Outdoors with Don Q: The Fourth of July will be different this year

If you have not yet made any plans to be in the Great Outdoors for the upcoming Fourth of July, you might want to heed some or all of the following tips.
Because the Fourth of July falls in the middle of the week on Wednesday this year, it will put a crimp in many folks’ plans for celebrating in the outdoors, as many of them will only have Wednesday off as a holiday.
So, their celebrating will have to occur either on the preceding weekend or the weekend following the Fourth.

With that said, consider this for either weekend:
You had better expect to encounter big crowds no matter where you go.
If you like to bait fish, spincast or fly fish;
If you like to fish from shore, in chest waders, in a float tube or from a boat, canoe, kayak or raft;
If you like to camp in a vehicle, camp in a campground or backpack;
If you like to stay overnight in a hotel, motel, cabin or resort;
If you like to tour in your car, four-wheel drive, ride an ATV or ride a bike;
If you like to go horseback riding or on a packhorse trip;
If you like to water ski, jet ski, row a canoe or ride in a boat;
If you like to bask in the sun, swim, hike, climb a mountain, photograph scenery or watch wildlife;
Then, be advised that I guarantee you will have company, and plenty of it, wherever you go, with the possible exception of backpacking a long distance into remote areas of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
If you don’t like big crowds of people, either weekend may not be for you to be in the Great Outdoors.

Home or away
On the Fourth of July holiday, just about everyone falls into two categories:
Those who are away from home, somewhere in the Outdoors, or those who are going to enjoy a backyard barbecue.
Elaine and I, luckily, fall into both of those categories because we will be away from home, plus enjoying a barbecue with relatives, friends and neighbors on the deck of the Quilici Cabin (our second home) in the mountains of Northern California near Davis Lake.

Staying home
If you are one of those folks who will be staying home for the Fourth, then plan to have a nice, quiet, tasty barbecue in your backyard, complete with your choice of savory items such as:
Appetizers and cocktails, followed by steak, lobster, chicken, ribs, hamburgers or hotdogs, plus iced tea, tossed salad, ear corn, baked potatoes, to be followed by ice cream or strawberry shortcake with fresh cream.
Then as a bonus, when it gets dark, just kick back, relax and enjoy the annual holiday fireworks display from your home.

Outdoors
If you’re headed for the Outdoors for either of the two weekends, around the Fourth of July, here are some tips to consider:

Be considerate
When camping overnight be considerate of the other campers around you.
They certainly did not plan to spend the night next to a group of rowdy, noisy people staying up into the wee hours of the morning, partying, talking, laughing and playing loud music.
Be a good neighbor.

Be bear safe
If you are camping in bear country, you would be well advised to keep all of your food items where they and their odor are not tempting.
If you don’t, you could have an unexpected visitor in the night.

Boating
Don’t wait until you are on the boat ramp to load things into your boat.
That is the wrong time to load your water ski equipment, fishing equipment, arm loads of clothing and life preservers, coolers, lunches, cameras, etc.
For darn sure, don’t wait until your boat is in the water and tying up the boat ramp to try to start your motor for the first time this year. That is the last place you want to be when you and everyone else waiting to launch their boats discover that it won’t start. You won’t be popular!
Most importantly, be patient while you are waiting for those ahead of you to either launch or retrieve their boats. And, don’t cut in ahead of others trying to launch or retrieve their boats, because if you do, it could get very exciting with lots of colorful language.

A special treat for fishermen
For those of you who would like to fish in the State of California and do not have a fishing license, be advised of the following:
This year, California has two Free Fishing Days.
One is for the Fourth of July on July 07.
The other is for Labor Day on Sept. 08.
You can fish anywhere you want on either day, without a license.
Just be sure to obey the rules and regulations for whatever water(s) you fish.

Finally
Be sure to have a happy and safe and sober Fourth of July.
Enjoy yourself wherever you are.
Happy Fourth of July!

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can’t tell you why I like the Fourth of July.
If he grins and says, “Don likes that holiday because it is the first of a series of Holidays that mean the days are getting shorter and we are moving back to the winter snow, ice and cold that he loves,” that pigeon could be a close friend or relative of mine.
I don’t like hot weather!

— Writer Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now and www.SouthTahoeNow.com. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com