Treks Through Time
2010 Summer and Fall Treks

To the Moon! with Alan Stahler and Dan Chaplin
Saturday July 17th, 2010 8pm – 11pm
The moon is a key piece in the puzzle of what the early solarsystem was like, when Earth and the other planets were forming so take your seats under the darkening sky beneath a halo of shimmering stars for your very own moon tour. Dan Chaplin will have his scope aimed at the moon, but rather than looking through the eyepiece one by one, enjoy exploring the moon together. Marvel as Dan replaces the eyepiece of the scope with a camera, sending the moon’s image to a video monitor which allows Al and Dan to point out special features and for our guests to point to features they wonder about. Moon tours are fun for both kids and adults. We’re scheduling the tour for first-quarter moon, because the lighting – with the sunlight coming from the side – is especially dramatic at this time.
Level: Easy
Cost: $12 members/$17 non-members.
Children under 16 free

John Skinner Memorial Trek to Mt. Zion Peak with Melony Vance
Wednesday July 28th, 2010 8am – 3pm
John Skinner was known for his love and expertise of trails and open spaces and one of his favorite viewpoints was from Zion Peak above Blue Lake in the Grouse Ridge area. Join John’s dear friend Melony Vance and the Land Trust on the one year anniversary of his passing as we honor his memory on this special trek. Parking near Blue Lake we will first hike up to Zion Peak (300’ gain, 3/4 mile) where we will have a spectacular view of Lake Spaulding below us and Old Man Mountain up Fordyce Canyon. We will then descend, walk half way around the lake and head out for about two miles, part way on an old ditch trail, to a rock outcropping with petroglyphs, where we will have lunch. On our return trip we can stop for a quick swim back at the lake. This is a moderate hike with some elevation gain and loss. Total hiking distance under six miles. Sturdy shoes, sunscreen, lunch, and water essential, bring a bathing suit.
Cost: $12 members/$17 non-members
Level: Moderate

Grouse Ridge Basin with Randy Oliver
Saturday August 7th, 2010 10am –5pm
Join naturalist Randy Oliver on his exploration through a series of high-elevation habitats--stunning virgin fir/pine forests, the snow melt pools and meadows of the granite outcrops, the natural “bonsai” trees of the extreme exposure, and a stunted wind-hewn forest of ancient junipers. We’ll likely see fairy shrimp--fascinating and beautiful living fossils found only in ephemeral vernal pools. If our timing is right, there will be alpine wildflowers abloom. Bring your swimsuit for a dip in the pristine water before we hike up out of the basin! This will be a somewhat strenuous hike, some of it off trail, covering about six miles, at an elevation of 7,000 feet.
Cost: $12 member/$17 non-members
Level: Strenuous

Reach the Peak with Jim Dodds
Thursday August 12th, 2010 8am – 3pm
Conquer the highest peak in Nevada County, Mt. Lola with past Land Trust Board President Jim Dodds on a six mile hike from 8000 to 9500 elevation to the peak. See a meadow of wildflowers, follow Cold Stream through timberline forests and at the summit enjoy magnificent views of Independence Lake, Stampede Reservoir, the Sierra Buttes and Sierra Divide. Come prepared for a breathtaking trek! Hikers must be physically fit.
Cost: $12 members/$17 non-members
Level: Easy to Moderate

Van Norden Meadow History and Ecology Tour with John Cobourn
Saturday September 4th, 2010 8:30 am – 3pm
Considered by some to be the largest of its kind north of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park, Van Norden Meadow stands as Donner Summit’s premier natural icon. A vital component of both the South Yuba River watershed--and the greater ecology of Donner Summit--Van Norden Meadow is a place of long geologic and cultural history. For eons Summit Valley, as it was originally known, was a
sprawling montane meadow of epic proportions. Its size and elevation made it then--and still today--a unique place in the Sierra Nevada. For centuries, native people inhabited the meadow during summer months and it served as a route over the Sierra for Indians and future Anglo settlers alike. Join us on this very special occasion and experience for yourself the delicate beauty of Van Norden Meadow. An optional catered lunch at Sugar Bowl Resort will complete this perfect day.
Cost: $12 member/$17 non-members
Level: Easy to moderate

Skillman Camp to Rock Creek Nature Trail with Grayson Coney
Saturday September 18th, 2010 8:30am – 1pm
Take a new look at an old site. Skillman Camp is at the Headwaters of Deer Creek and the Rock Creek Nature Trail, located east of Nevada City on Washington Ridge. The Trail is a 3/4 mile loop that is cool, shady, and level. Cultural Director of the Tsi-Akim Maidu, Grayson Coney will present an alternative look at this natural ecosystem and will share his knowledge of plant uses, bird and animal evidence and the philosophy and stories of the Indigenous People who once inhabited this beautiful area.
Cost: $12 member/$17 non-members
Level: Easy

Meet the Magnificent Draft Horses-Gentle Giants of the Draft Horse Classic
Friday September 24th, 2010 4pm – 9pm
Horse enthusiasts – get ready for your intimate experience! This awe-inspiring opportunity will introduce you to the horses of this 23rd Draft Horse Classic and their handlers. Hear breed history and anecdotes about them by their owners and trainers. Yours will be a special first-hand look behind the scenes as you tour the barns and learn all about the history and planning of this spectacular annual event from Chief Executive Officer Sandy Woods. Enjoy a snack on Treat Street and then view the main evening performance from your reserved seat. Voted as one
of Nevada County’s best events, and celebrated as the premier Draft Horse show in Western United States, this spectacular show is a must see event!
Cost: $30 members/non members
Level: Easy

Sutter Buttes Bragg Canyon Hike with Middle Mountain Foundation “The smallest mountain range in California”
Saturday October 2nd, 2010 9am – 3pm
In the midst of California’s broad Sacramento Valley, an isolated cluster of small mountain peaks rise abruptly above the populated and cultivated valley floor. Standing rugged and raw in stark contrast to the surrounding development below, they draw our eyes, indeed our very souls, today just as they have intrigued those before us. The indigenous Maidu, who lived in their shadow for thousands of years, called them Esto Yamani, which means “the Middle Mountain” and regarded them as a special place to be revered, a place for spiritual and physical sustenance. Come with the Land Trust and experienced Middle Mountain Guides for an informative and challenging guided tour into this magical place as we explore Bragg Canyon. This will be a steady uphill hike, although not too strenuous, up to the upper reservoir and if it isn’t too dry we will visit a waterfall. When we have reached the upper reservoir we will have a view of the ancient lakebeds that are now on a hillside. For the more adventurous types we can make a steep climb from there to some small caves. Pull out your hiking boots, pack a lunch and spend a day in paradise.
Cost: $55 members/non-members
Level: Strenuous

Colgate Powerhouse with Dale Johnson
Saturday October 16th, 2010 9am – 3pm
See Lester Pelton’s first functional water wheel at the Masonic Lodge in Camptonville, built in 1878 to power his landlady’s sewing machine. We then travel to the Colgate Powerhouse near Dobbins where we climb inside the wheel-pit of one of the generating units during a shutdown for annual maintenance. There we will see an 18-foot single casting wheel, the largest Pelton-style waterwheel in the world — a fitting monument to Pelton’s invention. The icing on the cake is a visit to the 635-foot high Bullard’s Bar Dam where we look at it from the bottom up and go for a short visit inside the base of the dam.
Cost: $12 member/$17 non-members
Level: Easy

Trini’s Grove Basque Tree Carvings with Archaeologist Carrie Smith
Saturday October 23rd, 2010 10am – 3pm
What is Aspen art? Who were the Basque? Tahoe National Forest Archaeologist Carrie Smith will take you to see their story tucked away in the northern Sierra. The Basque traditions of Aspen tree carvings are strongly associated with the activities of Basque sheepherders whose history over the past 100 years is recorded on the trees themselves. This unique means of communicating among themselves that has since become an important source of cultural information about their origins and immigration. Carrie will also take us to visit the Wheeler Sheep Camp. Dan C.Wheeler entered the sheep business in 1867 when he brought a herd of sheep from southwest Oregon to the Truckee Meadows. Wheeler’s home ranch, the Lake Ranch, was located in what is now southwest Reno. Eventually Wheeler held grazing rights on public and private land west and north of Lake Tahoe, extending as far north as Sardine Peak  Wheeler Sheep Camp, located in Kyburz Flat, was one of the main sheep camps. You will want to bring a lunch and a folding chair for this event.
Cost: $12 member/$17 non-members
Level: Easy

Blue Point Mine and Excelsior with Brian Bisnett
Saturday October 23rd, 2010 9am – 1pm
Join amateur historian and property owner Brian Bisnett on a tour of the Blue Point Mine, once California’s richest hydraulic mine. We’ll see Blue Point’s wetlands and towering 300’ escarpments, home to a nesting pair of endangered peregrine falcons and colonies of threatened bank swallows. We’ll explore the site’s vast array of gold rush archeological remnants, including a tunnel which runs over ½ mile from the valley floor to the Yuba River, and the historic town site of Sucker Flat, where a company town once thrived and where now only a single home, built in 1865, remains. And we’ll hike the historic Miner’s Ditch, which once brought water to the region’s first hydraulic mine at Rose Bar and now provides a trail with breathtaking views above the Yuba River Narrows. Our tour will continue through the Excelsior property, soon to be acquired by the Trust for Public Lands, and will conclude at the Black Swan Diggings, home to a variety of bird species and a thriving population of Western Pond Turtles. This will be a moderate to somewhat strenuous hike, covering about five miles with a bit of off-trail scrambling.
Cost: $12 member/$17 non-members
Level: Moderate to Strenuous