(GRASS VALLEY) — Footage of the legendary Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, has been caught on film in the wee hours of morning at BriarPatch Food Co-op in Grass Valley.
Employees were filming a short documentary about the history of cooperative grocery stores on Super 8mm film when they were startled by what appeared to be a 6-to-7 foot tall hairy beast walking down the aisles in lanky movements with arms swinging.
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By Don Russell
For the 157th time in the Great Yuba Pass Chili Cook-off’s 30 year history, Jenny Varn again took home the first place trophy.
There was much amiss at last Saturday’s festivities. Sixteen cooks suffered the balmy weather. Some health issues prevented Loyalton’s Andy White from creating his traditional masterpiece. He rarely misses the event, and always improves it. His absence, however, did not prevent judge Paul Bianco from taking some cheap shots at him in a rant that excoriated several other participants. With any luck, those disparaging comments will be published in some future edition of this scurrilous rag.
Continue reading “A Sunny, Great Yuba Pass Cook Off Produces Winners”
For more than a decade, big tree hunter Michael Taylor has been bagging big tree finds. This past October, he added the second, third and sixth tallest known sugar pines to his list of finds.
The second and third tallest Sugar Pines are located in Tahoe National Forest and measure at 267.5 ft and 267.15 ft. The 267.15 foot tree, dubbed the “Redonkulous” tree, measures at 10.5 feet in diameter at the breast height, which is 4.5 feet up from the ground.
The sixth tallest Sugar Pine, which is still unnamed as is the second tallest, was found in Stanislaus National Forest and is 263.17 ft tall.
Taylor is a LiDAR specialist, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging. According to NOAA, LiDAR, “is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.” Taylor said the laser gives billions and or even trillions of returns which can be used to construct a surface map.
Continue reading “Big Tree Hunters Discover 3 of the Tallest Sugar Pines”
(Downieville) This past Saturday, January 30, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) received information about a man from the Tahoe area who left Grass Valley for Truckee along CA-49 the previous Sunday but had not been heard from since then.
With photos of the missing individual and his vehicle in their possession, the SCSO forwarded this information to all local law enforcement agencies, CalTrans, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP), asking them to be on the lookout for the man and his truck. However, despite the efforts of these groups, as well as family members checking CA-49 through Nevada, Yuba, and Sierra counties, these endeavors proved fruitless.
However, on Sunday, January 31, one week after going missing, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from the missing person. Although the call was dropped, they confirmed it was from the missing person and obtained the caller’s GPS location, Henness Pass Road east of Alleghany in Sierra County.
Continue reading “A Heavy Snowfall: A Missing Person, An Overdue Party, Search & Rescue Efforts Ensue”
There used to be a big ole sugar pine sitting high up on a ridge overlooking the North Fork of the Yuba River. Although a real giant, it probably appeared even larger than it really was because it was so much bigger than all the other trees around it. The Forest Service must have thought this old forest monarch was something special too as it put up a sign designating it, “King’s Sugar Pine.”
It’s hard to tell someone exactly where the old tree was located as there is no well known landmark in the area that can be used as a starting point for directions. About the closest thing to it is the old shut-down Brandy City Cal-Ida mill on the hill above Indian Valley, but the old mill is still miles away.
It was clear back in 1949 that I and a couple of my friends first stumbled on this beautiful old tree. It was while we were exploring the area in an old Model A Ford and traveling along a logging road between the Brandy City mill and Saddleback Mountain. We were rattling along the bumpy road at the old A’s max speed, say about 25 mph, when we came around a bend and BANG, there it stood in all its magnificent glory. I mean, it really leaped out and caught your eye. That’s when I took the picture accompanying this story. If you look closely you can see the Forest Service sign in the lower left of the picture. The two characters wrapped part way around the tree are my partner Mitch Steffensen and Wagon Train Bill Seely.
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