Sam Bauman: Good hike tonight for happy hiking seniors

I know, this is late but it’s not too late to enjoy some easy hiking with a minimum of fighting snow. Last week officials measured the Sierra snowpack and found that it was a miserable 12 percent of average. But snow guns are keeping the slopes skiable and rideable. But here’s some hiking fun — but act fast, first one is today.

I’ve made this first hike dozens of times and just recently did it one more time. This is labeled as a one mile round trip, but I think it is a bit longer. But distance doesn’t really matter here as the trail isn’t steep (except for the first 100 feet where there is a short but steep stretch. After that it’s walking along a narrow trail. Halfway up there’s a junction with one trail going straight to a wildlife observation site, the other up to the gazebo overlooking Washoe Lake and Slide mountain. There are a couple of benches along upper trail which offer a nice place to sit and enjoy the view.

Rangers maintain the trial and all the signs along the way which make the hike nicely educational about Nevada. See you there today.

Moon Hike to Deadman’s Creek

This is a one-mile round-trip hike Feb. 3 to the overlook at the top of Deadman’s Creek during the full moon. Bring a hat, coat, gloves, flashlight, and good walking shoes for this moderately easy hike. There will be a discussion on the moon, and, weather-permitting, some planets and constellations will be visible. This hike is limited to 30 and reservations are required. Call (775) 687-4319 or email washoelake@hdiss.net for reservations. Dogs are not allowed on this hike.

WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Meet at the Overflow parking lot – after entering the park, turn left, and it is the first parking lot on the right

CONTACT: (775) 687-4319.

North Ramp Dunes Hike

This is a moderately easy 1.5-mile round-trip hike through the sand dunes on the north east side of Washoe Lake. Please dress warmly. Wear good walking shoes, as the trail may be sandy, muddy, or snow-covered. We will talk about the history of the park and the Washoe Valley.

WHEN: Sunday, Feb. 15, at 1 p.m.

WHERE: Meet at the North Boat Ramp, off of Lakeshore Drive. This is the north entrance of Washoe Lake State Park.

CONTACT: (775) 687-4319 or email washoelake@hdiss.net for more information.

Weather Permitting, snowshoe outing: This one is Feb. 22 from 2-4 p.m. on the Fay Luther trail and shores are to bring snowshoes and equipment. Trailhead is about four miles south of Kingsbury Grade. See info@carsonvalleyrtrails.

Good magazine for seniors — The Sun

With the Carson Library offering thousands of books and magazines it might seem overkill to suggest a periodical that seniors might really enjoy and not have to budget too much time for reading.

I’ve enjoyed six subscriptions to magazines and the Sunday New York Times (a project in its bulky self) but one that I get free from friends in South Lake Tahoe is pretty special to me: The Sun, out of South Carolina, edited by Sy Safransky and a tiny staff. No ads and 52 pages, lots of weird photos never explained. Subscription only, no newsstand sales.

What’s so good about The Sun? The sharing of life experience in the letters section, the philosophy from someone who has thought about a lot, short stories and life reports.

Nothing aimed at seniors but almost all specifically about life in some fashion. The Sunbeams page is a marvel of snips from unknowns and the famous.

Computer help at hand

I’ve mentioned before how helpful some local computer shops are and I’ll do it again to recount how DeBug pulled me though a hitch.

Since my laptop has been showing signs of age (it is a very early Macbook using a 32-bit system) and I have the manuscripts for a couple of novels on it as well as photos and other important files, I decided to back up the laptop files. To do so I needed a portable hard drive, which I bought at Best Buy (set up was left for me to do). But the instruction sheet was 19 pages long and I didn’t think I could activate it. So off to DeBug on Saliman Road where technician Josh Barham stepped up, plugged the drive into my laptop and in 5 minutes my laptop contents were in the portable drive.

He didn’t want compensation, said it was just too easy and that he knew 19 pages of instruction was a bit much for a senior. I thanked him and took one of DeBug’s free pens.

More on books and movies at my blog, samlnews.

Sam Bauman writes about senior issues for the Nevada Appeal.