SIERRA CONDITIONS NOW Because of the low snowpack, this will be a great year to cross the Sierra. Your trip should start by reading the sensational new eBook, Sierra Crossing. Get yours at http://tomstienstra.com/books/sierra-crossing/ Spring and early-summer conditions have arrived from Yosemite Valley up to 13,053-foot Mount Dana above Tioga Pass. Last week’s temperature tantrum unleashed [...]
My favorites: Top 10 — new list each week . . . updated May 18, 2013
Some of my favorite lakes lakes
- Lakes with boat ramps: California has 195 recreation lakes with boat ramps. Most are set in the foothills of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys, as well as in the Sierra Nevada, Cascade and Shasta-Siskiyou ranges. Virtually all have campgrounds, fishing and nearby hiking or biking Here are the prettiest: 1. Lake Tahoe at Emerald Bay; 2. Sardine Lake, Graeagle; 3. Donner Lake, Truckee; 4. Convict Lake, Inyo County; 5. Lake Siskiyou, Mount Shasta. Others of note: Best boating: Shasta Lake, Redding; best fishing: Barrett Lake, San Diego; best camping: French Meadows, Tahoe National Forest.
- Lakes you can reach by vehicle without boat ramps: California has 190 small lakes that you can reach with an SUV with 4-wheel-drive or car with high clearance. With a canoe, kayak or inner tube, you can create your own paradise at many of them. Many have campsites. Here are the prettiest: 1. Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park; 2. Faucherie Lake, Tahoe National Forest; 3. Castle Lake, Shasta-Trinity National Forest; 4. Gerle Creek Reservoir, Eldorado National Forest; 5. Tamarack Lake, Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Note: Many of these 190 can provide outstanding car-top boating, camping and fishing, and dozens are set near trailheads.
- Lake in wilderness: California has roughly 800 wilderness lakes large enough to provide habitat for trout, and of these, about half provide lakeside campsites, good fishing and stellar destinations. These are sprinkled across about 60 major wilderness areas. Here are the prettiest: 1. Rae Lakes, John Muir Trail, Kings Canyon National Park; 2. Marie Lake, John Muir Trail, Selden Pass; 3. Kearsage Lakes, Inyo National Forest out of Independence; 3. Spirit Lake, Marble Mountain Wilderness; 5. Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness.
Never get stuck again for a camp: The 2013 edition of Moon California Camping.
What sets you free? Hike. Bike. Camp. Fish. Boat. Wildlife watch. Explore.
Profiled by Peter Gauvin for Adventure Sports Journal

My new book and first mystery novel: The Sweet Redemption, An Inspector Korg Mystery . . . Music, Money, Mystery and Murder!
The click to-buy option with your credit card or PayPal was down, but it is working again . . . Signed and personalized to you, click
Send check: Tom Stienstra, 2280 Grass Valley Hwy, Box 305, Auburn, CA 95603
Signed Copies:
$22.16 – $16.00, $5 priority shipping, $1.16 tax
Buy eBook for Kindle: $9.99
Released for 2013
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First reviews coming in:
“The Sweet Redemption is probably the best mystery I’ve read in a while . . . a fast-paced, good narrative, with a solid, non-transparent plot that keeps the pages turning. Stienstra has a very good grasp on the music business and how it works, and all of the characters in this story are believable. Long enough to be satisfyingly complete, and short enough for a good weekend read, “Sweet Redemption” is an all around winner.” – K. Abel, National Book Diva, Kansas
“I read books all the time, hundreds every year. This is the one with the ending I’ll never forget. One of the few books that comes along every now and then that leaves an imprint when you finish. Pretty special.” – –Shelly Lewis, reviewer
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| Kindle eBook edition available now exclusively at Amazon.com, $9.99 |
Tom Stienstra Outdoors:
What sets you free? Hike. Bike. Camp. Fish. Boat. Wildlife watch. Explore.
All the answers are in my books below.
$5.99 eBook — Sierra Crossing “$5.99? How can you go wrong?” Bob Simms, KFBK-1530/Sacramento
Also: West Coast RV, Washington Camping, Oregon Camping, Olympic Peninsula Camping & Hiking, Oregon Coast Camping & Hiking, Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge Camping & Hiking, Oregon’s Southern Cascades Camping & Hiking, Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge Camping & Hiking, Washington’s Northern Cascades Camping & Hiking. Others available.










