Paul McHugh - Writer

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Paul’s minute-by-minute account of an epic surf ride on a giant swell, “Big Wave Virgin,” came out as a Kindle Single, to acclaim by surfers.

Blue Ridge and Cache Creek Natural Area

Poised like a massive wave forever about to break, a mighty ridge looms on the west rim of the Sacramento Valley. Yet despite its high visibility to drivers speeding past Fairfield on Interstate 80, this lofty geologic neighbor – Blue Ridge – retains an air of mystery.

But it's a mystery that can be probed. While it soars up to more than 3,000 feet and extends about 29 miles in length, Blue Ridge only looks like a barricade. Actually, the mountain forms a gateway to a wildlife haven and outdoor sport mecca dubbed the Cache Creek Natural Area.

Sprawling across 75,000 acres, this rumpled landscape over the past 20 years has increasingly provided trails for hikers, birders and wildflower buffs, routes for equestrians and mountain bikers, opportunities for hunters and distinctive campgrounds. The preserve forms a migratory destination for dozens of bald eagles each fall and a home for sizable herds of tule elk and blacktail deer year-round.

Nighttime operations at a major Sierran resort

An incoming blizzard makes a dark line that billows on the horizon as the sun sets. Flags drooping on poles begin to lift and flap.

In a room that's a nerve center for Heavenly Mountain Resort on Lake Tahoe's South Shore, a dispatch officer scribbles on a status board – rising gusts mean the speed of a gondola taking the last skiers off the hill has to be reduced from 4.2 meters per second to a safer 3.5.

It's late afternoon, but the day is just beginning for a small army of personnel who will work throughout the night, readying the mountain for the next day's onslaught of eager skiers and snowboarders.

A collection of Tiffany stained-glass windows at Mare Island in Vallejo

An impressive array of Tiffany stained glass and other religious art elements is showing at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York. To see it, you need to fly to the Big Apple before Jan. 20. Or make it a lot easier on yourself and stay in Northern California, instead driving a short distance to enjoy the astonishing collection of 25 Louis Comfort Tiffany stained- glass windows that illuminate Saint Peter's Chapel on Mare Island. It's one of Vallejo's best secrets, and it hides in plain sight.