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Thread: Mariposa Alert!

  1. #11

    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Do what I did - go to the Ruby Mtns in Nevada. They're gorgeous and uncrowded.
    Good idea. Get there and take some shots before they are burned into ashes as well. In many ways, we are the recorders of history, but don't know it. I can't tell you how many places that I've photographed that are no longer there -- and never will be again. But it's not just fires and global warming. The National Forest Service here in Colorado is planning a major change for the Conundrum Hot Springs near Aspen. It's a ten mile hike to get to it, but so many people have been trashing it out, the Forest Service crews take out over 100 pound of human shit every month -- no kidding. And these "users" are supposedly people who love the Earth.
    Last edited by xkaes; 20-Jul-2017 at 03:41.

  2. #12
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    Oh, I rarely online anymore. Resting my feet today after a good hill workout with wonderful light in the redwoods. Gotta start lugging heavy ladders again and keep the outdoor painting going. But I've also got a couple of the enlarges loaded.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
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    San Joaquin Valley, California
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    The sky here in Fresno looks like the sky in Riverside County because of all the smoke. I also heard reports that Half Dome, Glacier Point and El Cap are obscured from the valley floor. A crummy deal for tourists on their first trip to YNP.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  4. #14
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    Our news here has had plenty of shots of the smoke in Yosemite. The veil of haze is well across Nevada now, and this fire is just getting traction. This is just a foothill fire. With tens of millions of dead pines at mid elevations, things could get a lot worse. It utterly amazes me how little is being done proactively. Twenty foot brush clearance around structures??? You gotta be kidding. I kept a 3-acre perimeter, and still it was a close call at times.

  5. #15

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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    I just heard from a friend on a ranch in Midpines that they have been with intermittent power for a few days and some neighbors have already been evacuated.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  6. #16
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    Lots of coverage on tonite's news again. Hope Coulterville survives. It has some interesting old blogs. Drove thru there in Apr. All the pine zone above there burned almost completely two or three years ago. I got some nice shots of the burn area soon after. The lower hill country will recover fine. There will be fabulous green and wildflowers in a couple of years, the brush will all be back in 30 or 40 years, and everyone will forget and get burnt out again. I feel sorry for the people of course. The pine dieoff is an entirely different story and climate change related. We might be losing the lovely sugar pines for good, since they live in such a narrow zone.

  7. #17
    http://www.spiritsofsilver.com tgtaylor's Avatar
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    I went from Granite Cr over Post Peak Pass, dropped into the upper gorge. Just recently printed a couple of color shots. Didn't see anyone else for a week (two wk trip). Then a nice cross-country loop around Harriet bench. Again, nobody. Almost no evidence of humans except obsidian chips. Lots of fresh bighorn sign. Trying to get in shape for a visit to TunemahBasin in Sept. At my age, that will be a long slog. But as always, I'll have a Plan B&C due to fire issues. Still amazes me - 30,000 people in Yos Valley at the same time I had a place even more scenic all to myself (and the person hiking with me), on the very same stream. That kind of experience has happened five years in a row now.
    Looks like an interesting trip Drew. My big USGS Typo shows a road crossing Miller creek to the south and north to what appears could be a TH just shy of Granite Creek. A foot path heads NW from there towards Fernandez Pass branching at West Creek with the NE branch leading over Post Peak and Isberg Pass. Is that the route that you took going in? I guess that by Harriet Bench you mean the area around Harriet Lake. Did you skirt around Foerster Peak towards Electra Peak or did you drop down to the foot path crossing Foerster Creek about 2 clicks to the east and follow it to the Lyell fork? Finally how did you get back to the car?

    I heard on the news a little earlier that they are going to let Mariposa residents back in starting sometime today. Although the fire is only 15% contained, it is heading in a southerly direction and they have the town's southern edge protected. Meanwhile there's plenty of camp space available in the valley - 35 tent spots in Camp 4 alone.

    Thomas

  8. #18
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    There are lots of potential variations, depending on how comfortable on off-trail travel, schedule, and type of year (last yr was drought, so some stretches without water). This trip I wanted to shoot.weird Porphry Lk, so went over Post Peak Pass instead of Isberg. Easiest trailhead is Norris Cr, which is also convenient for lakes on the S side of the Clark Range. Post Peak is a long ridge with fantastic views; but you obviously don't want to be up there during a storm. You drop straight down to big meadows, and from there tot a trail fork. The quieter "high trail" eventually hits the rim of the canyon and switchbacks down to the Lyell Fork. It's an easy upstream across slabs to the famous but pristine meadows, near the confluence of Hutchings Cr. I got meet someone for lunch, so will post about Harriet Bench later.

  9. #19
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    If you're still tuned in, Thomas, I did a clockwise 4-day clockwise loop hitting all the lakes on Harriet Bench except one. Once you're above timber it's easy to plan a route; below that, a GPS might be handy. Don't try it from way down in the Lyell Fork, but well before the dropoff into the swichbacks. Some areas require care, but not bad except for no protection from wind around Harriet Lk itself. Even thr eagles and dragonflies were nearly tame. Not many people get in there. If you want to cross over the top to Blue Lk and Bench Can it can be dangerous if you don't cross at the right spot above Harriet. We didn't have enough time. Another trip. Meanwhile, lots more fire coverage on the news. They're expecting another 50 homes to burn tonite, which is saying a lot, since property is spaced a long ways apart in that area. They just stated that it will probably take another month to contain, at a million dollars a day.

  10. #20
    Preston Birdwell
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    Re: Mariposa Alert!

    The Detwiler Fire is 76,500 Ac. and is 50% contained as of this morning, 7/24.

    If you plan to travel in the area, be sure note any road closures.
    --Be Safe!
    --P
    Preston-Columbia CA

    "If you want nice fresh oats, you have to pay a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse; that comes a little cheaper."

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