North state

Highway 89, Lassen Peak Highway: The road that runs north/south through Lassen Volcanic National Park, including past the staging area for Lassen Peak, is projected to open by Memorial Day weekend. The road is open from the park’s north entrance at Manzanita Lake for 10 miles to the Devastated Area and from the south entrance for 6 miles to Bumpass Hell.

Central Sierra

Highway 88: Open at Carson Pass near Kirkwood, east of Jackson.

Highway 89: Open at Monitor Pass east of Markleeville.

Highway 4: Opened Friday at Ebbetts Pass east of Arnold.

Highway 108: Opened last Thursday at Sonora Pass east of Sonora.

Highway 120: Snowplow operations are close to punching through at Tioga Pass in Yosemite National Park, with an average snow depth of 6 feet and 8 to 9 feet at the summit. Even if they succeed, four avalanche zones remain. There’s a 50-50 chance it’ll be open for the long weekend. Even if the highway is cleared, the park requires restrooms, drinking water and other infrastructure support be available before the highway opens.

Glacier Point Road, Yosemite: Clear and open, with all park services available, including shuttle buses from the valley.

Eastern Sierra

Highway 158: The June Lake Loop is open.

Highway 203: Snowplow operations at Minaret Summit, the access to Devils Postpile National Monument, project opening the pass by the first week of June. Opening by next weekend is unlikely.

Source, San Fransisco Cronicle

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Hi Steven — As promised, here’s a wildflower report on parts of Owens Valley from this past weekend (May 10th through 12th).

BISHOP – Lots of lovely blue Wild Iris along Brockman, Barlow and See Vee Lanes.  Plenty of blooms are visible, although not easily accessible (barb wire everywhere!).  You can even see them in fields right next to the 395 just north of the junction with Hwy. 6.  That same area also has Golden Wallflower (south side cow pasture) – even a beautiful Showy Milkweed (along the north fence line just past the bend after Hwy. 6). 

Best irises for close-ups were on See Vee, on the east side, approx. one block south of 395.  Lots of wind the day after I was there and this is the second phase of the bloom so who knows what condition they’re in today.  But that area on See Vee was pretty well-protected from wind by a lot of trees.  (Note:  Lots of people were out poaching the irises for Mother’s Day — carefully choosing the best ones of course.  Very frustrating!)

VOLCANIC TABLELANDS – Along Fish Slough Road (and lots of 4×4 side roads in the area), there are spectacular displays of Venus Blazing Star and Mojave Lupine as well as Purple Mat, Winter Fat, Apricot Mallow, Sun Cups, Hopsage, Indigo Bush and some kind of ubiquitous yellow shrub (Spiny Horsebrush?).  Chalk Bluff Road also has Indigo Bush, Venus Blazing Star, Sun Cups, Tansy Mustard (?) and others cascading down the slopes at roadside.

SILVER CANYON, east of the Laws Museum off Hwy. 6 – Lots more yellow mystery shrub, Indigo Bush, Apricot Mallow, two kinds of Gilia, Purple Mat, Sun Cups, California Buckwheat, Winter Fat, Mojave Aster, Pincushion, Hopsage (vanilla through burgundy colors) and yet another mystery plant – low-growing with thick grey-green leaves and ruby globe-shaped flowers. (This one also was on Fish Slough Rd in a few places.) 

Where Silver Canyon enters the White Mountains, there are some really huge Prince’s Plume plants – especially past the first stream crossing.  That first crossing is drivable in a sedan.  My Corolla did fine, but get out and carefully plot the best line through the creek before you try it.  It’s a very rocky bottom and some spots are deeper than others.  Don’t attempt any of the other stream crossings without high clearance and beyond those, you’ll need 4×4 to climb up to the Bristlecones if the road is even open that far. 

The BUTTERMILKS have pretty much the same mix as those areas described above, although someone in an earlier post had mentioned Desert Peach.  I saw none of that anywhere on this trip.  (I’ve seen it many times in Mono Basin, but not here.)

Further south at DIVISION CREEK, the Bush Lupine are toast.  Whatever was there has gone to seed.  BUT there are still things worth seeing:  Lots of Brittlebush, Indigo Bush, Morning Glories, Wild Rose, one nice Prickly Poppy right next to the road, a few Beavertail Cacti in neon pink bloom and, tucked into a large clump of lava on Tinemaha/Old 395 just north of the Division Creek Road, a great display of fuchsia Giant Four O’Clocks. (As their name suggests, timing for those is everything!)

There are lots more goodies along roads in the ALABAMA HILLS (particularly Horseshoe Meadow, Tuttle Creek, Lubken Canyon and Movie Roads).  Blooms are decent and in some cases just peaking, but overall, the Spring flower show definitely is winding down.  Look for the last of the Bush Lupine, Pincushion, Phacelia, Chia, Mojave Penstemon, Indian Paintbrush, Winter Fat, Mojave Aster, Hopsage, Sulphur Buckwheat, Blue Sage, Brittlebush, Yerba Mansa and some beautiful Owens Valley Checkerbloom.

Hope this is helpful to the Sierra Visions faithful.

Kahlee

Thanks Kahlee!!

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They are currently working on widening the road and doing any repairs that are needed. There still isn’t an opening date set. I’d say it’s very possible that the pass will open for Memorial Day weekend.

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We are also going to see a show called Walking With Dinosaurs. It’s playing in Madison and I’m really looking forward to seeing it. Check out the link to it.

Last night we went to see Stomp. If you guys want to see a great show, go see this.It was pretty awesome.

I’ll try to get an update on things tomorrow, but I can’t promise anything.

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CalTrans is also reporting that the road to Bodie State Park is now open.

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The first one is from Bob regarding the Southern Sierra flowers:

My first visit here. So far a real great read. For my first post I would like to reccomend a trip up 180 East of Fresno now. The Blue Bonnets are amazing this year. The best trip is up 180 through the park and back down the 198 side toward Visalia. The Three Rivers area is in full bloom now. I ride my Harley up into the hills as much as possible and yes I do stop to smell the flowers. I was up in Shaver last weekend. The best thing was how green it was. We were lucky to get some good snow late this year. Some is still hiding in the shade below Shaver. It is wonderful to see the wild flowers blooming in a small medow with patches of snow in the back ground.

And this one is from Susan about the Bishop Iris:

Hi all..
The iris are not nearly as pretty as 2 years ago. They have definitely beeen damaged by the winds of the past week. The cleanest ones I saw were actually in the field of “Farmers Pond.” Brockman Lane had you looking hard for good purple as did See Vee.
Perhaps withthe change in forcast for this week the leftovers in Bishop will have a better showing!!
Susan

Thanks guys! If anyone else has any reports on Sierra wildflowers or any trip reports, please share them with us.

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The iris look like this weekend might be peak off brockman. But take that with a grain of salt as I don’t have much experience with them. Went out tonight and saw many more than we had seen last weekend. Unfortunately it’s been a windy past couple weeks and that seems to have roughed-up the flowers a bit.

I’ve seen the purple fields in division creek from 395 for the last week and heard good things from a couple coworkers. I have yet to go up there yet for myself. I seem to remember more purple in 2004 though.

The flowers are busting out all over the OV at the lower elevations from Olancha up to Bishop. There’s a pink flower bush, desert peach?, which is flower like crazy in the buttermilks and up to about 7000′. theres some beautiful flowers all over the base of the whites opposite of bishop, very small purple and yellow ones.

Roads are open to South and Sabrina. Watchout for early morning ice as there is still quite a bit of snow above 9000′. the road to north lake is still closed, but walking in from 168 was easy. The lake was half way thawed last weekend.

I hear the road is only open up to the pack station in Rock Creek. The forest service will let the snow melt on its own is the way I hear it.

This weekend sounds like it will be wind free. It’s been very windy, but the temps have been very mild and pleasant! I did talk with a couple fishermen coming down from NL last weekend and they had plenty of action.

Hope that helps some.

Thanks Cory!!

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The same evening that we shot these daffodil pics, we ran out to the Wind Point Lighthouse in Racine in hopes of catching a nice sunset. Well the sunset didn’t happen the way I hoped, but I got some interesting shots of the lighthouse after the sun went down. Some of them even have the light in the shot.

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