By Benjamin Spillman, Reno Gazette-Journal
Both physically and spiritually, Wheeler Peak is about as far as you can get from a Tahoe ski resort without leaving Nevada.
The 13,065-foot peak near the border with Utah towers over a bro-free desert landscape of cattle ranches, windmills and wildlife.
It’s what makes Wheeler a practically perfect destination for people looking for an authentic Nevada ski experience without frills.
As seen on June 18, many lakes are still largely frozen, with surrounding campsites snow covered. Photo/Shannon Macguire/USFS
By U.S. Forest Service
The report and photos below are from Forest Service wilderness ranger scouting expeditions this last week in Desolation Wilderness. Many hikers are turning around because of difficulty finding the trail, a great deal of snow, limited dry ground, frozen lakes, and high stream crossings. Sturdy, waterproof hiking boots and proper clothing are recommended along with a map and compass and trekking poles. Travel with a buddy, never alone and keep in mind your mobile device may not work in some areas. Develop an emergency plan in the event you are unable to call for help.
Bayview trail
Trail clear to Granite Lake. Snow on trail to top of ridge (Maggie’s Peak), and solid from top of ridge on. Difficult to follow trail, with hazardous conditions. Large amounts of snow and water from Bayview/Eagle junction onward, with limited dry ground for camping. The upper lakes are beginning to thaw, but still holding ice and snow. High stream flow conditions, exercise caution if crossing.
Eagle Lake
Trail clear to Eagle Lake. Above Eagle Lake, trail is a mix of snow, flowing and standing water, and dry. Minor stream crossings to junction with Bayview Trail. Beyond junction, trail is primarily snow and water. Lakes higher in Desolation are thawing, but still surrounded by much snow and water. Water crossings are high and swift, many travelers are turning around at Velma crossing and Fontanillis crossing.
Echo Lake
Snow above Upper Echo Lake on the PCT, Tahoe Rim Trail before Haypress Meadow. Lake Aloha is thawing quickly. Exercise caution if crossing streams. Parking is available at the upper lot, but not in the lower lot. Chalet and boat taxi are currently closed. Anticipated opening, July 4.
From Tahoe Rim Trail Association: Echo Lakes to Barker Pass
(June 13) Lower Echo Lake is completely thawed and Upper Echo Lake is mostly cleared of ice. The trail around the lakes is partially cleared of snow. Closer to the wilderness boundary the snow increases covering the entire trail. Expect Desolation Wilderness to be completely covered in dozens of feet of snow. The higher passes, such as Dicks Pass, are likely to be corniced and hazardous.
Lake Aloha from all trails:
(June 22) Beautiful, but expect to find plenty of snow on your hike. The hike is 100 percent snow from the end of Upper Echo Lake on. Highly suggest a GPS unless you know the area well, the trail can be tough to find at times.
Meeks Bay trailhead
Trail is very wet through lower meadows, but mostly clear to Genevieve Lake, a few snow patches remain. Clear of downed trees to Genevieve Lake. Travel with waterproof boots to stay on the trail. Stream crossings are high and fast moving, use caution if crossing – many hikers are turning around at stream crossing just south of Crag Lake.
Mount Tallac trail
Trail clear of snow until Floating Island Lake. Snow on trail as it continues to Cathedral Lake. Seasonal stream crossings, exercise caution if crossing.
Glen Alpine trailhead
Trail is very wet. Stream crossings on all trails in the Glen Alpine drainage are currently swift and high, use caution if crossing. Expect snow beyond the Susie Lake-Gilmore Lake trail junction.
By Becky Bell
Paddlers on Lake Tahoe will have an easier time safely finding their way on the Lake Tahoe Water Trail this summer.
Sierra Business Council, with funding support from Placer County, Nevada Department of Wildlife, and the city of South Lake Tahoe, will oversee the installation of educational wayfinding interpretive signs at 10 trailheads along the 72-mile water trail.
In 2015, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada State Parks, California State Parks, California Tahoe Conservancy, Tahoe City Public Utility District, and South Lake Tahoe agreed to develop the educational water trailhead system for 20 designated public launch and landing sites with facilities to address the needs of paddlers.
The signs being installed this summer are designed to help paddlers have a safe and enjoyable experience. The signs feature vital water safety and weather information, aquatic invasive species prevention tips, and a mapped paddle route with GPS coordinates, campgrounds, and public launch/landing sites.
“We are very proud to be part of this regional collaborative effort for the past decade, and to see the signage installed this summer,” said Jan Brisco, executive director of Tahoe Lakefront Owners’ Association. “We may never know, but it will be worth it if we can save even one life.”
Water trail signage has long been a priority for improved public lake access.
In 2011, public-private stakeholders expanded the signage purpose to enhance the user experience by improving water safety, wayfinding, reducing user conflicts, and encouraging resource stewardship and aquatic invasive species prevention.
Water trail users can embark on day trips or longer overnight trips.
The trail traces the perimeter of the lake and offers both campgrounds and shoreline lodging along its route.
Finding overnight parking at launch sites can be difficult, so paddlers are encouraged to make arrangements with operators at the various launch sites around the lake. The best time to take a multi-day trip is in late September and October, when the weather is still warm but crowds have thinned out at campgrounds and lodges.
Paddlers are asked to be the first line of defense to keep Lake Tahoe’s waters pristine and clear. Arrive at Lake Tahoe with crafts “clean, drained, and dry” in order to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species. Paddlers who have previously launched in infested waters should have their boats inspected free of charge at one of the four Tahoe boat inspection stations in Meyers, Alpine Meadows, Truckee, and Spooner Summit.
The easiest way to access the Lake Tahoe Water Trail is at developed public beaches with adequate parking and restrooms. Water safety tips and maps of public launch and landing sites are available online.
Becky Bell is the Sierra Business Council’s project manager for the Lake Tahoe Water Trail. This article is republished from the summer 2017 edition of Tahoe In Depth.
By Thomas Moore, Las Vegas Sun
Bettors in Nevada can now place pari-mutuel bets on events like e-sports tournaments, the World Series of Poker and the NBA draft after the Nevada Gaming Commission today unanimously approved changes to rules for wagering on nontraditional events.
Bettors previously could place nonpari-mutuel bets on “other events,” defined as events “other than traditional sporting events, horse, or greyhound races.”
By Kathryn Reed
It might be time to buy sunscreen in bulk.
South Lake Tahoe has set three records this week. On June 19 it was 90 degrees, breaking the record set in 1988 of 85 degrees; on June 20 it was 90, the old record set in 1981 was 85; and on June 21 it was 87 degrees, the old record was 85 set in 1988. On June 17 the city tied the 1985 record of 85 degrees.
During this time Tahoe City has not broken any records.
A warm air mass and high pressure is causing what the National Weather Service in Reno calls a “typical summer heat wave.”
It should cool down a bit on Friday, but still be above normal. Normal would be temps in the upper 70s in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The weekend, though, is expected to back in the mid- to upper 80s at the lake, with a cool down starting on Tuesday.
“We have a system moving in; the winds will pick up and the clouds,” meteorologist Brian O’Hara told Lake Tahoe News.
The heat wave in Tahoe is breaking 30-year-old records. Photo/Kathryn Reed
The mercury will be in the upper 70s next week.
Some parts of the lake saw rain in the early evening of June 21 to start summer. There is a slight chance of moisture on Sunday night.
With this unseasonably hot weather, people are reminded not to leave pets or children in vehicles, to drink plenty of water and try to do physical activity in the morning. At the same time, remember the lake and tributaries are super cold. Just jumping in could be a bad idea because the surface temp and about 8 inches below are drastically different; that sudden cold can be debilitating.
By Jane Braxton, Scientific American
The record piles of snow across California’s Sierra Nevada are melting away, exposing once again its breathtaking alpine meadows. As temperatures warm the moist soil, the meadows quicken, cycling carbon from the ground into the atmosphere and back again in a pattern essential to the planet’s health. Scientists and land managers are heading into the mountains to measure the greenhouse gas activity at 16 hand-picked meadows—some recently restored, others degraded from a century of grazing and logging.
The four-year study is part of California’s pioneering effort to reduce carbon emissions. The project is designed to determine whether restored meadows hold more carbon than those that have been degraded. The outcome could prove pivotal for California and the planet. Worldwide, soils store three times more carbon than vegetation and the atmosphere combined. If the research shows restored meadows improve carbon storage, it could stimulate meadow restoration around the world.
The $4.8-million project has an unusual twist, too. It is funded by the California Air Resources Board, which wants to know if restored meadows can hold enough tonnage of carbon dioxide equivalents, per acre per year, to qualify as carbon credits in California’s cap-and-trade market. “It’s kind of geeky but we’re poised to do something that’s never been done with alpine meadows,” says Mark Drew, Sierra Headwaters director at California Trout, who is coordinating the work.
Alex Zuong competes this past spring in the state finals in Las Vegas. Photo/Provided
Alex Zuong set four state weight lifting records in the 82.5kg class while he was a senior at Incline Village High School this year.
He bench pressed 125 kilograms, dead-lifted 202.5kg and did a squat with 172.5kg. He set the total weight record at 485kg – that is more than a half a ton.
Zuong has only been in Tahoe since December, though his mom grew up in the area.
He is interested in competing in future powerlifting and arm wrestling events.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
By Carol Pogash, New York Times
When Dan Goldwater first attached kaleidoscopic LED lights to the spokes of his bicycle wheels and rode through the Burning Man festival at night, the crowd was wowed.
And the “burners” — people who flock to the giant late-summer counterculture festival in the Nevada desert — were not the only ones. Back home in Berkeley, “Everywhere that I took it, people would run down the street after me and ask, where could they get this thing?” Mr. Goldwater said.
Bicycle equipment companies come and go; mostly they go. Goldwater’s company, Monkeylectric, has been in business for 10 years, convincing night cyclists that front and back lights are inadequate and that they need bright side lighting, too.
Monkeylectric — no one remembers how it got the name — sits at the intersection of safety and art, with an overlay of whimsy. Cyclists pay $25 to $60 for a set of lights to attach to their bicycle wheels. When the wheels spin, they produce rotating light shows with various designs: rainbows, hearts, a skull-and-crossbones or geometrics.
The fatalities over the weekend of an 11-year-old girl in New Jersey and 19-year-old young man in Ohio are bringing scrutiny to an age-old summer ritual that’s common on waterfronts across America: swimming near boat docks.
Initial reports say the youngster died when touching a dock’s electrified boatlift, and the Ohio teen died as a result of dangerous electrical current in the water while trying to save his father and family dog that also appeared to be stricken by the electrical current.
The BoatUS Foundation, the boating-safety arm of the nations’ largest recreational boat owners group, has some tips to prevent an electrocution tragedy:
What do you do if you see a distressed person in the water near a boat dock? A drowning victim often looks “playful,” while an electric shock drowning victim looks “distressed.” It may be difficult, however, to immediately determine either, so play it safe by not jumping in. The first task is to shut off power to the dock at the breaker panel, and if equipped, disconnect any power cable to the vessel. If power cannot be shut down, follow the “reach, throw, row, but don’t go” mantra by using an oar, boat hook or throw a floatation device to reach the stricken person.
By Sandra Chereb, Las Vegas Review-Journal
CARSON CITY — Nevada’s state park system grew by 12,000 acres Tuesday with approval by a legislative panel to accept the scenic land along the East Fork of the Walker River.
The Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee accepted the transfer of land, formerly three privately held ranches, which includes 28 miles of river access known for exceptional fishing habitat.
Gov. Brian Sandoval announced creation of the Walker River State Recreation Area, about 60 miles south of Carson City, in his State of the State address in January.