Re: Hetch Hetchy Area

I thought a map of the area might be of use to some:

Yes, thank you! Except for a certain hike up a certain trail that ends up on a named hunk of rock, most of my hiking this year will be in the Hetch Hetchy and north.

Thanks - two questions.
Aren't there a lot of rattlesnakes in that area?
What happened to the movement to drain and restore Hetch Hetchy to its original state?

About five years ago I would encounter at least one per trip if not one per day. The last few years I haven't seen a rattler.

The movement to drain and restore the valley is alive and well. Personally I think it is like trying to unscramble an egg.

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Old Dude

Yeah, it would probably be impossible to erase that bathtub ring around the reservoir and it would probably take a good 500 to 1000 years to reforest, revegetate and repopulate the area but I think it would be worth doing.

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Bob Weaver
it would probably take a good 500 to 1000 years to reforest

From what I've heard the forest would be looking quite good in 15 to 20 years.

That's good news. After the Cedar Fire here in San Diego, they said that Cuyamaca Rancho State Park would take a minimum of 100 years to restore itself to the condition it was in before the fire - if at all. Because of global climate change, it may never again be how it was before October 2003.

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Bob Weaver
That's good news. After the Cedar Fire here in San Diego, they said that Cuyamaca Rancho State Park would take a minimum of 100 years to restore itself to the condition it was in before the fire - if at all. Because of global climate change, it may never again be how it was before October 2003.

I suspect that's because of the difference in climate. Forests recover slowly, if at all, in Southern California.

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eeek

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Bob Weaver
it would probably take a good 500 to 1000 years to reforest

From what I've heard the forest would be looking quite good in 15 to 20 years.

Maybe somewhere between those extremes.
There are so many issues with Hetch Hetchy that it seems like an effort only slightly less difficult than stopping the earth's rotation. What sort of detailed plans exist for some of the issues:
1. flood control during global warming
2. water supply to San Francisco
3. restoration of the valley. The old photos of the construction look quite dismal and suggest to me that the entire Hetch Hetchy basin was re-configured.

Sometimes the grasslands are the hardest to restore as they have a complex ecology and may be "longer lived" than forests, I have been told.

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

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Frank Furter
1. flood control during global warming
2. water supply to San Francisco

Those are both covered by the bigger dam down the river.

Bee,
Dale and I have hiked every trail north of HH many times with a lot of cross country. If you have any questions about that area please ask.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron
Bee,
Dale and I have hiked every trail north of HH many times with a lot of cross country. If you have any questions about that area please ask.

Oh, you KNOW I will!

It was you guys who alerted me to this area in the first place ( I have been doing a lot of reading about Jack Main Canyon)

I have a lot of foundation hikes to cover before I take something like JMC, but it's really nice to see what is out there on the horizon

Why are rattlesnakes so common in the Hetch Hetchy area? Is it because of all the stored water there, thus the abundance of wildlife, i.e. rodents etc. that snakes feed on?

We've run into them all over the park and I don't feel like we've seen them favoring any one place over another. I've heard Pate Valley is a favorite hangout for them but I haven't seen even one there. It may be elevation and sun exposure related. Earlier snow melt coupled with sun exposure for the basking they do. I think they can find plenty of food just about anywhere.

A few years back I would keep my eyes focused on the trail ahead looking for one sunning itself but I haven't done that lately as I haven't seen a rattler for at least three years. Dale has seen a few lately.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron
've heard Pate Valley is a favorite hangout for them but I haven't seen even one there.

I've seen plenty of them in Pate. Just glad I didn't step on one.

I think rattler prevalence is a factor of lower elevation and sunny rocks to lie upon. In '72-'74 I lived in Avery above Murphys on Route 4. There were several dirt roads in the area where they were commonly seen and that was around 3,000' elevation. Being cold blooded means a constant effort on their part to control temperature. The higher elevations tend to lack the longer season of long warm days they prefer.

I ran over one on a dirt road one day. Later somebody told me that's a good way to get a flat tire if the rattler manages an effective strike against the sidewall.

Jim

This map does not have the Vaunted Goat Gulch Trail.
Also missing (for a good reason) is the North Mountain Trail.
When Mike and I went looking around at the old
towers leading to Gravel Pit I went to check if they did anything recently...
nope... if u like bushwacking and climbing over trees...