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 Squaw Valley Institute and Sierra College-Truckee’s Institute for Sustainability are teaming up to present a weekend of geological exploration in the spectacularly beautiful setting of Squaw Valley. Evening slide presentations by professors of geology and biology will pave the way for the next day’s guided hikes, giving the participants an opportunity to experience first hand what they have learned. Weekend packages are available at Resort at Squaw Creek or individual tickets may be purchased for each event.
Frank DeCourten, Professor of Geology at Sierra College, will kick off the weekend with a photo journey and evolutionary history of alpine landscapes over the past 100 million years. His presentation, Geological Evolution of the Tahoe Sierra, will be a prelude to the Squaw Peak Basin hike on the following day, Saturday. “We will explore the ancient bedrock of the region, the evidence of violent volcanic eruptions, the effects of the Ice Age glaciers, and the growth of the modern mountains and lake basins,” promises DeCourten.
On Saturday evening, Biology Professor Derek Larson’s presentation, Sierra Nevada Landscape Evolution, will look at the systems of geology, botany and climate to tell the story of how today’s scenery came to look the way it does. “Geology is the backbone of where we live. The rocks created the soil, and the combination of soil type and climate determined which plants would grow, thus setting the stage for animals of the region,” says Larson. The following day, Sunday, he will lead a hike through the Shirley Canyon pointing out how to read the landscape as history.
Friday, July 11
Slide presentation: Geological Evolution of the Tahoe Sierra
Speaker: Frank DeCourten, Professor of Geology, Sierra College
6:30 PM no host bar; program begins at 7:00 PM
Resort at Squaw Creek
Saturday, July 12
Guided Hike: Squaw Peak Basin-- starting at High Camp and trekking around the Emigrant Peak and Squaw Peak geologic formations
Hiking Guide: Frank DeCourten, Professor of Geology, Sierra College
8:00 AM sharp! Meet in front of Squaw Valley Cable Car building for complimentary ride to High Camp
No dogs, please!
• The hike will be a circuit through the Squaw Peak Basin from High Camp to Emigrant Pass, along the base of Squaw Peak, and back to High Camp.
• We will explore evidence for Ice Age glaciation, volcanic activity, uplift of the modern Sierra Nevada, and development of the Tahoe Basin.
• The scenery will be spectacular! Bring a camera.
• There will be only one complimentary Cable Car ride to High Camp for this hike. Don’t miss it! Please arrive at 8:00 AM to register.
• Hike will end at High Camp at about 2:00 PM
• We will begin our hike at 8200’ (It will be chilly in the morning!)
• Participants should be in good health and able to hike over rugged terrain at high elevation.
• Wear sturdy shoes and sunscreen.
• Bring plenty of water, lunch, trail snacks, and proper clothing for changeable weather conditions.
• Suggested minimum age for this hike is 10 years old. KidZone Museum will lead nature activities at High Camp for children too young to participate in Saturday’s Squaw Peak Basin Hike. Contact Carol Meagher or 530 320-5613
Saturday, July 12
Slide presentation: Sierra Nevada Landscape Evolution
Speaker: Derek Larson, Biology Instructor, Sierra College
6:30 PM no host bar; program begins at 7:00 PM
Resort at Squaw Creek
Sunday, July 13
Guided Hike: Shirley Canyon—reading the landscape as a story
Hiking Guides: Derek Larson, Biology Instructor, Sierra College and Frank DeCourten, Professor of Geology, Sierra College
9:45 AM Meet in front of Squaw Valley Cable Car building for directions to trailhead
No dogs, please!
• Hike will progress at moderate pace with frequent stops to examine geologic formations, soil, trees, flowers and evidence of wildlife
• We will begin our hike at 6200’
• Hike will last about 2 hours over the course of about 2 miles
• This is not a strenuous hike, but there will be uneven terrain
• Wear sturdy shoes and sunscreen.
• Bring plenty of water, trail snacks, and proper clothing for changeable weather conditions.
Squaw Valley Institute thanks Tahoe Mountain Resort Foundation, Sierra College-Truckee's Institute for Sustainability, Resort at Squaw Creek, KidZone Museum, and Squaw Valley USA for their support of this fun and educational adventure weekend!
Please call Squaw Valley Institute at 530-581-4138 for more information.
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 About John Daniel...
Born in South Carolina and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., John Daniel has lived in the West since 1966. After attending Reed College, he worked as a logger, railroad inspector, rock climbing instructor, hod carrier, and poet-in-the-schools. He began to write in the 1970s while living in south-central Oregon. In 1982 he received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Poetry at Stanford University, where he then took an M.A. in English/Creative Writing and taught five years as a Jones Lecturer in Creative Writing and a lecturer in Freshman English. He now makes his living as a writer and itinerant teacher in workshops and writer-in-residence positions around the country.
Daniel has been awarded the Oregon Book Award for Literary Nonfiction in both 1993 (The Trail Home) and 1997 (Looking After: A Son's Memoir) as well as a Pushcart Prize (1983), the Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Residency (1994), the Andres Berger Award for Creative Nonfiction (1994), and the John Burroughs Natural History Essay Award (1995).
About Rogue River Journal: A Winter Alone...
Daniel's newest book, Rogue River Journal: A Winter Alone, is a blend of three nonfiction narratives. An account of a four-and-a-half-month experiment in solitude in a remote Rogue River cabin, it is also a memoir of Daniel's father's life and career in the American labor movement and of his own growing up and coming of age in the 1950s and 1960s. Rogue River Journal has been awarded a 2006 PNBA Book Award by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.
John Daniel's books will be available for purchase and signature from 6:30 to 7:00PM and after the event.
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