Tahoe Quarterly Summer 2026

SUMMER 2026

www.tahoequarterly.com

The Long Return of the Washoe | Forest Fungi Fever | Defying Death on Lake Tahoe

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Frank Tenney Johnson (1874 – 1939), Midnight in the Canyon (1930), oil on canvas, 46 × 30 inches, Estimate: $ 400,000 – 600,000 John Clymer (1907 – 1989), The Trader (1971), oil on canvas, 20 × 40 inches, Estimate: $ 250,000 – 350,000 Frederic Remington (1861 – 1909), The Broncho Buster, bronze, lifetime cast, No. 2, 23.75 inches high, Estimate: $ 600,000 – 900,000 Philip R. Goodwin (1881 – 1935), The Law of the Wilderness, oil on canvas, 24 × 36 inches, Estimate: $ 200,000 – 300,000 Thomas Hill (1829 – 1908), Yosemite Valley (1900), oil on canvas, 36 × 54 inches, Estimate: $ 100,000 – 150,000 Mark Maggiori (b. 1977), Down the Wash (2015), oil on canvas, 40 × 40 inches, Estimate: $ 80,000 – 120,000

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Eanger Irving Couse (1866 – 1936), The Duck Hunter, oil on canvas, 36 × 30 inches, Estimate: $ 200,000 – 300,000

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Christine Perry, REALTOR ® 408.858.5587 christine@sereno.com | Tahoeluxurylakefronts.com CA DRE 01157473 & NV RED S.0192951 The information contained herein has been obtained from third party sources deemed reliable but its accuracy is not guaranteed. Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno has not and will not verify the information and assumes no responsibility for its accuracy. Buyer should verify and investigate all information to Buyer’s satisfaction. If your home is currently listed with another agent, please disregard this marketing material.

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S UM M E R 2 026 CON TE N T S

Lake Tahoe’s South Shore from above, photo by joSon

96

Following His Calling

A Buddhist monk’s artistic odyssey from rural Vietnam to globetrotting photographer Wr i t te n by M i c h a e l R o h m

118

The Long Return

The original stewards of the greater Lake Tahoe region, the Washoe are celebrating a groundbreaking reacquisition of former territory Wr i t te n by M a t t h e w R e n d a

108

Forest Fungi Fever

Delicious wild eats and the thrill of the find inspire a growing community of mushroom foragers at Lake Tahoe

ON THE COVER:

Summer fun in the crystal-clear shallows of Zephyr Cove Beach, photo by joSon

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Wr i t te n by S e t h L i g h tc a p

148

Through the Lens

Insects of the winged variety abound at Lake Tahoe come summer. The most attractive of these flying creatures tend to attract Tahoe’s keen-eyed photographers, who recognize a photogenic subject when they see it.

+1 760 937 5894 info@nsmconstruction.com www.nsmconstruction.com CA Lic # 813510 NV Lic # 0081458

CUSTOM HOMES REMODEL HOME MAINTENANCE

departments

S UM M E R 2 026 CON TE N T S

78

Arts

58

Truckee Author Writes Deeply Personal Memoir About Life in a Cult

58

Outdoors

62 70

When a Tahoe Paddle Goes Terribly Wrong 72 Miles of Healing: A Snowboarder Circumnavigates Lake Tahoe for a Cause

Home Design

78 84

Building a Legacy Home at Donner Lake Designing High-End Homes Around the Threat of Wildfire

Tahoe in Depth

90

New Goals Set for More Resilient Forests

70

Food & Wine

essentials

84 42 Editor’s Letter 44 Publisher’s Note 48 Datebook 157 Social Scene 159 Advertiser Index 160 Parting Knowledge

130 The Sierra Foothills AVA: An Under-the-Radar Wine Region in Tahoe’s Backyard

136 Gaviota: A Higher Bar for Tahoe 144 Mountain Slice: New York-Style Pizza on Tahoe’s North Shore

136

144 34

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The entry of a Donner Lake home showcases a mix of materials, photo by Paul Dyer | Chasing Nirvana by Priya Hutner | A Truckee home was built with fire-resistant materials at the request of its owner, who is a retired fire chief, photo by Patrick Brennan | Mountain Slice features a unique selection of pies, including a thick-crust Detroitstyle pizza, photo by Ryan Salm | Gaviota bartender Tess McFarland mixes a drink, photo by Ryan Salm | Claire HewittDemeyer, left, and Quinn Randall prepare to depart on a 72-mile circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe from Hidden Beach, photo by Matt Bansak

WHERE BUILDING A HOME IS A WORK OF ART

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VOLUME 28 • ISSUE 3

PUBLISHER

Sylas Wright

ART DIRECTOR

Anna Dingman

COPY EDITOR

Kevin MacMillan

ADVERTISING DESIGN

Matt Cameron

ADVERTISING SALES

Jared Swanson

ACCOUNTING

YOUR YEAR-ROUND

ADVENTURE

EXPERTS

Clayton Humphries

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Owen Raisch

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Kayla Anderson, Alison Bender, Julie Brown Davis, David Bunker, Dick Dorworth, Jeremy Evans, Kurt Gensheimer, Tim Hauserman, Claire Hewitt-Demeyer, Mike Higdon, Adam Jensen, Ann Johnson, Brennan Lagasse, Celeste Leon, Seth Lightcap, Kevin MacMillan, Kyle Magin, David Masello, Ryan Miller, Andrew Pridgen, Matthew Renda, Chase Reynolds Ewald, Susan D. Rock, Kaleb M. Roedel, Michael Rohm, Ryan Salm

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Matt Bansak, Abe Blair, Anthony Cupaiuolo, Megan Delehanty, Jeff Dow, Paul Dyer, Keoki Flagg, Mike Higdon, Bronwyn Huddleson, Wendy Hudnall, joSon, Blake Kessler, Sean Lefrak, Seth Lightcap, Ming Poon, Ryan Salm, Kim Hunter Steed, Brian Walker, Tom Zikas TAHOE QUARTERLY 924 Incline Way, Suite L | Incline Village, NV 89451 T (775) 298-2690 E info@tahoequarterly.com NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION SERVICES Newsstand Consultants JK Associates Joe Luca & Triva Bridges

JD PUBLISHING, INC. CEO Jared Swanson PRESIDENT Doug Swanson

TRUCKEE / INCLINE VILLAGE / BLAIRSDEN

38

©2026 JD Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. A one-year subscription to Tahoe Quarterly is five issues for $42.95.

Subscribers: If the Postal Service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within two years. Views expressed herein are those of the authors and advertisers and do not necessarily reflect those of the ownership or management of the magazine.

The magazine accepts freelance contributions. Please email us if you have ideas to contribute. Those submitting manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other material to Tahoe Quarterly for consideration should not send originals. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and other submitted materials must be accompanied by a self-addressed envelope postage paid. JD Publishing, Inc. accepts no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited materials.

#TahoeQuarterly @TahoeQuarterly facebook.com/TahoeQuarterly x.com/TahoeQuaterly youtube.com/TahoeQuarterly

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M A R S D E N A R C H I T E C T S .C O M

Lexi Cerretti • Luxury Agent 35 TAHOE LAKEFRONT PROPERTIES SOLD IN 20 YEARS 775.833.1646 | Tahoeicon.com | NV S.0075552

ICONIC E STAT E S LAKE TA HOE, NV

Lexi Cerretti NV S.75552 775.833.1646 lexi@compass.com

TahoeIcon.com Compass is a real estate broker licensed in the State of Nevada and the State of California operating under multiple entities. DRE License Numbers 01991628, 1527235, California LLC is a licensed real estate broker and abides

by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only andmaterial is compiled from deemed reliable but has not been verified.

Changes in price, 1527365,Compass 1356742, 1443761, 1997075, 1935359, 1961027, 1842987, 1869607, 1866771, 1527205, 1079009, 1272467.

All issources intended for informational purposes only and is condition, sale or withdrawal may be made without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footage are approximate. If your property is currently listed for sale this is not a solicitation. LiveTahoe is a team of real agents affiliated with Compass Nevada, LLC, a licensed estate broker to and errors, abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. AAllin material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only.

Informationnotice. is compiled from deemed reliable but is compiledestate from sources deemed reliable but real is subject omissions, changes price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without Nosources statement is made as to the subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Photos may be virtually staged or digitally enhanced and may not reflect actual property conditions. accuracy of any description or measurements (including square footage). This is not intended to solicit property already listed. No financial or legal advice provided. Equal Housing Opportunity. Photos may be virtually staged or digitally enhanced and may not reflect actual property conditions.

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E D I TO R ’ S LE T TE R

A Lake Full of Life Lessons SOMEHOW, IN ONLY 7 years of life,

losing her one bar of service, she managed to text her boyfriend.

my son has already become an expert

He came to her rescue and the story continued happily, but it was

on all things. No need for helpful advice

another example of how a joyous Tahoe outing can turn quickly.

from Dad. Or Mom. Or anyone else, for that matter. He knows it already.

It’s a terrible mentality to have, I tell him (as if he’s going to listen). Life is full of lessons to be learned, and it’s in your best interest to soak

Beautiful, yes, but Tahoe is also a giant body of water that demands the utmost respect—a point that cannot be overstressed as revelers take to the lake for another summer of fun.

While the aforementioned stories share similarities, the rest of the issue varies widely.

in every one of them. This is true whether entering second grade

Tim Hauserman leads things off with a review of local author

or middle age, whether stuck in a classroom or adventuring in the

Priya Hutner’s new book, Chasing Nirvana: A Seeker’s Story of Love,

wild, where a know-it-all attitude could get you hurt—or worse.

Loss, and Liberation (see page 58).

While harping on this point one morning, a light bulb

A winning entry in the 20th Annual National Indie Excellence

flickered on. I had a freshly edited TQ article that was both relevant

Awards, the deeply personal memoir provides a peek into Hutner’s

to my message and compelling enough to hold his attention.

previous life, in which she worked her way up to become CEO of

Written by Kayla Anderson (see page 62), it’s about a grown adult

a Florida ashram led by a brash guru. After 30 years in the cult,

who received a valuable education while recreating on Lake Tahoe.

she had an epiphany that prompted her to leave, which she did

I offered to read it aloud.

under “traumatic and harrowing circumstances.” Hutner fled to

Lukewarm to the idea, he was gripped with curiosity after the first sentence. How was this lone kayaker, bucked into the rowdy chop of Crystal Bay and unable to climb back in, going to survive

Truckee, where she became a journalist and co-founder of the Tahoe Literary Festival.

Longtime TQ contributor Alison Bender explores the growing

her ordeal? Call it fate, divine intervention, pure luck—whatever

trend of designing fire-resistant homes in the Tahoe region (see

the explanation, it wasn’t her time to go.

page 84). First-time TQ contributor Celeste Leon shares knowledge

Our subject kept the story close to her vest for nearly a decade

about the Sierra Foothills AVA, a designated wine-growing region

before she decided to share it with TQ and its tens of thousands of

with a fascinating history (see page 130). And Andrew Pridgen

readers.

vouches for a couple of quality locales on Tahoe’s North Shore—

She admits she made bad decisions that day because she didn’t

one that mixes fancy drinks in a chic setting (Gaviota, page 136)

know better, and that the incident could have been avoided had

and another that features New York-style pizza that sells out by

she taken proper measures before heading out on the water. She

word of mouth (Mountain Slice, page 144).

opted to come forward with the details, as embarrassing as they are in hindsight, because the lessons she learned that day could save someone’s life.

And that’s not even mentioning what stands out as the heart of every issue—the features department.

Michael Rohm pens a must-read piece about a Buddhist

I thought I caught a glimpse of understanding in my son’s

monk—and TQ contributor—named joSon, who left the safety

eyes—though it could have just been allergies from all the pine

of his temple in Vietnam to discover his photographic calling

pollen. There’s no way to be sure.

on the shores of Lake Tahoe (see page 96). Seth Lightcap takes

Following this near tragedy is another tale of adventure,

readers into the underground community of mushroom foragers

complete with similar elements of danger (see page 70). While

at Lake Tahoe (see page 108). And Matthew Renda recounts the

recovering from shoulder surgery last summer, Tahoe-based

plight of Tahoe’s original stewards, the Washoe, who are celebrating

snowboarder Claire Hewitt-Demeyer decided to turn her downtime

a groundbreaking reacquisition of their ancestral lands with a

into a positive mission: She would circumnavigate Lake Tahoe by

10,000-plus-acre purchase (see page 118).

pedal-powered kayak, stopping at beaches to clean up trash left behind by careless (and shamelessly disrespectful) humans.

All in all, it adds up to another fine issue that readers are sure to enjoy—while maybe even learning a few lessons along the way.

The endeavor required training, and during one session, a critical pin in her kayak’s pedal drive snapped, leaving her bobbing powerlessly in open water 6 miles offshore. Fortunately, before 42

S y l a s Wr i g h t Editor

WE CAN AND WILL.

TOGETHER.

As Nevada’s most comprehensive not-for-profit integrated academic health system, Renown Health and University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine are confronting critical health challenges with innovation and solutions to help everyone realize their best health. We’re training tomorrow’s healthcare leaders and supporting groundbreaking research and discovery – all while Renown continues to expand our broad network of services, facilities and exceptional care. At Renown, we’re committed to redefining healthcare to create a healthier future for us all.

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PU BL I S H E R ’ S NOT E

The Magic of a Tahoe Summer THERE’S A REASON people dream about summer in Lake Tahoe all year long.

Maybe it’s the endless blue water stretching to the horizon. Maybe it’s the long days that somehow never feel long enough. Or maybe it’s the simple fact that when summer arrives in Tahoe, life seems to slow down just enough for us to remember what matters most.

The season brings its traditions. Beautiful wooden boats return to the shoreline for the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance. Crowds gather for the American Century Championship. Beaches fill, docks come alive and the lake becomes the center of it all.

But the magic of Tahoe summer isn’t found in any single event. It’s found in early mornings on glassy water, afternoons spent exploring and evenings that linger long after the sun disappears behind the Sierra. It’s family gathered around a dinner table, kids squeezing every last minute from the day and friends reconnecting under a sky that never seems quite dark enough.

These moments are fleeting. Before we know it, autumn will arrive, the boats will come out of the water and another Tahoe summer will become a collection of memories.

Until then, soak it in. Take the extra boat ride. Stay for the sunset. Gather with family and friends.

Enjoy every long day and warm evening this remarkable place has to offer.

Because while every season in Tahoe has its appeal, summer reminds us why so many of us chose to call this place home.

See you on the lake.

C l ay to n H u m p h r i e s Publisher

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DAT E BO O K

Summer Events on Tap

ONGOING July 11–August 9

CLASSICAL TAHOE classicaltahoe.org Now in its 15th season, Classical Tahoe brings together America’s leading classical musicians for a four-week festival that delights audiences with its superb musicians, intimate outdoor pavilion, educational programs and majestic Lake Tahoe settings. The festival—held on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe in Incline Village—begins with the Classical Tahoe Gala on July 11 and continues with the Brubeck Jazz Summit from July 12–17, and Classical Tahoe Orchestra & Chamber Music performances from July 19–August 9.

Check out the event website for a full schedule of performances.

FROM TOP: World-class musicians perform in a past Classical Tahoe event in Incline Village, courtesy photo | Truckee Thursdays, photo by Michelle Erskine, courtesy Truckee Downtown Merchants Association

Through August 6

TRUCKEE THURSDAYS

48

Through August 23

Truckee Thursdays returns this summer

LAKE TAHOE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

with a full schedule of events, each held

laketahoeshakespeare.com

from 5–8:30 p.m. in historic downtown

Tahoe’s acclaimed Shakespeare Festival is

Truckee. Presented by the Truckee

back for the 54th year with an entertaining

Downtown Merchants Association,

schedule of productions at Sand Harbor’s

the free weekly festival features artisan

Warren Edward Trepp Jr. Stage. This year’s

vendors, live music, a food court, beer

festival features Shakespeare’s timeless

garden and kids activities. Truckee

tragedy Macbeth and The Heart of Robin

Thursdays also offers free shuttle

Hood, an adventurous reimagining of the

services, with routes from Prosser,

legendary tale that takes place deep in the

Donner Lake, Glenshire, Tahoe Donner,

Sherwood Forest. In addition, the Showcase

Sierra Meadows and Northstar. Return

Series features Billy Nation’s “A Tribute to

buses depart from the Downtown

Billy Joel” (July 6); Keith Anderson

Mobility Hub every 25–40 minutes, with

(July 14); The Doo Wop Project (July 20);

the last buses leaving shortly after 9 p.m.

Super Diamond’s “The Neil Diamond

truckeethursdays.com

Tribute” (July 29); The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA (August 10); and Sheila E. and The E-Train (August 17) among the signature performances. Meanwhile, the Partner Series includes the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra’s “Decades: Back to the ’80s” (July 13); Sierra Nevada Ballet’s “Coppélia” (July 27); Reno Jazz Orchestra’s “Trekkin’ Tahoe: A Jazz/Rock Odyssey” (July 28); Reno Philharmonic Orchestra’s “Summer Breeze: Yacht Rock Classics” (August 3); and Reno Jazz Orchestra’s “A Tribute to George Benson” (August 24).

Through August 26

Boot Juice, left, and Broken Compass are scheduled to perform at Concerts at Commons Beach, photos by Clare Foster, courtesy TCDA

MUSIC IN THE PARK tdrpd.org

Thanks to support from the North Tahoe

in mid-June and continue through the

This free family-friendly concert

Community Alliance, the Lake Tahoe

summer with the Moga Family Band (July

series returns to the outdoor Truckee

Bicycle Coalition will offer free, secure

12), Big Blue Guitarmageddon (July 19),

River Regional Park “Salty” Gebhardt

bike valet. The series kicks off in mid-June

Poor Man’s Whiskey (July 26), Broken

Amphitheater each Wednesday evening

and continues with the following acts in

Compass (August 2), New Monsoon

this summer from 6:30–8:30 p.m. After

July and beyond: Moody Cat (July 10),

(August 9), Boot Juice (August 16), Scott

kicking off in June, the series continues

Sol Peligro (July 17), Wolf Jett (July 24),

Pemberton O Theory (August 23), The

through the heart of the summer with

Caltucky (July 31), Blü Egyptian (August

Allmond Brothers Band (August 30), and

Sonido Sueno (July 1), Blues Monsters

14), Sneaky Creatures (August 21),

Blues Monsters and Friends (September 6).

(July 8), Broken Compass Bluegrass (July

Everyday Outlaw (August 28), and The

15), Down the Rabbit Hole (July 22), Dead

Sextones (September 4).

Winter Carpenters (July 29), Pressing Strings (August 5), Beatles Flashback (August 12), Matt Axton (August 19), and

Through September 6

Through September 19

LAKE TAHOE SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

CONCERTS AT COMMONS BEACH

caesars.com

concertsatcommonsbeach.com

at Caesars Republic (formerly Harveys),

This free summer concert series features

this all-ages concert series returns with a

live music every Sunday at Commons

slate of shows this summer. Following The

Through September 6

Beach through September 6, along with

Black Keys in June, performances continue

MUSIC ON THE BEACH

free shuttle service from Olympic Valley

with Rascal Flatts (July 10), Eric Church

tahoeeventscalendar.com

and the West Shore in partnership with

(July 15–16), Koe Wetzel and Ole 60 (July

The free Music on the Beach concert series

Palisades Tahoe and TNT-TMA. Free bike

24), Lauren Daigle (July 25), Tedeschi

returns to the Kings Beach State Recreation

valet service will also return this summer

Trucks Band and Lukas Nelson (August

Area for the 20 year with a full lineup of

through the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition.

9), Ty Myers, Brent Cobb and Benny G

live music every Friday throughout the

Guests are welcome to bring picnics,

(August 22), Train, Barenaked Ladies and

summer (excluding July 3 and August

blankets and low-back chairs, while local

Matt Nathanson (August 25), The Red

7) from 6:30–8:30 p.m. Find food from

food and drink vendors sell beer, wine,

Clay Strays, Dylan Gossett and Sweet Talk

local vendors as well as beer from Alibi

soft drinks, sushi, barbecue foods, ice

(September 4), Jack Johnson (September 6),

Ale Works and wine from Truckee River

cream and more. Live performances,

and Bailey Zimmerman (September 19).

Winery, plus non-alcoholic beverages.

which take place from 4–7 p.m., kick off

Déjà vu (August 26). Guests may bring their own picnics, blankets and low-back chairs. Pets and smoking are not allowed.

th

Held at the Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre

Tahoe Quarterly 49

DAT E BO O K

JULY

TRUCKEE BREWFEST truckeeoptimistclub.com

July 8–12

The annual Truckee Brewfest

AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP

July, featuring live music and

returns for the 19th year in

americancenturychampionship.com

craft brews from local and

In one of the most anticipated

regional brewing companies,

Tahoe events of the summer, the 37th annual American Century Celebrity Golf Championship hits the links at Edgewood Tahoe on the South Shore for a week of competitions and shenanigans in July. Stephen Curry, Jason Kelce, Jerry Rice, Charles Barkley, Ray Romano, Larry the Cable Guy and Tony Romo headline this year’s star-studded field of more than 80 sports and entertainment stars competing for their share of a $600,000 prize purse in the 54-hole tournament. Daily tickets and patron badge season passes are available online.

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50

July 11

as well as unique beers from local homebrew clubs (and even some wine). A major fundraiser for the Truckee Optimist Club, the event is held at Truckee River Regional Park from 1–5 p.m.

Matt Axton Music headlines the live music, with Dead Kampers and Carnival Dogs warming things up, while food is available from MogRog and Casa Baeza. Free bike valet is available courtesy of the Truckee Trails Foundation.

Truckee Brewfest is a major fundraiser for the Truckee Optimist Club, courtesy photos

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DAT E BO O K July 21–24

LAKE TAHOE DANCE FESTIVAL laketahoedancecollective.org On the 14th anniversary of its summer festival, Lake Tahoe Dance Collective kicks off with an opening night gala in Incline Village on July 21, followed by Kings Beach Community Night on July 22, Tahoe City Community Night on July 23 and a closing night gala in Tahoe City on July 24.

Featured artists include Indiana Woodward, Daniel Ulbright, Tayor Stanley and Adrian Danchig-Waring of New York City Ballet, Lia Cirio and Paul Craig of Boston Ballet, and Melody Walsh of Houston Ballet.

Tickets and more information about the artists are available on the Lake Tahoe Dance Collective website.

Dancers perform in the outdoors at a past Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, courtesy photo

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DAT E BO O K

AUGUST August 7–8

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culture, featuring beer, crafts and community in a festive setting in the heart of town. General admission tickets include a 5-ounce commemorative cup and grant unlimited 5-ounce samples from over 40 brewing companies, including local and regional staples from the Bay Area to Reno and beyond. The event, which takes place from 1–5 p.m., is family-friendly (excluding pets) and open to all ages, with food, live music, games for kids and shopping among the offerings. On-site parking is limited, and attendees are encouraged to carpool, bike, walk or use the free bike valet

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54

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A RT S

Breaking Free

Truckee author writes a deeply personal memoir about her escape from the grips of an oppressive ashram community Life in a Cult

Written by Tim Hauserman

When Hutner was a young teenager, her

A TRUCKEE RESIDENT for the past 13 years,

parents joined a growing New York spiritual

Priya Hutner has done her part to enrich the

community led by a guru known as Ma,

area’s literary and culinary communities. In

who predominantly drew from Hindu and

addition to creating delicious concoctions

Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.

through her catering business, The Seasoned

At first, she had little interest in the

Sage, Hutner co-founded the annual Tahoe

spiritual teachings or the community’s strict

Literary Festival and Truckee Lit Crawl

lifestyle, which included celibacy, abstinence

and has written hundreds of articles for

from alcohol and a vegetarian diet. Instead,

local publications, mostly Tahoe Weekly

she was excited by the prospect of leaving

(Tahoe Guide).

her home in the Philadelphia suburbs and

She is now promoting her new book,

living in New York City.

Chasing Nirvana: A Seeker’s Story of Love,

Her mother and brother later moved

Loss, and Liberation, which details her

to Florida, where Ma had established an

escape from a Florida ashram led by a tough-talking female guru from New York.

Published by She Writes Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster in March

ashram with a small group of students.

THIS PAGE: Truckee’s Priya Hutner is the author of Chasing Nirvana: A Seeker’s Story of Love, Loss, and Liberation OPPOSITE PAGE: Chasing Nirvana is available at Word After Word Books in Truckee, courtesy photos

2026, the page-turning memoir has received rave reviews by a wide range of authors, artists and fans of Hutner’s work.

“Priya Hutner’s Chasing Nirvana is raw, courageous and profoundly relatable for anyone who’s ever lost themselves in the promise of enlightenment,” Canadian actress and author Sarah Edmondson, a cult-recovery advocate who co-hosts the “A Little Bit Culty” podcast, writes on Hutner’s website. “Her story shines a light on the seductive power of charismatic leaders and the universal longing to belong.”

“Priya is one of the most courageous people I know,” writes famed American folk singer Arlo Guthrie, a friend of Hutner’s going back to her days in the ashram. “The journey of a real seeker isn’t for the faint of heart. As Priya makes clear in her story, you have to have courage to go beyond the mundane comfort of the familiar, on a road that leads to places you’ve never been. She went there her way, and that’s what makes her journey an inspiration to others.”

58

Hutner eventually followed to give birth to her son. She then returned to New York and, after several years, moved back to Florida with her two young children.

It was during this period that her search for deeper meaning and purpose intensified. Drawn to the spiritual path, she became increasingly devoted to Ma’s teachings. She experienced expanded states of consciousness, and her spiritual awakening became a central focus.

“I wanted a deeper meaning for my life. I wanted to be enlightened, a better person and a different person,” says Hutner, who spent years working her way up to become CEO of the ashram.

In addition to seeking enlightenment, the ashram took care of people who were dying of AIDS and other illnesses, as well as those who lacked food or housing.

“There were some really important lessons that were learned,” says Hutner, who was especially impacted by serving the dying, which reminded her that “our time here is limited and fragile.”

“Ma was an outrageous being who didn’t hold back,” Hutner adds. “She swore like a sailor. We find teachers who suit us. I thought Ma’s outrageousness was awesome.

I still have a little New York left in me.

There were times I was mortified later taking her out into the world, though. There were some really embarrassing moments.”

Hutner understood that her position in the upper echelon of the ashram management gave her the privilege of closer contact with the guru, and to speak with her more frankly—although Ma still had the last words, and those words were often harsh. Hutner was a gatekeeper, and people went through her to be with the guru.

“People wanted what Ma offered.

They longed to be free from their pain and suffering. They wanted to belong,” she says.

“Thousands were helped, and many were

Priya Hutner’s Chasing Nirvana is raw, courageous and profoundly relatable for anyone who’s ever lost themselves in the promise of enlightenment.” — Sarah Edmondson, Canadian actress and author

hurt, with verbal and emotional abuse and manipulation and more.”

Eventually, Hutner realized, “I wasn’t growing as a human and I saw things that

CEO of the ashram. I was in charge of the

individual clients before expanding the

community. I was entrenched.”

business into a successful catering company,

After leaving the group, Hutner moved

which she still runs with her son. She also teaches yoga, meditation and breath work.

I didn’t think were OK. The fracturing was

in with her Sikh boyfriend, who ran a

slow. I looked around the room and realized

kundalini yoga ashram. They talked about

nobody was enlightened. Something broke

building a home together in Truckee, where

Cathartic Endeavor

in me. I had an awakening through a series

her younger son lived and ski leased a

As soon as Hutner left the ashram, she

of dreams, and witnessing Ma’s increasingly

place. Truckee felt like home.

knew she wanted to write the story of her

erratic behavior, it led to an epiphany that made me realize it was time for me to leave.”

Starting Anew Leaving wasn’t easy, though. In addition to her own involvement with the ashram, her mother was a longtime close confidant of Ma’s, and leaving Ma was in some ways also leaving her mother.

The relationship eventually ended, and

experience, which she had documented in

she made the move on her own. One of the

her journals. But the need to make a living

first people she met in Truckee was Karen

put the book on the back burner for years.

Terrey, a local writing coach and current Nevada County Poet Laureate.

“She introduced me to a lot of people,” Hutner says. “She is a great networker.”

Hutner needed to make a living and wasn’t sure at first how to do it. She had

Finally, she was ready and began to focus on the book. At first, she realized she was writing from anger, so she worked to change her tone and focus on making it a spiritual adventure story that reads like a novel.

But after more than 30 years in the

a knack for cooking and writing, though,

She kept writing, sent it to an editor

Kashi Ashram (which still exists, although

and was hired at Tahoe Weekly (later Tahoe

in Los Angeles and started querying agents

Ma has since died), she packed everything

Guide) published by Katherine Hill, serving

and publishers.

in her car and escaped under “traumatic

as both the entertainment and food editor.

“To me, writing a book was cathartic,

“That job helped me become a better

but it brought up a lot of stuff,” Hutner says.

and harrowing circumstances.”

“I left my community, my family and

writer,” Hutner says.

“Memoir is the past, but who wants to live

my guru. I had to reinvent my life and

In 2014, Hutner established The

in the past? Many stories didn’t make it into

had no idea what I was going to do,” says

Seasoned Sage and worked as a private

the book, but in the end, the body of work

Hutner, who was 40 at the time. “I was

chef, initially preparing healthy meals for

was compelling. I told my truth.”

Tahoe Quarterly 59

A RT S The publishing process, she found, was

Hutner teamed up with Hill, the Tahoe

“It is the most amazing experience.

less cathartic than writing and a much more

Guide publisher, and co-founded the Tahoe

The festival and writing and publishing a

difficult endeavor. It involved hard work

Literary Festival, an annual fall event in

book has led to so much expansion and new

and the frustration of rejections. Since the

Tahoe City that brings together readers and

experiences,” she says. “I’ve learned a lot

book published, she’s remained busy with

writers for workshops, panel discussions

about the publishing world. I’ve met many

speaking engagements and publicity.

and readings. It has quickly grown into

new and wonderful people. It’s led me to

a much-anticipated event while helping

realize how I will curate my next book and

says. “It has been interesting seeing how

connect the small but vibrant Tahoe writing

how I can help other writers.”

many people relate to the story, even

community. Now in its third year, the

though they were never in a cult but were

event—scheduled for October 9 and 10—

Chasing Nirvana is available at Word After

in an abusive relationship or hooked into

draws authors and participants from across

Word Books in Truckee and can also be

something. I wanted the story to be relatable.”

the country.

ordered through bookstores or purchased

An Advocate for Writers

The festival has since expanded to

on Amazon. Learn more about the Tahoe

include the Truckee Literary Crawl—aka

Literary Festival and Truckee Lit Crawl

The challenge of writing the book led

the Truckee Lit Crawl—which features short

at tahoelitfest.com. Follow Hutner on

Hutner to want to help others who are

author readings and Q-and-A sessions. This

Instagram, @priyahutner, or priyahutner.com.

interested in the craft.

past April, over 60 authors read at venues

“I am trying to pace myself,” Hutner

“It was important to me to be an advocate for writers, particularly for

60

throughout downtown Truckee.

Hutner says what made the processes

emerging writers,” she says. “As I got deeper

of writing the book and creating the literary

into the publishing world, I felt there was a

festival more worthwhile is the people she’s

way for me to support others.”

met along the way.

Tim Hauserman is an author and a nearly lifelong Tahoe resident. He appreciates Priya Hutner’s contributions to the area’s small writing community and commends her for taking on the challenge of writing such a personal book.

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OU T D O O R S

Save of a Lifetime

Unaware of the dangers on Lake Tahoe, a new resident finds herself in a dire situation after trying to paddle across windswept open water Written by Kayla Anderson FAR FROM SHORE on a windy afternoon, Janelle Hibler was paddling toward Speedboat Beach after a fun visit to the Hyatt when a large wave slammed into her kayak, tossing her into the frigid water of Lake Tahoe.

No big deal, she thought: “I’ll just climb right back in.”

She tried to lift herself out of the water and into the vessel, but she could not. She tried again. Then again, and again.

62

OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP: Janelle and J. Hibler celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary with a tour of Thunderbird Lodge in September 2018, courtesy photo | Wind and waves are common on Lake Tahoe on summer afternoons, presenting dangers for people recreating on the water, photo by Ryan Salm | After making certain that the weather conditions were favorable, Janelle Hibler gets back out on Tahoe after the 2017 incident, courtesy photo

“I legitimately couldn’t drag myself back into my kayak,” she says. “Each time I tried, the waves would crash into me, toppling me back over.”

Hours passed as Janelle clung to the side of her kayak, screaming at passing boats, praying that someone would hear her desperate pleas and come to her rescue.

To no avail.

She remembers the feeling of “absolute panic” when the sun disappeared behind the horizon, then wonder as she watched the full moon rise slowly over the lake.

As she drifted in and out of consciousness, her kayak long gone as she bobbed in the open water, she felt a strange sense of peace.

“The panic was subsiding,” she says. “I was just … floating, staring up at that full moon rising higher over the East Shore. I had been begging and pleading to my mom, to God, to the universe, to save me.

“They must have heard me.”

A Quintessential Tahoe Day

volatile side when they encountered windy

It was June 2017, and Janelle had just

conditions on a return trip from Gar Woods

moved to North Lake Tahoe from Ohio

in Carnelian Bay. But while paddling

after her husband, who goes by “J.,” was

through the chop was a bit stressful, the

hired as a dermatologist at a local practice.

couple didn’t think much of it.

“We just looked at it as one of those

Soon after moving into their new home, the Hiblers bought what Janelle calls

crazy adventures we always have,” Janelle

“The Tahoe Starter Kit,” complete with

says.

snowshoes, skis, stand-up paddleboards and kayaks.

Admittedly, their ambitions exceeded

Her second outing was on July 8, 2017.

J. was out of town at the Monterey Grand Prix as Janelle set out to enjoy what was a

their knowledge of Lake Tahoe and its

quintessential Tahoe day—sunny, warm,

potential hazards.

the feel of summer in the air.

“I don’t hail from the Great Lakes

In no rush, Janelle spent the morning

part of Ohio,” says Janelle. “My Ohio had

shopping in Kings Beach, buying

shallow man-made lakes that you could

souvenirs for friends back home and a

almost stand up in. Nighttime boating,

pair of cutoff jean shorts at the thrift

mostly to the bars dotted around the lake,

store. Then she loaded up her kayak,

was a commonplace summertime activity.”

packed her purse with a water bottle,

The first outing on their new kayaks,

sun hat, sunscreen, button-up shirt and

the couple got a small taste of Tahoe’s

headphones and drove to Speedboat Beach.

I legitimately couldn’t drag myself back into my kayak. Each time I tried, the waves would crash into me, toppling me back over.”

— Janelle Hibler

Tahoe Quarterly 63

OU T D O O R S

She spent the next hour or so paddling in calm waters around Crystal Bay and over

My brain was getting fuzzy. Coherent thoughts were fading. My praying to my dead mom and God became almost crazed.”

— Janelle Hibler

to the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, where she arrived to find a festive

home—a beeline straight across the heart of

to call 911 for help,” says Janelle. “I knew a

scene. She pulled her kayak onto the beach

Crystal Bay.

water rescue would be costly, but it didn’t

and joined the crowd.

After enjoying a couple of drinks and

up,” she admits, reflecting on the choices

matter.”

Only she couldn’t find her phone. She

she made that would soon put her in peril.

tore through her bag, chucking her water

hungry and decided to head home. It was

The farther Janelle paddled out, the

bottle, sun hat, button-up shirt, purse—

4 p.m. when she hopped back in her kayak,

more turbulent the lake became. The next

even her car keys—into the depths of

donning nothing more than a bikini, her

thing she knew, she was splashing into

Tahoe. Still, no phone.

new jean shorts and Chaco sandals, and

the cold water of Lake Tahoe, unable to

socializing for a bit, she started to feel

shoved off into a strong wind that had picked up that afternoon.

remount her kayak.

Between screams for help, Janelle

She managed to grab the used life jacket she had acquired the day before and put it on. Exhausted and battered, she let go of her kayak.

“On the way home, I was paddling

tried to kick and pull her kayak toward the

and thinking, ‘Do I want Mexican, sushi or

distant shore. But she only drifted farther

pizza?’” Janelle recalls.

from it. She tried to muscle her body out of

waves and fading light, still hollering at

the water and back into the kayak. But her

every passing boat—“Why was no one

efforts were fruitless against the combined

hearing and coming to rescue me!?”—

power of the wind and water.

Janelle began to give up hope.

Bliss to Panic Longing for dinner and a shower, Janelle decided she’d take the most direct route

64

“The fateful decisions kept stacking

“I finally accepted defeat and resolved

After hours of battling against the

Not a particularly religious person, she

found herself fervently confessing every sin, asking for forgiveness, repeating the Lord’s Prayer. If this was it—and surely it was—she hoped and prayed it wasn’t too late to find religion and begged her mother, who had died five years earlier, to help save her.

At some point between the sun setting and the moon rising, “My brain was getting fuzzy,” Janelle says. “Coherent thoughts were fading. My praying to my dead mom and God became almost crazed.”

Serendipity Nick Wright, an athletic trainer living in the Sacramento area at the time, arrived in Crystal Bay that evening on vacation with his family, who rented a house just a few doors down from Janelle and J. On a whim, several members of the family decided to take advantage of the bright moonlight with a nighttime boat ride.

“Mind you,” says Janelle, “this ain’t Ohio. Nighttime boating isn’t a thing on Tahoe. The mother and aunt of the family were strongly against it.”

OPPOSITE PAGE: Janelle Hibler’s Strava activity documented the route of her July 8, 2017, kayak outing. After choosing an ill-fated direct route across Crystal Bay on her return trip, she capsized in rough conditions. The zig-zagging track in the middle of the bay captures hours spent fighting wind, waves and frigid water before being rescued THIS PAGE: Janelle and J. enjoy an early-season day at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe in October 2017, courtesy photos

Tahoe Quarterly 65

OU T D O O R S Navigating Lake Tahoe by moonlight,

look up the number. But on that night, and

‘I’m Cold, I’m Cold, I’m Cold’

the family noticed something on the water

in her dire state, the digits were somehow

J. was at the racetrack in Monterey with

that they initially thought was a bird.

seared into her memory.

a friend when he received a call from an

“We thought that maybe it’d fly away

“They found me around 9:30 p.m.,

as we approached it,” Wright recalls, “but

after four-plus hours of floating in the

“But then they left a voicemail, and

the figure stayed in the water. And then

deepest depths of Tahoe,” says Janelle. “I

something told me to check it,” he recalls,

when the boat was practically right on

have flashes of memory from when our

pausing for a moment before continuing

top of her, we realized it was a person. We

fates collided. Suddenly, I’m on a boat.

with a shaky voice. “The message said, ‘You

looped back around, killed the engine, saw

Then, nothing. I’m trying to tell them about

don’t know me, but my name is Nick and

Janelle in the water and she said, ‘I need

my kayak. Then, nothing. I’m being carried

we have your wife. She’s here in a boat and

help, please.’”

like a dead body, one person carrying my

she’s really cold, but she’s warming up.’”

Wright’s wife, Heather, and his cousin

arms and another my legs. Then, nothing.

reached down and grabbed Janelle—whose

I’m in a bed in a strange room in clothes

lips were blue—pulled her into the boat and

not my own. Then, nothing.”

immediately began warming her up with towels and blankets.

In her semi-conscious state, she was still crying out for help.

unfamiliar number. He let it go to voicemail.

J. was shocked and confused. A sense of dread washed over him.

“I told my friend, ‘Something serious

Back at the rental house, the family

happened to Janelle and I have to go.’ I

got Janelle out of her wet clothes and made

packed up and went really fast back to

homemade heat packs to place on her pulse

Tahoe,” says J. “Nick and I called each other

points.

every 15 minutes for updates. I asked Nick

“She was in the Crystal Bay area, really

“We gave her some food but didn’t

far from shore,” Wright says. “She was fully

know where the nearest facility was to

kept saying, ‘I’m cold, I’m cold, I’m cold—

hypothermic but fairly coherent. She told

get her to,” says Wright. “I remember one

on the kayak.’”

us where her kayak was, told us to call her

emergency services number we called said

J. arrived in record time during the

husband and gave us his phone number.”

it’d be at least a half hour to get there. So,

night to find his wife bundled up, slowly

Which was strange, says Janelle,

we just concentrated on getting her body

starting to come around under the care of

temperature up.”

strangers who had just saved her life. She

because normally she would have had to

to put Janelle on the phone and she just

could barely speak above a whisper after hours of screaming. She was dazed and beaten up. But she was alive.

“It’s so hard to think about Janelle being gone and how very close she came,” says J., reflecting on the traumatic experience. “The image of her being out there, and after seeing her all bruised up from her hanging onto the kayak for so long, the kayak banging on her skin … that hits me so hard, thinking of her hanging on for dear life.”

When Janelle felt strong enough, she was brought out to the couch in the living room, where she noticed a pair of sandals drying by a fireplace that looked identical to her own.

“Oddly, I would have sworn that I kicked them off,” she says. “They were so heavy, and I remember thinking that Janelle Hibler on the Tahoe Rim Trail in July 2018, courtesy photo

66

they were dragging me down. I thought I remembered kicking them off my feet.

Apparently not.”

Then the family dog waltzed in—a “sweet, fluffy goldendoodle, I think,” says Janelle, who commented: “Aww, what a cute pup.”

“Don’t you remember her?” asked one of the family. “That’s Dixie. She was on the boat with us when we found you.”

We thought that maybe it’d fly away as we approached it, but the figure stayed in the water. And then when the boat was practically right on top of her, we realized it was a person.

We looped back around, killed the engine, saw Janelle in the water and she said, ‘I need help, please.’” — Nick Wright

Janelle couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

of her lost belongings. After failing to find

had thrown it all astray, that my phone was

“I swear the proverbial record

anything, they arranged to meet Wright

not with me,” says Janelle. “I dug for it when

scratched and skidded to a stop,” she says.

that afternoon to retrieve Janelle’s kayak,

I wanted to make a 911 call. Alas, it was

“Dixie Rose was my mom’s DJ name when

which the family had also rescued the night

with me the whole time.”

she was a radio DJ all those years ago. It

before.

was undeniable that my mom showed up.

“Upon opening that sealed well (in the

Janelle soon made another discovery: The old, faded, tattered life vest she was gifted the day before had a whistle strapped

Dixie was there, all right.”

kayak), we all broke into tears,” says Janelle.

The Power of Hindsight

items she had packed in the kayak and

“All those hours out on the water,

At sunrise, Janelle and J. reached out to an

thought she lost—purse, keys, even her

clinging to my kayak and my very life, I had

acquaintance with a boat to help them scan

phone.

my phone and a whistle the whole time,”

the shoreline, hoping they might find some

There in front of them were all the

“I would have sworn under oath that I

to its chest.

she says.

Tahoe Quarterly 67

OU T D O O R S Fortunately, a full moon lit up Lake Tahoe that night, lulling a visiting family out for an ill-advised nighttime boat ride.

“We didn’t make a great decision going out on the boat that night,” says Wright, “but we went directly to Janelle and had the supplies to get her temperature up and take care of her. We’re lucky it was a positive result and that her body responded well to the treatment we gave her.”

For nearly a decade, Janelle was reluctant to tell the story of her harrowing ordeal on Lake Tahoe.

She’s well aware of the mistakes she made by not being properly prepared or educated, and that others will surely cast judgment. She knows now what she should have known then, and she wants to help educate others about the potential dangers of recreating on Lake Tahoe.

It might just save a life.

“If sharing this story helps even one person check the wind, wear the life vest, hug the shoreline, rethink that extra drink, or understand that conditions change quickly and predictably here, then the embarrassment of telling it is worth it.”

Now every July 8, Janelle celebrates being alive.

Janelle Hibler in Desolation Wilderness, courtesy photo Kayla Anderson is a 20-year North Lake Tahoe resident and watersports aficionado who has had her own harrowing experiences on Lake Tahoe. She is honored Janelle shared her story with her and hopes it encourages people to check the weather conditions every time they go out on the lake.

Tahoe Quarterly Editor Sylas Wright contributed to this story.

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68

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OU T D O O R S

72 Miles of Healing

While recovering from an injury, a snowboarder finds purpose on the water with a trash-collecting paddle around Lake Tahoe Written by Claire Hewitt-Demeyer Photographed by Matt Bansak

For someone who measures time in sunrises, vertical feet and long days in the mountains, that kind of stillness felt

THE IMPACT CAME out of nowhere. One

suffocating. But if the mountains have

moment, I was sitting at a stoplight after

taught me anything, it’s this: When the

a dawn patrol splitboard mission up Jakes

conditions change, you adapt.

Peak, still buzzing from the kind of morning that fills your soul. The next moment, my

Rewriting the Line

blissful mood was shattered as a Hummer

Tahoe has been my home for years. The

slammed into the back of my car.

lake and surrounding mountains have

Just like that, the rhythm of my

shaped the way I approach life, teaching

life—movement, mountains, momentum—

resilience, perspective and deep respect for

screeched to a halt.

wild places.

What followed was a blur of diagnoses:

When I was forced to slow down, I

a broken collarbone, a concussion and

didn’t want to sit still and count the days

shoulder damage that would require

Tahoe gives so much to all of us: adventure, peace, escape, identity.

Yet people still leave pieces of themselves behind along its shoreline. The more I trained, the more it felt like a mission to protect this place.”

until winter returned. I needed a purpose.

than myself? The plan was simple in theory:

surgery. On May 21, 2025, Dr. Kyle Swanson

About a month into healing, an

kayak all 72 miles, stopping at beaches to

at Barton Hospital repaired my rotator cuff

idea began to form. What if I could take

pick up trash along the way. Because every

and biceps tendon. I would have to wait at

something that had always been on my

piece of litter left behind eventually finds

least seven months before snowboarding

bucket list—circumnavigating Lake

its way into the water. And Tahoe’s famed

again.

Tahoe—and turn it into something bigger

clarity isn’t guaranteed forever.

This was bigger than recovery.

A Different Kind of Training Recovery has a way of humbling you.

Two months post-surgery, I couldn’t lift more than 5 pounds. A traditional paddle kayak wasn’t an option, so I had to adapt. Thanks to the generosity of Kyle Shaffer, who lent me his pedal-powered Hobie, I could circumnavigate the lake without compromising my healing.

Training became less about performance and more about patience.

Five-mile days slowly turned into 10, weight added to the kayak little by little.

Every time I landed on a beach, I picked up trash. Plastic bottles tucked into the sand. Food wrappers tangled in rocks.

Debris of all sorts that would otherwise end up in the lake.

70

FROM LEFT: Author Claire Hewitt-Demeyer, left, and Quinn Randall prepare to depart on a 72-mile circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe from Hidden Beach, cleaning shorelines and turning awareness into action | Four days and 67 miles into the journey, Hewitt-Demeyer and Randall paddle through a boulder-studded stretch near Crystal Bay

Tahoe Quarterly 71

OU T D O O R S

Just four months after shoulder surgery, Claire Hewitt-Demeyer set out to circumnavigate Lake Tahoe by pedal kayak

Tahoe gives so much to all of us:

before losing service. My boyfriend,

Clean Up The Lake, a nonprofit dedicated

adventure, peace, escape, identity. Yet

Kyle Johnston, dropped everything to

to preserving Tahoe’s fragile ecosystem.

people still leave pieces of themselves

come find me, navigating open water

With their help, the logistics fell into place:

behind along its shoreline. The more I

and vague directions until he spotted me

camping permits, route planning, cleanup

trained, the more it felt like a mission to

drifting alone. Luckily, the water was calm

coordination and a rare opportunity to

protect this place.

and the weather was warm. Had conditions

camp in Emerald Bay after the season had

changed, the situation could have become

closed. Huge shoutout to the Forest Service

far more serious.

for making that happen. Without that stop,

When Things Get Real About three weeks before the expedition, Lake Tahoe humbled me in a different way.

I was 6 miles offshore, training alone,

day two would have turned into a brutal 25-mile push my recovering body couldn’t handle.

when my kayak suddenly malfunctioned.

Building Something Bigger

A critical pin in the pedal drive (my only

As training continued, I started building

supporting Clean Up The Lake’s ongoing

source of movement) had snapped. No

the heart of the project.

efforts—because this was never just about

paddle. No swimming allowed because of my shoulder. One bar of service.

I reached out to companies and friends for support, not knowing what to

We also launched a fundraiser

kayaking around a lake.

expect. The response blew me away: gear,

The Push

fear hit hard. It was a reminder of how

encouragement, shared excitement. People

Four months after surgery, it was time.

quickly things can shift, how vulnerable we

believed in this wild little idea even while I

are when we step into the unknown.

was still figuring it out myself.

For the first time since the accident,

I managed to get a message out 72

That day didn’t stop me, but it made me respect the lake in a whole new way.

More importantly, I partnered with

My shoulder was still healing. I couldn’t swim. I was still restricted to light weights. But somewhere between

the endless training laps, the fear and the

At 11:15 a.m., we pushed off and

food and started a fire as we set up camp.

setbacks, I started believing I could actually

started pedaling south. That first moment

There’s something about ending a long,

do this.

gliding away from the beach felt surreal.

exhausting day with people who show up

October 5 was the latest I could push

Three months earlier I could barely move

for you.

before the weather turned. The week before,

my shoulder. Now I was setting off on a

Tahoe had a big wind event that rattled me.

four-day circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe.

Day Two: The Crux

The lake graced us with smooth water.

We woke long before sunrise, rushing

We pedaled hard for 7 miles until we reached

to get on the water before the weather

at a wedding in Oregon two weeks before

Skunk Harbor for our first cleanup. I set a

turned. The goal: 15 miles from Zephyr

launch, my friend Quinn Randall lit up at

15-minute timer so we could still navigate

Cove to Emerald Bay. Forecasts called for

the idea. Without hesitation, she booked a

the remaining 11 miles to Zephyr Cove. We

strong afternoon east winds, the worst

plane ticket.

collected 22 pieces of litter and hopped

possible direction. Gusts would slam into

back in to chase daylight.

us sideways, with real potential to flip our

Was I strong enough?

I’d planned for a solo expedition. Then,

Launch Day

The sun had just dipped behind

That morning at Hidden Beach, my

the mountains when we reached

stomach was full of nerves. Standing on

Zephyr Cove. Our bodies were wrecked,

the shoreline, looking across the massive

yet we were overwhelmed with joy. We’d

stretch of blue ahead, felt overwhelming.

Quinn went straight from her morning flight to a taxi to Incline Village, rolling

kayaks far from shore.

We left fully bundled, breath visible on the glassy water.

Two hours in, our trash-grabber tool

gathered 59 pieces of trash weighing

fell into the lake. We watched it spin into

3 pounds.

the depths and settle on the sandy bottom

Friends greeted us with shrimp and

about 7 feet down. We glanced at each other

in ready. Her energy was exactly what I

marinara, a true delight after hours of

and knew we couldn’t leave it. That would

needed.

paddling. They also prepared some warm

go against everything we were kayaking for.

EAST SHORE TRAIL EXPANSION IS HERE One of the most iconic trails in Tahoe needs your support.

Help us build the next phase of the Tahoe East Shore Trail from Sand Harbor to Spooner Summit by purchasing an engraved trout plaque or by adding your name to our donor wall. Scenic vista points will also be available. Secure your spot today by emailing info@tahoefund.org.

Tahoe Quarterly 73

OU T D O O R S Without hesitation, Quinn launched herself

Somehow, we made it the final

Joy in the Middle

in for a proper morning cold plunge. Seconds

5 miles to Emerald Bay, weary and

On day three, we left at sunrise so we could

later, she burst back grinning like a lake

humbled by how quickly the lake can

stop at Fannette Island and have breakfast

mermaid, holding the grabber overhead.

turn. Our voices were stripped from

at the iconic tea house. Quinn surprised

One more piece of trash not left behind.

shouting against the wind for an hour

me with birthday decorations, turning an

We reached Baldwin Beach at 1 p.m.,

and a half.

already meaningful expedition into one of

made lunch to warm up and swept the

Camping in Emerald Bay after the

shoreline. In 20 minutes, we collected 106

crowds had disappeared felt like stepping

pieces of litter. Then the wind picked up.

into another world. Alpenglow lit up the

mission, celebrating another year of life. It

We made a mad dash back to the kayaks.

surrounding peaks. Silence settled across

felt surreal.

Whitecaps started building. Strong east

the bay. I sat completely exhausted, staring

the most meaningful birthdays of my life.

Fresh off surgery, 32 miles into a 72-mile

We pushed on another 17 miles to our

winds slammed into us sideways. The lake

at the water, realizing this project had

next base camp in Tahoe City. This time

went from calm to chaotic.

become so much more than recovery. It

the lake gave us a break with calm water

was healing in motion.

and sunshine—the kind of conditions that

Suddenly, I was out there, unable to swim, still healing, pushing through one of

Layne Howard and Anisa Kastle

remind why Tahoe steals people’s hearts.

the most demanding moments of my life.

joined us that night to camp, and Kyle

By the end of the day, we’d reached

You stop thinking about the distance. You

brought dinner by boat. A true dream

the 50-mile mark and collected another 92

just focus on the next stroke. The next breath.

come true.

pieces of trash.

Claire Hewitt-Demeyer and Quinn Randall completed a 72-mile circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe in four days, removing 13 pounds of litter from the shoreline and helping raise awareness about keeping Tahoe clean

74

The Final Push By the fourth day, exhaustion had fully set in. But we could feel the finish line pulling us forward.

We launched from Tahoe City at 6:40 a.m. The lake feels different in those early hours. Quiet. Still. Forecasts called for stronger winds in the afternoon. We had 22 miles to go, our biggest day yet.

As we rounded the final corner back toward Hidden Beach, emotion hit. The moment our kayaks touched the sand, we shouted with joy, hopped out and jumped into the freezing lake fully clothed, laughing, tired, overwhelmed with gratitude.

I couldn’t have done it without Quinn by my side, without Clean Up The Lake, without the sponsors, without the friends who brought warm meals after long days on the water, and without Tahoe itself.

We had done it.

In all, we collected 253 pieces of trash, roughly 13 pounds removed from the shoreline.

On paper, it might not seem like much. But this journey was never about the numbers. It was about awareness.

About intention. About showing that even when you’re sidelined, you can still create something worthwhile.

The journey reminded me that healing isn’t just physical. It’s mental, emotional and deeply tied to purpose.

Setbacks don’t have to stop you.

Lake Tahoe has given me so much.

This was my way of giving a little back.

And maybe, just maybe, it will inspire someone else to do the same. Because you don’t have to do something massive to make a difference.

A professional snowboarder based in South Lake Tahoe, Claire Hewitt-Demeyer thrives on “type 2 fun” and brings an infectious energy to every mission. Follow her journey and explore her media and film accomplishments at clairehewittdemeyer.com

Tahoe Quarterly 75

THTH TH

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H O M E D E S I GN

Legacy Among the Trees

A Donner Lake home was designed to bring a multigenerational family together Written by Ann Johnson Photographed by Paul Dyer AFTER FALLING IN love with Donner Lake, a Bay Area resident set out to build a home

78

north side of the lake that offered views

“Ben is such a master builder,” she

of Donner Lake through the treetops. She

says. “I don’t remember giving him that

hired Ben King of Truckee’s Ben King

much direction because I trust him so

Construction to oversee the project.

completely. He has such a great eye for

Rather than working with a dedicated

things and came up with the idea that

that reflected the beauty and charm of the

architect, King designed the floor plan

we approved of. When you talk with him

location while also creating a legacy she

and consulted with Truckee engineering

about what you want to do for the house,

could one day pass on to her adult children.

company AMB DEC, Inc. when needed.

he can build it with that in mind.”

With those parameters in mind, the

When deciding upon the architectural style

Spanning just over 2,500 square feet,

prospective homeowner began searching

and blueprint for her abode, the owner

the resulting home is appointed with four

for lots and ultimately chose a site on the

leaned into King’s expertise.

spacious bedrooms and three and a half

OPPOSITE PAGE: The home features an open-concept flow connecting the kitchen, dining and living area, all framed by a stunning lake view THIS PAGE FROM TOP: An aerial view shows the house’s proximity to the north shore of Donner Lake | Designed to embrace its surroundings, the home balances contemporary architecture with the warmth and authenticity of natural materials | The entry showcases the mix of materials in this modern mountain retreat

baths, with a wood-and-stone exterior designed to complement the surrounding landscape.

“It really stands out on the street, and when you open the door, you can see the same stones that are on the outside in the entry wall,” the owner says. This visual continuity seamlessly ushers guests into the three-story house, which is nestled among towering trees and built to showcase views of Donner Lake and Schallenberger Ridge beyond.

With an extended family that loves skiing and gathering to watch football games together, the owner wanted to create Tahoe Quarterly 79

H O M E D E S I GN a year-round retreat where guests could relax. And it was equally important to build a house that truly felt like a home.

“I want people to be able to put their feet up and go, ‘Ahhh,’” the owner says. “The goal is just for people to come in and feel comfortable.”

The owner had previously collaborated on a home with Casey Howard, principal designer at Casey Howard Interior Design in Danville, so she recruited her firm to design the interiors. She opted for a distinct look, choosing a more subdued palette that would empower the tree-covered mountains and lake to be the stars of the show.

“This home feels organic and modern, with a quiet warmth layered throughout the space,” Howard says. “There’s intentionally very little color, because the design is focused on the views and

80

FROM TOP: Thoughtful textures and forest views abound throughout the interior | The kitchen anchors the home with strong architectural lines and organic warmth

If you love Tahoe

HELP KEEP IT BLUE

Historic Donner Lake photographs bring a sense of place and story to the home bar

creating a seamless connection to the outdoors. There’s not a lot of art for that reason as well. [The owner] really wanted the home to feel immersive, surrounded by the woods and the lake.”

That understated design decision helps the home feel rooted in its surroundings, while a second-story deck serves as a natural extension into nature.

“The home embraces its mountain surroundings while introducing touches of exposed industrial character throughout,” Howard says.

The living room, dining room, kitchen and bar area all flow together in an open-concept floor plan, ensuring ample space to entertain without being segmented into separate areas.

“The living space is the most spectacular part,” the owner says. “That’s where the life of the house is.”

Large glass windows in the living area serve as an ever-changing art canvas, showcasing the transition from snow-capped peaks to clear blue skies, depending on the time of year.

“Every floor of the home has the sense of being in a tree house,” Howard says. “You come in on an elevated level and can go downstairs or upstairs from there. But on the main level, you’re already in the trees, which creates such an amazing feel.”

White European oak hardwood floors and neutral walls in the main living space create an aesthetic that feels both “livable and light,” Howard says. The area was designed with warm woods, leathers and durable area rugs to toe the line between sophisticated and down-to-earth. Exposed steel ceiling beams give the living space a structured, industrial look, while boucle chairs add softness.

“I describe the furniture as classically comfortable,” the owner says.

Protecting Lake Tahoe Since 1957

Every ripple and stunning view depends on the actions we take each day. From what we buy to how we travel, small choices can help protect this lake we love.

Whether you live here or visit, you are part of Tahoe’s story. Scan the code and learn how you can help.

keeptahoeblue.org @keeptahoeblue

#KeepTahoeBlue is not just a sticker — it is a way of living and the mission of a nonprofit organization that keeps this place wild, blue and breathtaking.

Sun Shirts Lifestyle Shots by Katy Jo Caringer

Tahoe Quarterly 81

H O M E D E S I GN

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A quiet sanctuary wrapped in soft linens and framed by a peaceful lake view | A study in contrast, a bathroom features bold structural steel balanced by soft materials and a restrained palette | A playful retreat reserved for the grandkids

The kitchen features alder cabinets, Dacor appliances and a waterfall island

really like. It’s like one big room. When the

mind.

weather permits, it’s wonderful to go sit out

made of Perla Venata quartzite. Four bar

“Ultimately, I want to put a TV and

stools provide space for people to gather,

games in the bunk room corner so the kids

Dotted with cozy entertaining spaces

and a nearby bar makes it easy to mix a

can play and watch TV while the grownups

throughout, the expertly designed home

cocktail. Located just steps away, the

are upstairs,” she says. “It’s nice to have

fulfills the owner’s goal of creating her own

floor-to-ceiling fireplace features tiles

those separate areas where people can all

private sanctuary at Donner Lake, as well as

designed to mimic oxidized metal.

be together, but doing a separate thing. You

a treasured family retreat for generations to

don’t have to worry about the noise it could

come.

On the other side of the room, a floating steel-and-wood staircase leads to

make.”

the upper level, which is devoted entirely to

Outside, the sizable second-story

the primary suite. Glass windows provide

deck holds a round coffee table, sectional

views of the lake, while a corner sitting

sofa, dining table and chairs,

nook offers a peaceful spot to drink coffee

allowing plenty of room for

and soak up the sunshine at the start of the

guests to gather.

day. The layout of the room strikes just the

“We’re a college football

right balance between cozy and charming.

family, so during the season,

The primary bathroom features double

we have a TV that we can pull

sinks, a walk-in glass shower and sizable

out and turn,” the owner says.

glass windows with tranquil views of the

“So we can be in the living

mature pines and firs outside.

room area with a sliding glass

Two other en suite bedrooms are

82

designed with the owner’s grandkids in

door open, and we can turn

located on the lower level, including a

on the TV and be outside

larger one that functions as a secondary

watching football. There’s a

primary suite. The lower level also houses

great sense of community

a bunk room and half bath, which was

inside and outside, which I

there.”

Ann Johnson is a Los Angeles-based home writer and editor.

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H O M E D E S I GN

Trial by Wildfire

Tahoe-area homes are increasingly designed, built and maintained around the threat of fire Written by Alison Bender

Ever-Present Danger

was finally extinguished (thanks in part to

In 2025 alone, California lost more than

defensible space efforts by homeowners in the Basin).

AROUND LAKE TAHOE, high-end

16,500 structures to wildfires, while

homes have long been inspired by the

Nevada saw more than 395,000 acres

landscape. But as the West grows hotter

burn. South Lake Tahoe residents are still

Geoff bought their property in Martis

and drier and the risks of wildfire rise,

haunted by the memory of the 2021 Caldor

Camp in 2007, the same year the Angora

homeowners, architects and builders are

Fire, which destroyed some 1,000 buildings

Fire tore through South Lake Tahoe and

rethinking mountain design, resulting in

and burned into the Tahoe Basin before it

destroyed about 280 structures.

homes that no longer simply complement their surroundings, but are also able to survive them.

Alison Edelstein and her husband

Fire is a natural occurrence, and it will happen, it’s just where and when. When it comes to fire, we are all in it together.”

— Alison Edelstein

FROMT LEFT: A Truckee home designed by architect Gordon Magnin was built with fire-resistant materials at the request of its owner, who is a retired fire chief, photo by Patrick Brennan | A Meyers home built by Sierra Sustainable Builders features siding composed of corrugated metal, concrete, solid timbers, fire-treated plywood for the eave soffits, and cementitious fascia and trim, photo by Mark Steinlein 84

“The house was designed with fire in mind,” she says.

Designed by Truckee architect Greg Faulkner, the Edelstein home is a contemporary five-bedroom made primarily of glass, concrete and corten steel.

It’s built to withstand Tahoe’s extremes. And while individual homeowners can do their

Simpler forms generally perform better in wildfire conditions. Fewer corners, fewer roof intersections and fewer transitions reduce the places where embers can accumulate.” — Tara Sypriano, architect, Hedda Inc.

part to improve fire resilience, communities

During a wildfire, wind-driven

are safest when everyone does their part.

embers, which can travel more than a mile,

“Fire is a natural occurrence, and it will happen, it’s just where and when,” Edelstein says. “When it comes to fire, we are all in it together.”

Designed to Endure

are the leading cause of home ignition.

Roofs are especially vulnerable.

Sypriano says homeowners often

such as attic and crawlspace vents, where embers can blow into the home.

“Rain gutters can accumulate debris, which acts as kindling,” he says. “These openings/gutters have provisions for

request complex rooflines, layered massing,

screens, but it is even better if they can be

deep shadow gaps and heavily articulated

minimized or reduced.”

exterior detailing. “While visually

Enclosing soffits and eaves can also

For new builds, architect Tara Sypriano of

compelling, these conditions can also

help reduce a home’s vulnerability to

Truckee’s Hedda Inc. says streamlining the

create pockets where embers and debris

wildfire, in addition to simplified forms.

architecture can have a big impact.

collect,” she says. “The more transitions,

“That does not mean architecture

gaps, corners and collection points a home

needs to feel overly minimal or utilitarian,

better in wildfire conditions,” she says.

has, the more opportunities there are for

but simplicity and restraint often lead to

“Fewer corners, fewer roof intersections

ember intrusion.”

both stronger design and better long-term

“Simpler forms generally perform

and fewer transitions reduce the places where embers can accumulate.”

Architect Gordon Magnin of Reno’s

performance,” Sypriano says.

Magnin Architecture minimizes openings Tahoe Quarterly 85

H O M E D E S I GN

Materials That Make a Difference Cory Hannaford of South Lake Tahoe’s

stone and steel among the most durable

significantly better than others. Heavy

noncombustible options.

timber, for example, tends to char rather

For decks, which can gather embers

than burn. Western red cedar has a class B

Sierra Sustainable Builders says fire

easily, Hannaford recommends steel

fire retardant rating. Meanwhile, Douglas

resilience is a growing priority. “This is

framing paired with concrete decking

fir, a softwood staple of Lake Tahoe

more frequently something our clients

products.

building in the 1970s and ’80s, is highly

bring up early on,” he says.

Exterior materials must meet strict fire safety standards, with concrete,

While wood is inherently more flammable than stone or steel, some species and treatments perform

flammable.

“There are also some amazing coatings/additives for paints and stains that show a great deal of promise, making materials they are applied to nearly fireproof,” Hannaford says. “But they do require reapplication every few years.”

For sheathing, Hannaford uses products like drywall, DensShield (a fiberglass mat gypsum panel) or FlameBlock (a wood panel coated with Pyrotite). Products like fiber cement boards

A BurnBot remotely operated masticator machine removes vegetation in a Tahoe neighborhood as part of the Tahoe Fund’s Fire Smart Community Pilot program, photos by Jeff Freeman, courtesy Tahoe Fund

86

mimic the look and feel of Tahoe-style

fire resistance was not one of the home’s

mitigation, defensible space and home-

wooden siding but add a superior level of

original top priorities, he adds, “It has come

hardening measures

fire protection.

up in subsequent conversations, and we are

“We are currently completing two homes that are great examples of this,”

very well protected.”

“You can change the outcome of wildfire in your community by doing your part, and encouraging your neighbors to

Hannaford says. “One is a lakefront home

Defensible Space

in Skyland [in Zephyr Cove], where the

Protecting a property from wildfire means

space inspection from your fire department

entire exterior is a cementitious log siding

more than building a fire-safe home; it

and get to work.”

product that looks like a traditional Tahoe

also requires careful management of the

home but is a fireproof material requiring

surrounding landscape.

little to no maintenance.”

“It starts with the vegetation around

do the same,” Berry says. “Get a defensible

Edelstein agrees. “We can keep our house safe, but if a neighboring community doesn’t clear, we will burn anyway.”

Within the 5-foot zone, nonflammable

The other home, in Kirkwood,

your home,” says Amy Berry, CEO of the

incorporates metal siding, metal roofing,

nonprofit Tahoe Fund. “Really try your best

hardscaping, such as gravel or pavers,

steel-framed decks and cement decking

to clear any bushes and low vegetation 5

are recommended. Beyond that, native

boards. “This home is considered to be in

feet from the structure.”

and adapted plants are good choices;

a high fire danger area and is certified as a fire-hardened home,” Hannaford says.

Magnin is also a proponent of

Last summer, the Tahoe Fund, which supports area environmental projects, launched the Fire Smart Community Pilot

ensuring they are irrigated makes them less susceptible to ignition.

“Landscape design should be

noncombustible finishes. “We have a

program. The pilot began with Incline

considered part of the resilience strategy,

project in construction right now on

Village’s Tyrolian Village (identified as

not something separate from the

the West Shore that is all concrete, steel

high-risk) and quickly expanded to five

architecture,” Sypriano says. “Fire resilience

and tempered glass,” he says. While

more neighborhoods, implementing fuels

is rarely one singular feature. It comes from

Tahoe Quarterly 87

H O M E D E S I GN many small decisions working together as a system.”

Magnin often includes sprinkler systems both inside and out. “Landscape and roof sprinkler systems are becoming more common,” he says. “There are even water cannon options for exterior protection.”

Remodels and Maintenance For existing homes, simple upgrades can make a big difference, such as installing fine mesh over vents and eaves, and clearing firewood away from the home. Larger improvements include replacing wooden roofs and decks, installing fire-resistant siding and upgrading to double-pane tempered windows.

Designing and building a fire-resilient home is only part of wildfire protection.

to keep the house safe, have fire breaks

black ash; the contamination forced them

behind the house and plenty of defensible

to discard every soft item in the house.

is that fire resilience is achieved once

space,” she says. “And, I’m perfectly happy

She advises homeowners to plan

construction is complete,” Sypriano says. “In

to live with a more organic landscape and

ahead: Know evacuation routes, identify

reality, resilience is heavily tied to long-term

not bring plants that are flammable too

safe zones and decide in advance what to

maintenance. Even a well-designed home

close to the house.”

grab during an emergency. “Don’t think it

“One of the biggest misconceptions

becomes vulnerable if roof valleys collect

Edelstein knows the dangers well.

debris, vents are not regularly cleaned, or

Although she and her husband live part-time

surrounding vegetation becomes dry and

in Truckee, their primary residence is in

expected and unpredictable. For those

stressed over time.”

L.A.’s Pacific Palisades, where an estimated

lucky enough to live in or around the Tahoe

Defensible space also needs to be

6,800 structures were lost to wildfire last

Basin, preparing homes and properties for

constantly maintained. Edelstein’s home in

year. Edelstein says roughly 70 percent of

fire is part of the responsibility of living in

Martis Camp gets yearly assessments and

her neighborhood was destroyed. While

the mountains.

clearings. “We view it as an annual process

her home survived, it was filled with toxic

won’t happen to you,” she says.

Wildfire in the Sierra Nevada is both

Berry believes the lesson is clear.

“It really does take a village to ensure everyone is safe from fire,” she says.

Reno writer Alison Bender is a strong proponent of home hardening and defensible space, particularly after she was evacuated for almost a week during the 2024 Davis Fire.

FROM TOP: A Serene Lakes home designed by Tara Sypriano of Hedda Inc. lacks eaves and overhangs, leaving fewer places for embers to get caught during a potential wildfire, photo

by Ruthanne Zouboukos | A Tahoe home built by Sierra Sustainable Builders is constructed with fire-safe concrete log siding by EverLog Systems. In addition to siding, the Montana-based company sells concrete logs and timbers that offer the look and texture of natural wood, photo courtesy Cory Hannaford

88

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TA H O E I N D E PTH

New Goals Set for More Resilient Forests Written by Thea Schwartz

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of Tahoe In Depth and was provided courtesy of TRPA. To subscribe to the publication, visit tahoeindepth.org.

damage where Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team partners had previously completed forest

reflected years of fuel reduction work,

treatments.

home hardening and coordinated efforts

Safford and co-author Saba Saberi

by the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team.

called it “another fuel treatment success

Safford’s observations led to a detailed

story for the Western U.S.,” while also

WHEN TAHOE LOCAL and University of

study of the burned area to better

underscoring the increasing urgency of

California, Davis Research Ecologist

understand how forest management

proactive forest and fuel management.

Hugh Safford returned to his Meyers home

improved forest health and helped save

after evacuating during the 2021 Caldor

Tahoe communities.

Earlier this year, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and Lake Tahoe

The research confirmed the

Environmental Improvement Program

The fire had scorched more than

effectiveness of forest fuel reduction

partners updated Tahoe’s forest health

220,000 acres, roughly 10,000 within the

treatments in reducing fire severity and

goals to do just that. The new goals, or

Tahoe Basin, yet no permanent residences

tree mortality during the Caldor Fire.

threshold standards, call for accelerating

or lives were lost in South Lake Tahoe. For

Specifically, trees in treated areas were three

the pace and scale of forest treatments

a community that had been surrounded by

times more likely to survive than those

to make our communities safer and our

flames, it was extraordinary. For Safford, it

in untreated areas, and fire behavior was

forests more resilient in the face of a

was also a phenomenon worth studying.

less severe, with lower flames and reduced

growing wildfire threat.

Fire, he was struck by what he saw.

90

Word quickly spread that Tahoe’s outcome was not just a streak of luck. It

FROM LEFT: A prescribed burn in Sugar Pine State Park, photo by Rich Adams, courtesy TRPA | New forest health threshold standards at Tahoe will address the growing risks posed by forests that are overly dense and uniform in age and size—conditions that increase vulnerability to wildfire, drought and disease, photo courtesy TRPA

Fire has long shaped Sierra Nevada forests. Historically, frequent low-intensity burns occurring every decade or two at Tahoe’s lower elevations kept fuels in check and maintained open, diverse forests. And for millennia, the Washoe Tribe used cultural burning to maintain ecosystem health.

The new standards recognize fire as a fundamental ecological process. With new targets for forest structure and fire behavior, the standards provide a framework for evaluating how forest management projects and fire events contribute to long-term resilience and help prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Science Drives Policies in the Tahoe Basin The Tahoe Science Advisory Council is an independent body that provides sciencebased guidance to support decision-making in the Lake Tahoe region. As part of the forest and fire threshold update process, council scientists evaluated the new forest health measures and offered suggestions for improvement before the standards were adopted into TRPA’s Regional Plan.

In its peer review, the council called the changes an important, sciencebased step forward and a long-overdue

modernization of the region’s forest management framework.

As Council Program Officer Robert Larsen explains, “The reviewers found that threshold updates are consistent with current practices and reflect the primary drivers of forest health and wildfire risk, while encouraging TRPA to expand efforts to track other benefits such as biodiversity, old growth and carbon storage.”

This scientific compass underpins how forest treatments are planned and implemented through the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program and the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team’s work.

Tahoe Quarterly 91

TA H O E I N D E PTH

Crews will continue to work directly with

Looking Forward

landowners to remove hazardous trees and

Today, the Basin faces hotter, drier

create defensible space around homes and

conditions and continued wildfire risk. But

neighborhoods, while increased prescribed

the science-driven policies, collaborative

burns and landscape-scale treatment

partnerships and expanded forest health

initiatives, such as Lake Tahoe West, will

projects underway across the region

add to the collective efforts to increase

offer hope. They represent proactive fire

safety and build Tahoe’s resilience to

management and ecological restoration

drought, insects and wildfire.

rooted in history and informed by the best

“The work that Basin partners

available science.

are doing to protect human lives and

Tahoe’s landscape has been shaped

infrastructure and mitigate fire severity

by human activity over the past 150 years.

is also perfectly parallel with ecological

Looking ahead, we’re focused on restoring

restoration in these forests,” Safford says.

balance, reducing risk and cultivating a forest prepared for the future.

Thea Schwartz is the communications specialist at TRPA.

FROM TOP: A forested hillside in D.L. Bliss State Park | Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District completes forest fuel treatments on Tahoe’s East Shore | A Tahoe dog cautiously approaches a stump hole, photos courtesy TRPA

FOOTPRINTS OF THE PAST TAHOE’S HISTORY IS visible in many ways. In burned areas, stump holes wide enough to resemble a dinosaur footprint date back to the Comstock Era, when more than 60 percent of Tahoe’s forests were logged to supply timber to silver mines across the Sierra. The trees were taken, but their deep-rooted bases remained underground.

More than a century later, fires like Caldor ignited those old stumps. The hollowed-out cavities left behind are reminders of Tahoe’s layered history of logging, decades of fire suppression and today’s changing fire behavior.

92

96

Following His Calling A Buddhist monk’s artistic odyssey from rural Vietnam to globetrotting photographer Written by Michael Rohm • Photographed by joSon

It is perhaps too obvious to assert that great photographers capture meaning inside their photographs. It is less obvious, I think, to suggest that the best ones capture meaning outside their photographs, too—their life a lens in permanent focus, an open shutter forever swallowing light. joSon, a distinguished photographer

“Our language is very limited,” he continues, “but flowers are a language of their own, and we use them to express how we feel.”

How joSon feels about flowers contains, like Whitman,

whose images of flowers and nature express the Buddhist values

multitudes. There is almost nothing he will not do to communicate

he spent his adolescence in Vietnam practicing, is among the latter

with—and for—his muse. The day we speak, he is preparing to

group: His entire existence is art; the pictures are just the proof.

drive more than 700 miles from his home in San Francisco to

“The force that through the green fuse drives the flower drives

Death Valley in search of the rare Oenothera californica eurekensis,

my green age,” wrote the famed Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. It

commonly called the evening primrose. He has heard from a local

will no doubt please joSon to know that I blew past my deadline

contact that the flower—which grows only on the remote slopes of

for this magazine because I was busy—no, busy is entirely the

the Eureka Valley Sand Dunes within the national park, and only

wrong word; rather, I was lost—meditating on flowers, which are

blooms when conditions are perfect—is in fact in bloom.

at best tangential to my assignment, as a firefighter meditating on combustion is tangential to dousing the flame.

“Flowers are the missing words in our vocabulary,” joSon says on a recent phone call.

His accent reflects the years he spent in the Philippines,

“They’re supposed to last another week,” he says. “But a storm just came in, so who knows? Nothing is guaranteed.”

Impermanence is a core philosophy of Buddhism, and it is a lesson joSon has learned at each stage of his itinerant life. As a child of mixed race living with his single mother in the Philippines,

Vietnam and California, but his voice contains some fourth,

joSon felt unmoored. Though he never met his father, an African

unnamable quality that—forgive me—sways like the blooms he has

American soldier who was killed in Vietnam during the end of the

spent his life photographing.

war, joSon felt drawn to the country where the man fought and died—the same country where his maternal grandmother lived.

In 1983, when he was 10 years old, joSon traveled there to spend a summer with her.

Tahoe Quarterly 97

“I spent a great deal of time at a

remain in the temple for three more

Buddhist temple helping my grandmother,

years, but he would not be a monk. His

who was a regular volunteer there,” he says.

path, the master said with kindness,

“That summer turned into a lifetime of

was elsewhere.

“They told me I don’t have to be

introspection and self-discovery.”

Nearing the end of his trip, joSon

in the temple to do good work,” joSon

convinced his mother to let him remain

remembers. “They told me I could do

at the temple, which had an educational

better work somewhere else.”

Still, the news was devastating.

program for boys.

“When I was introduced to Buddhism,

“I was shocked,” he admits. “On

I felt at peace and at home in the temple,” he

one hand, you feel your foundation is

recalls. “I told my mom, ‘I don’t want to go

gone. On the other, you know that life

back to the Philippines. I want to become a

has already chosen the journey for you;

Buddhist monk.’”

you are just living.”

In his last three years before turning

Refuge From an Unforgiving World

21, joSon absorbed these final lessons: “Home is never a building.

The temple offered more than just a way to understand the world—

Your temple is inside you. When you leave, you don’t really leave.”

it also offered protection from it.

“The world is an unforgiving place,” joSon says. “Given my multiethnic background, I often felt ostracized as a young child in the Philippines, and the outside world in general. Life was

When he turned 21, joSon packed his meager belongings, bid farewell to his family of the last 11 years, and left. But he didn’t really leave.

challenging for me. In the temple, people don’t judge you; they

‘How Am I Going to Survive?’

accept you for who you are.”

Back home in the Philippines, joSon was adrift. His mother, a

In Buddhist tradition, boys can study and work in the temple

doctor, encouraged him to study science, which he did listlessly. In

until they turn 18, at which age their master makes the crucial

the summers, he would return to Vietnam and the old temple, now

decision: stay and become a monk or be released back into the world.

just a tourist on a path that was no longer his.

For eight years, joSon slept on the floor, forsook most material goods and studied under his master. When he was not studying, he worked in the gardens, watering, weeding and tending to the

His birth country wasn’t his, either. “The Philippines never felt like home to me,” joSon says.

After three difficult, dislocated years, he decided to pursue

flowers and plants. Crucially, he also discovered an old film camera,

a fresh start in California, where he had relatives. His family in

which the monks used sparingly to document historical art pieces

Sacramento hosted him until he could enroll in the community

displayed throughout the temple.

college in San Jose, home to a large Vietnamese population, whose

“It was a valuable thing for the temple,” joSon says of the

culture always felt more closely aligned with his own. In San Jose,

alluring device. “They don’t like people touching it—I convinced

joSon rented a cheap room, made new friends and began his

them to let me use the precious device.”

classes—the first tentative steps on a new American path that

Observing his preternatural skill, the monks assigned him to

stretched, however dim and uncertain, before him.

be the caretaker of the camera, and their sole photographer. He was

And then he visited Lake Tahoe.

allotted one roll of film per month: 36 frames.

Within six months of landing in Sacramento, joSon felt a

“It was my job to make sure that roll of film would last at least a month,” he says. “It’s expensive to buy. Every picture has to have a reason and a purpose. I believe this was the beginning of my learning to process the world through the lens of a camera.”

By his late teens, joSon had settled into a rhythm: student,

powerful new force leading him away from what was supposed to be an exciting chapter in the Bay Area.

“When I first saw Tahoe, I thought, ‘This is the most beautiful thing ever,’” he says. The next thought was, “Why would I live anywhere else?”

photographer, gardener and mentor to the younger cohort of boys, whom he would teach art and literature. Becoming a monk was his path; the temple, his home. He planned never to leave.

When he turned 18, his master informed him that he could 98

PREVIOUS SPREAD: Shoreline of South Lake Tahoe THIS SPREAD FROM LEFT: joSon portrait, photo by Holger Keifel | The claw-like flower of Chiranthodendron pentadactylon, aka the monkey’s hand tree

Tahoe Quarterly 99

100

He transferred to Lake Tahoe Community College, where he

almost 50 years. “He walked up to me and told me he wanted to

began a two-year degree in hotel and restaurant management. The

borrow a camera. ‘If you take my class,’” she remembers telling him,

college, he soon discovered, also offered photography classes, which

“‘you can borrow a camera.’”

he hoped might provide a small reprieve from what would likely be

He agreed and signed up for Photography 1. Then Photography

a tedious education, followed by a demanding career in service and

2, followed by Photography 3. He enrolled in Landscape

hospitality.

Photography. He joined a class trip to Death Valley, launching

joSon says there was one question that drove every decision in this early chapter of adulthood: “How am I going to survive?” The answer, he believed, was to find a practical career. “Growing up, I

what would become a lifelong love affair with the national park. He worked as a lab aid in the darkroom. He missed nothing.

“He took every class that we had,” Leonard-Heffner says. “I was

thought art was for the rich: people who have time to sit and dream.

impressed right away. He was great at pretty much everything—and

Poor people cannot afford that. Art was the last thing in my mind.”

really driven.”

While living as an artist was out of the question, he thought learning to take better pictures might offer some small consolation for the grind of adulthood. As he did as a boy in the temple, joSon

As driven toward photography as he was away from a career in hospitality.

“Photography became my life very quickly,” says joSon, whose

sought out the keeper of the camera and lodged a formal request.

images now grace magazine covers and hang in galleries and

“joSon walked into my life,” recalls Pat Leonard-Heffner, who

private collections around the world. “The community college

has taught photography at Lake Tahoe Community College for

helped me to discover who I am. It helped me to think bigger and see beyond my limited space. A couple teachers told me I can be

FROM LEFT: The Upper Truckee Marsh from above | A snow-covered Lake Tahoe Golf Course

the person I want to be. They gave me courage to dream.”

Tahoe Quarterly 101

Drawn to the Lens—Again Lake Tahoe Community College gave him the courage to dream, but his Buddhist upbringing in Vietnam gave him the wisdom to look.

Scott Lankford, author of the national award-winning book Tahoe Beneath the Surface, remembers rubbing shoulders with joSon among the literati of San Francisco, where the burgeoning photographer had returned to study fine art and launch a career as an artist. The writer was initially skeptical.

“I think I was slightly condescending,” he admits with a chuckle. “Lots of people are photographers. But every time I turned around, he was on a cover somewhere.”

What Lankford admired most in joSon’s art—what I admire most—is the transcendent quality evident in his attention to detail.

The way his art understands, rather than merely depicts.

“His photos have this timeless quality of teaching you how to see something in that spiritual light of enlightenment,” Lankford muses. “That sounds like a big statement, but I really think the best of his photos are quite astonishingly exactly that way. There’s a depth to joSon’s images that transcends time, and I think that comes from his training as a Buddhist monk.”

When it comes to describing his own art, joSon is less comfortable than his admirers, though he has learned to navigate publicity as his career has grown. When asked about his relationship to being in front of the camera, he admits that his least favorite assignment in Photography 1 was taking self-portraits.

“The camera was a way for me to hide,” he says. “In my earlier work, I hardly ever wanted to do interviews or talk about my photography. I’m much more open now.”

Though you will not find his face in his work, he insists they are selfportraits all the same. When he created his first book, a stunning, sensual gallery of flowers in bloom titled joSon: Intimate Portrait of Nature—which began as a class assignment while working toward his master’s degree at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University—he sought to capture more than literal forms.

The photographs, he says, “are not just of flowers; they are portraits of ourselves. Through them, we learn more about ourselves. That’s why I photograph them so close and detailed.

It is our self-reflection.”

The explanation is as explicit as 102

joSon is likely to get about the meaning and purpose of his art. For deeper understanding, one is invited into a closer study of his faith.

“Buddhist philosophy says plants deserve the same respect,” he says. “‘Save the environment’ is a modern expression, but protecting and preserving the world around us is a fundamental element of Buddhism.

“I use my photography as a way to inspire people and show them how beautiful the world is,” he adds. “In a way, I’m a propagandist for nature.”

His most recent propaganda for nature is a project tentatively titled “From Above Lake Tahoe, Looking Down.”

“People come to Lake Tahoe, but they don’t really understand it,” he says. “[I want] people to see from a bird’s-eye view how vulnerable the lake is: the smoke, the burn scars. I want to show that Lake Tahoe is more than just Emerald Bay; it is also an endangered ecosystem.”

Though he is done shooting for the project, joSon says he is still retouching his photos and connecting with publishers, with plans to send a proposal in the coming months. It is one of many projects he is juggling.

“I get bored really quickly,” he says. “If I’m not pushing myself, I become bored.”

Blossoming Talent “From Above Lake Tahoe, Looking Down” is not the first time joSon has dangled from an airplane for a picture—and it likely won’t be the last (“He sees something beautiful and he stops worrying,” Lankford says)—but the photographer cannot resist the quiet, deliberate study of his first love.

“I told myself years ago, ‘I’m done with flowers,’ and here I am working on part two of Intimate Portrait of Nature,” joSon says.

Among a certain breed of photographer, degree of difficulty is one of the main criteria for a great picture.

While joSon is no stranger to discomfort and danger, it is not a prerequisite to his process. He is just as likely to rummage through a compost bin as he is to drive overnight to Death Valley. Beauty, he insists, is not hard to find. It may be in your trash can right now as you read this.

“We live in a world where everything is thrown away so fast,” he says. “Even the most beautiful things.”

He recounts a recent wedding he attended with a friend, where bouquets that so gracefully adorned the tables early that evening were tossed on the curb by nightfall. He finds the same negligence in neighborhoods, cemeteries and home improvement stores.

Whenever he can rescue a flower, he will. His studio, he explains, has at times been so full of plants that people will drop theirs off, assuming he’s a plant rescue.

“We throw them away when we have no value for them anymore,” he says. “I still find beauty in them.”

The rescued flowers fill the pages of “Recycled Beauty,” a chapter in his forthcoming book. He is shooting on film to reclaim what he calls “slow photography.”

OPPOSITE PAGE: joSon’s book, joSon: Intimate Portrait of Nature, began as a class assignment at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University THIS PAGE FROM TOP: Bird-of-paradise | Spider chrysanthemum | Iris

“I am using a 4x5 camera, and the film is hand-developed by me using analog processes that connect me back to my days in the temple,” he explains.

Leonard-Heffner and Lankford are unsurprised by his return to flower portraiture—though he never really left it.

“Flowers have been throughout his career his signature,” Lankford says. “He speaks their language.”

Leonard-Heffner remembers the young artist photographing flowers tirelessly, even early in his academic career at Lake Tahoe Community College. But more than the subject in front of the camera, she remembers the man behind it, whose painstaking process allowed no room for mediocrity.

“I’ve seen him start projects and go back until it was absolutely right,” she says. “It’s not good enough for him to just go through the process. He would refine many times.”

The lifelong teacher cannot resist a floral metaphor of her own when reflecting with pride on the artistic arc of one of her brightest pupils.

“That’s the thing about teaching,” she muses. “We spread seeds of knowledge around and we really don’t know which ones are going to take root and become so much more than what you could have imagined. I always knew he would be successful, but I never dreamed he would be creating the work he is now.”

Tahoe Quarterly 103

Memories of Beauty

Decades later, the artist, who splits his time between

As a writer raised by Christian parents, it can be tempting to look

San Francisco and Tahoe, will occasionally find himself driving late

for the secret meaning hidden in the text. Signs and wonders

at night in the East Bay, with his windows down, and the scent of

reveal divine inspiration. Around every corner waits a new cryptic

magnolias that grow throughout Berkeley and Oakland will fill his

message, like clues in a cosmic caper. Life is not a passage as

car like a physical presence.

much as an endless investigation, for which death is both the final mystery and the final answer.

An hour on the phone with joSon soothes a lifetime of feverish eschatology.

“It brings me way back to the temple, and I remember everything,” he says. “The senses bring back memories. The mind becomes a blueprint.”

I ask Lankford to share memories of his favorite flower, and

“Life is not a choice that you make,” he says. “It is a journey.”

the loquacious author pauses for the first time in the call and

He proceeds to explain about his earliest experiences with

reflects on the question.

flowers—not the philosophical or religious thesis undergirding his

“My mother loved lilies of the valley,” he says after a long

passion, for which I keep artlessly probing—but the memories of

moment. “She’s passed away now. Of the things of hers I kept, one

beauty that remain with him all these years later.

of them is a glass plate that has lilies of the valley engraved in it.”

“When I was young, in the temple behind my room, there

Leonard-Heffner is also reminded of her mother, who had

was a garden with a big magnolia tree,” he begins. “Every evening,

nine children and used to cope with the responsibility by tending to

we’re supposed to close the windows to keep the mosquitoes out.

her lilacs in the garden.

But when the flowers are in bloom, the smell of it is like perfume

“We always had lilacs,” she recalls. From inside her home, she

through the whole garden, and I open the window and lie there in

peers out the window and says her own lilacs are in bloom as we

my mosquito net taking in the flower, a sweet, vanilla smell.”

speak. They grace her sidewalk, and when she enters or exits the

No matter how hard the day was, or how much work there was to do, the smell of the blossoming magnolia tree through his window at night melted away any lingering stress or unhappiness.

104

FROM LEFT: A craggy peak near Sierra-at-Tahoe | Tahoe Keys from above

Tahoe Quarterly 105

The rare Eureka Dunes evening primrose

house this time of year, she is transported back to her childhood, and her mother out in the garden.

“The smell of a lilac brings me back to all that,” she says. “It communicates a lot of things when you smell them.”

‘Super Happy’ I can relate. Growing up in Canby, Oregon, where the phrase “The

I think of joSon as a young man, forced to leave the temple in Vietnam to follow his own path, and I am reminded of what Mary Oliver wrote in her poem, In Blackwater Woods.

“You must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.”

I think of joSon now, a successful artist in his 50s, still giving it

Garden Spot” is engraved just below the population count on a sign at

all for a flower. A few days after our call, I received an email from him,

the edge of town, I was surrounded by the sight and smell of flowers.

just back from his hunt in Death Valley for the rare evening primrose.

In the summer, I would ride my bike to Swan Island Dahlia, a

“I was able to find the rare flower I was looking for. I’ve been

local farm less than a mile from my childhood home, where Mount

trying to find and photograph it for at least seven years, and this

Hood can be seen looming above row after colorful row of dahlias.

is the first time I’ve ever seen the plant or its blooms [in] over two

My aunt visited from Upstate New York one August, and we all

decades of photographing the park. So, I’m super happy.”

went to the nearby farm as a family, where she loved the flowers so

I am, too.

much that she ordered bulbs to be shipped across the country to put in her own sprawling garden.

William Carlos Williams wrote, “Oh strong-ridged and deeply hollowed nose of mine! what will you not be smelling?” and I think of a young joSon, curled in his mosquito net, windows flung open, drunk on the perfume of the magnolia tree.

106

Find more of joSon's work on his website, joSonstudio.com, and follow him on Instagram, @joSonphoto Michael Rohm is a writer and musician based in Portland, Oregon. He looks forward to reliving a part of his childhood this summer when the dahlias bloom.

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Forest Fungi Fever

A heaping handful of morels found in the Tahoe National Forest, photo by Seth Lightcap 108

Delicious wild eats and the thrill of the find inspire a growing community of mushroom foragers at Lake Tahoe Written by Seth Lightcap

Community courses, social media and online resources have made it easier to confidently identify edible varieties and avoid deadly ones, contributing to foraging’s newfound popularity. A few of the wild mushrooms found in Tahoe are also world-renowned for their flavor. So, for a mushroom lover or foodie who likes to hike, foraging is the perfect hobby.

The tricky part is finding the fungi and accurately identifying them as safe. Motivation and luck might land you

would have thought $100 bills were

a few, but collecting solid harvests season after season takes

sprouting up from the dirt and pine

practice and education. The first step is to learn the basics of

needles. The joy in An Hoang’s smile is palpable.

On a sunny, cool day in April 2026, Hoang has just found

mushroom ecology and the life cycles of the varieties you’re most interested in eating.

a large cluster of wild morel mushrooms in the forest near Fallen Leaf Lake. Treasured for their meaty texture and rich,

Fruiting a New Foraging Community

earthy flavor, morels are one of the most coveted yet hard-to-

Historically, fungi were classified as plants because most grew

find edible mushrooms native to the Sierra Nevada.

out of the ground and produced mushrooms that resembled

Hoang’s discovery comes in the final minutes of a guided

strange flowers. With the adoption of the five-kingdom

edible mushroom hunt led by Luis Rubio, a naturalist from

system of life in 1969, fungi became their own kingdom as

South Lake Tahoe. Rubio offers free wild mushroom foraging

scientists realized they were genetically more closely related

experiences to the public every spring and fall through his

to animals than plants. Plants meet their carbon needs

organization, Amongst The Trees.

through photosynthesis, while fungi obtain carbon from the

As Hoang uses a knife to carefully harvest the

environment, just as humans obtain carbon from food.

mushrooms, more squeals of excitement ring out through

Where fungi source their carbon from the environment

the forest. Rubio and the dozen-plus fledgling foragers he’s

further defines them. Saprotrophic fungi break down organic

guiding that day have come across a patch of morels, known

matter, such as dead wood or decaying leaves, to meet

as a flush. Within a few minutes, almost everyone in the

their nutritional needs. Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic

group has a couple of morels in their collection baskets.

relationships with living tree and plant species to obtain

Rubio couldn’t have scripted a better finish to the

nutrients. In a mycorrhizal association, the fungus colonizes

foray. For a few in the group, the morels are the first edible

the host plant’s root tissue and supplies it with water and

mushrooms they’ve ever found. Which, for Rubio, means

minerals in exchange for sugars and lipids that the plant

mission accomplished. Both Amongst The Trees and the

produces through photosynthesis.

nearly 8,000-member Lake Tahoe Community Mushroom

Fungi also differ from plants in that they lack roots. The

Group that Rubio founded on Facebook are dedicated to

working body of a fungus is a structure called mycelium that

helping people safely find edible mushrooms in the Sierra.

resembles a woven network of thin threads. The threads,

The forests surrounding Lake Tahoe are home to

known as hyphae, are responsible for digesting nutrients,

hundreds of mushroom species, but only about 50 have been

decomposing organic matter and producing the mushrooms,

confirmed as edible. The vast majority contain toxins that

which serve as the reproductive fruit that distributes spores.

are harmful, if not fatal, if ingested. Despite the danger, local

Native Americans were the first to identify edible

interest in wild mushroom foraging has surged in recent

mushrooms and understand that mycelial-level saprotrophic

years. As the snow melts in the spring or the rain comes in the

and mycorrhizal interactions with the environment determine

fall, more people than ever are on the hunt for these delicacies

where mushrooms are found. Here in Tahoe, morel and

of the forest.

puffball mushrooms have been part of the Washoe’s seasonal

Tahoe Quarterly 109

diet for thousands of years. Washoe tribal foragers passed down knowledge of these mushrooms’ most suitable habitats and growing conditions over generations.

When Rubio created the Lake Tahoe Community

“I got a lot of pushback the first year I created the group,

Mushroom Group in 2018, his goal was to build a public

and I still get people who message me saying what I’m doing

forum for exchanging information about mushroom ecology

is wrong,” says Rubio. “But I don’t agree with the mentality

and foraging tips like a native tribe. Within a year, the group

that if you show anybody else your spot, you won’t ever find

had 1,000 members. By the end of the COVID pandemic, it

anything there again. For me, that’s never been true. The more

had 5,000.

I walk, the more I find.”

Now clocking in at almost 8,000 members, the group is

110

FROM LEFT: Luis Rubio starts a foray with a presentation on local edible mushrooms | Morels fruit in forested areas that were recently disturbed | Snowbank mushrooms, aka “false morels,” are edible if thoroughly cooked, photos by Seth Lightcap

Rubio, who works as a freeride ski coach in the winter,

a thriving resource for both experienced and aspiring local

led free public foraging trips through the Facebook group for

foragers. Most of the content is shared photos of successful

several years before founding his organization to expand the

harvests and requests for help identifying mushrooms. Details

type of experiences he offered. In the spring of 2026, Amongst

about specific locations are rarely shared, but for a culture that

The Trees hosted six group hunts, a free online presentation

has traditionally been very secretive, any public attention to

about Lake Tahoe’s edible mushrooms, and other events

the pastime is too much for some.

focused on foraging native plants and gardening.

The Mighty Tasty Morel Much of what Rubio teaches in his presentations and events focuses on introducing people to the most easily identifiable edible mushrooms and the environmental factors that dictate where they fruit.

“You can wander for a long, long time and not find anything if you don’t know what to look for,” he says.

Morchella mushrooms, better known as morels, are what most Sierra foragers hunt for in the spring. Morels’ rich and earthy umami flavor pairs perfectly with almost any seasoning, and their meaty texture makes them a delight to eat, even for those who don’t love mushrooms.

Thankfully, morels are some of the easiest wild edible mushrooms to identify. The eight primary Morchella species found in the Tahoe region all look similar, with a distinctly honeycombed cap and hollow body. The species differ in color, size and the shape of their caps. Morels fruit only in spring, just after the snow melts, and their ideal habitat is burn scars and forested land recently disturbed by activities

that stir up the soil. They especially like burn zones because the soil is so nutrient-rich.

“Morels can be very prolific, but people tend to rely on their old spots, and after three to four years, they won’t find them there anymore,” says Rubio.

Tahoe Quarterly 111

Controlled-burn areas, freshly logged forest and landscaped grounds can be ideal habitats for morels.

“I know people who rake their property every fall, and

THIS PAGE: Luis Rubio shares insight on how to find edible mushrooms during an Amongst The Trees outing in South Lake Tahoe, photo by Seth Lightcap OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP: Chunky king bolete mushrooms found on Tahoe’s West Shore, photo by Rita Nelson | Agaricus moronii is a delicious edible that tastes like a portobello mushroom, photo by Seth Lightcap

they get morels in the backyard every spring,” says Rubio.

Morels are unique in that they employ both mycorrhizal and saprotrophic strategies. Some species form symbiotic relationships with pine and oak trees, while other species

and thoroughly cooked.

digest decaying leaves and pine needles. This makes them

The Delicious and Precious Little Pig

slightly trickier to find, as they do not associate with just one

Longtime locals Rita and Craig Nelson have been foraging

tree species.

for wild mushrooms on Tahoe’s West Shore for decades.

The secret to spotting them is to train your eye to pick

The couple learned to forage from Silvano Achiro, an Italian

out the soft brown or blonde hue and smoothly rounded

immigrant who moved to Tahoe in 1964 and started a garbage

contours of their caps, says Rubio.

collection company that would later become Tahoe Truckee

Until you develop such spotting skills, be ready to

Sierra Disposal.

endlessly scan the forest floor, yet find nothing. Picking out

Achiro had been foraging on the West Shore for 40 years

the unique contours of a morel cap from a visually chaotic

by the time the Nelsons met him walking in the woods with a

mess of forest debris is a practiced skill, but for each mile

huge burlap sack full of mushrooms. They became fast friends,

walked, observation skills improve.

and Achiro taught them how to find king bolete (Boletus

Keen-eyed foragers might also come across a “false

edulis), a mushroom called porcini in Italian—the “little pig.”

morel” species that’s native to the Tahoe region. Snowbank

Porcini are highly prized in Italy, and many consider them one

mushrooms, or Maublancomyces montanus (formerly

of the most delicious mushrooms in the world.

Gyromitra montana), have brain-like wrinkled caps that

112

Maublancomyces montanus can be eaten if properly identified

As Craig Nelson tells it, Silvano would take his family

vaguely resemble true morels. False morels found in other

from Italy out mushroom hunting when they visited. “One

regions often contain dangerous amounts of toxins, but

day,” he says, “we found so many porcini that his aunt, who

did not speak any English, knelt down and kissed the ground.

She could not believe how many we were finding.”

Bolete mushrooms are aptly named in Italian, as their sturdy appearance with a plump white stem and a bulbous brown cap resembles a little piglet. The Sierra is home to multiple bolete species, some that fruit in spring and others in fall.

Achiro and the Nelsons primarily foraged in the fall for king bolete, which, like the related spring king bolete (Boletus rex-veris), is mycorrhizal with Tahoe conifers and found in mature forests near creeks.

“I like softball-sized boletes,” says Nelson. “The big ones rot quicker and get more worms. But the worms aren’t a problem if you dry them. Cut your mushrooms into halfinch-thick slices and place them on a drying rack. The worms will drop out as they dry.”

Finding a bolete takes a trained eye, as they tend to sprout up under a thick layer of loose dirt and pine needles.

The growing mushroom, or cluster of mushrooms, will push up the forest debris, forming a slightly raised bump. The bump, known as a “shrump,” is often the only sign that a

that have a visible fruiting body to look for, boletes require

potentially huge mushroom exists there. So, unlike morels

patient scanning of the forest floor for level inconsistencies.

Though well-hidden, boletes often recur in the same areas every year, making the hunt for them slightly less daunting.

“If you find a bolete, you can be pretty confident you will find one or more there every single year,” says Rubio. “Even in dry years where you’re not finding anything else, boletes will keep popping up in the same spots.”

Coral, Oysters and Puffballs, Oh My! Of the approximately 50 edible mushroom species that fruit in the Tahoe Basin, only about 15 are commonly eaten. Beyond boletes and morels, experienced foragers are on the lookout for chanterelle, chicken of the woods, coral, giant sawgill, hedgehog, oyster, moron cap, pine woodwax, sculpted puffball, shaggy mane, slippery jack and yellow robe mushrooms.

Moron caps (Agaricus moronii) are regarded for their taste and have a flavor similar to that of portobello mushrooms. They are typically hidden beneath a shrump in shady forested areas with thick pine duff.

Corals also form a shrump, but look nothing like a traditional mushroom. They resemble a loofah sponge and taste similar to cauliflower.

Tahoe Quarterly 113

Bright, a Sebastopol-based mycologist who offers courses on Sierra mushrooms and guided foraging experiences through the Berkeley-based organization Fork In The Path.

“Just because a mushroom is supposedly edible doesn’t mean it’s edible to you, because we all have our own unique body chemistry, our own allergens and our own unique digestive microbiomes,” says Bright. “We are an ecosystem within ourselves, and that ecosystem will determine whether that mushroom sits well in our body.”

Bright, who’s working with colleagues on the first-ever comprehensive Sierra Nevada mushroom guidebook, is quick to admit there’s still plenty to be learned about what makes certain mushrooms toxic.

“For a lot of mushrooms,” he says, “we don’t fully understand the chemistry behind what makes them toxic, but we have enough evidence that we know they make people sick. Only the really toxic, deadly ones like death caps have been fully studied.”

A fact that may come as a surprise is that most wild edible mushrooms contain toxins that must be destroyed by cooking before ingesting. Only a few mushrooms found in Tahoe can be eaten raw, and only in small amounts.

FROM LEFT: Coral fungi grow under thick pine debris and have a mild, peppery taste | Sierran puffballs have a spongy texture and a mild, nutty taste, photos by Seth Lightcap

Cook Wild Mushrooms Like You Mean It “It’s a good practice to basically cook the crap out of any wild mushroom you want to eat,” says Bright.

This advice is especially critical for morels.

Chicken of the woods, oysters and puffballs are three

“The toxic compounds within morels, the hydrozines,

uniquely edible saprotrophic fungi. Chicken of the woods is

are very heat-sensitive; they volatilize and become inert once

a bright orange and yellow bracketed fungus that fruits on

they are cooked, but they can make you very, very ill if you eat

pine tree stumps after rainstorms in the late summer and fall.

them raw,” says Bright.

When properly cooked, it’s thought to taste like chicken.

Sautéing morels in butter or oil over medium-high heat

Oysters are fan-shaped mushrooms that fruit in

for seven to nine minutes is long enough to destroy the toxins.

bracketed clusters on downed logs or standing dead aspen

Frying morels in 340-degree oil for two minutes per side or

and cottonwood trees. They are prized for their delicate,

boiling them for 10 minutes will also ensure they are fully

slightly sweet flavor and velvety texture.

cooked.

Sculpted puffballs look like textured snowballs sprouting from the earth. They may be covered in pyramid-shaped

sautéing them for another seven to nine minutes in oil and

spikes or have raised flat warts on their outer surface. Young

seasoning is another safe way to ensure the mushrooms are

and firm puffballs have a mild, nutty flavor that readily

digestible.

absorbs any seasonings you cook them in.

While most people can eat all these mushrooms without

114

Parboiling wild mushrooms for 10 minutes before

For fresh porcini, it’s recommended to dry-sauté them over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes until the water

gastrointestinal distress, it’s important to test your body’s

evaporates and they begin to turn golden. Then, add butter or

reaction to a new mushroom before eating a lot of it, says Taye

oil and sauté for another five to 10 minutes.

Nelson, the porcini aficionado, recommends feasting on them soon after they are found.

“Porcini are best fresh,” he says. “Try to cook them the same day you pick them because they don’t keep; they go bad really quickly, even in the refrigerator. That’s why it’s so hard to find them in a grocery store.”

If you can’t eat all the wild mushrooms you find before they go bad, drying them is a good option. The drying process does not destroy all the undesirable compounds, though.

Dried wild mushrooms need to be rehydrated and cooked thoroughly, just like fresh mushrooms, to be safe.

No Fancy Gear Needed Picking up a new hobby is usually a costly endeavor. Not mushroom foraging. The financial barrier to entry is virtually zero. The only semi-required equipment beyond hiking shoes is a mesh bag or woven basket and a medium-sized folding knife.

Foragers use mesh bags or woven baskets because porous containers allow microscopic spores to fall to the ground as they walk, helping the mushrooms regenerate. But collecting in a cute basket is not critical. By the time a mushroom is fruiting and big enough to find, it will have already released most of its spores.

The preferred way to harvest a wild mushroom is to slice it off at the base of the stem with a knife. Leaving the mushroom “stump” in the earth is thought to protect and

Tahoe Quarterly 115

preserve the mycelium layer from which the mushroom fruited. A sharp folding knife works well for this task.

Studies have shown that harvesting mushrooms does not affect future generations. But like apples on an apple tree, the mushroom is the fungus’s reproductive fruit.

“If you come across a morel patch and you harvest every single one, you are not harming that population of morels,” says Bright. “But I would consider leaving a couple of small ones, and only taking the mature ones, out of understanding and respect for the organism.”

Spring 2026 was a standout season for morel foraging in the Tahoe region, as the usually elusive fungus started fruiting after the heat wave in late March and continued through the rains in early June—an earlier and longer season than usual.

“Historically, snowmelt is more of a slow, gradual process, and the moisture takes its time moving across the landscape,” says Bright. “But more and more with big heat waves and the weather getting hot really fast, the snow almost sublimates. It goes straight from snow to water vapor, and that's really changing the spring snowmelt mushrooms. They are fruiting earlier and earlier.”

Identify Twice, Eat Once The importance of properly identifying any wild mushrooms before eating cannot be overstated. This was evident in spring 2026, as California experienced an unprecedented outbreak of severe illness and deaths from people accidentally picking and eating poisonous wild mushrooms.

These cases were attributed to an unusually prolific

The poisonous Amanita pantherinoides killed several Tahoe dogs in the spring of 2026, photo by Seth Lightcap

bloom of death cap and western destroying angel mushrooms in the Bay Area and North Coast. Both species contain

misidentification is to cross-reference what you find with

highly toxic peptides that do not break down even after

photos of edible species right there in the forest. If the

cooking, boiling, freezing or drying. Several of the victims

mushroom doesn’t look exactly like the photo, don’t even

misidentified these as Asian paddy-straw mushrooms or

bring it home.

young puffballs, two safely edible mushrooms that look similar.

Death caps have not been found in Tahoe yet, but a few instances of western destroying angels have. The most common toxic mushrooms found in Tahoe are Amanita

experience and learning from experts, so don’t hesitate to tap into online resources like Rubio’s Facebook group to doublecheck what you’ve found.

Because no wild mushroom feast is worth dying for, and

muscaria, which is the red-and-white-spotted “Super Mario”

as the old Czech adage goes: “Every mushroom is edible—but

mushroom, and Amanita pantherinoides, which is similar in

some only once.”

appearance but white with yellow spots. While not often fatal to humans if ingested, both species can be deadly to dogs.

One approach to navigating the dangers of

116

Confidence in identifying edible species comes with

Seth Lightcap is a a writer and photographer based in Olympic Valley.

The Long Return The original stewards of the greater Lake Tahoe region, the Washoe are celebrating a groundbreaking reacquisition of former territory Written by Matthew Renda

A

fter more than a century of fighting to claw back its ancestral grounds one small chunk at a time, the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California tripled its land

base in one historic swoop.

The 10,274-acre WélmeltiɁ Preserve, located about 37 miles

north of Truckee, spans from Long Valley in the east to Sierra Valley in the west and features varied terrain from sagebrush and grasslands to conifer forests and mountain meadows. The land is

118

FROM LEFT: Members of the Washoe tribe on the Dressler Ranch in Carson Valley, circa 1900, photo courtesy Frederick H. Dressler Collection, University of Nevada, Reno, Special Collections Department | The varied terrain of the WélmeltiɁ Preserve from a bird’s-eye view, photo by Elizabeth Carmel

dotted with aspen groves, juniper and pinyon pine, riven by natural

ordained by nenťúšu, a primordial maternal power, as caretakers

springs and perennial creeks, and rich with wildlife, including

of the region. That region was generally acknowledged to extend as

pronghorn, mule deer, mountain lion and gray wolf.

far north as Honey Lake, south to Sonora Pass, eastward to the Pine

The purchase of this vast and ecologically significant property marks a major triumph for the Washoe, as it represents both a culmination of a long process of reacquisition and the beginning of a new chapter as the tribe seeks to regain a portion of its sovereign land.

Nut Mountains and the Virginia Range, and west all the way to the Sierra Crest.

Generally, the borders of tribal lands pre-contact were porous, if not entirely imaginary, as the Washoe people often extended their nomadic movement beyond these strict geographic markers,

Ancestral Origins

intermingling with other area tribes such as the Paiute, Shoshone,

Lake Tahoe is the center of the spiritual and geographical

Maidu and Miwok.

homelands of the Washoe Tribe (Wašišiw).

According to one tradition, the tribe’s people were brought to Lake Tahoe by the coyote (géwe), and once settled, they were

Regardless, Lake Tahoe was not only at the geographical center of the tribal lands but also at the center of the Washoe’s sustainable seasonal migrations, as they descended to the lower-elevation

Tahoe Quarterly 119

valleys during the winters and spent their summers hunting and

reverse until 1917, when an act of Congress set aside small colonies

gathering at the shores of the enormous alpine lake.

in and near Carson City.

“Tahoe” is an anglicization of the first two syllables of the

Since then, however, the tribe has slowly and steadily been

Washoe phrase “Da ow a ga,” which means “edge of the lake.”

reclaiming its ancestral lands, culminating earlier this year with

“Da ow,” meaning simply “the lake,” was changed to “Tahoe,” as it

the purchase of the WélmeltiɁ Preserve in the northern reaches of

was easier to pronounce for the settlers. The name was contested

Washoe territory.

for nearly a century—the lake was alternatively called Lake Bigler,

The name WélmeltiɁ carries particular weight, as it refers to

after California’s third governor—before culminating in its official

the northern regional group, whose homelands lie closer to

designation in 1945.

Sierra Valley. Until the recent purchase, most of the land

While Tahoe’s geographical and spiritual centrality has nourished the Washoe people since time immemorial, it remains a cruel irony that the tribe’s proximity to the lake is also what led to the swift totality of its dispossession.

reacquisitions have taken place in the southern and eastern parts of the tribe’s historical range.

Washoe Tribal Chairman Serrell Smokey, who helped steer the acquisition on behalf of the Washoe, says the achievement is just the latest milestone in a century of tenacious persistence.

Shunted Aside

“All lands that Washoe people gained were always hard-

The Washoe’s territory contained the principal overland routes into

fought,” he says. “We were never just given lands. … We were never

California, with Sonora Pass, Carson Pass and Donner Pass being

given an original reservation base just for Washoe people.”

the most notable, so the tribe was shunted aside as settlers arrived beginning in the 1850s.

In 1859, prospectors discovered the Comstock Lode, the richest silver strike in U.S. history, which was also on Washoe lands.

The Comstock’s voracious appetite for timber meant the

Land Back The more than 10,000 acres of ecologically significant land, formerly known as the Loyalton Ranch, is the largest tribal Land Back purchase in the Sierra Nevada and the third largest in California.

plunder of pinyon pine forests upon which the Washoe relied, and

Helen Fillmore, board president of the Waší·šiw Land Trust,

within a decade of the silver strike, the region’s native inhabitants

says she immediately recognized the purchase as historic for the

were pushed off nearly every piece of land they had used for

Washoe people.

millennia.

Unlike many other Great Basin tribes that retained a land base into the twentieth century, the Washoe received no treaty and were granted no reservation.

“It was the first time for me in a really long time that I felt this true sense of agency that our tribe finally had over our own homelands,” she says.

The purchase was made possible by the Washoe’s creation of

By the early twentieth century, the Washoe were a scattered

the Waší·šiw Land Trust in 2025 as a federally chartered nonprofit

people with no land base and no formal governance structure. Yet

under Section 17 of its tribal charter, a unique piece of institutional

they maintained their connections to their culture and language

engineering. This structure allows the tribe, which operates in both

while cleaving to the landscape.

Nevada and California, to move seamlessly across state borders

The process of inexorable dispossession did not begin to

without having to register in either state. It also allows for more effective fundraising, according to Smokey.

All lands that Washoe people gained were always hard-fought.

We were never just given lands. … We were never given an original reservation base just for Washoe people.”

— Serrell Smokey, Washoe Tribal Chairman

120

“The reality right now is that people are less willing to give money to tribes,” he says.

Fillmore says the tribe has fielded public skepticism rooted in a fear that it intends to develop the land rather than conserve it.

“There’s a lot of fear that comes about when tribes acquire land, where everybody immediately goes, ‘Oh, they’re going to develop it, they’re going to build a casino there,’” Fillmore says. “But our tribal

Washoe Tribal Chairman Serrell Smokey, courtesy photo

Tahoe Quarterly 121

FROM LEFT: Mule deer are among the abundant wildlife on the WélmeltiɁ Preserve, photo by Mario Nonaka | A wild rose on the property, photo by Lucy Blake | Vegetation lines a drainage on the WélmeltiɁ Preserve, photo by Elizabeth Carmel

We’re so often faced over generations with these stories of loss—loss of land, loss of resources, loss of habitat. Now, the narrative is falling more into our favor in a way that it hasn’t over the last two centuries.” — Helen Fillmore, Waší·šiw Land Trust land planning codes have some of the strongest environmental

Board, which provided a $5.5 million grant. The Waší·šiw Land

protections that I’ve seen in terms of not being able to change it

Trust is currently fundraising to create an endowment to help cover

once it goes into a conservation status.”

annual property taxes.

Once the Washoe created the mechanism for the land transfer,

While challenges remain, the Washoe are in celebratory mode,

they partnered with organizations that brought decades of private

as other tribes have asked about their specific approach and the

fundraising experience to the task of buying a large property in a

California Natural Resources Agency has expressed interest in turning

region where real estate prices remain stubbornly high.

the approach into a statewide toolkit for tribal land acquisitions.

“Land purchases in our homelands are extremely expensive,” Fillmore says.

So in 2019, the Washoe began working with the Feather River

“It is kind of groundbreaking,” Smokey says. “There is a new way to do things, and it’s because we’re creating them.”

Fillmore is more cautious about using terms like model and

Land Trust and the Northern Sierra Partnership as they explored

template, but she says the Land Back purchase undoubtedly fosters

acquisition possibilities in Sierra Valley. The three organizations

a general sense of optimism and possibility.

collaborated to secure state grants and private fundraising to cinch the deal.

“We really did just work as a single team on this,” says Lucy Blake, president of the Northern Sierra Partnership. “But

“We’re so often faced over generations with these stories of loss—loss of land, loss of resources, loss of habitat,” she says. “Now, the narrative is falling more into our favor in a way that it hasn’t over the last two centuries.”

people who wanted to fund the effort wanted to fund it because of the tribe. It’s very important to understand that the tribe was the

Piece by Piece

driver of the project.”

The WélmeltiɁ Preserve purchase tripled the amount of land under

Blake says the partnership raised approximately $6.9 million to purchase the property and cover associated costs, with the largest single piece coming from the California Wildlife Conservation

122

Washoe control within its ancestral territory.

Both Smokey and Fillmore see it as the culmination of a process that began in the late 1800s and early 1900s and a

reaffirmation of a principle Smokey returns to often: The Washoe

millions of acres taken without payment. The most important figure

were never simply given their land back, and instead had to fight to

in this process was Richard Barrington, a WélmeltiɁ elder who had

reacquire it piece by piece.

earned an education and started a logging mill.

The federal government did distribute land to individual

“[He] became such a significant advocate, testifying on

Washoe members under the Dawes Act of 1887, but the allotments

behalf of Washoe people about our cultural uses, the extent of our

were discrete parcels of barren ground with little access to water.

homelands and their importance and value,” Fillmore says.

The more valuable lands, including the pinyon pine forests of the Pine Nut Mountains, were given to non-natives.

“It was meant to separate us as a people into individual ownership,” Smokey says. “It was meant to break up the tribe.”

The Washoe did not procure a collective land base until three decades later.

In 1917, an act of Congress established the tribe’s first communally held land: 156 acres in Carson City and 40 donated acres at Dresslerville, near Gardnerville.

The tribe’s long fight for legal recognition of its own distinct

But Barrington and the Washoe were at a disadvantage: Their homelands straddled the state line, so the tribe, already small and under-resourced relative to their Great Basin neighbors, had to pursue claims in Nevada and California.

Their larger neighbors also advanced competing claims across territory where boundaries were notoriously blurry and difficult to delineate.

“Everybody had to prove where their people truly came from,” Smokey says.

The Washoe did prove it. Largely through Barrington’s

homelands began in 1948, when the Washoe started preparing a

advocacy and the testimony of expert witnesses, they won the

case for the Indian Claims Commission, a federal body created two

commission’s recognition of their territorial boundaries.

years earlier to adjudicate tribal land claims.

Filed in 1951, the Washoe’s case sought compensation for

Thus, the legal description of the Washoe’s homelands is still acknowledged today, reaching from Honey Lake south to

Tahoe Quarterly 123

A Washoe family at Lake Tahoe, circa 1866, photo courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Sonora Pass, and from the Pine Nut Mountains and Virginia Range

reacquisition—work that had already started and would continue

west to the Sierra Crest.

piecemeal for decades.

“It’s not just handwritten, ‘This is us.’ It was proven that our people were here this whole time,” Smokey says.

The tribe had bought a 95-acre ranch in Carson Valley in 1938 and 1940, raising hogs, sheep and dairy cattle on it. In 1970—the

But the victory was partial.

same year the claim settled—a separate act of Congress granted 80

When the claim finally settled in 1970, the tribe received

acres in Alpine County to the Washoe families who had long lived

about $5 million. The 1.5 million acres were valued at 1860s prices,

there, establishing the Woodfords Community, the tribe’s only

meaning most of the money was used to help establish the Washoe’s

community on the California side.

first institutions, from housing to health care, and was not used to purchase actual land.

In the decades since, the tribe has added stray parcels across its homelands, some of which were used for ranching, while others

Nevertheless, the Washoe now had a legally established

were set aside expressly for conservation and cultural use. While

territory within which they could continue the slow work of

each acquisition was a small reversal of the larger loss, none has approached the scale of what the tribe took on this year.

From elders all the way to the youth, they all said the same thing: They didn’t want to see a whole bunch of buildings all over the place, the land being torn up.

So that was an easy choice for us. The people want conservation.

They want to restore the land.”

— Serrell Smokey, Washoe Tribal Chairman 124

Stewards of the Land Before the historic land purchase, Smokey visited the WélmeltiɁ Preserve with his fellow people. His first trip was with tribal elders, and subsequent ones were with the youth and young adults, and on all occasions, he asked the prospective inheritors what they would like to see done with the property.

“We truly wanted to see what the people wanted to do with this land,” the chairman says. “From elders all the way to the youth, they all said the same thing: They didn’t want to see a whole bunch of buildings all over the place, the land being torn up. So that was

an easy choice for us. The people want conservation. They want to

settlement, low-intensity fires routinely ignited by Washoe land

restore the land.”

managers maintained the meadow system that forest has since

Fillmore says the tribe is no stranger to land stewardship,

overtaken.

pointing to the decades of experience assisting the U.S. Forest

Acting as stewards of the land is a practice the tribe built into

Service in managing Meeks Meadow (also known as Máyala Wáta),

its governance long before the broader American conservation

one of the largest forest meadows in the Tahoe Basin.

movement existed, Smokey says. The Washoe’s self-governance

In fact, Meeks Bay on Tahoe’s West Shore is the site of the

compact with the federal government included forestry from the

largest Washoe presence within the Basin itself. The Washoe have

moment it was implemented, with the tribe writing it in as a nod

operated Meeks Bay Resort, with its campground, cabins, a general

to its historical landscape management and because it was what the

store and beach, under a special-use permit since 1998.

people demanded.

In late 2023, the Forest Service selected the tribe through

It goes even further back, as the Washoe captains—or tribal

a competitive bid to continue running the resort for another 20

leaders—journeyed to Washington, D.C., in the late nineteenth

years, with a possible 10-year extension, meaning tribal presence is

century to advocate before Congress for the protection of pinyon

guaranteed through 2043 and possibly beyond.

forests being stripped to build the Comstock mines.

On the ecological side, the tribe signed a stewardship

As Smokey recounts the story, those captains told the

agreement in 2019 to lead the restoration of Meeks Meadow,

lawmakers the pine nut was “like our mother’s milk” and that the

where conifers have grown in dense stands and encroached on the

Washoe could not survive without it.

meadow, raising fire danger.

“We’ve been putting huge knowledge and effort into

Smokey says the current conservation efforts at the WélmeltiɁ Preserve are an extension of those historical efforts.

stewarding our homelands without the agency that ownership provides,” Fillmore says.

The Forest Service itself acknowledges that before European

“We’re just doing it in a little different manner. But we’re doing the same thing that our ancestors did just over 100 years ago,” he says.

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Tahoe Quarterly 125

FROM TOP: Large rock outcrops on the WélmeltiɁ Preserve, photo by Elizabeth Carmel | A map of the 10,274-acre property

The fire-mitigation project at Meeks Meadow and the history of advocacy for the pinyon forests both remain pertinent to the contemporary project, as the WélmeltiɁ Preserve was severely damaged by the 2020 Loyalton Fire.

“The upper part of (the preserve) has some beautiful forest land that, if the Washoe people had been managing it for the last 200 years, probably would not have burned down,” Blake says. “The Washoe were very active stewards of the land, using cultural fire to maintain the health of the forest. A lot of the forests of 200 years ago were much more resilient to wildfire than the forests today.”

Smokey says this fire and the aftermath are central to the tribe’s vision of restoration and preservation. Many of the pinyon pines that are of enormous ecological and spiritual significance to the Washoe burned. Protecting the remnant population while planting new trees will be a multigenerational project that forms the centerpiece of the tribe’s conservation project.

“One hundred and fifty years down the road, I would love

126

to see the reforestation of the singleleaf pinyon pine,” he says.

The tribe will also pursue the restoration of wildlife, including rabbits and groundhogs, and restore watersheds both for the health of the land and to help the small fish population that still clings to the creeks.

But foremost among all these goals is to give the Washoe a sense of connection to their ancient land—to a specific place of ownership and belonging.

“It’s all about having Washoe people on the lands, especially our youth out there doing the work with their own hands, so they can be a part of what our ancestors did for thousands of years,” Smokey says.

The Road Ahead There is something unmistakably triumphal in conversations with Fillmore and Smokey. Securing the WélmeltiɁ Preserve is a great victory, no doubt, a symbol that resonates beyond the bare fact of acquiring the land.

But both Smokey and Fillmore express confidence that the purchase

TA H O E ’ S M A G A Z I N E

was not a glorious ending so much as a hopeful beginning.

“We’re going to do good things, and I’m all for pushing boundaries,” Smokey says. “If the land trust wants to jump right in there and get more, then I’m all for it.”

The Waší·šiw Land Trust is already evaluating additional parcels. There is a nearby property whose intact plant diversity, undisturbed for three decades since its last fire, could provide seed stock for restoring the burned ground

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w w w. t a h o e q u a r t e r l y. c o m

on the WélmeltiɁ Preserve.

Tahoe Quarterly 127

The land trust is also eyeing a smaller developed parcel closer

But Blake is confident the hurdles can be overcome. Given

to the preserve that could serve as a field headquarters, or a place to

time, she says, and with the support of regional conservation

store equipment and cut travel times from Carson Valley.

partners, a renewed Washoe land base in the Tahoe Basin is

But the long-range vision remains trained on the spiritual and

genuinely feasible.

geographic center of the Washoe lands—Lake Tahoe.

“We see this as a collaboration that will go on for a number of

Smokey says the tribe is tracking federal legislation currently

years as the Waší·šiw Land Trust gets off the ground,” Blake says.

pending in Congress that would make it easier for tribes to purchase federally owned land. The stakes are highest at Tahoe,

Irrespective of the long-term plans, Fillmore is content to bask in the here and now, at least for a moment.

where more than 90 percent of the land within the Basin is owned by the federal government.

She talks of conversations with board members and elders, many of whom remember a hardscrabble childhood, where

Fillmore says the trust is eager to engage in conversations with

families couldn’t afford to keep the lights on, and food often ran

some of the large private landowners in the Basin, some of whom

short. Now, those same board members are discussing how to

have held their land for generations and may be more inclined to

manage million-dollar endowments.

see it held by the tribe rather than developed.

A phrase spoken to her by a friend, a member of a different

“If they want to keep the land in conservation status but have it owned by the tribe, those are conversations we’re definitely willing

native tribe, has stuck with her: “We’re the first generation that isn’t just trying to survive.”

to have,” she says.

Instead, the Washoe people are discovering what it means to

Hurdles remain, of course, not the least of which is Tahoe’s high cost of real estate. The Waší·šiw Land Trust still needs an executive director and must finish fundraising for the endowment

thrive.

Matthew Renda is a Santa Cruz-based journalist and former Tahoe resident.

attached to the WélmeltiɁ Preserve.

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F O O D & W I NE

Wine Country Without the Glitz

Friendly vibes and time-tested excellence highlight the Sierra Foothills AVA, which flies under the radar in a state famous for its wine Written by Celeste Leon AN EASY DAY trip from Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Foothills holds its own as one of the most diverse and historic wine regions in California. And yet, this closeto-home gem receives little fanfare, often bypassed by wine lovers headed to more prestigious locations.

But that’s not a bad thing. Because while the region may lack the renown of Napa or Sonoma, it also lacks the crowds and the costs, exuding a charm all its own.

The undulating foothills of the Sierra are full of colorful, down-to-earth people and dotted with wineries, many of which have been family owned for generations. The area’s winemaking history stretches back to the California Gold Rush, and its

130

FROM LEFT: Dating to 1869, the Grandpère Vineyard in the Shenandoah Valley produces grapes vinified by Scott Harvey Wines, which is renowned for its old-vine zin, photo courtesy Scott Harvey Wine Company | The historic Sobon Estate vineyard is located in the town of Plymouth in Amador County, photo by Shannon Landis, courtesy Amador Wine Heritage District

winemakers, once perhaps apologetic for

Bureau, which regulates the production,

the area’s rusticity, now delight in it.

taxation, labeling and advertising of wine to

“There is some cool energy in the

comply with federal laws.

Sierra Foothills,” says Chris Barkman,

There are 277 AVAs spread across 34

co-owner and sommelier of Uncorked

U.S. states. Not surprisingly, California has

Tahoe. “It’s like Sonoma 70 years ago.”

the lion’s share with 154.

This is the story of the Sierra Foothills

The designation is relatively new to

AVA, where folks who enjoy a slower pace

the wine industry, with Augusta, Missouri,

go to enjoy quality wine poured with a

becoming the first recognized region

friendly smile.

in 1980. The Sierra Foothills AVA was

Designated Wine Country

established in 1987 with 33 wineries and now has over 200. There are also smaller

An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a

“nested” AVAs within the Sierra Foothills,

federally recognized grape-growing region

such as California Shenandoah Valley and

in the United States. Such regions must

Fiddletown in Amador County.

have well-defined boundaries and be clearly

Among all the designated regions

differentiated from neighboring areas in

in the state, the Sierra Foothills AVA is the

ways significant to winegrowing, such as

third largest, trailing only the Central Coast

climate, elevation and soil.

and North Coast AVAs in acreage. It spans

AVA applications are approved by

170 miles from Yuba County in the north to

the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade

Mariposa County in the south and comprises

Tahoe Quarterly 131

F O O D & W I NE eight counties: Calaveras, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Amador, Yuba, Tuolumne and Mariposa. The latter two are the smallest, with only 11 wineries combined.

Of the Sierra Foothills AVA’s 2.6 million acres, however, only about 5,700 acres are devoted to grapes, representing just 1.3 percent of the state’s total. That’s

If you come to Amador, the wineries and the people make it special. There is an absence of glitz that you find in other areas.

Chances are you can meet the winemaker in the tasting room.” — Leon Sobon, Sobon Estate

because there are fewer acres under vine

region, with some single vineyards growing

as 1853, these settlers grew mission grapes

than in other regions; the bucolic rolling

20 to 30 different types.

and made wine in their basements and

hills contain more oak, pine and chaparral

But there is one variety that stands

than vines. Much of the area is remote, with

out as the undisputed king of the Sierra

appellations widely scattered.

Foothills: zinfandel.

The Sierra Foothills AVA produces

With more than 2,500 acres, zinfandel

backyard cellars for thirsty miners.

In 1856, a Swiss immigrant named Adam Uhlinger arrived in the Shenandoah Valley and established Amador County’s

the highest-elevation grapes in California,

accounts for over one-third of all grapes

first winery in Pigeon Creek, north of what

with vineyards up to 3,500 feet, while its

planted and is vinified in different styles,

is now Fiddletown.

Mediterranean climate with hot days and

from playful and lighter with notes

cool nights creates wines of exceptional

of peppery spice to fruit-forward and

bought the Uhlinger estate in 1911, and

character, zippy acidity and bursting

jammy with a palate of ripe raspberry and

the D’Agostini Winery operated into the

aromas, reflecting the land’s biodiversity.

blackberry, to full-bodied and high in

mid-1980s before the family sold the estate.

alcohol. Late-harvest zinfandel also makes a

Leon and Shirley Sobon then purchased

wonderful dessert wine.

the historic property in 1989 for their 30th

The region is also known for its myriad wine varieties, including chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, viognier

Italian immigrant Enrico D’Agostini

wedding anniversary.

and sémillon among whites, the latter being

Rich With History

one of the most age-worthy. Common red

Immigrants from Germany, Italy, Spain

Landmark, the Sobon Estate is now

wines include cabernet sauvignon, cabernet

and France, among other countries, came

managed by three generations of family,

franc, merlot, syrah, barbera, tempranillo,

to the Sierra Foothills for the California

including Leon’s sons, Robert and Paul

sangiovese, petite sirah, grenache and

Gold Rush beginning in 1848. As far back

Sobon, and his grandson, Austin.

Rhône blends.

Designated as a California Historical

“If you come to Amador, the wineries

And this is just a partial list, as there

and the people make it special,” says the

are more than 150 grape varieties across the

amiable Leon, who is now in his 90s.

“There is an absence of glitz that you find in other areas. Chances are you can meet the winemaker in the tasting room.”

Vines of Lore No discussion of the Sierra Foothills AVA would be complete without the history of old vines, and both Fiddletown and the Shenandoah Valley claim ownership of the state’s oldest producing zinfandel vines.

In Fiddletown, the 38-acre, dryfarmed Rinaldi vineyard most likely dates to 1865. Rombauer Vineyards in Napa Valley and Amador’s Terre Rouge and Easton Wines use these vines to make their old-vine zins.

Leon and Shirley Sobon bought Amador County’s historic D’Agostini Winery in 1989, photo courtesy Sobon Estate 132

FROM LEFT: Leon and Kenneth Sobon bottle wine in 1982, seven years before the Sobon family bought the D’Agostini Winery | The Sobons with their first family crush, circa 1978, photos courtesy Sobon Estate

even—and have stood the test of time.

Most of the region’s earliest wineries

Vineyard dates to 1869. This zinfandel

These gnarled vines are head-trained,

did not survive after the Gold Rush due to

vineyard expanded during Prohibition and

meaning they often resemble small trees.

the exodus of prospectors, Prohibition and

still produces grapes vinified by Macchia

They grow independently, without a trellis

economic recessions. Fortunately, many

Wines in Lodi and Amador County’s Andis

system, on roots that stretch 15 to 30 feet

vineyards were abandoned rather than

Wines, Vino Noceto Winery and Scott

deep to draw essential nutrients, minerals

ripped out, leading to a resurgence in the

Harvey Wines, which is renowned for its

and water. Small berries of limited yield

1960s and ’70s.

old-vine zin, appropriately named “1869.”

produce elegant, well-structured and

In Shenandoah Valley, the Grandpère

Old vines are magnificent—romantic

intensely flavored wines.

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During this time, Bob Trinchero, winemaker at his family’s Sutter Home

eviroarch.com Tahoe Quarterly 133

F O O D & W I NE

HELPFUL LINKS PLACER WINE TRAIL: placerwine.com EXPLORE ELDORADO WINES: eldoradowines.org AMADOR WINE COUNTY: amadorwine.com

Recommended Visits The Coopers are another multigenerational Amador County family. In 1958, Hank and Ruth Cooper purchased a Shenandoah ranch with walnuts and prunes. When their son Dick Cooper took over in the 1970s, he decided to replace the prunes with

Winery in Napa Valley, first tasted a

barbera grapes. Dick died in 2021, and all

zinfandel from Amador County. “The wine

four of his daughters now manage Cooper

dazzled me,” he would later say, “with a

Vineyards.

huge bouquet of ripe, spicy blackberry fruit. … It was really one of the finest wines I have ever tasted.”

Sutter Home went on to release an Amador County zinfandel in 1971, which established its potential as a superb wine and Amador County as the place to make it. The following year, Trinchero famously invented a white zinfandel, which quickly sold out and became the best-selling wine of its time.

The sassy and full-bodied style of the Sierra Foothills zinfandel continues to this day.

134

They grow 17 grape varieties on the property, but barbera is their flagship wine.

Not only did it help put Amador County on the map for barbera, but its 2021 vintage won the coveted Red Sweepstake award in the 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

“We are a small community here and grow beautiful grapes,” says Jeri Cooper Swift, one of the four sister owners who grew up on the Cooper Ranch. “We have a lot of pride in the work we do and the grapes we grow, and that is expressed in the wines we produce.”

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Sunrise at the Grandpère Vineyards, which is known for its old vines dating to 1869, photo courtesy Scott Harvey Wine Company | Head-trained barbera at Cooper Vineyards in Amador County | Vines grow on trellises at Cooper Vineyards, photos courtesy Cooper Vineyards

Barkman from Uncorked Tahoe, who sources wines from around the world, says his favorite winery in the Sierra Foothills AVA is Forlorn Hope, which farms organically. Their tasting room is in downtown Napa, but they use grapes from their estate vineyard at 2,000 feet in Calaveras County outside of Murphys.

“They produce European-style wines, a skin contact rosé from pinot gris, vermentino, mondeuse and trousseau, which is indigenous to Jura, France,” says Barkman. “Numerous customers come into Uncorked to request Forlorn Hope. Their wines are phenomenal, mindfully farmed, extremely balanced and always sell out.”

Barkman also recommends Conduit | Divergent Vine in El Dorado County.

“Their wines are fun and soulful,” he says, “and they produce hard ciders, too.”

A small family-owned winery that farms organically, Divergent Vine offers “experiences,” personal tours and tastings led by winemaker Aaron Bryan himself, with a unique option for entry into their expansive game room and arcade.

El Dorado County wineries can be reached in about an hour by car from South Lake Tahoe. The towns of Plymouth and Sutter Creek in Amador County are about two hours from Tahoe’s South Shore. And Placer County wineries

California • Nevada www.mwa-truckee.com

in Auburn, Grass Valley and Newcastle are about an hour from Truckee.

Happily, the wineries in this under-theradar region offer an enjoyable experience for oenophiles of all stripes. Cheers!

Celeste Leon is a published novelist and wine steward at Grocery Outlet in Truckee. She earned her Level 3 Award in Wine from WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust), the largest provider of qualifications for wine and spirits in the world.

Leon has completed 14 wine classes to earn her Wine Studies Certificate of Achievement in spring 2027.

Photos: ©Stephanie Russo

Indeed, the Sierra Foothills AVA is a place to enjoy wine on the slower side.

Winners of over 56 Design Awards Kurt Reinkens and Kristi Thompson, Principal Architects

Gratitude to: Heller Construction and Michael Rodgers Design

Tahoe Quarterly 135

F O O D & W I NE

A Higher Bar for Tahoe

With help from talented friends, a restaurateur and his partner create a chic new hangout with a personality all its own Written by Andrew Pridgen IF YOU HAVEN’T seen or heard of Gaviota yet, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Like everything else about Incline Village’s hidden-in-plain-sight speakeasy, when people eventually stumble upon it, the place feels accidental, if not inevitable.

Look a little closer, though, and you’ll discover it’s all very much by design.

The result: a safe, dark, cozy respite that locals and tourists alike are discovering, and adopting, as their new Tahoe place— comfortable in the irony that it, quite intentionally, isn’t much like anything Tahoe’s ever seen or done at all.

Discovered Space After helming Big Water Grille for decades, Incline restaurateur John Cheney was looking for something a little more low-key to juxtapose with his panoramic view-laden upmarket drink and dinner spot near Diamond Peak.

He found it in opening Gus’ Open Pit BBQ in the Raley’s shopping center in 2014.

Cheney, who was raised in Lompoc in the heart of California’s Central Coast, grew up mastering the art of Santa Mariastyle barbecue, cooking over an open flame using the local native red oak as fuel, and garnishing the tri-tip with pinquito beans and garlic bread. Simple as it sounds, it’s a tough meal to replicate—even on its home turf, as red oak continues to disappear—but he felt that Incline and Lake Tahoe had a hankering for something a little different off the grill. And he was right: Gus’ was an instant hit.

But seven years later Cheney decided to sell it to focus his energy solely on 136

Big Water Grille. The new owners ditched the Santa Maria-style concept and turned Gus’ into a spot called Nevada Jane, but that didn’t quite take. Eventually, the building’s owner called up Cheney, who still held the lease in his name, and asked him to step back in.

Cheney and his partner, Jennifer Tiexiera, who was raised in Incline and now splits time between Tahoe and Los Angeles as a documentary filmmaker, director and producer, brought Gus’ back into the fold in 2023, and for three years they kicked around ideas on what could go in the multi-level restaurant’s underutilized downstairs dining area.

“It was just wasted space with catering equipment, a couch, a couple leather chairs, and I was walking through there with my dad one day and he said, ‘Why don’t you knock that down and extend the restaurant?’ That’s when the lightbulb went off,” Cheney says.

“I love the man, but John is a total

OPPOSITE PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Gaviota co-owners John Cheney and Jennifer Tiexiera, courtesy photo | A couple of tasty cocktails ready to serve, photo by Ryan Salm | Bar manager Tess McFarland mixes a beverage, photo by Ryan Salm THIS PAGE FROM TOP: The stylish interior of Gaviota, courtesy photo | A door to Gaviota is partially hidden behind red curtains, photo by Ryan Salm | Another unassuming gateway into the cocktail bar, photo by Ryan Salm

Tahoe Quarterly 137

F O O D & W I NE hoarder,” Tiexiera says with a laugh, adding that the area “was really his, quote, unquote, ‘office,’ which was his hoarding space.”

You’d never know it now.

So how did a space filled with piles of junk transform into the funky, jazzy finished product it is today? Turns out, a lot of talent and a lot of help.

A Key Player in the Making Several decades ago, Niko DeMaria, then a student at Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles, would mount one of his Harleys when the urge hit him and point it north toward the Sierra Nevada.

FROM TOP: Gaviota is concealed inside Gus’ Open Pit BBQ | The cocktail bar features various seating options throughout | Bartender Chantel Whitlaw shows a new customer some of her favorite drinks, photos by Ryan Salm

It was then that he caught his first

The restaurant designer and artist

glimpse of Lake Tahoe. And that, he says,

didn’t blink. After all, he’d gotten used to

was it.

running into creative types with outsized

Now, he splits time between New York

ideas living anonymously among the

and his adopted home of Incline Village,

evergreens and curlicue streets of Incline,

where he and his wife are gradually stitching

where such talents are not unusual. (It is

themselves into the Tahoe town’s varied fabric.

the place where David Coverdale’s wife

Among their friends, Cheney and

once opened a pole-dancing studio next

Tiexiera came to him last year pitching an

to the post office and Gene Simmons

idea of a found speakeasy in the basement

decamped from his longtime Beverly

of a barbecue joint.

Hills home to seek respite from the

“earthquakes, fires and pandemics every year.”)

Perhaps more unusual is that DeMaria has discovered a similar cohort of busy artists, chefs, bartenders, builders and designers beneath the pine needle canopy to collaborate with.

‘For the Locals’ After deciding to turn the wasted space below Gus’ into a stylish speakeasy, Cheney and Tiexiera went back and forth on a list of things they wanted and hadn’t experienced before in a Tahoe bar—as well as some familiar things that they couldn’t leave out. For Tiexiera, it always came back to the music.

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“I’m a huge jazz fanatic,” she says. “I had a mom who listened to a bunch of jazz and we could see Tony Bennett at Harrah’s in South Lake, or go down there and see The Manhattan Transfer, along with all these obscure musicians.”

But in Incline specifically, it was mostly about the singer-songwriter, like Luke Stevenson, whose permanent weekend gig at the Lone Eagle Grille went away with the restaurant’s closure in 2025.

“We didn’t have anything,” Tiexiera says. “We wanted to have a place for all these different musicians. We wanted a place we could go hide out in. It’s for the locals.”

Soon, word of the concept spread to their multitalented group of friends, neighbors and acquaintances in Tahoe.

Something completely different was brewing right underneath Gus’ second-

FROM TOP: photo cutline here

Expert bartenders mix unique premium cocktails at Gaviota, photo by Ryan Salm

floor dining room, and folks wanted in.

“Oh, big time,” Cheney recalls of his inner circle’s enthusiasm for the

creative leash from the get-go. His directive

And flourish it did.

project—and how the assemblage of a local

from the start was: “This is more speakeasy,

Cheney, Tiexiera, DeMaria and Aaron

Avengers-like team of artists, technicians

so you can do anything you want. You can

began exchanging texts filled with ideas.

and hospitality veterans came together in

walk into a different world.”

Nothing seemed too out there or too

the process. “Kevin Holm, he was involved.

incongruous, and everyone’s voice and

He did all the lighting and the audio as

A Cosmic Swirl of Genres

well. The Tiffany pendant [lights] that are

The prospect of doing something unlike

above the bar, those are 100 percent Jen.

anything in Tahoe in Tahoe became sort

She would text me an idea. I’d show Pam

of a rally cry for the group. Not that there’s

time I saw The Cure, my favorite band of all

[Aaron of Sierra Verde Home Design], and

anything wrong with the Tahoe aesthetic:

time,” Cheney says of the many disparate

she’d give us samples.”

“Warm woods, stone, lake views, local art,”

and funky elements—pop-goth, ’90s boho

DeMaria says.

chic, Amsterdam, jazz, a piano bar and

As the ad hoc group project started to take shape, Cheney reached out for design

influence managed to find its way to the final product.

“The poster [at the bar] is from the first

But, he adds: “It’s been done.”

even nautical—coming together to produce

Cheney and Tiexiera agreed and

a cosmic swirl of genres that somehow

a restaurant redesign project (a Tex-

knew that the found space below Gus’ was

combine to make it all work in one space.

Mex-themed bar on the East Coast called

begging to try on something new. It doesn’t

“Above the piano, the chandelier, Pam and

Tejanos) and happened to be looking for

look out onto anything (unless a Bank of

Niko and I were sold on a circular, kind of

his next thing.

America parking lot counts), and Incline

like a wheel—Jen completely vetoed it.”

help from DeMaria, who was just finishing

He had but one question: “I just asked

had just lost a couple of its favorite watering

The bar’s interior, as DeMaria describes

John in the very beginning, ‘We’re not

holes—Rookies in the same shopping

it, is something of “a casbah.” It indeed

going Tahoe, are we?’” He said, ‘No.’”

center and The Local across the street. The

feels walled off from the rest of the world,

Along with the answer he wanted to

town was ready for something to come in

highlighted with splashes of dark blues

hear, DeMaria says Cheney gave him, along

and bring a good bar energy with some

and reds and some of the most forgiving

with the others he brought on board, a long

fresh flourishes.

lighting this side of your car’s dashboard Tahoe Quarterly 139

F O O D & W I NE at night. There are plenty of dark corners

“He says, ‘My wife and I go there all

for private conversation, and a piano

the time. She’s singing there this weekend,”

and room for a DJ in the center for when

says Tiexiera, pausing for a moment before

live entertainment turns it up a notch on

pivoting to what Incline’s reputation has

weekends.

become—and who really is there making

And all of it, Tiexiera says, is both

the town go. “We get distracted that it’s a

made for and attributable to “so many

billionaire playground. We forget there are

incredible artists and insanely talented

a lot of people who are artists and artisans

people that find their way there,” she says of

and make art for a living.”

Incline. “I think people go up there for the

But along with honoring Incline’s

sacred place of it.”

‘It’s a Vibe’

artsy side, Gaviota doesn’t skimp on a little The final step of mixology: the pour, photo by Ryan Salm

The filmmaker gave one recent example of

Nevada-style guilty pleasure, too. Perhaps most surprising in its unobtrusiveness is the bar’s installation of video gambling

how the Incline—and now Gaviota—orbit

Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, who

machines. They’re there for those who want

seemingly follows her everywhere.

trained with Urquidez after he got sober.

to partake—and perhaps the only signal

Tiexiera reached out to McKagan’s manager

that you’re in Nevada or Tahoe instead

duties on a feature-length documentary

to possibly meet up and the manager said

of Tribeca or Silver Lake—but they, too,

about the life of kickboxer Benny “The

he lived in Tahoe, not L.A. She asked him

seem to blend right in with the moody and

Jet” Urquidez, produced by Fisher Stevens

where in Tahoe and he said Incline Village.

intoxicating mixtape of styles.

and Keanu Reeves, and she was recently

She revealed she was raised in Incline and

trying to track down Duff McKagan of

owns Gaviota.

She’s currently wrapping up directing

Maybe it’s the fact that Gaviota achieved something completely different,

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or maybe it’s the live music, impromptu sing-alongs, or even the buzzy “you never know just who might show up” feel that buoys this newly sought-after destination. Whatever it is, it’s working.

“The speakeasy, it’s nice. I like the vibe over there,” Rachel Specter, general manager of Alibi Ale Works in Incline, says of her favorite after-work spot. “It’s a beautiful space and everyone’s nice.

It’s loud and dark in there. It’s a vibe. It’s definitely a needed aspect. … It’s also cozy, and you can get a little gossip, the local tea.”

Beyond the local tea, Gaviota has also garnered praise for its food, which includes the entire Gus’ menu plus oysters, sushi hand rolls and its signature Sicilian sashimi, as well as its cocktail program, which changes seasonally. During the winter, the menu was movie-themed. Tiexiera says her favorite was “Whose motorcycle is this?”

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a mezcal-based drink that was “obviously a cute little pull from Pulp Fiction.”

Indeed, the always-changing, cleverly themed approach to the drinks is part of the fun. That, and they each come with a Nevada-sized kick on top of everything else. One sip and it’ll make you forget that you’re next to The Potlatch gift shop and Pak Mail and reset your biases about anything that could be described as artisanal. Two sips and you’ll blend right into the tactile wallpaper or melt with the oversized cushions.

A Place for New Memories In the day-to-day, the bar’s key ingredients—mystery, whimsy, hard work and the magic that comes from being charming—are attributable to the veteran and personality-laden crew, Cheney says.

“My staff, the bartenders, they’re more than bartenders, they’re scientists,” Tahoe Quarterly 141

F O O D & W I NE he says. “My bar director, Tess McFarland, ages drinks in oak barrels. She’s in the kitchen making syrups and all these creations that are beyond. … We have about five bartenders that all have different followings, and they bring different things to the table that attract different people. I’m always really impressed.”

But even if drinking isn’t your main Gaviota bartenders hard at work on a busy Saturday night in Incline Village, photo by Ryan Salm

objective, there is something special for everyone to be found at a space Cheney feels has already taken on a life of its own in bar somehow stayed flush with Incline

shores of the lake courtesy of a crew of

And he’s right. The fact that sad

revelers. “In fact, last night it was quiet. We

locals trying on something completely

recollections of bars lost on the same block

were in there having fun. There were maybe

different for size. That part of Gaviota’s

are being replaced with new memories

like eight people. And all of a sudden, these

mission—being the bar that set out to be

made nightly at Gaviota is a testament to

great locals showed up, 15 to 20 people.

nothing like Tahoe had ever seen—happily,

the place that seems to be finding its own

They were meeting there to celebrate

has failed.

way, the right way.

someone’s birthday and brought in a

just a little more than a year of business.

“The locals definitely support us,” Cheney says, noting that in April and May, during the height of shoulder season, the

birthday cake. We went from a chill night to a raging night.”

A chill night to a raging night by the

Andrew Pridgen stepped into Gaviota this winter and three sips later had summoned enough liquid courage, once more, to ask Incline Village if it could ever love him back.

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142

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F O O D & W I NE

A Slice of Life

In a destination known more for scenic lake views than New York-style pizza, a popular spot in the heart of Tahoe City has earned a reputation for churning out quality pies Written by Andrew Pridgen Photographed by Ryan Salm

It’s the place to grab a whole pie or a quick slice for lunch. It’s the spot where you run into friends picking up at the counter,

a little bit more, looking at their phones for answers about the place to be.

YOU WANT TO bite into a classic burger

where teens congregate after practice

with Lake Tahoe in the backdrop for a

or when meeting up on weekends. And

A Delicious, Down-to-Earth Joint on Tahoe’s North Shore

foodie pic to post? No problem. A secret

visitors stumble upon it when they’re trying

Mountain Slice is, at least on the surface, a

burrito spot tucked away from the trail

to grab a snack before meandering around

typical grab-and-go and a wholly satisfying,

of tourists? Sure. How about some cozy

easy-on-the-wallet excursion. Daily specials

upmarket dining in front of a plate glass

and a drink run $10 or less. They don’t

window that delivers a serene, “let’s forget

advertise. They don’t really do social media.

about everything else going on” respite for

But word of mouth is so prevalent, even the

a moment?

most local locals swear by it.

Yep, Tahoe’s got you.

How about grabbing a great New Yorkstyle slice on the cheap?

Nope. Nothing here. Sorry.

Or is there?

At least that’s the case on a recent Saturday, when Hunt and his crew are checking through some last-minute morning prep for their daily noon opening.

“Ah, God,” Hunt says, pausing mid-

For the last nine years, Alex Hunt and

thought as he looks out the restaurant’s back

his loyal crew at Mountain Slice Pizza and

door. “The bear got into our trash last night.”

Creamery in Tahoe City have been slowly building a reputation, focusing on locals first.

FROM TOP: Alex Hunt is the owner of Mountain Slice Pizza and Creamery | Mountain Slice features a unique selection of pies, including a thick-crust Detroit-style pizza | The Tahoe City restaurant offers indoor and outdoor seating

144

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: With a reputation for quality, Mountain Slice sells out of pizza every day during peak season | Nick Koenig, Alex Hunt, Diego Mosqueira and Noemi Convoy gather for a quick photo after a busy night at Mountain Slice | “Pizza, Party, Shred” is an apt motto for both Mountain Slice and Tahoe City in general

As the restaurant owner steps out to

decades in the restaurant business.

“did-that-really-happen?” opportunities,

“I have a microphone, we have 50

says his varied background is what gave

crew: “F--king bears. The big one got into it

people in line, and I get on and go, ‘Hey

him the audacity to spin up an old-school

last night. What were we doing? Oh, that’s

guys, heads up: we’ve got six doughs left

East Coast-style pizza window on Tahoe’s

right, we were doing game night.”

and I can’t guarantee there’ll be slices. And

North Shore in a time of private equity

if you haven’t pre-ordered, we can’t take any

takeovers and shrinking affordability.

investigate the scene, he calls out to his

Bears, bros, tourists and teens—it seems everyone is welcome, or at least

more orders.’ And people … clap.”

Hunt grew up in New Jersey before his family relocated to San Diego when

highly tolerated, at Mountain Slice. And

He says it’s that kind of community

that may be part of the explanation why,

spirit and praise from patrons—even if

he was a teen. It was in San Diego, not the

on busy winter and summer weekends,

they’ve come for a slice and left empty-

East Coast, where he first got a gig spinning

especially, a line spills out the door and

handed—that feeds him and his crew,

pizzas in a small New York-style slice shop.

onto the sidewalk paralleling Tahoe City’s

constantly. “When they’re leaving, they

main thoroughfare.

say, ‘Man, that’s so good for you guys, we’ll

Sonoma State University and studied music,

“In every high season, summer

make sure we get it earlier next time,’” he

discovering snowboarding and Tahoe on

and winter, we sell out every single day,”

says. “It’s so cool. The support is super rad.”

weekends along the way. After graduation,

says Hunt, 40. “Pre-orders, house pies—

After high school, he went on to

he decided to return to the East Coast.

especially in the summer—by 3 or 4 o’clock,

Roundabout Path to Pizza

all 180 pizzas are spoken for.”

That Mountain Slice even exists at all in

guitar-making icon Les Paul and then

2026 feels something like a miracle.

somehow landed a job at Fox News. There,

surprise, isn’t a buzzkill for patrons

Hunt, whose resume reads like a

he worked as an audio technician and desk

but more of a community rallying cry,

connect-the-dots of cross-country moves

correspondent. And, “I did a lot of political

something he’s never seen during his

and random chance encounters mixed with

research for stories,” he says.

The pizza selling out, to Hunt’s

He worked as the last lead engineer for

Tahoe Quarterly 145

F O O D & W I NE As a jack of all trades at Fox, Hunt did everything from mic’ing up the hosts to sitting in as the studio drummer for Mike Huckabee’s weekend talk show. “I played on live TV for 4 million people,” he says. “There’s some sweet videos of me online playing in my early 20s, and I just look like a deer in the headlights.”

But the Fox gig was a burnout one, says Hunt, who soon left New York once more for San Diego. There, he did some freelance work with local news stations, managed a branch of the legendary Southern California brewpub chain Pizza Port and sat in with a “post-rock instrumental” band called Thieves of the American Dream.

FROM TOP: Mountain Slice owner Alex Hunt delivers one of his specialty pies as a gift to a private party that rented out the restaurant | Nick Koenig, left, and Alex Hunt show that there’s always time to have fun during a shift at Mountain Slice

After finishing a string of shows on the road with the band, he was driving

you know”) underground Truckee venue

space below, draw a picture of what you

along Interstate 80 toward his home when

known as the “wormhole” as a little side

want to do when you grow up.’ And I drew

he decided on a whim to stay in the Tahoe

hustle. “People started to find out I was

two stick figures on either side of a table

area for an evening. He sent a message to

cooking pizza there, and they’d come just

with thought bubbles. One says, ‘What’ll

his old college roommate, who happened

to eat pie,” he says, with a laugh. “They

you have?’ And the other goes, ‘A slice of

to be working night operations at Sugar

could see I was dedicated—I’m covered in

pepperoni.’”

Bowl. Hunt joined his buddy for a shift.

pizza tattoos. I’d have a full little restaurant

They hung out all night and “drove cats and

serving pizzas, and they’d line up and the

the business to take over the spot next

snowmobiles and it was super cool.”

wheels started turning, so I put together a

door—the former home of Tahoe City

business plan.”

Sushi—and, at the same time, nurture an

One night led to two. Two led to a week. And, well, you know how every old Tahoe story goes.

After working for Sugar Bowl and Tahoe Treetop Adventure Parks, along

In nine years, he’s managed to grow

Eventually, a small spot became

outsized reputation as the place in Tahoe

available in Tahoe City, and, with the help

to have a good, asterisk-free slice: It’s not

of some veteran local restaurateurs as

just a spot that’s good for Tahoe. It’s a pizza

backers, he took the plunge.

joint that’s good, period.

with some itinerant sound work for local

“Pizza had always been my thing,”

bands and DJs around Tahoe and Truckee,

Hunt says. “My mom has it framed at

Passing the Taste Test

Hunt started slinging pizzas for hungry

home: In fourth grade, there was this

I can attest. A longtime lamenter of all

concertgoers at an IYKYK (“if you know,

worksheet assignment where it says, ‘In the

things pizza in Tahoe, I must admit that there are a handful of local stalwarts that are still worth a visit.

There are also a few that have sadly come and gone.

Peluso’s Apizza, which rolled out New Haven-style slices in the early 2000s from a Kings Beach window and later as a small counter next to Sierra Meadows in Truckee, is now a memory. Nu Yalk Pizza used to be as critical a stop in Reno as Costco and Trader Joe’s, but now is also in the distant rearview.

146

vibe; that cool alternative sports vibe—skate

same as soon as it registered that my way

around Tahoe City amid the aimless

decks and snowboards and music and all

was a much speedier, and not quite as

masses, I spotted a line coming from

the things on the wall. It doesn’t feel like

messy, pizza delivery system.

Mountain Slice. I wasn’t thinking about

pretentious Tahoe. We still have locals.

pizza at all. But then, suddenly, there it was.

We still have people that want that Tahoe

About five years ago, while walking

The crust had all the right attributes:

aesthetic.”

Glad I could be of service.

But the brief, wordless encounter also made me realize that these quiet interludes

bendable but substantial enough to carry

But throwback doesn’t necessarily

are what make Tahoe Tahoe. Just one of a

the weight of the cheese and a handful of

mean nostalgia, nor does it do the whole

thousand unspoken traditions we lament

toppings. Hearty, yet still thin enough to feel

Mountain Slice experience justice.

the passage of, it was a moment to recognize

like the real deal. A crispy chew with just

To Hunt and his crew’s credit, the

that it all hasn’t been signed over just yet.

enough char. The first bite was, of course, 20

energy in and around the space does harken

You just need to know where to look. You

degrees too hot and burned the roof of my

back to a time when dirtbags roamed the

need the right folks in place to keep it

mouth. Perfection. A found pizza paradise

land, when a cheap slice or two and a PBR

going. And, of course, a tasty slice and a

in the most unlikely of places.

tallboy meant lunch and dinner and maybe

cold fountain drink to wash it down helps a

even breakfast the next morning.

whole bunch, too.

Now, Mountain Slice is the main attraction when dipping through Tahoe

And while you don’t see many dirty

“I’m in a tinderbox building that was

City. No matter the time of day, if they’re

dreadlocked groms hitchhiking to spots like

built in the ’50s,” Hunt says. “It’s got that little

open—and not out of dough—I’m

Mountain Slice anymore, on a recent visit,

vibe about it. Our pizza matches that, too.”

stopping. And that seems to be the gospel

I managed to grab two pieces of pep and

truth for many.

sit on the curb next to some real-deal

“We try to make it feel how Tahoe

Tahoe City teens. They looked at me funny

used to be,” Hunt says. “That cool mountain

as I folded my slices in half, then did the

Andrew Pridgen would much rather eat pizza on the curb facing away from the lake than do pretty much anything else. If you see him, go grab a slice, sit down and say hi.

Tahoe Quarterly 147

THROUGH THE LENS

CAMERA-FRIENDLY

LOVE ’EM OR HATE ’EM, insects of the winged variety abound at Lake Tahoe come summer.

While some of these flying creatures can be a nuisance—think mosquitoes, deer flies and the like—others are both beneficial to the landscape and beautiful to observe—like butterflies, honey bees and even dragonflies. The latter tend to attract Tahoe’s keen-eyed photographers, who recognize a photogenic subject when they see it.

The following pages are proof.

Photo by

KIM HUNTER STEED

Known for its target-like eyespots and orange markings, the common buckeye is indeed a common sight in the Tahoe region during the summer

148

Tahoe Quarterly 149

THROUGH THE LENS Photo by

BLAKE KESSLER

While shooting the annual bloom of camas lilies in Sagehen Meadows, Blake Kessler noticed an equally stunning photo subject: a western tiger swallowtail moving among the blossoms

150

Photo by

BRONWYN HUDDLESON

A western honey bee perches on an aster flower along the Warren Lake Trail in late summer

Tahoe Quarterly 151

THROUGH THE LENS

Photo by

SEAN LEFRAK

A colorful flame skimmer dragonfly rests on buckbrush buds

152

Photo by

JEFF DOW

Matt Forister, a biology professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, with a lilac-bordered copper butterfly

Tahoe Quarterly 153

THROUGH THE LENS

Photo by

MEGAN DELEHANTY

A fritillary butterfly enjoys the nectar from coyote mint near Serene Lakes

154

PHOTOGRAPHER BIOS Kim Hunter Steed is an internationally recognized photographer who specializes in capturing the spirit of the American West. She strives to create images that tell a story and evoke emotion in the viewer. @visionsofthewildwest Blake Kessler is a photographer, videographer and drone pilot based in Truckee. His work focuses on the landscapes, wildlife and outdoor experiences of the Sierra Nevada and the American West. blakekessler.com, @bkcontent Bronwyn Huddleson is a Truckee-based photographer whose work explores the connection between people, place and nature.

Inspired by sustainability, travel and human connection, she creates imagery that celebrates wild landscapes and diverse communities. bronwynhuddleson.com, @bronwyn_photog Sean Lefrak is a 25-year Tahoe local with 15 years behind the lens, primarily as a sports photographer. Whether he’s capturing a high-energy snowboard session, a milestone graduation or a combination of the two, he thrives on bringing Tahoe’s vibrant energy and stories to life. @seanlefrak, @lefrakphotography Jeff Dow is the owner and creative director of one of Northern Nevada’s leading photography and video production studios. A graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography, he has spent more than two decades producing award-winning visual content for national brands, corporations, tourism organizations and businesses throughout the United States. jeffdow.com, @jeffdow_photography Truckee-based photographer Megan Delehanty captures compelling visual stories of global and local adventures, from scaling the world’s “Seven Summits” to exploring her Sierra backyard. Her dynamic work spans breathtaking landscapes, diverse wildlife and intimate macro photography. megandelehanty.com, @megan.delehanty

Tahoe Quarterly 155

ocial �cene

Celebrating the Best of Tahoe at Ridgeline Gallery Ph o to gr a p hy by S c o t t T h o m p s o n

RIDGELINE GALLERY IN downtown Truckee hosted Tahoe Quarterly’s Best of Tahoe issue release party on April 30. The gathering featured lite bites, drinks and good company, along with amazing art throughout the welcoming space owned by Piper Johnson and Douglas DeVore.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Spring blossoms line the walkway in front of Ridgeline Gallery in downtown Truckee | Ridgeline Gallery co-owner Piper Johnson and TQ Publisher Clayton Humphries with the cover of the Best of Tahoe issue | Photographer Keoki Flagg and Gallery Keoki sales associate Emily Hara take a moment to gather for a photo | Truckee-based interior designer Elisa DiNallo shows off her ad in TQ’s Mountain Home issue | Hors d’oeuvres ready to be consumed | TQ’s 2026 Best of Tahoe issue, with the cover shot by Scott Thompson | Observing fine art by Douglas DeVore, co-owner of Ridgeline Gallery | Author and TQ contributing writer Kayla Anderson flashes a friendly smile at the issue release party Tahoe Quarterly 157

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Ad Index

pg #

Action Water Sports Incline..............................................................................................51 Agan Consulting............................................................................................................... 159 Altitude Control Technology...........................................................................................89 Altitude Design.....................................................................................................................50 Aspen Leaf Interiors............................................................................................................52 Burn Boot Camp................................................................................................................ 127 California Solar................................................................................................................... 115 Canopy Property Services................................................................................................16 Chase International.............................................................................................................27 Chase International - Clear Creek Tahoe.............................................................. 28-29 Chase International - Susan Clemons..........................................................................30 Chase International - Trinkie Watson............................................................................31 Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno - Christine Perry................................11 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction.............................................................................................. 2-3 Compass - Lexi Cerretti......................................................................................................40 Compass - Glenhaven........................................................................................................25 Compass - Brandon Walsh............................................................................................. 107 Compass - Kate Wilkins......................................................................................................54 Czyz’s Appliance Inc............................................................................................................47 David Goldman Environmental Architecture........................................................ 133 Diamond Spas.......................................................................................................................20 Dickson Realty.................................................................................................................... 147 Fat Cat Bar a& Grill............................................................................................................ 159 Ferguson Home....................................................................................................................26 Gallery Keoki....................................................................................................................... 117 Golden Nugget.....................................................................................................................61 Goldfish Properties..............................................................................................................68 Greenwood Homes.............................................................................................................35 Homewood Marina.............................................................................................................67 Inclined Burgers and Brews.......................................................................................... 140 Incline Village Community Hospital.............................................................................87 Interior Design by Julie Johnson Holland..................................................................44 Jim Morrison Construction............................................................................................. 4-5 Keep Tahoe Blue...................................................................................................................81 Kelly and Stone Architects................................................................................................45 KR Squared.............................................................................................................................56 KTG Design Co................................................................................................................... 135 Lamperti Construction.......................................................................................................18 Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance..................................................................................93 Lake Tahoe Invasive Species Program....................................................................... 125 Lake Tahoe School............................................................................................................ 142 Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival................................................................................ 129 Locati Architects............................................................................................................ 94-95 Mansour’s Rug Gallery.......................................................................................................17 Marine Specialties Boat Sales & Service................................................................... 143 Marsden Architects.............................................................................................................39 Mountain Hardware and Sports.....................................................................................38 Mountain Luxury Properties............................................................. Inside Back Cover Mt. Lincoln Construction................................................................................................ 141 Music on the Beach.............................................................................................................76 MWA, Inc. ...................................................................................................................... 69, 135 Nakoma............................................................................................................................ 14-15 North Tahoe Community Alliance.................................................................................77 NSM Construction...............................................................................................................33 NVision.................................................................................................................................. 128 Piper J Gallery........................................................................................................................83 Ray Tigerman.........................................................................................................................60 Renown............................................................................................................Back Cover, 43 RJ Dailey Construction.......................................................................................................41 Sierra Sustainable Builders...............................................................................................46 Summit Elevator............................................................................................................ 36-37 Superior Boat Repair & Sales........................................................................................ 156 Tahoe Beach Club.............................................................................................................. 6-7 Tahoe Expedition Academy.............................................................................................75 Tahoe Forest Health System............................................................................................65 Tahoe Fund.............................................................................................................................73 Tahoe Luxury Properties............................................................................................ 22-23 Tahoe Modern.......................................................................................................................55 The Lighting Showroom................................................................................................ 141 The Peak..................................................................................................................................53 The Residences on Winter Street...................................................................................19 Thompson Garage Doors.................................................................................................10 TJ Glidden Construction....................................................................................................24 Truckee Tahoe Pool & Spa.................................................................................................57 TSG Wealth Management.................................................................................................21 Walton Architecture.......................................................................................................... 8-9 Westair Charter.................................................................................................................. 158 Whisper Homes............................................................................................................. 12-13 Whittier Trust.........................................................................................Inside Front Cover

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Tahoe Quarterly 159

PA RT I N G K NOWL E D GE

Holding Steady THE LATEST Lake Tahoe Clarity Report, released on June 9, found that the lake’s annual average clarity was 69.2 feet in 2025, which was 7 feet clearer than the 2024 average of 62.3 feet. Don’t get too excited, though. The UC Davis report states that, despite the increase from the previous year, Lake Tahoe’s famed clarity has not significantly improved or declined in recent years, but has plateaued, likely due to the trend of relatively low clarity during the summer.

Under the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, California, Nevada and more than 80 public and private organizations are working to restore lake clarity to its historic 97.4 feet, which was the average level between 1967 and 1971. We leave you with some parting knowledge of the year-to-year readings dating to 1968.

LAKE TAHOE CLARITY AVERAGES, 1968–2026 YEAR

AV E R AG E CLARITY (feet)

YEAR

AV E R AG E CLARITY (feet)

YEAR

AV E R AG E CLARITY (feet)

2025 . . ....... 69.2 2024 . . ....... 62.3

2005 . . ....... 72.2 2004 . . ....... 73.5

1985 . . ....... 79.4 1984 . . ....... 74.8

2023 . . ....... 68.2 2022 . . ....... 71.9 2021 . . ....... 61.0

2003 . . ....... 70.9 2002 . . ....... 78.1 2001 . . ....... 73.5

1983 . . ....... 73.5 1982 . . ....... 79.7 1981 . . ....... 89.9

2020 . . ....... 63.0 2019 . . ....... 62.7 2018 . . ....... 70.9 2017 . . ....... 60.4 2016 . . ....... 69.2 2015 . . ....... 73.2

2000 . . ....... 67.3 1999 . . ....... 68.9 1998 . . ....... 65.9 1997 . . ....... 64.0 1996 . . ....... 76.8 1995 . . ....... 70.5

1980 . . ....... 81.4 1979 . . ....... 87.6 1978 . . ....... 85.0 1977 . . ....... 91.2 1976 . . ....... 89.9 1975 . . ....... 85.6

2014 . . ....... 77.8 2013 . . ....... 70.2 2012 . . ....... 75.1 2011 . . ....... 68.8 2010 . . ....... 64.3

1994 . . ....... 74.1 1993 . . ....... 70.5 1992 . . ....... 78.4 1991 . . ....... 73.5 1990 . . ....... 77.4

1974 . . ....... 89.2 1973 . . ....... 85.6 1972 . . ....... 89.9 1971 . . ....... 94.2 1970 . . ....... 99.1

2009 . . ....... 68.2 2008 . . ....... 69.6 2007 . . ....... 70.2 2006 . . ....... 67.6

1989 . . ....... 77.4 1988 . . ....... 81.0 1987 . . ....... 80.7 1986 . . ....... 79.1

1969 . . ....... 93.8 1968 . . ..... 102.4

— Stats provided by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center

July 2026 - Volume 28 Issue 3 - Tahoe Quarterly Magazine (ISSN 1930-0719) (USPS 023-358) is published five times a year by JD Publishing, Inc., 924 Incline Way, Suite L, Incline Village, NV 89451. Subscription is $42.95 per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Incline Village, NV, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Tahoe Quarterly, 924 Incline Way, Suite L, Incline Village, NV 89451.

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photos by Brandon Berry, courtesy UC Davis TERC

15 LAKEFRONT TRANSACTIONS C LO S E D

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