The California Tahoe Conservancy’s annual seasonal dog closure at the Upper Truckee Marsh ends July 31.

The purpose of the closure is to keep dogs out of critical breeding habitat for special, threatened, and endangered species.

Beginning Aug. 1, dogs will again be permitted access to the Upper Truckee Marsh, provided they are on leash. The Conservancy-owned Cove East property, at the end of Venice Drive and near the entrance to Tahoe Keys Marina, remains open year-round to leashed dogs.

By Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle

An electric shock lit up my left ankle. A split second later, a hot jab pierced my right calf. Then in succession, it felt like an ice pick stabbed a toe, ankle and calf.

Not again, you think. Yep, again: The bees are swarming and stinging, and it’s like being stuck by a cattle prod.

All you can think of is to run and look for a lake to jump in. Since there is usually no lake, a bush might do. The bees have marked your scent and will keep nailing you as long as they think you remain a threat.

Like a lot of people who love wild places, I occasionally take it the extra mile in summer by heading off trail, tracking game routes or venturing to lakes, meadows, streams and mountaintops that don’t have trails to them.

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By Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle

From the Sierra Crest on the edge of the Crystal Basin, you can scan down across miles of granite, forest and below to pristine Loon Lake and Pleasant Lake.

Below is a vast forestland and spectacular destinations with six lakes, three boat ramps, 20 campgrounds and many wilderness trailheads. The region is a testament to an upcoming phenomenon: The public loves its Olympics — but it loves its Saturday nights for camping even more.

The Olympics start Aug. 5, and the track-and-field events, Aug. 12. For the first time this summer, campsites will start becoming available at many of the marquee lakes across Northern California. That includes in the Crystal Basin in Eldorado National Forest, west of Tahoe and the Sierra Crest.

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Volunteers are needed to water sugar pine seedlings.

With no rain this summer, Sugar Pine Foundation is helping the little trees.

Watering dates:

• Aug. 2, 1-3pm
  Watering with Starbucks
  Spooner Picnic Area
• Aug. 3, 10am-noon
  Watering with Camp Explore
  Sand Harbor NV State Park
• Aug. 9, 1-3pm
  Watering with Starbucks
  Kingsbury Middle School, Stateline
• Aug. 18, 1-3pm
  Watering at LTCC with Science Camp
  Lake Tahoe Community College, 1 College Way, South Lake Tahoe.

Warriors guard Steph Curry was a magnet for fans during the ACC tournament. Photo/LTN

On his way to winning last weekend’s American Century Championship tournament at Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline, Mark Mulder made 14 birdies, while on the road to last place Charles Barkley had 50 double-bogeys or higher in 54 holes.

• With basketball superstar Steph Curry and entertainment megastar Justin Timberlake on the links, the tournament established an all-time attendance record of 47,109 for the week. Saturday attracted a single-day record of 18,172.
• Concession sales were up more than 40 percent over last year’s record setting figures.
• There were 324 boats on and near the beach along hole 17 during Saturday’s round.
• More than 400 volunteers worked the event.
• The economic impact the tournament on the South Shore via lodging, dining, gaming, entertainment, recreation, activities and media exposure is about $11 million.
• There were 200 media members representing 60 outlets in online, television, radio, newspaper, magazine and social media covering the event.
• Heather LeMaster hit a 336-foot drive to establish the women’s world long drive record at elevation.
• Five women playing in one year set a record.

By Kathryn Reed

Start stripping; it’s just going to get hotter.

South Lake Tahoe hit a record high on Wednesday, and the forecast from the National Weather Service in Reno is more records will be broken today and Friday.

Ninety-one is the magic number for all three days. Apparently it was hot in 1990, too, because that is when the previous records for July 27-28-29 were set. That year on July 27 it was 90, July 28 – 90, and July 29 – 89.

Carson City and Reno will have triple digits, and are also likely to break records.

Truckee, which has records dating much farther back than South Lake, had a ways to go on Wednesday to beat the record of 99 that was set in 1975. The high yesterday was 93.

Truckee has a better chance of breaking a record the next two days, with the forecast being for 93 degrees and the record 94 for July 28-29.

Tahoe City only reached the mid-80s on July 27.

“There’s a really strong high pressure system,” Shane Snyder, meteorologist with the NWS in Reno, said of why it’s so hot. “It will drop off significantly by Saturday.”

For the weekend the South Shore will be in the 80s.

The good thing is that there is relief from the heat in the evenings, with most nights dipping into the 40s.

Normally the basin sees afternoon thunderstorms this time of year. Moisture has been absent, but that could change soon.

Snyder told Lake Tahoe News storms might build on the eastern side of the lake and in the Carson Range on Friday and Saturday. The danger is the accompanying lightning could start fires, especially since there is so much dry terrain.

“Due to the very hot and dry conditions, thunderstorms are more likely to produce strong outflow winds and dry lightning leading to an increased risk of new fire starts,” the Weather Service said. “Unfortunately, any rainfall that occurs with these storms will be limited to very small areas and will offer little help to the region, which has not seen much precipitation since May.”

There will be a Historic Emigrant Trail Trek out of Sorensen’s Resort on Aug. 11 and Sept. 15.

Participants will feel the strain and celebrate the triumphs of the emigrants who crossed the Sierra Nevada during the 1849 Gold Rush. On this walking, hiking, and driving tour the same paths where emigrants led their oxen-pulled wagons through the seemingly impassable canyon of the Carson River and up and over the treacherous Devil’s Ladder, now known as Carson Pass will be explored.

The program starts the evening before each hike with a free slide show and talk focusing on early trailblazers including Kit Carson, John C. Fremont, and Joe Walker.

The next morning, the excursion leaves from Sorensen’s at 8:30 and returns by 4pm. Bring sunblock, extra water, hat, and a light jacket. Participants may be asked to drive their own vehicles.

Cost is $60 for Sorensen’s guests, $95 for non-guests, $30 children ages 6-13; price includes snacks, beverages, and trail lunch. For reservations, call 530.694.2203.

By Henry Brean, Las Vegas Review-Journal

The Nevada Division of Forestry has a big surprise for those who think of the Silver State as a treeless wasteland.

Nevada is actually home to a long list of impressive trees, including two champion specimens, both just outside Las Vegas, that rank as the largest of their kind in the nation.

For the past 24 years, the state forestry division has maintained something called the Nevada Big Tree Register to track the largest and most impressive trees. The list was last updated in 2015 and now contains more than 300 different species.

The tallest tree in Nevada is a 159-foot-tall Jeffrey pine in Douglas County. The largest circumference tree is the state champion Great Basin bristlecone on Mount Charleston, with a trunk measuring 12 feet in diameter.

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Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition has launched a multimedia education campaign to promote safe bicycling on Tahoe’s roads and separated paths.

Key tips include biking in the same direction as traffic, using lights, reflectors and bright clothing to be visible to drivers, passing on the left when on a multi-use path, using proper hand signals, and obeying traffic safety laws.

A full list of bicycle safety tips is available online.

In addition to tips for people riding bikes, the safety campaign includes advice for motorists, with a pilot program to install special electronic sign boards in key locations around Lake Tahoe roadways to remind motorists to watch for bicyclists, share the road and give bicyclists three feet when passing.

By Megan Michelson, Powder

Imagine a world where drones fly overhead while you rip a steep line through powder-stuffed trees. A tiny camera inside the drone captures footage of you, making even the average skier look like a breakthrough performer in a TGR flick. Magically, within a day or so, a polished, edited video appears in your inbox, primed to score a gazillion likes on Facebook.

That is the world Jason Soll envisioned. And it becomes reality this winter with the launch of Soll’s Silicon Valley tech start-up, Cape Productions. While dozens of ski resorts are in the midst of writing policies that ban the use of personal drones, others are finding ways to incorporate them. This winter, skiers at resorts like Squaw Valley, and Fernie, British Columbia, can hire Cape’s team of drone pilots and professional editors to produce an aerial video of their day on snow. For under $200, you’ll get a two-minute edit within 48 hours. It’s the SharpShooter of the future.

Soll, 25, grew up in Ohio, and thanks to Warren Miller movies and a snow-covered mound in Pennsylvania, he became a skier. As a youngster, he took trips to Utah with his family, where he developed a love for soft snow and the Stein Eriksen buffet at Deer Valley. After college, he worked as a product design consultant at Google X, ground zero for gadgets built to make radical change. As a graduate student at Stanford’s Business School, he came up with the idea for Cape, named because it transforms Clark Kents into goggle-clad Supermen.

“I knew of all these drone products in development, but I wasn’t excited about having to deal with the hardware,” says Soll. “Then I realized we could deploy the technology as a service, not a product. That would also solve the other challenges of video production, like editing and distribution. Those skiers with GoPros and selfie sticks, they want to capture the moment, but many just wind up with raw data on their hard drive. Our big idea was eliminate the hard work and let people capture the moment without any distraction.”

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