Events, News & Notes: 11/20/08

Published online on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008

GOOD READS
The Winter Camping Handbook
Author: Stephen Gorman
Publisher: The Countryman Press (www.countrymanpress.com)
List price: $16.95

Just because it's cold and there might be snow on the ground doesn't mean you have to put away your camping equipment until spring.

In fact, winter might be the best time to head out. Along with uncrowded areas and hushed, splendid scenery, you'll finally get to test whether that zero-degree sleeping bag you bought a few years back actually retains warmth.

The Winter Camping Handbook is an excellent primer on everything one should know about roughing it in the snow, from how to start a stove in subzero temperatures to the proper use of crampons and an ice axe. Other topics include choosing a location, trip planning, winterizing a travel vehicle, layering principles, navigation skills, snow shelter construction, food and nutrition, and winter safety.

It goes without saying that more care and preparation should be taken for a winter camping trip than any other time of the year. Gorman's book will help ensure you enjoy your trip -- and make it home safely.

EVENTS

Ski/Board Sale & Swap

When: Friday (6 to 9 p.m.) and Saturday (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

Where: 102 E. Barstow, Fresno

Find bargains in used ski and snowboard equipment for the entire family in this annual event hosted by the Fresno Ski Club.

Adult admission is $5 (which can be applied to your first purchase) and includes a drawing entry for a season pass to Sierra Summit.

NEWS & NOTES

• A Gilroy man was placed on two years probation, ordered to pay a $7,105 fine and must serve 100 hours of community service for a recent waterfowl poaching conviction. Peter Ciraulo, 42, was found to unlawfully possess 253 ducks and 58 geese, well in excess of the state possession limits of 14 ducks and eight geese, when wardens arrested him in January.

  "Not since the market poaching days of the early 1900s have we seen waterfowl poaching of this scope," Department of Fish and Game enforcement branch chief Nancy Foley said.

• Work is scheduled to begin Saturday on a new interpretive park in Friant located on state-owned property along the San Joaquin River near the fish hatchery. Plans call for a handicapped fishing area, paved trails and a bridge to the island in the middle of the river. The work will be done by volunteers and DFG employees.

• The Fresno chapter of the Audubon Society is hosting a field trip Saturday morning to Woodward Park and the Jensen River Ranch. Contact Kevin Enns-Rempel at (559) 313-4546 for details.

• Local fishing expert Roger George, who helps compile The Bee's weekly fish report, will discuss striper techniques at 6:15 p.m. today at Fisherman's Warehouse in Fresno.