… Adult males develop a humped back and a heavy hooked jaw, equipping them for the inevitable battles over both mates and territory, and both sexes turn from their usual silver/blue color to a brilliant red. Then, en masse, they make a mad dash to their mating grounds, displaying their colors to attract a mate, then battling to protect the small patch of gravel where they make their nests.

And so, another spring break in Palm Springs comes to an end …

No, wait. Sorry. We meant to say it’s time once again for the 18th annual Kokanee Salmon Festival.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 4-5,at the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center at Taylor Creek, just north of South Lake Tahoe on Highway 89.

So once again, throngs will gather to honor the wily salmon, enjoy salmon-related entertainment, participate in long-distance runs and observe the natural wonder that is the salmon migration in Taylor Creek.

What draws us to this spectacle year after year?

“It’s a great mystery, like the behavior of the salmon themselves,” said U.S. Department of Agriculture public affairs manager Rex Norman. “It’s one of those neat little spectacles of nature. Just seeing all those fish, the brilliant colors and the surrounding natural environment, that’s special to a lot of people.”

Indeed, the Kokanee Festival has been growing in popularity each year, and the determined fish are only one component of the fun.

After running in the Kokanee Salmon Run (5K, 10K, half-marathon, or kids Tadpole Trot), it has become a tradition to indulge in devouring a bratwurst and beer at the annual Oktoberfest. As tradition calls, the 14th annual Oktoberfest will celebrate with German-style food, a beer and wine garden, live music, yodeling contest, beer stein holding contest, and a pumpkin patch.

The beer offerings include Spatenbrau Premium, Spatembrau Oktoberfest, Franziskaner Hefe Weisse, Samuel Adams Octoberfest and Sudwerk Marzen-Octoberfest. The liquors consist of Runplemintz, Jägermeister, Goldschläger, and wines include Kenwood’s chardonnay, merlot and white zinfandel. Bratwurst, knackwurst, bockwurst, Polish sausages, pretzels and clam chowder complement the libations, and dogs are also available for kids. The purchase of a stein includes the first round of beer.

Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care will again be serving barbecue salmon plates from 11 am to 4 p.m. For $14, visitors can feast on a barbecue salmon steak, corn on the cob, coleslaw, role and a beverage. Proceeds benefit the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care and future Kokanee Salmon Festivals.

On Sunday October 5th the Tahoe Mountain Milers and Sagebrush Stompers running clubs will present the Kokanee Trail Runs. The half-marathon, which was canceled last year because of the Angora fire, is back and will start at 9 a.m. The children’s half-mile Tadpole Trot will start at 9:15 a.m. Afterward, adults are invited to compete in the 5 and10-kilometer trail runs starting at 10 am. All runs will start at the Taylor Creek Snowpark parking lot. Race day registration begins at 8 am. Registration and early packets will be available at the Camp Richardson Oktoberfest on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.

This year, more all-day Saturday and Sunday family activities will be available, including a scavenger hunt, tug-of-war, hula-hoop contest, three-legged race, gymnastics and dance performances, face-painting, a bounce house and various arts and crafts vendors.

Guests can ride bikes, walk along the beach, hop on a shuttle at any of the stops throughout the South Shore, or park and not have to drive for the day. Parking is free at Camp Richardson Resort for those who eat at the lakefront restaurant, the Beacon; parking is $7 otherwise.

Kokanee salmon are landlocked cousins of the sea-going sockeye salmon, both of which biologists working at the lake’s North Shore introduced to Lake Tahoe.

“It’s unclear exactly what happened, but some speculate that there was an accident and some of those fish escaped into the lake,” Norman said. “The salmon quickly adapted to the alpine environment, joining brown trout, rainbow trout and Mackinaw among the most prominent game fish in Tahoe.”

Each autumn, nature calls mature kokanee to return to the streams from which they hatched, select a mate, spawn and die. As the time approaches, the fish change color to a brilliant red, and rush en masse up Taylor Creek to make their nests.

For more information, call (530) 543-2674.

Action lands a Kokanee for exclusive interview

In honor of the yearly migration of the kokanee salmon to Taylor Creek, and the impending Kokanee Salmon Festival at the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center, we are proud to present an interview with a genuine kokanee salmon. So without further ado:

Lake Tahoe Action: Welcome, salmon.

Salmon: It’s my pleasure to be here.

Action: Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Salmon: Well, I’m a land-locked form of sockeye salmon, as you may know, and was first introduced to Lake Tahoe by biologists, where I was dropped into the lake accidentally. But I adapted quickly and am now found here in abundance.

Action: Your yearly migration is a fascinating ritual. Describe it if you please.

Salmon: That’s a little personal.

Action: Well, we find that people are very interested by your frenzied swim toward your ancestral spawning grounds each year. You jump waterfalls, brave rapids, avoid bears, only to finally spawn and die. It’s poetic, in a way. Sort of a Greek tragedy.

Salmon: Yes, well, would it surprise you to know that the real reason we do it is that we all forgot our keys?

Action: You’re having some fun at my expense. I get it. Now if we could get back to your migration …

Salmon: It’s all in the press release. Nature calls mature salmon each autumn; we return to the stream from which we hatched, select a mate, turn a brilliant red … yada yada. Think of it like spring break at Fort Lauderdale.

Action: Why aren’t you yourself spawning right now?

Salmon: I was classified as 4-F. Flat fins.

Action: We’d like to thank salmon for taking the time to be with us here today. Next week, we …

Salmon: I’m sitting this one out, baby!

Action: … next week we welcome Lassie. Good night, folks.