outdoor

Alpenglow Sports has teamed up with Tahoe Cross Country to present the first-ever Lake Tahoe Nordic Festival Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 10. All events are free, open to the public and take place at Tahoe Cross Country Ski Area in Tahoe City, California. A full schedule of events is available at www.tahoenordicfestival.com.

Four, fun-loving people from this area spent last Friday, Saturday and Sunday on an Amtrak train trip to and from Sacramento, Calif. Those four individuals were Bob “Slick” and Lynda McCulloch, plus Elaine and I, all of Carson City.

The purpose of this trip was to take a leisurely train ride on Friday over Donner Summit, so we could see and photograph the deep winter snow along the way in the high country, and then have two days of fun in Sacto.
It was a fun-filled three days, and here are some highlights of our adventure:

Amtrak:

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and southern Oregon. This report is for the week of Jan. 23-30.

Granlibakken Conference Center and Lodge has answered the arrival of 2013 and ideal conditions at Lake Tahoe with the area’s most attractive ski and stay packages now through spring.

Editor's Note: Pete Savini is 13-year-old. His parents are Rod and Tina Savini of Reno and his grandparents are Sal and Catali Quilici of Dayton. Pete writes about the first buck he was able to get while deer hunting in October 2012. This is his report.

On October 24, 2012 we headed out for my brother and mine’s deer hunt. We both had junior tags for the same area (my first deer tag). It was cold and snowy as we headed out. We got to our camping spot around 1:00 p.m. and got set up. Once camp was set up we headed out for the evening hunt.

Elaine and I spent last Friday and Saturday manning an exhibit at the ninth annual Grand Slam Club OVIS Hunter and Outfitter Convention held at the Grand Sierra Hotel and Casino Hotel in Reno.

We were there to help Paul Dankowski, Game Warden and Operation Game Thief (OGT) Coordinator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW).

The two of us serve as State Directors on the OGT Citizen's Board, and had volunteered to man the OGT exhibit trailer for those two days.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and parts of Oregon. This report is for the week of Jan. 16-22.

North Lake Tahoe pulls out all the stops to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of hosting the 1960 Winter Olympics with the Olympic Heritage Celebration beginning Saturday and lasting through Jan. 21 at venues throughout the region.

The event, which is sponsored by the North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association, kicks off Saturday, January 12 with the REI Winter Trails Day at Tahoe Donner Cross Country Resort in Truckee.

This is my annual reminder that if you like to fish in the State of Nevada, you might be interested in entering the 2013 Ormsby Sportsmen’s Association (OSA) fishing contest.

This annual contest is inexpensive, you can have fun fishing during the year and you might even win some nice cash, just before Christmas. If you’re interested, here is all kinds of information on that contest:

Ormsby Sportsmen’s Association
OSA is a local sportsmen’s organization for hunters and fishermen, with 220-plus paid-up members last year.

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 Jan. 9.

Getting to North Lake Tahoe’s snowy ski slopes just got a whole lot easier with the launch of the region's first area-wide free ski shuttle serving North Lake Tahoe, Truckee and Donner Summit.

The service runs between area lodging properties to 9 different ski resorts on weekends and holiday weeks now through March 31. It was formed through a collaboration of the North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association in partnership with the Truckee/North Tahoe Transportation Management Association and Placer County, the town of Truckee and several ski resorts.

First, let me say Happy New Year. This is the first part of January and this is also a good time for all of us (including me) to make some personal resolutions for the year 2013.
Most importantly, remember that if you do make any resolutions, be sure to follow through with what you resolve to do in this new year.
Resolutions are easy to make, but sometimes hard to accomplish.
I have a number of things I would like to accomplish this year, so without any further ado, here are my 2013 resolutions:

I RESOLVE TO:
Finally catch a fish larger than Elaine's:

Elaine Quilici of Carson City, wife of Carson Now Outdoor editor Don Quilici, took these great deer photos over on the west side of town, near the Governor's Mansion, last week.

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 Jan. 2-9:

Seventy-two-year-old L. Brown of northern Nevada first learned he had prostate cancer back in 1995. “I tell people who are diagnosed, there is no need to panic, although I certainly did, at least 52 times or more,” he said laughing. “I’ve learned this is something you can control and live with because it is manageable. “

As I have done for many years, my last article of the current year is to present the Annual Don Q Awards for a number of different reasons.

Those reasons include such assorted things as: Outstanding, memorable, good, not so good, questionable, 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 a fun way to end the year for yours truly, so without further ado, here are my 2012 winners:

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 Dec. 26.

In what has become a family tradition of many years, the entire Quilici family is planning to spend part of the Christmas holiday at their cabin, which is located at an elevation of 6,000 feet on a steep mountainside between the City of Portola and Davis Lake in Northern California.

What makes this location so special at this time of the year is that Plumas County does not plow the gravel road to the cabin when it snows.

When the countryside is covered with a layer of deep snow, we have to hike in on our snowshoes while towing a sled full of “goodies.”

This is my annual pre-Christmas reminder that Topaz Lake, located along U.S. 395 at the Nevada-California state line, will open its 2013 fishing season, one half hour before sunrise, on Tuesday, January 1.
If the weather is decent, if you don't have a massive hang-over, if you like to fish and if you don't have anything else planned, this could be a fun way to start the New Year.

Are you interested?

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 Dec. 19.

Gusty winds should arrive in Carson City and the valleys of western Nevada Sunday night prompting the National Weather Service in Reno to issue a High Wind Watch.

Winds will increase with a period of strong winds possible through the night and early Monday morning.

Southwest winds are expected to be 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph to 70 mph or more in the foothills and wind prone areas along Highway 395 from Carson City to Susanville and Surprise Valley, according to the weather service.

If you are planning to fish in the State of California in 2013, be aware that you will need a new license as of Jan. 1. You can purchase that license and any applicable stamp at a number of local outlets or on the Internet.
If you need to buy a license and stamps, here is some info:

Below is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, Lake Tahoe and the Sierra. This report is for the week of Dec. 12-18. We want to note a big fish caught by Eric St. Denis of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., pictured above.

Eric caught a 28-pound, 9-ounce Mackinaw trout at Lake Tahoe on Dec. 9, at 10:30 a.m. Photos courtesy of Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters.

Prestigious snow carvers from around the world will call North Lake Tahoe home February 8-12, 2013 for the region’s first-ever Carve Tahoe competition, with the judging take place February 13, 2013.

The weeklong international snow sculpture contest is specifically geared for spectators who will view firsthand 20-ton blocks of pure snow shaped and carved into breathtaking masterpieces. The competing teams are the best of the best – selected from the event’s top applicants and representing more than 20 countries.

As I look forward to the year of 2013 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 2012.
Here are my top memories of this year:

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes an streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for the week of Dec. 6.

It might have been raining across much of Northern California, but last week’s storm brought snow to Lake Tahoe ski resorts – more than 3.5 feet of the white stuff, making for a great ski weekend.

“You just never know how these storms are going to play out,” said Chief Marketing Officer Andy Chapman of the North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association. “But Mother Nature cooperated and we’ve got new snow on the mountains.”

With all of the crazy “Black Friday” shopping madness now safely behind us, we can begin, once again, to think rationally about ideas for Christmas gifts for that special person(s) in our lives.
So, if you were not part of that frenzied mob scene on the day after Thanksgiving, or if you are still scratching your head about what to get for that person, here are some “Don Q” suggestions for Christmas gifts:

UPDATE 4:10PM to reflect new video weather briefing: Damaging wind, heavy rain and the potential of minor flooding are possible for the Carson City region as a series of strong winter storms push through California into western Nevada.
Ahead of the systems will be high winds, which has prompted the National Weather Service in Reno to issue a High Wind Warning through 4 p.m. Friday.

Here is the fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for the week of Nov. 29.