Category: community

community, events

On The Road To A Renaissance Here In The Heart Of The California Alps

JT Chevalier (Alpine County’s PIO and Econ. Dev. Advisory Committee Chair) and I were yakking a couple weeks ago about the vibe in town due to the many new things that are happening here in Alpine County lately, and he suggested that we’re kicking off somewhat of a renaissance in the least populated county in California.

AS we like to say “One person per square mile, and you!”

MRS. California Alps and I, and Momma CA Alps (that’s her on the left), tend to agree!

NOW that spring is beginning to actually spring (after one or two more – knocky-knocky – doses of the white stuff), and knowing that some of you may already have planned your visit, or might do so after reading this post, let me whet your appetite and regale you with a list of things-a-happenin’ here from the East Slope (Woodfords and Markleeville) to the West Slope (Bear Valley and Kirkwood).

The Alpine County Resource Advisory Committee

THE renewed (there was one back in 2010 or so) Alpine County Resource Advisory Committee, “the RAC”, held its second meeting last month, and representatives, including yours truly, spent about three (3) hours reviewing six (6) projects, and I’m thrilled to say, approving five (5) of them!

  • Camp Like a Pro Program
  • Forest Service Recreation Technician
  • Scotts Lake Dispersed Campground Vault Restroom
  • Scotts Lake/Faith Valley Kiosks
  • Woodfords Visitor Information Kiosk

WITH approximately $115,000 available now, and more funding to follow, we voted to fully fund these projects, with priority given to the first four (4). Expect to see them bearing fruit starting in 2024.

LEARN more about the RAC here and read this post for some additional context.

Arts And Culture Alpine County

CHECK out this post from last month for more info. Suffice it to say things are moving along nicely. It’s getting closer to being an official entity with a brick & mortar location! Soon a name will be selected. IMHO it doesn’t matter a whole lot what it’s called yet some of us have our preferences. A rose by any other name, right?

MORE importantly, the group already has some event and gallery ideas in the works.

ALPINE County will likely see the fruits of their labor this summer or early fall, so stay tuned!

Markleeville Farmer’s Market

zucchinis and artichoke in plastic crates

SPEAKING of fruits (okay, those are veggies but we’ll have fruit, too), the county has put out an RFQ for a farmer’s market manager and we hope to see our first “fruit, veggie and crafts (including local artists) expo” in June.

COMING our way this summer…Woo, hoo!

FINGERS crossed, there might even be a market around the Deathride weekend.

Alpine County Chamber Of Commerce And Visitor’s Center

MEGHAN Wolff, Manager, has really taken charge of things since she came aboard in the fall of last year. She’s got a couple marketing professionals (one for the Chamber/VC and one for the Deathride) already hard at work, and with the help of two part-time employees, Graham and Virginia, both locals, is staffing the Visitor’s Center seven (7) days a week.

SHE and her team (that’s Meghan talking up the crowd) held an amazing mixer the Thursday before last at the Outwest Cafe (thank you Danelle and Joey) and we had the highest attendance (about 30) that a Chamber event has had since I can remember.

JT commented that it was about half the population. 🙂

Not too far off, JT!

CHECK out the newly revamped events page for some upcoming adventures from Kirkwood to Bear Valley and points in between. I hope to see you at one or more of them in the coming weeks and do stay tuned for more exciting things to come from the “ACCOC & VC.”

New Look And Feel

THE Chamber and the County have been working closely together on some re-branding efforts, including new logos and some fantastically produced videos (think “Are You Alpine?”), and those in attendance at that mixer got an early preview.

WHILE the new logo(s) haven’t been finalized, in fact we’ve got another version in the works with a Washoe artist, here’s a glimpse at one option, side-by-side with our current logo on the left. What do you think?

Renaissance Indeed!

THESE are just the new things. We’ve still got fishing (Fishmas is next month), the Bear Valley Music Festival, Hermitfest West, and East, the Deathride, Sierra Stargazing, and more. There’s so much going on this summer and fall that I’ve likely missed something. The Chamber’s Events page will capture it, though, so bookmark that sucker and make plans to be in Alpine County, and take in the Alpine-vibe, soon.

Six snowflowers in bloom on a little side trail near Sawmill Road. Taken during a hike up to the Thornburg Trail.
Phlox spilling over a rock. Taken while on a hike in Hope Valley.

WILDFLOWER season is approaching too!

ONCE the snow melts we’re sure to see some good color. Don’t miss it!

billiard balls and cue sticks on the billiard table
advocacy, community, forests

RAC ‘Em Up For The New Year! California Alps Forests Projects That Is

THE Alpine County Resource Advisory Committee held its first meeting in November. The “RAC” as it’s referred to, was convened by the Carson Ranger District and it consists of individuals who represent specific interests in the Alpine County area of the California Alps region of the Sierra Nevada.

THOSE specific interests, and those reps when appointed (after being recommended by local USFS personnel) are placed into certain categories, e.g., commercial recreational activities; commercial or recreational fishing groups; regionally or locally recogonized enviromental organizations; Native American tribes, etc., in order to bring broad ranging backgrounds, perspectives and abilities to the Committee.

CATEGORY A includes “Developed Outdoor Recreation, Off-Highway Vehicle Users, or Commercial Recreation Activities” and that’s where I, and hopefully you too, come in.

REPRESENTING hikers, bikers, OHVers and other recreaters — not re-creators 😉 — (ref. Cat. A lingo above) is now my privilege, I’m happy to write, as I am one of the thirteen (13) appointed public members of the RAC. Thanks, Secretary Vilsack!

 The purpose of each RAC is to improve collaborative relationships among the people that use and care for the National Forests and to provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service concerning projects and funding consistent with Title II of the SRS Act. 

 Excerpted from United States Forest Service, Secure Rural Schools Advisory Committees, CHARTER 

From The Title II Guide…

THE funds may be used for projects that have broad-based support and with objectives that include:

  • road, trail, and infrastructure maintenance or obliteration
  • soil productivity improvement
  • forest ecosystem health improvements
  • watershed restoration and maintenance
  • wildlife and fish habitat restoration, maintenance, and improvement
  • noxious and exotic weeds control
  • native species re-establishment
Forest health in the California Alps can benefit from the Alpine Co. RAC.

OUR RAC advises on, and recommends for, projects in Alpine County, in the Eldorado, Stanislaus and Toiyabe National Forests, so it’s a wonderful opportunity to obtain some funding for various projects that benefit these forests within our little county.

Per David Griffith, of the Alpine Biomass Collaborative: “possible project ideas could include such things as trail and trailhead improvements, toilets, campgrounds and campground improvements, new or improved signage etc.”

CURRENTLY there is approximately $200,000.00 available with an possiblity of $15-30k per year after that. Projects must be submitted by February 1, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. in order to be considered for this round, which ends in June of 2023 (FY 2022-2023).

Benefitting More Than Just U.S. Forest Service Land

Matt Dickinson, Sierra Zone GIS Specialist for the Carson District, explains it this way: “In the language of the actual law, there is no indication that it is only Forest Service lands. So, [the RAC] should be able to approve projects if they show a benefit to any federal land.”

Criteria for projects in the California Alps related to the Alpine County Resource Advisory Committee.

OUR goal is to get as oodles and oodles of projects submitted so that we have a robust, perpetual list on which to vote. Since the initiative is ongoing projects that don’t get chosen initially can be considered in future years, so why not have as many in our back pockets as we can, right?

Projects Approved How?

HERE’S Matt again…

  • There has to be a quorum of members in order to recommend projects.
  • To move a project forward there would have to be a majority vote of yes within each of the three membership categories.  If any one of the three groups votes no then the project does not move forward, as required by the committee charter.
  • Funding would need to be decided by a simple majority of members.  The options for funding include – fully fund the project; fund only a portion of the project; fund only a portion of the project now, but recommend the remaining funds be approved if additional funding becomes available; or recommend a project for funding above the amount requested if the project has the capacity.
  • Finally, by a majority vote, projects would need to be ranked in order to determine the priority of which projects get funding with the current funds available and which ones would be funded first when more money becomes available.   

OUR next meeting is February 28, 2023 and it’s at that meeting that we will begin the vetting process and vote on projects that have been submitted to date.

HERE are links to the forms you’ll need:

For more information or to submit a project idea contact Brian Peters (RAC Chairperson), bwpeters1@gmail.com, or Matt Dickinson, Matthew.Dickinson@usda.gov, or 775-884-8154. 

SO, spread the word! Share a link to this post on your social media. Part of an organization that could benefit from a project or projects? Let your leadership know. Know someone or some group that fits the bill? Give ’em a heads up.

THANKS and have a great 2023! Let’s start it off with a big bang for our CA Alps forests.

Submit your project ideas today!

advocacy, community, neighbors

Siloing in the Sierra. Or, Trying to Reach Enlightenment. Or, Hey, Can We Have a Convo?

THINKING differently? Re-focusing our energy holistically? Integrating? Teaming up? How do we harmonize our efforts and what would the focus of those efforts be? Here at California Alps Cycling I sometimes forget that part of our mission is to “advocate for cycling AND the outdoors.” That “and” is the important part, and over the last several months some of the organizations for which I volunteer have started working towards that end. Many of us have begun (ok, some like ESSRP got there long ago) to realize that we all have one thing in common: the Sierra. There’s that focal-point.

IT’S a different way of thinking for me and it comes from my experiences (some of you have had similar ones I suspect) during the last fifteen years or so of my professional life. Working in silos, or trying not too, is one of the corporate world’s most vexing problems. And one day it hit me. We’re doing that here too in some ways. I hear what you’re thinking. DUH, it’s not just a corporate problem, Mark.

TRAILS associations focusing on trails built just for hiking, for example. Bike coalitions slightly missing the mark about OHVers, groups that often have more political clout, and have shared goals with their two-wheel brethren. Mountain bikers and gravel riders perhaps not contemplating that rock climbers, and cowboys (cow-persons? Too woke? Tee, hee.) use the same trails they do, and so by building to “their specs” in addition to “bike specs” we end up preserving, and serving (stewardship…yeah, baby) that same common ground with one common voice, for similar needs.

THE needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one, right?

RECENTLY, I caught myself missing the mark. Forgive the self-gratifying pun. During the last couple of District 10 Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (D-10 BPAC) meetings I was championing an idea of Becky DeForest’s, former director of the Alpine Co. Chamber of Commerce. She suggested the committee consider opening the gates on Hwy. 4 and Hwy. 89 (Ebbett’s and Monitor, respectively) for cyclists and pedestrians AFTER the snow has been cleared but BEFORE the gates were opened to vehicles. We’ve had, and continue to have, some great back & forth on this subject and we’re not done quite yet. My point, though, is about snowmobiling on those same roads and my thougthlessness in first seeking to understand before being understood. Said I during one meeting, “They get to use the roads when the gates are closed but we don’t. Isn’t that a double standard?”

Road closed sign and open gate showing snowmobile tracks on highway 4 in alpine county. ebbetts pass. markleeville

TURNS out ‘bilers have to get permits. So maybe the answer, I realized, is a permit process for bikes and peds too? We’ve got more in common than we don’t, and in many instances we cyclists, hikers, snowshoers and walkers share those same roads. How can we work together to further our common goals rather than work in those dang silos? That should have been my question and it took one of Caltran’s operations gurus to make me see the error of my ways.

NONE of this is malicious. In fact, just the opposite. Most volunteer groups are just so uber-focused on their missions. Their visions. For any of these groups that build and maintain trails and gravel it’s even more important to have that global view. Read this post, by the way, for some insight on that.

monk holding a prayer beads while looking afar

ENJOYING the outdoors isn’t partisan either is it? Being good stewards of the land isn’t blue or red, right?

NOW, we’re not there yet. Un-siloing that is, but I feel a bit of a shift. At least in the organizations in which I volunteer.

In order to further that endeavor, 😉 I did a bit of googling and came across this handy list of ways to “conquer silo mentality,” courtesy of engagebay:

  • Nurture a Unified Vision
  • Use Collaboration Tools
  • Improve Socializing and Cooperation in the Workplace
  • Encourage Remote Work
  • Define Shared Accountabilities
  • Set Common Goals
  • Create Cross-Functional Teams

IS it just me or could we apply some of these principles not only to our volunteer work but also to, oh I don’t know, our interactions with our neighbors? Could we make some progress in Congress if we embraced some of these principles?

C’mon, man, this isn’t The Twighlight Zone.

ACTUALLY, it is. We’ve lost the art, definitely so in the political arena, of civil discourse. I’m seeing and hearing some of that locally, too, on an issue that’s on the ballot next week. It’s getting personal and it shouldn’t be. Disagreement shouldn’t mean disassociation. We’d make a lot more progress if we all left some of our own personal baggage out of the conversation.

FIRST, though, we need to have that conversation. On so many fronts and on so many different levels. Honestly, I’m not quite sure why I wrote this post and admittedly it is a bit of a rambler. Some self-serving cathartics I guess. One of the benefits of having a blog. You can technicolor yawn your feelings onto the page if you’re so inclined.

AS I think about it, it is from a bit of reflection (and drug-induced haze?) on my recent prostate surgery. Bam, just thought I’d slip that in there. Last Wednesday it was and as I write this post I’m still dealing with the post-op fun, and I know there’s more to follow. Yet I can’t help but be grateful for the fact that in the end it was, among other things, a unified vision between my doctors to address my issue (BPH), collobaration between different offices to get to the RIGHT OUTCOME (aquablation), and cross-functional teams (surgeons, doctors, nurses, dieticians, etc.) that helped me, and will continue to help me, heal. I’ll follow up on my progess, and if you are also a BPH-suffering-cyclist, maybe a future post, or this past one, will add some value.

OKAY, I hope all of this resonates with you in some way and I do thank you for indulging me. If it does strike a chord with your fine self then there’s some common ground RIGHT THERE that WE can pay forward. And if it doesn’t that’s okay too.

HAVE a gnarly, super-excellent, scary day tomorrow and…

HOW about let’s throw some ideas in the air with some friends (old ones, or new)? Something spooky-good may come down?

man holiday love people
advocacy, community, education

Advocacy. Bikes. Community. Our New Tagline and a Renewed Purpose

WHEN we formed California Alps Cycling in 2017 the reason for doing so was a simple one: how do we share the beauty, diversity and amazing outdoor opportunities this area has to offer?

I had always enjoyed writing. I’ve practiced it since elementary school, thanks to Mom; and got another dose of “scrivinerspiration” a bit later in life, in junior high, thanks to Mrs. Giacomazzi. Working in the legal field my entire adult life also helped stoke the bug. I still chuckle today at the memory of one particular teacher at Lincoln Law School (I only did a year), Judge James Ware, who in our first class together urged us to write like normal people, without too many heretofores and whereafters. LOL.

SO that monkey had been on my back for awhile, and I had been wanting to start a blog, so the idea of this blog came to mind.

clear light bulb on black surface

THAT idea further coalesced when my wife and I had a conversation on our way to Gardnerville (Nevada) for a doctor’s appointment.

While she was in that appointment I took the first step and reserved the California Alps Cycling URL.

SINCE then I’ve ridden thousands of miles here in our beloved Alpine county and written thousands of words here in the CAC blog.

WE’VE done many days of adoptin‘ and many weekend clean-ups. I’ve spent many weeknights and weekends volunteering (and the associated off-line hours that comes with that) on various boards and committees while at the same time not really understanding the direction I was truly headed.

I guess you could say I was conflicted, or rudderless perhaps is a better description. Not seeing the sign(s), maybe, not paying attention to what the universe was trying to tell me; thinking at one point that I might open a shop, or run tours. Wait, still willing to do that. Now or when I retire. 😉

photo of pathway surrounded by fir trees

EARLY on I also had dreams of perhaps making a living selling really cool, Alps-branded gear. I still sell the gear but I’ve come to realize it’s about the brand, it’s been about the brand, and not necessarly the CAC brand, but the alps brand, the alpine brand, the Sierra Nevada brand, the giving-back-to-the-community-and-surrounds brand.

I’M fortunate enough to have a great employer that among other things, promotes work-life balance. It’s because of my job, I often remind myself, that I can continue to give back to this place that has such a special aura.

LIKE I wrote in my last post, this place needs our help and that help comes from many sources.

Looking west towards Poor Boy Road from Hwy. 89. cleared and many burned ones still standing. Photo taken this past spring.

BTW, when I write “this place” I’m referring to the Sierra Nevada, and not just to the east slope of the Sierra, but the west slope too. And the foothills, which run for hundreds of miles on that west slope, the portion of which just west of us here coincidentally, is known as the “Motherlode.”

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Motherlode Bicycle Coaltion

IT was my recent interactions with Rob Williams, Ben Cook and Todd Berg, board members of MLBC, that truly got those turbines to turn, if you will. Rob (Motherlode’s founder) and I have worked together on the District 10 Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) this past year and we’ve had many conversations around events like the Deathride, Mr. Frog’s Wilde Ride and the Ride & Walk 4 Art. Riding bikes, grandkids (his), cats (mine), Markleeville, e-Bikes, gravel riding, and other subjects have been bantied about, too.

AND so it was I found myself talking to Ben and Todd a couple weeks ago while I was in San Jose on a business trip. “Rob said you may be interested in joining our board”, said Ben. That took me a bit by surprise because I had told Rob I’d be willing to get involved. But hey, when you raise your hand and volunteer…

WE three (Ben, Todd and I) hit it off, though, and an invite to Motherlode’s Vision Session would be forthcoming. They held that “vision quest”, as I called it, just last Tuesday. I’d just come from another community meeting, after an arduous workday, and was a bit worn out. I joined virtually, as did a few others, but the majority of the group went to Carl’s house in Columbia. It didn’t take long for the energy in the room to consume me, and the rest of the group.

PART of the meeting outcome was the concept of combining forces, as it were, by bringing Alpine County and the central Sierra into what Motherlode had already begun. Joining the “foothill fold” made so much sense and I was stoked to be able to be a part of something that we all hoped would have some serious legs.

NOW it’s not quite that simple. IT never is. It’s going to take some work (including my assigned homework). It always does.

IN my mind, though, I just saw THE SIGN.

WE (California Alps Cycling) needed to focus our energy differently. We needed to be, not just act like, a coalition. We needed to continue to build on what we had started even though until then we didn’t realize what that was. We needed to be that advocacy-focused, community-oriented, education-friendly organization that our Prana was telling us to be.

SO, as we continue to navigate away from that original retail model to something more like (maybe exactly like) a non-profit model, we’ll be changing things around a bit. A new look for our website, edits to some of our pages; an updated mission. All of these I suspect, and more.

MAYBE even a – gasp! – board of directors.

WHAT started as a getting-to-know-each-other conversation between my wife and I, at the home of two skeptical individuals who both later became friends, Fritz and Nancy Thornburg, has years later come into laser-focus. Now it’s up to us to execute.

WE’LL look to you dear readers, and local riders, and upstanding friends, and friendly advisors, and especially you conscientious contributers, to remind us of that from time to time.

Ps.

We’ll try not to be patronizing or preachy, and if we already have, for that we apologize. We also promise to continue writing about the groovy things that happen around here (and the not so groovy), as well as things to do, see and hear while you’re here, because without you we’d run out of volunteers. 😉

Lastly, just because “cycling” is in our name, that doesn’t mean we’re only about bikes. We promise to advocate for all responsible outdoor recreationists, especially you friendly OHVers who often look at Chris and me in confusion, yet frequently ask if we need anything, when you see us riding our gravel bikes where you drive your toys. Drive on, drivers!