Category: Natural World
Go East: Ruby Mountains a Geologic Spectacle, Vacation Destination
Written by Kyle Magin Scrap every desert cliche you’ve formulated about Nevada’s basin-range landscape. Big brown mountains. Barely-arable basins stretching as far as the eye can see. Nevada’s Ruby Mountains buck every notion you have about the outdoors the Silver State has to offer. The 50-plus mile-long range–10 miles wide at its thickest–is a haven […]
Tahoe Trailblazing
Inside the evolving art of trailbuilding Written by Greyson Howard Trails etch into packed earth and chipped stone across the Tahoe landscape, zigzagging up the Sierra’s steep peaks, tracing a parallel course to its streams and rivers, dipping into shaded woods and bursting onto sunny meadows. Trails are a part of the region’s landscape, […]
Born to be Wild: Tahoe’s wildflowers
A primer to some of Tahoe’s wildflower wonders Written by Allison Bender Summer in Tahoe means a spectacular display of colorful blooms: fields of yellow mule ears gazing at the sun, seas of blue lupine and orange poppies nodding in the wind. More than 700 kinds of wildflowers grow in the region, according to Zephyr […]
Giant Goldfish Indicated Big Problems for Tahoe
Written by Kyle Magin The last time something gold made this kind of news in California, it sparked a rush. But a 4.2 pound, 14-plus inch goldfish pulled out of Tahoe early in 2013 sparked little but alarm this time around. Researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), led by scientist Deepak Chandra, pulled […]
Desolation: Cherished and Guarded
Popular Tahoe wilderness ages well under the close eye of devoted stewards Written by Sylas Wright Desolation is a relative term. In the case of Lake Tahoe’s prize slice of backcountry real estate, the designated expanse of scenic, jagged peaks, rock-coated valleys and lakes of gin-clear quality earned the moniker from its barren appearance—a land […]
Tahoe’s Mammoth Trout Swimming Back from Extinction
Written by Jacqueline Ginley Last winter, Matt Ceccarelli was fishing at the shores of Pyramid Lake, like he had since childhood, when his line caught on something. “At first I thought it was a snag,” he said. “Some of the other 10- to 15-pound fish fight way more than this one did. This fish came […]
Tahoe Bears in the crosshairs: Area residents, bruins sometimes uneasy relationship
By Jackie Ginley Ten years ago, when Alpine Meadows was divided over the question of what to do with a well-known local bear, Tahoe Quarterly took a hard look at the conflicts between humans and black bears in the Basin. Residents had fed the bear as a cub, and in the space of a few […]
Natural Rythms: Winter
By Will Richardson Small but clever, these little creatures have adapted to winter’s snows. Among the mammals that winter-over in Tahoe, squirrels and chipmunks are perhaps the most numerous, and interesting, employing a variety of strategies to make it through the long, snowy season. Like all creatures that stick around through the harshest months […]
Natural Rhythms: Summer is the season of love for local flora and fauna
Summer is when plants and animals go about the business of reproduction. To that end, they employ a dazzling array of communication techniques, appealing to all of our (and hopefully potential mates’) senses in the process. Here is a sampler of the summer’s great communicators. Songs and sounds Territorial vocalizations attract mates and ward off potential competitors, but those performances […]
Lake Tahoe’s Best Places to Stargaze
Lake Tahoe boasts up to 300 clear nights per year. The dry air and western on-shore marine airflow pattern are ideal for good “seeing,” as is the low atmospheric turbulence. I have been leading star parties at Lake Tahoe for ten years and have accumulated a list of my favorite sites (complete with exact latitude/longitude […]
