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I suppose the feeling I get when I climb these mountains is a sense of wonder that comes from discovering ancient trees clinging to rocks in the most remote and unusual places. It’s as if I’ve entered a vast cathedral filled with silent saints, sentinels and preachers, all of whom are trying to tell me something. These ancient trees pull me upward, one after another. A twisted trunk catches my eye, their branches stretching out as if inviting me into their world. Beyond it, a

Pigeon Point Lighthouse, tallest lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States, near Pescadero, CA. There's something about lighthouses that stops me in my tracks, that takes my breath away. The settings are typically gorgeous - picture perfect. Lighthouses are usually on the last piece of land before the sea takes over. But it's more about the feelings I get. The smell of salt fills the air and the sound of waves arrives from places I'll never see. It's more than captiva

Mountain Living. Natural Wonders. Community Spirit. October 2026 Julia Cunningham, Team Palisades Tahoe Racer, racing giant slalom in Bromont. Photo courtesy of Eric Brandolini / @brandolini.media on Instagram I am so excited to share with you an exclusive interview I had with Palisades Tahoe Racer Julia Cunningham. Below is a teaser - and a link for more. From “Half Exi” to the World Stage: Julia Cunningham Is Finding Her Own Li

For the young Team Palisades Tahoe Racer, ambition begins with joy and reaches beyond the finish line. Julia racing giant slalom in Bromont. Photo courtesy of Eric Brandolini / @brandolini.media on Instagram Long before Julia Cunningham wore the colors of the United States, she was the girl who couldn’t bear to waste a lunch break indoors when there was still snow to ski. Ask which part of Palisades Tahoe feels most like home, and her answer comes from years of repetition: Ju

My daughter Morgan, with her newborn Kolbe Jr. (baby KJ) Kolbe Jr. (KJ) arrived on September 20th at 10:04 p.m., weighing seven pounds, fourteen ounces. My daughter Morgan shared the photo above shortly after he was born. The next morning, Olympic Valley looked much as it had the day before. The mountains were lathered in alpenglow. The meadow was beginning its turn toward fall. Boo still wanted her walk. But somewhere between our front door and the creek, I realized I was lo

Slow down and practice the joy of seeing. Begin with something small. A dandelion. Its Own Solar System Look for a shaft of light. Morning Speaks A weathered tree. The Resilient Sentinel Something familiar in the deadwood. An Ancient Elephant A feeling you can't quite shake. Eye of the Forest Something funny that catches your eye. A street sign that makes you smile. A cartoon that grabs your attention. An impossibly beautiful sunrise. Or sunset. A pet's expression. Klondike's

A scientist and artist began climbing Granite Chief Trail late in the afternoon. They had known one another for years, although neither entirely understood the other, and it was their first hike together. Dr. Elena Vale was a physicist by training and temperament. She trusted what could be observed, measured, tested, and repeated. Daniel, a writer and photographer, trusted what could be felt but never fully explained. They carried different instruments. Elena carried a field

"Trees are as close to immortality as the rest of us ever come." ~ Karen Joy Fowler There’s a small parking lot at Donner Summit, beside the old Rainbow Bridge, where people arrive from all over the country to take in the view. Most step out of their cars, walk a few feet, and stand beside them. Some never get out at all. They lower a window, or simply look through the windshield, take a photograph, and drive away. The other day, I parked there, and began climbing the granite

Mountain Living. Natural Wonders. Community Spirit. September 2026 96146 Rainbow In this issue FIREWISE Community Update Next Green Waste Disposal Day Broken Arrow Skyrace Fall Course Preview & Training Run Oktoberfest Returns to Olympic Valley Adopt-A-Highway Update A Special Tribute to Osvaldo Ancinas Firewise Community Update California’s new Zone 0 rules will change how millions of homeowners landscape the first five feet around their homes, and what

Sun Dog / Olympic Valley "He ended: and a kind of spell Upon the silent listeners fell. His solemn manner and his words Had toched the deep, mysterious chords That vibrate in each human breast alike." ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from Tales of a Wayside Inn It has many names. Some of us call it heaven: an everlasting garden, a realm beyond sorrow where light never fades, love is never lost, and every living thing exists in perfect belonging and in perfect harmony. Across l

Part of Tahoe’s enchantment is that the scale shifts constantly. One moment you’re gazing at a vast alpine basin carved by glaciers. The Lake fades into the clouds, which then melt into the mountains. The next moment, a cluster of thumb-sized leaves becomes as fascinating as the mountain range. “The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Contemporary British author and nature writer, Robert Macfarlane, would say that landscapes reveal themselv

The ancient Greeks believed there was a place beyond the ordinary world called Elysium. It was a peaceful, sunlit realm reserved for heroic, virtuous, and blessed souls. Homer imagined it at the ends of the earth near the rivers of Okeanos, where life was easy and sorrow was kept at bay. The ancient Roman poet Virgil described it as a rich pastoral and artistic sanctuary with lush, green meadows, where righteous souls were free to pursue arts, music, dance, and athletic games

With advancing artificial intelligence, the blank page may be more important than ever. Writing away at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, CA. Writing is thinking. That may be the simplest and most important reason writing still matters, especially now, when technology can compose an essay, summarize a book, finish our sentences, and make us sound more polished than we may actually be. The danger isn’t that AI can write and make us look like we've been studying the

A Collaboration with Anna Stepanova Most stories about social media begin with noise. This one begins with a tree and an unlikely connection with an emerging artist on the other side of the planet. Not just any tree, but a Sierra Juniper... ancient, weathered and wonderfully defiant, growing from the granite high above Lake Tahoe. I photographed it here in Olympic Valley, at an elevation of around 8,000 feet. Nearly 7,000 miles away, an artist named Anna Stepanova discovered

Mountain Living. Natural Wonders. Community Spirit. August 2026 The Meadow In this issue An inside look at the 2026 Olympic Club Trans Tahoe Relay Pulling Together for our Community There's a New Bookshop in Town 2026 Lake Tahoe Ski Club Asado Incorporate North Tahoe / Latest News Next Green Waste Disposal Day Palisades Tahoe Festivities Return Helping the Next Generation Find Their Place in Tahoe with PTCF Winged Juniper stands guard over Olympic Valley. Across Taho

An urgent effort to stop Spotted Knapweed, and a BIG THANK YOU to the neighbors who showed up. The meadow can't pull these weeds by itself. It needs its Stewards. Thank you to today’s Stewards of the Valley, who helped eradicate the noxious Spotted Knapweed from our meadow! Ed, Haley and Willa Ed Heneveld spearheads this annual effort, and his daughter, Haley Dow, son-in-law, David Dow, and their daughter, Willa (3 generations!) came to help, along with Susan Lisagor, Ann, Lo

Somewhere between daylight and whatever comes next, I photographed a white cow in a field in Sierraville. She stood alone in the tall grass, illuminated by the last of the golden hour. There was nothing particularly unusual about her. She was, after all, just another cow in cattle country. But some animals seem to belong entirely to the landscape. Others appear to have stepped into it from somewhere else. This one felt like the latter. Maybe it was the color of her coat again

What the rainbow sees. I believe in an ethical life grounded in childlike wonder and a deep sense of gratitude. But where do we find such a life in a world that pulls our attention in every direction, except, too often, towards what matters most? For me, it begins by climbing through the manzanita of Lake Tahoe and visiting the ancient, living magic of these mountains. It's found while wandering the jagged edge of Big Sur, where land and sea collide with such power that the w

Art by Robert Longo I saw a piece from Gapingvoid.com recently about fireworks, and it stayed with me. The point wasn’t really about fireworks. It was about memory. Most of us don’t look back on work and remember the compensation plans, the meetings, or the product launches. Not really. We remember the moments. The rituals. The pressure. The laughter. The stories that somehow outlived the business plan. And it got me thinking about the places where work felt like more than wo

Mountain Living. Natural Wonders. Community Spirit. July 2026 Welcome to the 12th issue of 96146 News - our first full year! What began as a simple effort to keep Olympic Valley neighbors informed continues to grow into something more useful, more meaningful, and more connected. We do our best with each monthly issue to share local updates that matter: community news, Firewise information, pedestrian safety progress, Stewards of the Valley engagements, upcoming events,