Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

Lest you all think that I never get out to enjoy the surroundings here, that I am all work and no play, let me set you straight.  My daughter’s recent wedding drew many family members from near and far to the Sierras and rather than waste off time sitting around, we chose to do several hikes.  I got to participate in two of these hikes, both of which were on the Pacific Crest Trail or what is commonly called, the PCT.  The PCT is a trail which extends from Canada through the US and on into Mexico.  You can read more about it here. When I looked it up, I was pretty amazed and frankly humbled to be in the company of such august persons who were responsible for establishing this great recreational facility.

The two trips we made were the Mount Judah Loop which showcased spectacular flowers and views and the hike I made yesterday which took us on a route of the Trail that extends from the Boreal Ski Area, near Highway 80 to Old Highway 40.  The flowers were still vibrant, the views were wonderful but this hike was a little less intense than the Mt. Judah trip.

Here are some pictures, the people that I traveled with yesterday are my brother David and his wife Kate.  We were rewarded by some great views, solitude and later a wonderful dinner at the River Ranch in Alpine Meadows. Thanks to everyone — for reminding me once again how great it is to sell real estate in the High Sierras!!

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Jogging in Truckee

One of my all time favorite places to jog is on the Truckee River Legacy Trail.  The paved trail extends from the Truckee River Regional Park all the way downriver to the Riverview Park.  The total distance of the current trail is about 4 miles but it will eventually extend all the way to the Glenshire/Devonshire subdivision making it completely unnecessary to drive your car into town if you are inclined to ride your bike instead.  This past week I hit the trail at 7 am 3 mornings out of the 7.  At that time of the day, the temperatures are in the high 40’s but it doesn’t take long to warm up in the wonderful sunshine.  The other advantage of jogging at this early hour is the lack of fellow trail people.  I love the solitude — so difficult to find these days, even in our little town.  It’s just me and my tunes or my podcast.  I hope you enjoy these pictures that I took to showcase the trail.  Check it out . . .

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The California Real Estate Purchase Contract

I had an occasion today to receive a copy of a real estate contract from the State of Michigan.  Upon reviewing this document I felt compelled to share with my fellow California Realtors the fact that the contract there is only 4 pages long.  I am sure that Michigan Realtors think that this is a lot of paperwork but compared to California whose pages total about 40, it is wonderfully brief and simple.  Yes, the language is still all legalize and double talk but there is so little that you can pull out your dictionary, do some research and be finished reading it within 15 minutes.  I tell my clients in California to take it home, read up, pinch yourself when you fall asleep and pour yourself a cup of coffee (or a large glass of wine depending upon what time of day it is), because you are in it for the long haul.

Why do you suppose that this contract can be so different in the two states and yet they both convey the same idea and accomplish the same job?  I ask myself this question and can only come to one conclusion.  California Realtors and their clients have experienced way more lawsuits based on the transfer of real estate.  The length of the contract, I believe, is an attempt to “cover all of the bases” in the hope that a lawsuit will not occur.

California used to have bragging rights on being the state of the environmentally conscious.  Considering all of the trees that the real estate contract and appurtenant disclosure documents have killed, I believe that crown has slipped.

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BMPs, who needs EM?

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency says that any property that exists — residential or commercial — within the Tahoe Basin, requires a compliance certificate that their BMPs have been completed.

Jennifer and I attended an informational meeting today at the North Tahoe Conference Center that was put on by the TRPA. Shay Navarro, Associate Environmental Specialist with the Agency did a good job of explaining what the BMPs are. This is an acronym for “Best Management Practices.” The problem is that the clarity of our finest lake — Lake Tahoe – has diminished since 1968 when the visibility was 102 feet. At last measurement 2008, the visibility was 69 feet. Apparently the cause of this regression is a lot of sediment entering the Lake from things like water dripping off of roofs, moving dirt down the road and into the Lake. Another cause might be snow melt off on unformed and unpaved driveways, again picking up sediment including oil from autos and moving it into the lake.

The TRPA has been charged with remedying this situation and one of the ways they plan to do that is to require property owners to have their property assessed and bear the responsibility for mitigating any problems that their property may be causing. The 3 ways they are forcing the property owners hand are requiring the BMP certificate of compliance at 1) the point of application for a building permit; 2) application for a buoy permit; 3) targeted enforcement; or 4) at the point of a real estate transaction as something that must be disclosed to a potential buyer.

Some drastic measure of cooperation must be taken since out of the 45,000 properties within the Tahoe Basin that need to have compliance with this BMP situation, only 12,000 properties have stepped up to the plate (and this has been required since 2003).

For more information on this — there is a lot at the TRPA’s dedicated website where you can even find out if your property has a certificate.

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10,000 Steps per Day Challenge

Well May is going to shape up as a walking month for me.  I have challenged myself to participate in The Tahoe Forest Center for Health and Human Performance (big name for my gym) sponsored program that asks us to walk  10,000 steps a day.  It is only 2 days into the program but so far so good.  This morning I walked the Legacy Trail and things are beginning to shape up there also after a LONG, LONG winter.  Check it out.

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