Fire update

Yesteday the Goodale fire grew to 4500 acres. But last night and this morning we had some light rain move through the Owens Valley and Eastern Sierra and from what Tammy has heard the fire is out. Many of the crews that were here in town have left.

There is a new fire in the Sierra. Here is the info on it;
Smith (Sequoia National Forest): 200 acres at zero percent contained. This fire is six miles southeast of Onyx, burning in the Kiavah Wilderness Area. Limited access and steep and rugged terrain are hampering containment efforts. The fire spread rapidly including some torching and spotting.

There's some rumbling of thunder outside right now as the afternoon thunderstorms come rolling in. Check this out though, it only 78 outside. That's pretty nice for the end of June!
Steven on 06.28.06 @ 04:41 PM PST [link]

Lee Vining Canyon, Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 06.27.06 @ 06:20 PM PST [link]

Fire update

Hi guys,
Sorry about not talking much lately. I've been a very busy boy though and just haven't taken the time to update you on things.
Over the last few days we have had a lot of dry thunderstorm activity in the Eastern Sierra and it is starting to do what dry thunderstorms do best, start fires.
There is a 1500 acre fire northwest of Reno that as of this morning is 50% contained. That's all I know about that one.
A little closer to home, we have a fire 11 miles south of Big Pine in the area between Division Creek and Goodale Creek. It is just west of Aberdeen. It has burned 3000 acres as of the update this morning. There are mandatory evacuations for Goodale Campground and voluntary evacuations for Aberdeen. I drove by this morning and the fire was really going. When I drove by this afternoon it didn't look quite as bad.
CDF has brought up over 200 firefighters from the Southern California area and there is at least one tanker plane that I saw dumping a load. The firefighters that CDF brought up are staying in the area for the next five days which is how long the dry thunderstorms are forecast for.

As many of you know, the Division Creek area is where I shoot the Bush Lupines when they bloom. It looks like that area was burned, but that's not a bad thing. The same area burned about 4 years ago and the Lupine bloom was very nice the next year. Division Creek is also one of the few places that Black Oaks grow in the Eastern Sierra. The big grove of trees has once again avoided the fire. It should be ok, unless there is a major wind change.

The other evening we were up in Lee Vining and there was a fire burning in the hills to the South East of Mono Lake. There was a pretty big ploom of smoke at first, but by the time we started heading home, there wasn't any smoke to be seen. There had been a lot of lightning in that area just prior to the smoke. I don't think anything came of that fire.

As for other things, Summer is here and it's getting very busy here is Bishop. Lots and lots of trailers and tourist coming through town.

Steven on 06.27.06 @ 06:16 PM PST [link]

June Lake, Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 06.24.06 @ 09:37 PM PST [link]

Tioga Pass

Tioga Pass is scheduled to open Satuday, June 17. That's this Satuday folks.
Steven on 06.14.06 @ 07:34 PM PST [link]

Changes to the Gallery

If you go to the Visions of the Sierra Gallery you will notice some changes. I wasn't happy with just having my newest images in the gallery, so I have created two albums inside the gallery. One is for my newest images and the other album will be for my favorite images that I have shot over the years. I am still getting the favorites ready for the web so that album is empty right now. I should start getting images up over the weekend.
Steven on 06.14.06 @ 07:32 PM PST [link]

Re: Patrick

Patrick,
Lee Vining Creek is very high right now. We didn't drive up the canyon to the plant the other evening, but from the road we could see that the big meadow in the canyon is flooded. I would imagine that it would be very difficult to fish the creek right now.
Steven on 06.12.06 @ 12:05 PM PST [link]

New Images

New images have been added to the Visions Gallery.
Steven on 06.11.06 @ 02:47 PM PST [link]

Lee Vining Canyon

Took a drive up to Lee Vining Canyon and Tioga last evening. The road is open all the way to the pass but there is still a lot of snow up there. As you can see from the daily picture, Tioga Lake is still mostly frozen. Ellery lake still has ice on it, but there is quite a bit of open water too. You could fish Ellery right now. There's no way you could fish Tioga.

Just below the pass there are still snow banks 10 feet deep. And when you look up toward the crest it still looks like winter. There isn't much bare ground showing at all. The road to Saddleback Lake is closed and still has a couple feet of snow on it, it's most likely deeper than that up by the lake.

I haven't heard anymore updates about the opening of Tioga Pass. The site I check hasn't changed since the last update. I'm still guessing around the 20th.
Steven on 06.11.06 @ 02:20 PM PST [link]

Tioga Lake and Mt Dana,
Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 06.10.06 @ 09:43 PM PST [link]

And the winner is

Ok, the little pieces of paper with the numbers on them are mixed up in the stinky ol' hiking hat and Tammy is sticking her hand in,
her other hand is holding her nose

She's pulling out a ticket.......

And the winner is.............................

Jim McJannett from Bakersfield CA!!!

Congraulations Jim!

Thanks to everyone who bought chances and maybe next time you'll be the winner.
Steven on 06.10.06 @ 03:37 PM PST [link]

Photo Raffle

Ok, I'm going to leave you guys in suspence for awhile.
The drawing for the photo raffle will be this afternoon when Tammy gets off of work. She is the official name puller. So check the site around 4:00 and I will have the winner posted.
Thanks to everyone who bought chances and good luck.
Steven on 06.10.06 @ 07:30 AM PST [link]

Twin Falls and Upper Twin Lake, Mammoth Lakes,
Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 06.08.06 @ 09:25 PM PST [link]

Raffle Deadline

Just a reminder. You only have 2 more days to get your raffle chances. Friday is the last day you can buy your tickets. The drawing will be on Saturday.
If you've already bought chances, thank you. Check your email or this page on Saturday to see if you're the winner.
Steven on 06.07.06 @ 03:42 PM PST [link]

Mt Hurd. Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 06.06.06 @ 07:27 PM PST [link]

High Water Again

The creeks and rivers are on the rise again in the Sierra. They had settled down for a week or two, but with the warm weather we've had over the last few days, they are rising again. The NWS has issued a flood watch for Mono County, Yosemite, and much of the Sierra south of Yosemite.
Here in the Eastern Sierra, Bishop Creek is running very high and fast, the Owens River is to the top of the river banks and I have heard the Mammoth Creek has again flooded the meadows to the east of town.
So remember to be very carefull around the creeks and rivers of the Sierra right now. Don't get to close to the edges, because it doesn't take much for an undercut bank to give way and send you flying down stream.

On a related note;
The mosquitoes are out!! I got my first bites of the season last evening up Bishop Creek. I didn't think they'd be out yet at the elevation I was at, (8500') but they were. This is just the beginning of a long and nasty skeeter season in the Sierra. So make sure to spray up and wear loose clothing.
Steven on 06.06.06 @ 07:16 PM PST [link]

Hot Creek Stirring

There's some stirring going on in the Hot Creek area just east of Mammoth. Some new mud pots, new heated ground areas, and a geyser have all formed in the last few days. Prety cool. Or should I say Hot. The Forest Service has closed the creek to swimmers and soakers until further notice.
Is this the beginning of new valcanic activity in the Long Valley Caldera? The USGS doesn't think so. But you can bet they're keeping a close eye on things. So will I, and I'll let you know what's happening as I find out. I think we might have to run up there in a few days.

Steven on 06.06.06 @ 07:02 PM PST [link]

Tioga Pass

The Tioga Rd is now plowed all the way through. this dosn't mean that the pass will open soon though. There are still active and dangerous avalanche zones on the road. It was on June 4th last year that they conected up with the Mono County crews coming in from the east and it was 20 days before the pass opened. so we can figure that the pass will open around the 20th or so.
For those of us on the east side of the Sierra, you can now drive up Lee Vining Canyon as far as Tioga Lake. That's good news for the skiers and boarders that love to play in that area.


Steven on 06.04.06 @ 04:44 PM PST [link]

New Images

I have just added some new images to the Visions Gallery. Enjoy.
Steven on 06.03.06 @ 08:07 AM PST [link]

South Lake, Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 06.03.06 @ 07:33 AM PST [link]