Category: Travel & Adventure
Shasta Dinner Cruise & Caverns
By Christy Milan The aquamarine water sparkles with the sun’s rays as you relax with family and friends. The smell of tasty food fills the air as the spectacular view of Mt.Shasta looms in the distance with hints of snow from the winter past. Take in the serenity and enjoy the ambience of Shasta Lake on the Lake Shasta Dinner Cruise. Shasta Lake is just north of Redding along interstate 5. It is part of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and has 350 miles of shoreline and about 400,000 surface acres. The average depth is about 400 feet, making this lake a prime vacation spot in Northern...
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A Fish Tale -Coleman National Fish Hatchery
By Christy Milan Wildly beating the water, the salmon splash and whip their tails to and fro as they struggle to gain momentum on their journey upstream to spawn. This is the time of the salmon run when the fish migrate from the ocean and work their way upstream to where they were born. They will also spawn and begin a new life cycle on a gravel bed. These salmon will then mature and make their way to the Pacific Ocean only to return and spawn, thus starting over the cycle of life for salmon. Over the winter the North State was drenched with much needed rain and snow. At times this was a...
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The Eight-Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly
By Jim Moore, Entomologist Summertime is the season for tending all the vegetables and flowers in my gardens. I focus on those kind of flowers that attract flower-loving bugs; and I do get swarms of them: bees, wasps, butterflies, beetles, and other kinds of bugs. And then there are the predators: spiders, robber flies, damselflies, and dragonflies. This year the top predator was a dragonfly called the Eight-Spotted Skimmer, species Libellula forensis. Several of these dragonflies established their small territories by resting upon the tops of the rather tall stakes that I use to tie up the...
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A Trip Into The Trinity Alps
By Christy Milan There is something to be said for a day that ends with pastel pinks, purples and blues. The limbs of the trees stretch upwards toward the dim light and shadows begin to dance among the skyline. Sunset has come to the Trinity Alps Wilderness. These are California’s very own Alps, with peaks rising to 9,000 feet and over 500,000 acres; this is truly a wilderness adventure. Alpine lakes are scattered among canyons created by glaciers thousands of years ago. Sparkling clear streams meander through the lush green mountain meadows. The wilderness comes alive with blacktailed deer,...
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Wolves Return To Northern California-Shasta & Lassen Packs Confirmed
By Eileen Majors Wolves have been discovered in California once again. Both the Shasta Pack and now the Lassen Pack have been officially identified by wildlife officials for inhabiting specific areas in NorCal. The Shasta Pack consisted of a breeding pair with five pups in 2015. While their whereabouts is unknown, one of the pups was detected in northwestern Nevada in 2016. The Lassen Pack consists of a male, a female and three pups, which have been photographed on remote trail cams in western Lassen County. The adult female was collared and is being tracked. The Lassen Pack regularly...
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Muskrat Love
Photos and Article by Jan Ramelli I don’t know anyone who can’t say “Muskrat” without remembering the 1976 hit song by Captain & Tennille peaking at number four on the Hot 100 chart! The Muskrat is usually active at night but can be seen at anytime of the day, especially in the spring. They eat aquatic vegetation, freshwater clams, crayfish, frogs and fish. September is their breeding season and the female can produce up to 5 litters per year, with up to 7 kits in each litter. After the young reach 2 weeks they can swim and dive, and the mother will often wean and drive them away at...
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TANK
I am not sure why I should change anything; everybody loves me around here. I am overzealous to say the least, or sleeping; that’s my average day. While I spend about 80% of the time snoozing, the other 20% is all about getting someone to throw me the ball. (Oh, I like eating too.) Recently my mom has been looking up information on pet obesity and now she’s talking about changing my diet. She is always running off on these tangents, and somehow I’m the one that pays the price. She has to get all involved just because October 11th is National Pet Obesity Awareness Day. That’s all it took and...
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Nakoma Golf Resort – The Dragon
By Rick Barlupi Photos by Rick Barlup & Nakoma Resort In 1923, Frank Lloyd Wright conceived Nakoma’s stunning clubhouse design. Nakoma is a Chippewa word which means “I do as I promise.” It took six years to adapt the drawings to a full set of plans, obtain permits and construct the building, with a dedication ceremony held in 2001. It took three years to complete the golf course designed by Robin Nelson of Mill Valley, California, who also designed the famous Dunes at Mauna Lani on the Big Island of Hawaii. The owners of Nakoma, at that time, wanted a commanding and impressive course,...
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A Hike To Table Rock, The Greatest View
Story by Rick Barlupi Photos by Rick Barlupi & Chico Oroville Outdoor Adventurers Table Rock is a volcanic tooth in the Sierra Nevada, Plumas National Forest, and the epicenter of the 1849 California Gold Rush. 1849 Gold Rush miners from nearby Howland Flat shot fireworks off the top of Table Rock on the 4th of July and chiseled their names on the rocks, which remain today. From the trailhead the hike is an hour and a half and rated moderate by the US Forest Service, elevation change 6100 feet to 6908 feet. The first mile of the hike is easy; most of the trail is a broad path through...
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Chasing Waves At Lake Tahoe
By Molly Barber Photos by Tyler Lapkin There is a certain feeling you get while doing something you truly love. A feeling that encompasses so many emotions it’s hard to describe but impossible to forget. For the wild souls out there, this feeling comes with a blend of fun, excitement, a little bit of fear and it’s addicting. So much so that you are willing to push your body to its limits, withstand the elements, and go against most people’s better judgement. I can’t remember the first time I felt that feeling but I can tell you about a time it hit so hard I knew something in me was changing....
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2017 Dark Sky Festival At Lassen Volcanic National Park (held annually)
By Melissa Wynn Since the dawn of time man has been fascinated with the night sky and all that inhabits the heavens. Join us this summer, August 11-13, 2017 for the Dark Sky Festival at Lassen Volcanic National Park. Special programs, presentations, hikes, and Junior Ranger Night Explorer activities will be offered, hosted by park rangers, astronomers, and astrobiologists celebrating all that is out of this world. Do you know where in the sky to find the constellation that matches your sign, be it Libra, Leo or Sagitarius? Learn the answer to this and more at this amazing three night...
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2017 Courage Run… So they don’t have to (held annually)
Photos by Jan Cox & Jan Carmichael Davies Courage Triathlon at Lake Almanor on August 26, 2017 They’re calling it a “mini sprint” triathlon consisting of three legs: a 2.8 mile run, a 7.1 mile bike ride and a 4.1 mile kayak ride. Participants can take it all on or participate as a three-person team. Either way is fine for organizers; they are here for the cause and want to include participants at all levels of ability. This family-friendly event also includes a 1/4 mile kids’ fun run. The event takes place at 10:00am on Saturday, August 26, 2017 and will start and end at Plumas Pines...
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