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Thread: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

  1. #1
    Drew Wiley
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    Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    A moderately large quake (5.9) hit on the Antelope Valley Fault somewhere in the desert below the east side of the Sierra today. But rockfall over roads has occurred as far north as South Lake Tahoe. Hwy 395 was temporarily closed near Coleville for cleanup. That's near where the road over Monitor Pass intersects. But there could be issues on other mtn roads, so best to check in advance before heading that way soon. Lots of serious aftershocks so far.

  2. #2

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    Re: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    It gave Fresno a good shake.
    With the current heat wave, we're shaking and baking.
    "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

  3. #3
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    They felt it in SF. But I didn't feel a thing on side roads to Hwy 1 north of Tomales Bay - maybe that's one of the benefits of bumpy roads, plus the relative quiet to pull over just about anywhere and compose a shot. Even mid-day light is magical in that area this time of year. Was a bit too warm yesterday for hiking uphill with a heavy pack, though cold with fog right along the coast, and here too at my house.

    That Antelope Valley wildlife preserve is itself too hot for me as a trailhead. It's more Nevada-eque, with sage and itchy rabbitbrush. The geology is mostly loose volcanic pile-up, so more prone to slides than to the south around Sonora Pass where it's a mix of well-consolidated basalt and granite. Hopefully nobody was injured in the backcountry. Almost nobody goes in there anyway; it's basically the back door entrance to Mokelumne Wilderness. A friend of mine loves it for its solitude. There are few lakes in there like in glaciated granite terrain; but he follows the river uphill to old sheepherder camps and so forth. There are some large waterfalls.

  4. #4

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    Re: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    , new compostions?

  5. #5
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    The bottleneck along Hwy 395 is through a narrow canyon with steep walls consisting of that kind of loose geologic fill. It's also where avalanches are most likely to disrupt the highway in winter. In other words, the hillsides get roto-tilled vertically quite a bit. I doubt this past EQ would change the look much. But those parts of Nevada adjacent do have their own special appeal, and I find it surprising that so few photographers have taken advantage of that, nervously running hither and thither to bag stereotypical postcard content instead. Returning from high country excursions, I've often allowed a few more days for exploring adjacent Great Basin terrain. And along that particular stretch, the waters of the Walker River do flow into the Great Basin and never reach the sea; but most of it is now diverted to agriculture, especially alfalfa. There is a unique kind of native cutthroat trout in that stretch, mostly too small to tempt my own fishing patience.

  6. #6

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    Re: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    Sounds like a really interesting area.

  7. #7
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    I'll waiting for a window when it's not so hot, and when smoke isn't around. That's going to take some luck this summer. There's a big fire right now just south of Lk Tahoe. Hiking-wise, I prefer granite to the kind of crumbly dusty volcanic stuff north of Sonora Pass, or to sandy glacial moraine deposits. But where things intermix, the geology can be fascinating. We have a number of "roof pendant" sections where dark rock has been dramatically uplifted atop the whitish granitic batholiths, to form especially spectacular jagged peaks and wildly striped cliffs. Up in Convict Canyon, for example, is like being on another planet.

  8. #8

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    Re: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    Convict Canyon is pretty cool!
    "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

  9. #9
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Temporary EQ mess east side Sierra Hwy 395

    Not long ago, I was working on an evening/morning diptych of a giant swirly cliff way up in Convict Canyon, with the two shots taken on different trips. Giant Sevehah (sp?) Cliff right above Convict Lake is really spectacular looking straight down from the summit pinnacle, accessible from the upper trailhead on a 4WD route. Another spectacular angle is looking down on that whole drainage from up on Red Slate Mtn.

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