littlest ones are bouncing in the bouncy houses. The tweens and teens are standing around trying to look cool and aloof while watching a couples yoga performance or a magic trick. Some of the folks from 21 and up are in the beer garden rocking out, while everyone else is eating, chatting with friends, and enjoying the fine splendor of the night.
Parking at Truckee Thursday is at a premium. There is a large dirt parking lot across the railroad tracks from the event, as well as several parking areas to the east of the closed off road section. Donner Pass Road is closed between Spring Street and Bridge Street, and anytime after five it’s best not to attempt to drive too close to the festivities. Not surprisingly, the earlier you get there, the easier it will be to find parking. Information is available at truckeethursdays.com, but you don’t need any information. Just come on downtown and enjoy.
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By Michelle Portesi
This will be the first in a series of articles dealing with getting your yard ready for summer: controlling garden pests (today), planning a drought tolerant yard for our current water restrictions, putting in some inexpensive curb appeal to wow potential buyers and growing plants in shade and vegetables in sun in your high country garden.
Spring is a relative term here in the mountains. Teasingly warm, sunny days quickly followed by snow and sleet. I suddenly have hail in my yard even as I write this. (Where was this in February when we actually wanted it???) But hey, we need the water, so we’ll take it!
That being said, our growing season is precariously short, and if we want a glorious summer garden, we have to start preparing those areas now.
Today, we’re focused on controlling garden pests while still being good stewards of our fragile forest environment.
For the first time ever, I’m battling moles/voles. They’ve managed to eat almost everything I’ve planted in the last two years. A thriving potted plant from the nursery would be a wilted mass once in the ground. Close inspection revealed a new series of tunnels in the entire planter and the roots of everything completely eaten away, leaving behind dieing, shriveled, soon to be brown tufts above ground. Being not too wild about providing an expensive outdoor buffet for the little beasts, this year I declared war!
Most suggestions however on how to combat moles, voles and gophers involved poisons, but in our wildlife rich environment, using them has some tragic and unexpected consequences:
This is from Dave Rees’ post on Facebook~
I died today.
I was found by a kind, sweet woman who does wildlife rescue.
I was so sick, I could barely open my eyes.
She took me inside, cradling me in her warm arms, and made me warm and comfortable.
I opened my eyes and looked at her and thanked her for making my last few minutes as comfortable as possible.
But i was too sick to keep fighting anymore.
I had eaten a mouse that was poisoned, and it made me very sick.
I closed my yellow eyes for the last time and went somewhere else.
Please, all I ask is never use poison to kill the mice.
Poison kills owls, like me.
All I wanted was a mouse for dinner.
I died today….
Please SHARE this for poison awareness.
Stop the use of poison for rats or mice. Live traps are the best to use. Catch and release. Please.
Save a precious life today, because all life is precious.
* * *
While using poisons my seem expedient, it’s important to keep in mind what else along the food chain you’re also killing once the poisoned critter is ingested. In addition to owls, the list includes bald eagles and hawks, the rarely seen red fox, coyotes and even your own feline pets. In addition, these poisons can seep into the ground water and wash into creeks, rivers and lakes. Bad idea all around.
So I was thrilled to find this suggestion. Lining your plants or even whole planters with hardware wire. Your plants get protected, the environment is safe from poisons, and the critters we share this lovely area with get to live another day to hunt your garden pests. Win, Win all around!
Hardware wire. Try chewing through this vermin!
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In short order, I had dug out the planter and boxed it in with the hardware wire. In addition, this allowed me to mix in some much needed compost with the excavated dirt as I filled the planter back in. (Most of our soil is decomposed pine needles and is way too acidic, nutrient deficient and has very poor drainage and/or water retention ability.) The area is now ready for new plants to thrive in once our weather becomes more consistently warm.
Be aware. Be kind. There are almost always better solutions to combat common garden pests than using poisons.
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THINK OF ME, LYNN RICHARDSON, FOR ALL OF YOUR LAKE TAHOE AND TRUCKEE REAL ESTATE NEEDS!
www.lynnrichardson.net
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