Mr. Galli - would you kindly furnish us with some representive Smith/Pinkham shots of the
ski run in Tonopah? I assume the chair lift is attached to some rusting smokestack.
Mr. Galli - would you kindly furnish us with some representive Smith/Pinkham shots of the
ski run in Tonopah? I assume the chair lift is attached to some rusting smokestack.
We ain't got no stinkin' ski run, but we got gamblingOriginally Posted by Drew Wiley
Jim,We ain't got no stinkin' ski run, but we got gambling
I gambled on a lunch in Tonopah once...I lost (it).
JD
Backpacking in the North Cascades (around Glacier Peak) was very beautiful and interesting -- interesting in that the timberline is so low due to the higher latitude than the Sierras and Trinities that I am use to.
Might go for a week hike during the last week of May or first week of June in my old stomping grounds (The Yolla Bolly - Middle Eel Wilderness) as most of the snow will probably just about be gone by then.
Vaughn
I stumbled into the hotel in Austin NV one cold morning for breakfast. I had been out for over a week, and that AM I had been shooting in a snowstorm. The town looked deserted, and I doubt they had any business all week. I was filthy, unshaved, and covered with bits of sage etc. They were so happy to see someone they served me on real China, real
silverware, and probably the most generous breakfast I've ever paid for. Think it was only
five bucks, but I left a $20 tip.
That's another big difference between the North Cascades and the Sierras. Snow in the North Cascades is typically still out in force until July. You will always hit snowy areas unless you hike in just August or September in the Cascades.
My recollection of the big difference between the volcanic Glacier Peak Wilderness – North Cascades and the Sierra is that there were no soft granite boulders upon which to rest my sorry 10 year old's backpacking ass (...the theory being that the rocks get softer the higher you go).
No granite in the Yolla Bollys either (coastal range of NoCal). Just a mad mix of rock and material uplifted from the ocean bottoms (Franciscan Formation). Outcrops of chert high on ridges that were formed 14,000 feet below at the bottom of the sea from dead one-cell creatures, compacted and thru heat and pressure made into hard layered rock (whites, reds, purples -- quite nice). Some greywacke and other rocks (including jade). Mountains made to fall down! Kept me busy when I was a wilderness ranger/trail builder in those mountains!
What I remember of the Glacier Peak Wilderness was hiking above tree line, then stepping quickly down into incredible dense forests of red ceder (if I remember that right -- it has been 30+ years). The Yolla Bollys have some incredible sugar pine, ponderosa/jeffery pines and Doug firs stands.
Another totally incorrect stereotype about the Sierras. Although they are far south of the
Cascades, travel elevations are typically much higher, so you will get snow somewhere all
year long. Some years the Spring thaw comes in Sept - last year was like that (this year
is relatively dry). And I've been in serious blizzards in the Sierra every month except July.
Last yr I was talking to a backcountry ranger who had recently recovered two hypothermic bodies due to that "gentle wilderness" stereotype. It seems to happen to
someone virtually every year, but last year to quite a few.
I have been in a white-out situation (with lightning hitting around me) in the Yolla Bollys in the middle of July at 6000 feet elevation. Did not last long enough (an hour, perhaps) to be a serious problem and when the clouds lifted and the sun came out, 300 feet below me was snow-free. The mules did not care for it much.
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