Basque celebration June 26 and 27

The 2010 Basque High Country Heritage Celebration is June 26 and 27 at Little Antelope Pack Station above Coleville. 

Owner and outfitter Joe Cereghino has organized a weekend of culture, history, and adventure. 

The weekend will include two guided hikes, lecture by Basque cultural expert Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe and traditional Basque menus designed with J.B. Lekumberry of the J,T, Basque Bar & Dining Room.

Mallea-Olaetxe is the author of "Speaking Through the Aspens: Basque Tree Carvings in California and Nevada," about the Basque sheepherder's tree carvings, or arborglyphs, found throughout Sierra Nevada aspen groves. He has written many professional papers, lectures, teaching, and he i

The program will begin with a casual luncheon on Saturday at noon followed by a guided hike and talk by Mallea-Olaetxe about the arborglyphs. 

Saturday evening will conclude with a traditional menu of Basque foods and campfire gathering. Attendees are invited to camp out in the meadow at the Pack Station under the stars. 

Sunday will begin with breakfast and a guided moderate hike to a traditional stone marker built and used by shepherds to mark the trail. 

Sunday afternoon guests are invited to explore the Eastern Sierra on their own.

Tickets can be reserved by calling Cereghino at 315-6222.  The cost is $75 per adult.  This includes two guided hikes, lunch and dinner on Saturday and Breakfast and snack on Sunday, as well as the camp out. Please call for children's pricing.

Little Antelope Pack Station is located in Coleville about an hour south of Gardnerville. To get there, take Highway 395 to Coleville, turn right on Mill Canyon Road, and keep right until you get to the top. The road is gravel and quite steep, but very well maintained.  The pack station is an outfitting and guide business owned and operated by Cereghino on National Forest Service Lands.  The Carson Iceberg Wilderness is adjacent to the Pack Station, and is accessible only by foot or livestock.