Construction on two trails that will eventually connect Placer County and Truckee could start in 2018.

The eight-mile Truckee River Access Trail will connect the north end of an existing shared-use trail at Squaw Valley Road to the Placer County line near West River Street in Truckee.

The two entities will share the cost for for design and environmental documentation.

Additionally, an agreement was approved by the Placer County Board of Supervisors to have Dokken Engineering complete National Environmental Policy Act compliance documents for the Martis Valley Trail Project. Upon completion, the 9-mile trail would provide a multipurpose connection between Northstar Village and Truckee.

The Northstar Community Services District has already completed a section of the trail from the Truckee town line south into Placer County.

Officials with the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest are warning people to be extra cautious while engaging in activities that could start a wildfire.

Weather conditions have been changing in the past couple of weeks with consistently higher temperatures and decreased humidity levels, resulting in drier vegetation that is more prone to the spread of wildfire.

This is especially true for people engaging in target shooting on public lands. Numerous wildfires have been started by target shooting in past years in many Western states including Nevada. Many of those fires could have been prevented or stopped had the shooters been prepared or refrained from shooting during hot, dry and windy conditions.

Here are a few target shooting safety tips:

·       While shooting, have a 5-gallon bucket of water or 2.5-pound fully charged fire extinguisher readily available to put out a fire.

·       Bring a shovel. Use the shovel to dig a trench around targets before shooting to ensure that any fire caused by sparks can be easily contained.

·       Shoot at quality steel targets designed to minimize risks to both the shooter and environment. Refrain from shooting steel targets during hot, dry, and windy conditions.

·       Place targets on dirt or gravel areas clear of vegetation. Placing a target in dry grass increases the risk of fire.

·       Do not shoot trash and remove spent cartridges. Trash like old couches and TVs can often be found illegally dumped on public lands, but can be dangerous fire hazards when shot.

·       All types of ammunition can start fires under the right conditions. To avoid a chance of sparking, do not use solid copper, steel-core, or steel-jacketed ammunition and always avoid shooting in rocky areas.

·       Fireworks, exploding targets, and incendiary or tracer ammo are prohibited on public lands.

·       Do not smoke. Even if people are following all safety precautions in regard to shooting, they can still easily start a wildfire by smoking.

·       Park vehicles away from dry grass. The hot undercarriage of a car or truck can easily create enough heat to ignite the grass.

By Lake Tahoe News

For the first time in 19 years, a World Cup event will be staged at a Lake Tahoe area ski resort.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) today awarded Squaw Valley a women’s giant slalom race on March 10, 2017, and a women’s slalom on March 11, 2017.

The athletes will compete on Red Dog, the same run women competed on in the slalom and giant slalom at the 1969 World Cup and 1960 Winter Olympics.

Julia Mancuso, whose home resort is Squaw, intends to compete. This, though, is assuming her hip that was surgically repaired this spring after a shortened race season allows her to return.

“Growing up at Squaw Valley, I have been hoping for the return of the World Cup for a long time, and now we have the chance to show the world that our Olympic legacy is very much alive,” said Olympic champion Mancuso said in a statement. “The terrain at Squaw Valley is what raised me as a skier, and I know that when my peers stand on top of the course on Red Dog they will see what competitors saw in 1960 and 1969: one of the most challenging courses in the world. So many of today’s racers have trained and competed on Red Dog in the past, and now we can see this legendary venue re-emerge onto the world stage.”

The 2014 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships were on Red Dog. Mikaela Shiffrin, the reigning Olympic slalom champion, took the giant slalom gold that year.

The terrain so impressed Shiffrin that she returned to the course last April to train with fellow athletes from the U.S. women’s team. She expects to compete in the World Cup at Squaw next year.

“Red Dog is an awesome slope. The hill itself is super challenging and fun to ski,” Shiffrin said in a statement. “The middle section has a lot of terrain variation: a break over, fall-aways, side hills, and bank turns. You have to be able to really attack the course. By the time you hit the pitch, which is one of the longest sustained pitches on the world cup besides Sölden (in Austria), you are already 45 seconds into the run and your legs are burning. Then you come over the break over and you can see the finish and your thinking ‘oh man, I’m not even close! OK here we go!’”

The Red Dog Giant slalom course begins at 7,520 feet at the top of Snow King Peak, descending 1,267 feet before the finish at 6,252 feet at the base area of Squaw Valley. The slalom course will be on the lower portion of the same course, dropping 656 vertical feet from its start on Lower Dog Leg.

The addition of Squaw in March and Killington, Vt., in November brings the number of World Cup events to 16 for the 2016-17 season, the second highest ever.

Expect traffic delays on Highway 50 on the Nevada side during the June 18 Rock Tahoe Half Marathon.

The lakeside lane of westbound Highway 50 will be closed from  the top of Spooner Summit to the bike trail at Round Hill Pines. Traffic
through Cave Rock will be intermittently stopped, allowing one-way traffic through the tunnel.

The lane closure will be in effect from 6-11am, with significant delays at Cave Rock 8-9:30am.

Kingsbury Grade is highly recommended as the preferred route.

Additionally, access into or out of the peripheral streets and driveways may be prolonged at times.

This second annual race has 2,000 runners-walkers going from Spooner Summit to the Hard Rock. Start time is 7am.

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s Carson Ranger District opened dead, and down and dead tree woodcutting areas today.

The dead tree areas include: Dog Valley area near Reno and Hope Valley, Leviathan/Poor Boy, and Wolf Creek Road (dead burned trees) areas near Markleeville. The down and dead tree areas are in Woodfords Canyon and the Washington Fire burned area near Markleeville. No cutting of standing live trees are allowed in these areas.

Firewood permits, which expires Nov. 15,  may be purchased for $15 per cord with a two cord minimum. In addition, woodcutters need to be familiar with the terms and conditions of their permit, since different cutting areas may have slightly different rules and regulations. Live tree woodcutting areas will not open until July 28.

A fire extinguisher and a shovel are required when using a chainsaw for cutting firewood. Cutting restrictions may go into effect during the woodcutting season. It is the woodcutter’s responsibility to find out what restrictions are in effect.

Permits with maps of cutting areas may be purchased by calling 775.882.2766.

TAMBA is looking for people help build the new Kingsbury Stinger Trail.

The trail day is June 11, 9am-3pm.

Meet at 9am at the end of North Benjamin/Andria Drive (Tahoe Rim Trail’s Kingsbury North trailhead) in Stateline

The new section of trail about one0half mile from the trailhead. Wear sturdy shoes, long pants and long sleeves, and bring water. Helmets will be required; a bike helmet is fine. Bring a bike to test ride afterward.

Lunch and post work barbecue will be provided.

By Ed Fletcher, Sacramento Bee

If Rocklin mom Dana Michael has it her way, her son Cody would give up this whole hiking thing.

Cody Michael, 23, was rescued last month by a Blackhawk helicopter after spending three days lost along a high Sierra trail with his dog Bauer.

In her words: “I hope he bags the whole backpacking thing after his experience.”

It’s unclear whether Cody Michael will oblige.

Read the whole story

By Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle

The question that keeps showing up in my email is this: “Can I still score a great campsite for summer?”

The answer, of course, is yes. If you’re willing to explore, you can still find stellar campsites at lakes, in the redwoods and at trailheads. Wake up at any of these on a pristine summer morning and you can feel as though you’ve walked through a portal to heaven.

Just as long, that is, as you’re not dreaming of a drive-in site at Yosemite National Park or on a bluff along Monterey Bay, or a hike-in site at Point Reyes National Seashore. There are other exceptions as well for three-day weekends and peak summer weekends at top-shelf destinations.

It would take only one flight in an airplane to look down on Northern California and realize that 95 percent of the people go to 5 percent of the spots. Because of heavy traffic out of the Bay Area and Sacramento, you can get tunnel vision that is restricted to the brake lights ahead of you, the headlights behind you. That helps create an illusion that everything is taken.

Read the whole story

Some Bijou students came from as fas as the Tahoe Keys. Photos/Provided

By Rebecca Bryson

Although this was the first year for South Tahoe Middle School to participate in Bike to School, they hit it out of the park.

Kathleen Whatford, the school’s PE teacher, along with Principal John Simons and Assistant Principal KarenHolmes, spearheaded a major initiative with “biking school buses” coming from all over town. Students met each morning at designated spots. Then a teacher or parent would lead them to school, picking up more kids along the way.

It was a major coordination effort, involving teachers, parents, students and the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition. And as a result of this big push, there were 85, 120 and 150 bikes at the STMS last Wednesday through Friday (as opposed to the usual 5-15).

There were so many bikes that Simons opened up the tennis courts to lock the bikes there.

Students and adults use pedal power to get to STMS.

Andre Albanese, a sixth-grader who biked 9 miles each way from North Upper Truckee every morning said, “It gave me a real sense of independence. I realized how beautiful Tahoe is and hope to keep doing it some other mornings as well.”

And the good news is that the kids keep coming. There were still at least 50 bikes at the middle school again this Monday — despite the fact that the official Bike to School event ended last week.

Parents and teachers at Bijou and Sierra House elementary schools also set up designated routes this year for the first time. At Sierra House, Principal Ryan Galles led a group from the Bijou Bike Park to the school each morning. Sierra House and Tahoe Valley are at a disadvantage from being located on busy streets, but that didn’t stop the kids from coming.

Jamie Lowe, first-grader at Sierra House, exclaimed that it was so fun and special to ride to school every morning with her daddy.

Kids at Tahoe Valley were fired up for Bike to School week as they had just had a Bike Rodeo the previous Tuesday where California Highway Patrol officers taught bike safety skills to all third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. Arial Carreau, third-grader at Tahoe Valley, declared that “biking to school makes me stronger. My family will keep biking and walking to school until the end of the year.”

Magnet school students ride down Apache to their school.

At Bijou there were six designated routes assigned for June 1, but the momentum kept going the other two days as well. When Lizbet Cedeno (second grade) arrived by bike at Bijou last Wednesday morning, she immediately asked the organizers, “We are going to do this again tomorrow and the next day, right?” Dulce Zepeda, a first grader, was part of a walking group, but she declared that she definitely wanted to get a bike so that she could ride to school next time.

By the end of the week, students and families were organizing their own routes. A group of more than 15 came all the way from Tahoe Keys. Joel Bingham, a Bijou parent, lead a group of 10-15 every morning from his house near the meadow. The kids saw coyotes, birds and wildflowers along the way. The kids on his team declared that it was a very special way to get to school. They plan to keep going as many days as possible.

The Environmental Magnet School’s big day was Friday. For the second straight year, teachers and parents led kids to school from all along North and South Upper Truckee as well as along the new Saw Mill Road bike path from the Y area. At 8:50am, they all convened at the Meyers Post Office to ride down Apache en masse. This year, kid bikes alone were estimated at 165 — certainly surpassing last year’s numbers.

A very big thank you all the teachers, parents, and Bike Coalition members who participated and led kids to school. And, a big congratulations all the student bikers. Keep those wheels rolling!

Rebecca Bryson is co-chair of the Community Mobility Work Group and co-founder of Small World Parent Network.

Coming this summer to the North Tahoe Regional Park in Tahoe Vista is the second location of the Tahoe Treetop Adventure Park. (The original is at Granlibakken in Tahoe City.)

The aerial adventure park will consist of 70 tree platforms connected by a variety of bridges and/or ziplines. Each bridge is unique, some are easy, others are challenging, most of them are wobbly.

Every participant wears a climbing harness and is connected to a safety cable at all times.

It will take about 2.5 hours to finish the course.

It is designed for ages 5 and older, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses to accommodate
all levels of athleticism.

The adventure park will be open year-round. Prices will be approximately $50 for youth and $60 for adults with discounts available for North Tahoe Public Utility District residents.