Hi Aaron,

SoaringNV will answer all your questions about flying in the area.
Unless you are flying above 18,000 feet in a wave window, you will not
need to interact with NorCal.

I live in Sacramento and have been driving over the Sierra to fly in
the winter for twenty years. My advice, rent a four wheel drive
vehicle. Conditions change rapidly in the mountains. The Sierra are
not the little mole hills that you have on the east coast. Highways
50 and 80 are the major trans-sierra routes. With four wheel drive I
have never been blocked from crossing the mountains, even in the
middle of mild snow storms.

Enjoy.

Guy