Frenchman Lake Recreation Area offers a wide variety of summer outdoor experiences including: camping, picnicking, fishing, hunting, boating, jet skiing, mountain biking, swimming and water-skiing. In the winter, ice fishing, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing are favored activities.”

There were not many people camping around the lake and only a few boats out. I saw two other folks fishing near the dam. At 5,588 feet in elevation, the cool breeze kept the heat down nicely. From Chilcoot it is a wonderful short drive up a twisty water carved canyon to the dam. From there you can choose to travel up the east or west sides of the lake.

The water was a little murky and the wind was up when I was fishing and I ended up not catching anything, but overall had a great day hanging out on the shoreline. The lake seems to be down about 20′+ from it’s height. Go figured, since California is dry right now.

House prices are still high, even the one I’m in though we are not overextended, jobs are hard to come by, credit cards are beginning to default… This is kind of nuts right now. We had the foreclosure issue, now we are going to have a credit card foreclosure happen! How else are the jobless going to pay for their daily rations if they have no unemployment issurance and no jobs? How is the government going to pay for these 3.5 million government jobs they are creating that are going to fix the economy if they are $23.7 Trillion in debt?

Lot’s of questions… So how does all this effect NorCal? I think we need to rally the private free market economy that is so strong in NorCal. We need to start small business’ that are not run by greed that help each other suceed. We need to grow our own food, buy local, bank locally, think locally. Think liberty to all in the manner our founders saw 200 plus years ago.

Planting Kale in your garden is an easy process. The seeds are not large, but are no where to close to carrot seeds. A garden amended well with organic matter such as composted horse manure, compsted food scraps or a few bags of your favorite organic potting soil will allow Kale to reach it’s maximum growing potential as well as maxium taste! Just as the snow has melted off your planting area scratch up the soil a bit, make some rows about 4″ apart and plant a seed every 4″. I prefer to plant kale close together and harvest it young. The younger kale, say about 6″ tall, is really tasty! The yonger leaves are also more tender than the larger, older leaf. Another advantage of the closer growing plants is less weeds!

We planted our kale in early April this year. It is now late June and we have a very healthy 20′ x 3′ row that we have been eating off of since late May. My favorite varieties are Red Russian and Dino Kale. They both seem to grow well into December at 4500′. It seems like the lack of light slows the growing more than the snow and cold does. Get some Kale Seeds and start your nutritious garden or raised beds now, it’s not to late even now in mid June. Grow Organic!

As the mountain biking community in Susanville grows, so will the trail system. News around town is that there will be some trials and table tops built within the circuit. The local bike shop, the Bike Station, offers a good selection of bikes and has a full repair shop. If you live in Susanville or the surrounding area, you should take some time to check out the new trail system. If you are just passing through, take some time to stretch the legs and get some cardio on a quick loop.

More information and a map on the trail system can be found at Lassen Land and Trails Trust.

On top of Mt Lassen

In Northern California there are two prominent mountains. Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta. While Mount Shasta has Mount Lassen by about 4,000 feet in elevation, the accessibility and enjoyment that a skier can have on Lassen is superb. In mid to late May, before the road through Lassen Volcanic National Park opens completely, some of the best ski lines can be had by anyone with a little ambition and strong intermediate skills. Aspects facing South, North and North East can all be bagged from the summit in a day. The later in the season you go, the softer the snow and the more north facing slopes you want to focus on.

Memorial Day a friend of mine and myself headed up the North East slope from the Emigrant parking area. There were a few cars in the parking lot around 7am. I intended on getting up earlier, but hey, it’s the holiday. We started walking and skinning towards the base of the slope around 8am. About 9:30 we reached the boot track that had been laid in the slope by others wanting the rewards of a day in the backcountry. We met up with some nice folks from Truckee California who joined us on the majority of the steep hike up the face. 2,263 steps later, according to my buddy, we were at the top. The hike up the Northeast face of Lassen reminds me a lot of the hike after Lake Helen on Mount Shasta. It’s just up, up, up for about an hour and a half.

From the top you get a great view of Lassen National Forest as well as the Trinity Alps and Mount Shasta. It’s a great summit in the summer and winter. After eating some lunch and enjoying some conversation, we clicked in and began the ski down. I was really watching the North facing slope as we ascended and was convinced that it was the one to hit. It was. The corn was just perfect. It was what I had hoped and hiked for the past 4 hours. About two thirds of the decent we began to get into the thicker snow. It was still ski-able, but hardly as good as the top part.

After picking up some gear that we left at the bottom of the stairmaster, we headed back through the flats in search of the shade within the trees and the longest strip of snow to glide back to the car on. After Bilbo bagging through the forest for about 20 minutes, the snow ended and we began to boot it the rest of the way. Lassen’s soil is very easy to walk in with all the broken up granite or volcanic debris. It makes it easy to travel in ski boots. Another 20 minutes passed and we were at the car drinking some water and disrobing. The parking lot was full of folks walking around and taking photos of the peak.

Overall, it was a great day spent in the woods. The hike up was great. The ski down was even better. The weather was perfect and the people we met were really cool. If you are wanting to get into backcountry skiing, mount Lassen is a great start. Get some backcountry gear and get going! Mount Lassen offers some of the best Spring skiing in Northern California.

Honey Bees are great fun and not to hard to raise, or keep as it’s called in the Bee world. Bees are a great resource for anyone who lives in Northern California. Watching bees do their bee thing is amazing. They clean the hive, bring in pollen, ward off intruders and love organic sugar water!

I ordered my first set of Italian bees from Cedar Glen bees in December and just got them about 2 weeks ago now. About 100 of the 3lbs of bees were dead, but not to fret, there were 5000+ bees in the box. After getting my nerves up and waiting until late in the afternoon, we went out to the hive prepared to pour the bees into their new home. We got the smoker going, used some wire cutters to pry open the box and slid out a couple of the middle frames. We puffed a couple smoke clouds at the bee box and opened it up. I then gently banged it on the top of the hive and dumped 3 pounds of bees into their new home. That was something else.

A few of them were flying around, but the majority of the bees were in a big clump. Gently I slid the frames back in and got ready to pull the plug out of the queens mini cage. With everything set, I pulled the cork, hung the small cage and put the lid on the hive hoping for good things in the morning. In the morning I came out and saw the nest was alive with a buzz. There were bees flying in a out. Bees cleaning the dead out of the hive. Bees carrying the dead away from the hive. There were even bees beginning to get pollen! Needless to say, everything worked out great.

Since then I have fed the bees about 5 quarts of organic sugar water. I have yet to feel threatened by the bees; however, I do feed them at night or early in the morning before they are very active. The other day I tried to pull the empty jar out and pour more sugar water in and the hive “came alive.” Instantly there were lots of bees at the entrance and a heavier than normal noise emanating from the hive. I have yet to be stung, and don’t care to be at that, so I left the water out there and came back at sun down. They are much more mellow then.

I look forward to learning about bee keeping and gathering honey from them. I see it as a symbiotic relationship, similar to chickens. I feed them, protect them and house them, and they feed me in return. We only eat chicken eggs, not the chickens in case you were wondering. It’s man made, but it’s still ecology on our little 2.35 acres.

A couple sites to find bee keeping information on are:

• Cedar Glen Bees
• Dadant and Sons
• Beemaster.com Videos
• Backyard Hive

Any other recomendations or suggestions, please comment! I’d love to hear your stories.

• Liars Who Take Us to War
• Censorship in the Empire
• Gun Owners Are Ignorant

Many more great articles of Gaddy’s can be found at LewRockwell.com.

Since the early 1990s, the Fire Safe council has been educating local commuinites on wildland fire. Their mission is “Mobilizing Californians to protect their homes, communities and environments from wildfire.” Educational resources have been developed to help homeowners take the necessary step in creating fuel breaks, planting fire resistant plants and preparing for oncoming wildfires. Along with CalFire, your local Fire Safe Council will assist you in creating a defensible space surrounding your home that will slow or stop the approaching wildfire.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can create a fire safe landscape, contact your local Fire Safe Council. You can find your local FSC easily by visiting the Fire Safe Council website: http://firesafecouncil.org/find/index.cfm. Brochures such as Get Ready For Fire Season, Fire Safe Landscaping in Brushland, Grassland, Timberland and the Homeowner Checklist will help you get a good overview of what you can do to keep your house safe in the event of a wildfire. You can download more educational materials and handouts directly from the Fire Safe Council website here: http://firesafecouncil.org/education/index.cfm

If you live within the wildland urban interface, you should take some time to get educated on wildfire. It is no joke out here in the west. Fire moves increadibly fast and burns everything in it’s path. By doing some work of your own creating a fire safe zone around your home, the entire community is better off.

Prayer by NGNELSON on Flickr

Today, May 7th, is the National Day of Prayer. I’m glad that we have this day in America. It is good to pray. So go on and ask God almighty to bless this day, our leaders, this nation, the world and everyone in it. 

“The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President Lincoln’s proclamation of a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual, national day of prayer. In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May. Each year, the president signs a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year, all 50 state governors plus the governors of several U.S. territories signed similar proclamations.” – The History of the National Day of Prayer

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior…” 1 Timothy 2:1-3

Creating renewable energy solutions has many benefits such as energy independence, non-polluting byproducts, new job and business creation. Here in Northern California, the overstocked forests surround nearly every town. Small biomass stations can easily be fueled by the surrounding forest littler and small diameter trees, cutting down on transportation costs and reliance on larger energy producers. Communities can generate their own power and revenue as well as employ local people to help create sustainable forests.

For 100 years fire suppression on our forested lands has created detrimental effects. Two of the more easily seen effects are the Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) infestations and extreme wildland forest fires. In 2008, almost 1.4 million acres burned in California alone. Thick undergrowth, forest health, drought conditions, and fire suppression are all to blame for these beetle infestations and extreme fires that blacken our landscape. Allowing the forest to regenerate on it’s own is not the answer since we have already cleared the majority of the land of it’s diverse large natural stands. We can no longer preserve if it has been tampered with, therefore we must begin to conserve and sustain.

In 2005 it was estimated “that over 368 million bone dry tons of forest biomass can be produced annually on a sustained basis… if converted into power, could supply over 40 million households annually.” Implementing Biomass projects all over the north state is a solution to the rising costs of energy and the risks involved in living with fire. It is also a sustainable way to create the healthy forest ecosystem that we all desire to live in here in Northern California. Wildlife benefit from the healthy forest, long lasting jobs are created and conservation education is encouraged through the use of forest biomass.

Encourage biomass utilization in our National Forests. Clean and renewable energy for the small community is readily available right outside of town.