National Park

Elaine and I spent March 28-April 07 on a fun-filled, springtime return to Southern California for several reasons:
1. To celebrate our 11th Wedding Anniversary (March 30).
2. To visit my cousin Lorraine Scholes and her husband Bob, who have a winter home in Indio.
3. To attend our first-ever "Palm Springs Follies" show in Palm Springs.
4. To fly from Indio to Big Bear (our first-ever visit there).

Here are some of the highlights of our return to Southern California:

Thursday, March 28:

A plane flying from Santa Barbara to Mammoth Lakes has gone missing over Yosemite National Park, park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said.
The single-engine plane's pilot, Nicol Wilson, a Santa Barbara County resident in his mid-60s, was reported missing by his family Monday night. He was the only person aboard the plane.

The Pony Express Territory is pleased to announce that Victor Galbraith of Auburn, Calif. has won and accepted a free overnight stay in Ely and four tickets to experience the magic of Nevada’s original Polar Express train. When notified that he was the contest winner, Galbraith said, “My wife and I are excited to be bringing our Grandkids with us. They are going to have a blast!"

The 2012 Polar Express train aboard the historic V&T Railway in Carson City has sold all of its tickets, officials said. The all-ages train ride is set for 15 different dates, Nov. 23 through Dec. 23. The V&T officially sold all 10,794 of its tickets as of Thursday, said Candy Duncan, executive director of the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

One of Nevada’s most significant historic treasures is now the nation’s newest historic landmark with action today from the United States Department of the Interior. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar listed the McKeen Motor Car at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City as a National Historic Landmark.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Wednesday announced the designation of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad McKeen Motor Car #70 based in Carson City as one of 27 national historic landmarks.
Calling the McKeen Motor Car #70, Virginia & Truckee Railway Motor Car #22, "the best surviving example of the first commercially viable application of internal combustion power in a self-propelled railroad car" the designation possess exceptional value and quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States, Salazar said.

The Pony Express Territory, a fascinating route that takes travelers across Nevada on U.S. Highway 50 and once dubbed ‘The Loneliest Road in America’, is currently drawing visitors to Fallon’s annual Corn Maze at Lattin Farms via a contest on Facebook through Oct. 23. The award-winning Corn Maze is the West Coast’s largest and is known for family fun.

RENO – Friends, family and political colleagues gathered today to honor and pay tribute to the first woman to serve in Congress from Nevada, the now 91-year-old Barbara Vucanovich.

About 250 guests gathered at Rancharrah for the celebratory dinner, which not coincidentally raised a healthy sum for Republican candidates in the November general election.

The newspaper headline on page one on Aug. 15, 2002 said it all:
“They made it!”
Yes, they did! And, they did it in record-setting style.
Four athletes, who are personal friends of Elaine and I, completed 10 very physically and mentally-demanding challenges in a period of 10 grueling days, way back in 2002.
I know because we were there for each and every one of those 10 memorable days that resulted in the very first Nevada 10-in-10 Challenge going into the Nevada record book.
Those four were Karl Horeis, Jeremy Evans, Rick Gunn and K. M. Cannon.

The University of Nevada, Reno, in cooperation with the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, has sent a team of archaeologists to excavate the site of one of Nevada’s most important early hospitals. St. Mary Louise Hospital in Virginia City opened in 1876 and served the mining community until the early 20th century.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for the week of July 18-24.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for July 5 through July 10.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for the week of June 13-20.

For the second time in history, mountain bike enthusiasts are welcome to join their peers on a great "Mountain Bike Nevada" adventure and ride through Nevada, border to border, from Sept. 8-18, 2012. "We're looking for riders who want to experience an epic ride across some of state's most spectacular terrain," said Todd Whear, ride organizer and event co-founder. The journey is touted as "once in a life-time experience" and is a fund-raising event for the Nevada Public Education Foundation.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This fishing report is for the week of May 30 to June 5, 2012.

On May 9 through May 12, six of us were on a fun-filled, four-day, outdoor adventure way over in Eastern Nevada. The six were: Bob “Slick” and Lynda McCulloch and Elaine and I, all of Carson City, plus Sal and Catali Quilici of Dayton.
We went to the Ely area to fish some of the waters in that part of Nevada because five of us (Sal, Catali, Slick, Elaine and I) are entered in the Ormsby Sportsmen’s Association (OSA) annual fishing contest, and we were hoping to catch any of the following fish:
Rainbow trout or brown trout at Illipah Reservoir,
Rainbow trout or brown trout at Cave Lake,

Music, theater, dance and all things creative, the Brewery Arts Center is Carson City’s hub of all forms of art and continues to blaze a trail into the hearts and minds of the capital city.
In the heart of the historic district of Carson City, the BAC and the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall hosts more than 100 events annually in multiple venues, including theater productions, concerts, art classes, children’s programs, recitals and receptions.

February 09, marks a special day in the life of yours truly.

It is my one-year anniversary writing about the Great Outdoors at Internet website Carson Now.

Time certainly flies when you are having fun, and it has been both a totally enjoyable and a totally memorable year of writing about all kinds of activities in the Great Outdoors, both near and far away.

The unusual winter weather has been a boon for ice skaters. Here some skaters take to the ice on Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park. This area is normally under several feet of snow at this time of year and likely has never been conducive to ice skating. Hat tip to Sierra Foothills Report.

The year of 2011 was anything but quiet for the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
Pesky bears, a roaming gray wolf, significant poaching arrests, tsunami relief work and dramatic wildlife rescues were among the stories that captured the public’s attention.
DFG also welcomed new Director Charlton H. Bonham, who was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in August.

Last year was the winter that never stopped, as we were still getting snowed on down here in the valley in late spring.

But this year is the winter that never started. No snow at all in December. Look up at the hills, and you might mistake it for September.

Each year, as my last article for that year, I present my Annual Don Q Awards for a number of different reasons: Outstanding, good, not so good, bad, serious, funny, dumb, head-scratching, are-you-kidding, etc.
Those annual awards are presented to all kinds of people or places or things for what has occurred throughout the year. It’s an interesting way to end the year, so here are my 2011 winners:

As I look forward to the year of 2012 with high expectations, hopes and dreams, this is a good time to reflect back on some selected personal memories from the rapidly ending year of 2011. Here are my top memories:

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz (AP) - A plan to ban the sale of plastic water bottles at the Grand Canyon was scrapped after talks with Coca-Cola, which is a donor to the national parks system an...

By the California Department of Fish and Game
A city and two nonprofit groups’ combined commitments more than double the reward offered for information on a brutal mountain lion killing.
The City of Calabasas in eastern Los Angeles County has matched the $5,000 reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of poachers who killed a mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains last month.
Two other groups put up an additional $1,700 for a total reward of $11,700.

By the Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association
As pioneers made their way through the Shasta Cascade Mountain Range, there was a stream some had to cross.
While a couple of pioneers were crossing this stream, one of their hats had fallen off of their head and landed in the water.
Thus, Hat Creek was born, or so goes the old wives tale.
Hat Creek winds its way through the Lassen National Forest and is known as one of the most famous fly fishing streams in Northern California and offers some great spin fishing.

By The Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau
It only takes four days to celebrate statehood in Nevada. The Silver State knows how to party! The annual Carson City Nevada Day events will observe the 147th year since joining the union, with the theme, “Nevada's Great Outdoors,” Oct. 27-30, 2011.

A four-day celebration of the Silver State's admission to the Union in 1864 will be celebrated the last weekend in October in Nevada's state capitol of Carson City.

SPARKS — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) now plans to consider not only the environmental impact but also the economic viability of Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) multi-billion dollar plan to pump water from central Nevada into Las Vegas.

By the Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association
A great way to experience a sense of adventure and discover incredible scenery is by horseback riding through the Shasta Cascade region.
Many trails found throughout the area include trails on National Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, State Parks, and a couple of the National Parks that offer equestrian trails.
While traversing these trails riders can expect to experience breath taking country that cannot be seen in other parts of California.

On Saturday, Aug. 20, Tahoe author Janet Smith will be at the Costco in Carson City from 11-2pm for a book signing of the new anthology “Permanent Vacation: Twenty Writers on Work and Life in Our National Parks.” The collection, published by Bona Fide Books, features Smith’s piece “Pretty Enough,” a compelling account of coming of age in one of the world’s wonders, Yosemite Valley.