Parched California hunts for water in unusual places 28 January 2014 by Hal Hodson Water is running low in California. Reservoirs are receding, leaving lake beds cracking in the warm winter sun. Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, traditionally a third of the state's water supply, has dropped to 12 per cent of its normal level. 2013 was the driest year in more than a century, and the resby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Envisioning California’s Delta As it Was The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is at the heart of California’s water supply. This inland delta, where two major rivers converge and mingle with San Francisco Bay tides, has been re-engineered and re-plumbed over the last 160 years to meet the needs of a growing state. Little is known about the Delta as it once was. Now, as efforts get underwayby KenS - General Discussion
The seasonal allergy season I can put up with, but I don't think I could survive the air pollution in some South Asian countries: Delhi's air more dangerous than Beijing's Gardiner Harris,NYT News Service | Jan 26, 2014, 06.16 PM IST NEW DELHI: In mid-January, air pollution in Beijing was so bad that the government issued urgent health warnings and closed four major highways, prompting theby KenS - General Discussion
California drought: Past dry periods have lasted more than 200 years, scientists say By Paul Rogers progers@mercurynews.com Posted: 01/25/2014 04:22:12 PM PST | Updated: 76 min. ago ... If a drought lasted decades, the state could always build dozens of desalination plants, whicby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Sierra Nature Notes, Volume 1, May 2001 The Great Droughts of Y1K Scott Stine, Ph.D California State University, Hayward ... Tucked away in the Sierra and its adjacent watersheds are other, less-often recognized records of past changes in climate. While seldom as conspicuous as the evidence of glaciation, these other records nevertheless tell of past climatic conditions startlingly differby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Behind California's January Wildfires: Dry Conditions, Stubborn Weather Pattern The state is the driest it's been since the 1890s. By Jane J. Lee National Geographic Published January 17, 2014 ... Despite the voluntary restrictions on water use, California's residents shouldn't panic. "The groundwater storage for southern California is still in pretty good shape," said Jacksby KenS - General Discussion
Stage 5 drought restrictions being considered for some California cities: http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2014/01/07/california-drought-update-fires-in-humboldt-and-tehama-countiesby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Read Jim Whittaker's, "A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond", over the weekend. One of the stories was of an accident in 1981 on Mt Rainier when ten climbers and one guide were swept into and entombed in a deep crevasse.by KenS - General Discussion
http://www.friendsofyosar.org/rescues/rescues.htmlby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Previous discussion (w/ map) of the Mono Trail: http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,58253,58275 There is a Mono Pass trail in Yosemite that reaches Mono Pass and Summit Lake, and another Mono Pass trail (btw Mammoth Lakes and Bishop) that reaches another Mono Pass and another Summit Lake.by KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Dean Potter's cougar encounter just outside of Yosemite: http://dogblog.ruffwear.net/2011/06/17/cougar-encounter-story-of-surviving-a-cougar-attack/by KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Top Décor: 5. Ahwahnee Hotel Dining Room, Yosemite Top Food: 2. Erna's Elderberry, Oakhurst Top Service: 2.Erna’s Elderberry (last year: 3) http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2013/09/24/zagat-bay-area-2014-guide-announced-gary-danko-dominates-again/#16216-1by KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
A California law just passed gives mountain lions special legal protection; Proposition 117 and now SB132 will likely result in an increase in their population, not to me mention widen their distribution. According to Jim Sterba, author of “Nature Wars”, there may be more deer now than during the pre-Colonial Americas period: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240529702048463045780907by KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
September 22, 2013 at 8:04 PM Buzz off: Creative new mosquito repellents are coming, scientists say By Sandi Doughton Seattle Times science reporter The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation didn’t have Americans in mind when it started pouring money into research on mosquito-borne diseases more than a decade ago. The goal was to save lives and reduce suffering in the developing worby KenS - General Discussion
Clicked on an online ad in the local paper and it came to this website: http://www.water.ca.gov/oandm/recruitment.cfm http://water.ca.gov/oandm/docs/dream_jobs_flyer.pdfby KenS - General Discussion
Photo of a mountain lion feeding. ------------------------------------------------ Photo of a 125-pound mountain lion: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-griffith-park-lion-20131005,0,6885857.story According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar), a mountain lion weighing 125 pounds is below the average for a male: Males typically weigh 53 to 100 kg (115 to 220 lb), aveby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I have less worries hiking in most of the Sierra (Yosemite and the JMT) than in the coastal forests with heavy undergrowth. A mountain lion encounter to remember (go to year 2004): http://www.cougarinfo.org/attacks3.htm On the morning of 08Jan2004, Mark Reynolds, a mountain bike racer, was killed by a mountain lion, body half-eaten and partially buried. Later in the day, Anne Hjelle, a fiby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Trekking poles without the basket might work: Man who stabbed cougar with spear used 'significant amount of bravery': officer The Canadian Press September 9, 2013 VANCOUVER — A British Columbia conservation officer is marvelling at a man's bravery for attacking a cougar with nothing but a spear as the cat was mauling his partner. "I'm pretty sure that this is the first timeby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2013/sep/05/california-fire-spread-interactive-yosemite?CMP=twt_fd&utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer9792d&utm_medium=twitterby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I follow some of the blogs of hikers doing the PCT, and every once in awhile there are accounts of mountain lion encounters, usually in hot spots between Belden and the Oregon border, not in Yosemite. Mountain lions are on the CA "protected species" list, so I imagine their numbers must be growing yearly. 1) Locals carrying guns in a mountain lion hot spot, probably in a Nationalby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/09/02/us/100000002411859/summer-of-fire.htmlby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I packed a 3M 8577 P95 rated mask ($10 range from Home Depot) when I went hiking in Yosemite with the Aspen Fire still burning. The "P95" rating means that the mask is supposed to filter out 95% of the particulates in the air, including smoke particulates. With an exhalation valve, the mask would have been tolerable if I had to wear it on a smoky hike. From the California Departmenby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/yosecam/yose_datatimelines_pm.cfmby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
After the Fire: The Uncertain Future of Yosemite’s Forests By Brandon Keim 08.30.13 For nearly two weeks, the nation has been transfixed by wildfire spreading through Yosemite National Park, threatening to pollute San Francisco’s water supply and destroy some of America’s most cherished landscapes. As terrible as the Rim Fire seems, though, the question of its long-term effects, and whby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
With Rim Fire Near, A Look at Yosemite’s History With Fire Ker Than for National Geographic Published August 26, 2013 ...Fiery History Fires have burned through Yosemite before. Lightning strikes spark natural blazes, and American Indians living in the valley once purposely set fires to promote the growth of plants they relied on for food, medicine, and materials to make baskets, strinby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
There is a live webcam from the Crane Flat Helibase: http://ssgic.cr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/camHist11.pl?camera=1_mobile_ynp_1&lastFrame=trueby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
http://www.sierrawave.net/26125/man-falls-to-death/ http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5365235 When I first started hiking in the Yosemite area, I remember a missing hiker bulletin, a hiker never to be found I thought, until the mystery was solved in 2010: http://www.examiner.com/article/missing-backpacker-recovered-yosemite-after-7-years (In SummitPost, Mt Whorl is conby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Current wind and weather projections, The Weather Channel: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Yosemite+National+Park+CA+CANPYOSE:13:US Satellite view: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/imagery/subsets/?subset=AERONET_Fresno.2013234.terra.1km from: http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/aqmonitoring.htm NOAA forecasts: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Yosemite+Natioby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
13 May 2013: Analysis True Nature: Revising Ideas On What is Pristine and Wild New research shows that humans have been transforming the earth and its ecosystems for millenniums — far longer than previously believed. These findings call into question our notions about what is unspoiled nature and what should be preserved. by Fred Pearce Are there any pristine ecosystems out there?by KenS - General Discussion
California’s Vanishing Glaciers: A Defining Moment Jeremy Miller, KQED Guest Contributor | May 27, 2013 ... Amid decades of rising average temperatures, the Lyell and Maclure have lost roughly 65 percent of their surface area and an even greater proportion of their volume. As a result of this mass melting, the Lyell Glacier has stopped moving altogether – transformed from a “livinby KenS - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion