Truckee Source To Sea!

Thank you Sue Norman, Jay Wild, Danielle Katz, and Jane Weeks for taking me and the other Student Ambassadors on the Truckee River Source to Sea Environmental Learning Adventure. Thank you also to everyone who made a donation to make it possible.

Here’s the link to my profile on the Team page, along with the other Student Ambassadors. Chloe Tippett Student Ambassador

Before going on the trip, we had to fundraise. I participated in an Earth Day booth at Squaw, contributed to a newspaper article for Moonshine ink, and started a go-fund-me campaign (I raised over $800!).

Here’s my interview in the May issue of Moonshine Ink (online or on page 34 in print). They interviewed me and Annsley. www.moonshineink.com/sports/truckee-river-source-sea-paddle

Here are some pictures from our expedition.

Me and Annsley on Donner Lake for Moonshine Ink

Fundraising at Earth Day before the trip

Off we go!

Upper Truckee in South Shore

Kayaking the Upper Truckee in South Shore

Outrigger Canoe on Lake Tahoe

Outrigger Canoe on Lake Tahoe

Outrigger Canoe on Lake Tahoe

Truckee town run

Camping at Nature Conservancy in Nevada

Put in for Reno town run

Reno town run

Channel 2 News in Reno

And boating is a wrap!

Biking to Pyramid Lake

We’re done!

Pyramid Lake

The Truckee River is huge this year. I was very lucky to go on it when it is this high. The two core team adults (Sue and Jay) paddled the entire 150 miles. The student ambassadors did about 80 miles with them.

We started off a week and a half ago kayaking the Upper Truckee. We kayaked 6 miles of the Upper Truckee River. It was very fun to kayak with other kids. It was also very beautiful. Some parts though were a bit sketch because of all the debris in the river caused by the huge snow pack. About half way down the river, we stopped and a naturalist talked about the Upper Truckee Restoration Project. The restoration project helps the vegetation grow back. This is important because once it grows back it creates new habitats for wildlife to return.

Then, we outrigger canoed across Lake Tahoe. We used a Hawaiian outrigger canoe. We went through Emerald Bay and the water was a beautiful greenish blue. We paddled 14 miles.

We then rafted through downtown Truckee. And through Reno. We then kayaked in the Nature Conservancy in Nevada. Our permit was revoked to kayak the last stretch, so we finished off the last stretch to Pyramid Lake on bikes. It was a beautiful Plan B – we saw thousands of pelicans with 8 foot wing spans.

Along the way, we learned about the watershed, local fish and birds, and the vegetation. We spoke to people who are working hard to restore and preserve our river. And we gave news interviews.

On our way home we stopped and did a tour of Marble Bluff Dam Fish Hatchery. There, we saw Cui-ui fish. They are such cute sucker fish and we even got to hold and measure them. These fish are native to the Lower Truckee River and Pyramid Lake. They are endangered.

The best part, though, was hanging out with kids that share these same interests.

The hardest part was asking for money. Thank you to the following donors:

Me and Mikaela Mikaela Shiffrin (I know, right!) Michael Rosen Jo Abbott Sid Crockett Mark Mirviss Annette Mirviss Brit Crezee Jeff Rouse Dick Banfield Scott Flint Sarah Powell Joel Martinez Sean Whelan Chiara Gajar Katrina Smolen Uncle Loulou Nana and Grandpa Grannilou Alicia Doherty Maureen Garvey Christine & Cathy Aga Nowak Sue Campbell Dawn Preisendorf Tom Brand Brian Maher Brooks Alldredge Darby Stienmetz Todd Wees Rachel Rohler Kim Murray Sandford Creekside bake sale (thank you Jack for baking)