John K. - if you're listening in, you might especially appreciate this. Yesterday one of our PBS half-hour segment aired by the one of the Aiello brothers from Bass Lake. They now have two different programs, this one being the photo techniques split-off series of Outdoors, mostly digital and moving images, but some still work too, some regional CA, and some international. Tasteful scenic stuff, and not really in line with what we do with our LF gear, but well worth watching. For an episode a couple weeks ago they gained access last Spring to the vernal pond blooms atop the basalt Tables on both sides of the River. Access the the Topping Ranch table (formerly Kennedy Table) in Madera County is rarely granted to anyone.
This time they combined live footage of the Big Creek Fire (they were actually coincidentally camping in Beasore Mdw when it began) with recent footage of what the view looks like now across the canyon from locations like the Mile High turnout, partially under snow. The Chiquito Cr bridge is still out, so some round-about detouring was involved. I've already been into the opposite side of the burn, across the canyon further down, and hope to print a few of those color images next Spring. But the loop drive from North Fork looks like a lot of excellent color too, if it all doesn't green up just too fast next season. Beasore Mdw itself and its buildings survived. I don't know about the old Hogue apple ranch however, with its classic moss-chinked pioneer log cabin.
For those unfamiliar, this is an all-day seasonal drive in its own right, but with many good panoramic views into the deep canyon system and high backcountry of the crest, plus numerous classic granite domes. Balloon Dome, way down near the intersection of all three forks of the San Joaquin, is actually taller than Half Dome in Yosemite, and this is a close as you can get to it by road. Any closer, and you have some real work ahead of you - hot steep canyon hiking.
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