• Acres Burned: 1200
• Containment: 1,200 acres – 35% contained.
  Full containment expected on Sunday 3/20
• Structures Destroyed: Estimated 19 residences damaged or destroyed
  100 more are still threatened
• Evacuations: Mandatory evacuations are in place at the following areas:
  • Everything west of West St in Big Pine
  • All other evacuations have been lifted
  • Evacuation centers have been set up at the Big Pine High School and Big Pine Indian Reservation gym.
• Cause: Under investigation
• Conditions: Yesterday the fire grew rapidly as it was fanned by extremely strong winds, but last night and this morning the winds have diminished and the area has received light rain.
  Highway 395 is back open in both directions.
  The public can call 760-937-1686 to locate displaced residents.

For more information visit this link at CalFire: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=482

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More high winds are forecast today in the Owens Valley. A Wind Advisory and High Wind Watch are currently issued for the area. The storm that’s moving into the Sierra Nevada today will bring a 30% chance of rain to the valley. Hopefully humidity levels will go up and help the firefighters fighting this blaze.

Here is some video that was posted on YouTube showing the fire burning from Hwy 395.

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Unfortunately, when I left the Eastern Sierra, Pine Creek was a negative part of my soul. It was the last place Tammy and I took a drive together, and it turned out to not be a good experience for her. I won’t go into any details, but I’ve often wondered if that drive played a roll in her getting the infection that put her into the hospital and eventually caused her death. I’ve told myself many times that it didn’t, but I sometimes still wonder.

After Tammy passed away and before I moved to Wisconsin, I never drove back up Pine Creek, I just couldn’t do it. When Lynne and I came to California in 2009 I thought about going up there, but still couldn’t bring myself to do it. On this years trip though, something inside of me had changed and I was ready to head back to one of my favorite places. I needed to make Pine Creek positive again and bring back all of the great memories of the canyon.

So on Saturday morning, Lynne and I headed up there. What beauty we encountered, beginning with the deer in Rovana and the lower part of the canyon, and finishing with beautiful light shining on the peaks.

Pine Creek is now a bright spot on my soul again.

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If you’ve never been to the top of Mammoth Mtn, do it when you get the chance. It’s well worth the twenty bucks. The views from the top and on the ride up and back are awesome. The previous times I was up there I didn’t have a camera with me, so it was fun taking pictures this time.

Here are a few of the shots I took that day. The first three were taken from the top, the next three from the gondola car.

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]]> http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/sierra-nevada-high/feed/ 6 http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/few-scenes-from-mammoth/ http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/few-scenes-from-mammoth/#comments Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:18:35 +0000 Steven http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/?p=5469 For our first full day in the Eastern Sierra last week, we decided to head up to Mammoth Lakes for the day. Lynne wanted to see the town and the ski area. We took mom along with us and had an awesome day up there. Here are a few photos from the day. More to come later.

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The next winter storm is heading into the Sierra Nevada today and tonight as low pressure tracks south along the California coast. the storm is forecast to bring 6 – 12″ for areas near 4000 ft and 1-3 ft for the higher elevations. This will primarily be a Southern Sierra storm with the central and northern Sierra receiving less snow.

This storm is forecast to give the lower elevations in the Eastern Sierra a good shot of snow, this includes the Owens Valley. Snow levels will be around 2500 feet and 6 – 12″ of snow is expected above 3000 ft. The mountains in Inyo County, including those around Death Valley, could see from 18 – 24″ of snow.

The low snow levels will make traveling Highway 395 difficult for those leaving the Eastern Sierra and heading back to Southern California today and tomorrow. It’s possible that there could be snow all the way to Ridgecrest and then a rain/snow mix to Victorville on Hwy 395 and Lancaster/Palmdale on Hwy 14. Caution needs to be used while traveling these highways today.

It sounds like the town is going football crazy, and they should. The Broncos last championship was in 1957. In all of the years I lived in Bishop they made it into the playoffs many times only to get beat by the larger Southern California schools. Not this year though.

Here’s an LA Times article about the Broncos: Bishop High is going for Gold in Football

Here’s another article from Bishops local news: Broncos Roll Into Title Game

Wish I could be there Friday night. GO BRONCOS!!!

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Thankfully, many folks have picked up where I left off and there are now many great resources for fall color reports from the Sierra Nevada.

Here’s a listing of some of the better sources:

• Eastern Sierra Photographers Facebook Group: Ran by Kahlee Brighton, many photographers give reports during and after their Sierra trips.
• Eastern Sierra Fall Color Flickr Group: Also ran by Kahlee, this is a great place to see fall color photos taken in the Eastern Sierra.
  
• California Fall Color: Just found this site. Not sure who runs it, but it looks like a great resource.
• One Horse Studio: Website of photographer Greg Boyer. Greg lives in Bishop CA and gives first hand reports on the colors in the Eastern Sierra.
  
• Sierra Impressions: Web site of photographer Cory Freeman. Cory also lives in Bishop and gives first hand reports.
• Michael Frye Photography: A great place for up to date info on conditions in Yosemite and other Sierra areas.
• Parchers Resort: Located on the South Fork of Bishop Creek, they give daily fall color reports for the canyon.

I hope this list is useful to everyone. The Eastern Sierra is one of the best places for fall color in California. If you know of other sites the give up to date reports on fall colors in the Sierra Nevada, please leave a link in the comment. Happy autumn everyone!

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• A Wild Adventure at Pine Creek / Part 1
  
• More From the Pine Creek Mine
• The Final Images from Pine Creek

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