And this note about avalanches: AVALANCHE ADVISORY PUBLISHED ON JANUARY 28, 2021 @ 6:48THIS ADVISORY IS VALID FOR 24 HOURS Issued by Chris Engelhardt - Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center EXTREME AVALANCHE DANGER exists today as a powerful winter storm impacts the Eastern Sierra. Heavy accumulations of new snow and loading southerly winds will build Slabs on All Aspects. Avoid all Avalanche tby balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Huh? Not sure what this story has to do with COVID...by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Really nice. Makes me ache for summer. And hope for fewer fires in 2021by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
A legendary character=---and a legendary climb--as was the follow up. Those were such different days!by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I always enjoy these posts--maybe as much as Rob and Laura enjoy Tuolumne Meadows. Thanks for posting this, Eeek.by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Some of you may know that I'm involved in the world of wine. Recently, I taped a series of lectures for Audible, and they are now released. Here's a link: https://www.audible.com/pd/History-of-Wine-in-10-Glasses-Audiobook/B08PG5JBN5?qid=1609026085&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=XQ04G1ZJGR20298XRHTS If nothing else, Iby balzaccom - General Discussion
Same here! Let's hope that 2021 brings everyone more peace, more joy, and more time in the mountains!by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Just want to thank everyone here for the supportive community that shares its love of hiking and Yosemite. And a particularly hearty Ho Ho Ho to Eeek, who keeps us in the know...by balzaccom - General Discussion
California State Parks announced Friday it will temporarily close campgrounds in response to regions closing under the state's latest stay-at-home order. Overnight camping will be affected, but park officials said that outdoor areas of parks, including trails and beaches, will remain open during the day for recreation. Groups from the same household are allowed use of the park, but must adhereby balzaccom - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Given that we were just there two days ago, all of these seem like good ideas.....by balzaccom - General Discussion
We're just back from a few days exploring Death Valley. Day One: It's a long way down. We left home at 8 a.m. and drove straight through, with only one stop for lunch at a minimalist rest stop of on I-5 to eat our homemade sandwiches. By the time we arrived at Stovepipe Wells it was 4:30 and our butts were sore. But there were plenty of campsites available, and we got on on the outside edge,by balzaccom - General Discussion
This was back in about 1970 or so....I would have been 18? I was on a quick trip with my 16 year-old sister, and camped at LYV along with hordes of other people. A group of three people and a dog camped near us, and we quickly became friends. Right after dark. the word spread that a bear was in the area. We had hung our food and all five of us were going to use the campfire we started toby balzaccom - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Nice to see you back here, Eeek.by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
It has been a crazy year in so many ways, but 2020 will also go down as a great year for acorns. At least, it was a great year for the trees around our cabin above Sonora. There were tons of acorns, and they were huge. (A big year like this is called a "mast year." The collective term for fruits and nuts is mast...so a big year is a mast year.) And with very little else to occby balzaccom - General Discussion
Sigh. People are such idiots. On the other hand, I do remember visiting Lassen Volcanic National Park about sixty years ago and watching a ranger (who was also a family friend) boil and egg in a tiny geothermal vent while he gave his chat about the place. And when he finished his chat, he pulled out a bandana, extracted the egg, and ate it for lunch.by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Beautiful. I think this is good news...by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Eeek, doesn't Yosemite have a new superintendent? Or rather, current acting director appointed officially?by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
We've seen one in Virginia Canyon--too off like a shot when it saw me on the trail. And one near Rancheria Falls, intent upon tearing a log apart for grubs. Those are the only two bears we've seen in the last decade in Yosemite's back country. But we did have some memorable encounters fifty years ago near Merced Lake...a story for another time.by balzaccom - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
We just got a blast of smoke this morning in Twain Harte... I'm guessing from the Moccasin Fire...by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Zoom in. He's there, at one of the Upper Graveyard Lakes over Labor Day Weekend.by balzaccom - General Discussion
I remember camping in Yosemite Valley a few years ago, just a couple of days after it had re-opened following the Fergusson Fire. The valley was blanketed in smoke from that fire, but I think every campsite in the campground lit up a fire at 5 p./m.--the very first moment it was allowed. Well, every campsite but one. grin. Still, my nephew and his friends from Spain were suitably impreby balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
City of Calistoga is now under mandatory evacuation orders. Napa Valley College, where I teach a few classes, is now an emergency shelter for refugees from the fires. 68,000 people in Napa and Sonoma counties have been evacuated. My own home is fine, the fires are a good ten miles north of us, but so many friends have been affected.by balzaccom - General Discussion
What is it like to live in Napa these days? You never really get used to the strange sunlight through the smoke. You dread the weather forecast, with its high temps, high winds, and low humidity, And every hour your phone pings with yet another notice from the Office of Emergency Services: new evacuation orders, new evacuation warnings: That's where Mark and Ann, live, that's where Fred liveby balzaccom - General Discussion
It's on the south side...but in two weeks they'll be closed--they only sell what they actually grow...and the season is winding down.by balzaccom - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
And the hills east of the Napa Valley are on fire again...this time towards the Adventist communities of Deer Park and Angwin, which are being evacuated. 800 acres burned so far, with the fire described as aggressive, and red flag warnings for the area through tomorrow night. Very sad.by balzaccom - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Most of you know that we have a little cabin up above Sonora, so we drive up that way every couple of weeks--it's also the main road to Yosemite from the Bay Area. And we have been eating at Garcia's between Ripon and Escalon pretty regularly now. It's far and above our favorite along this road. If you need help finding it, it's behind the convenience store right where French Camp Road meetsby balzaccom - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
I've had two of those, Eeek. One in each knee. Both worked miraculously. YMMV, of course, but wishing you the same luck..by balzaccom - General Discussion
The air at the cabin was pretty good Fri/Sat. Sunday was much worse....and the smoke got much worse the higher you went. Pinecrest was supposed to be really bad all weekend. But Jamestown was quite clear and clean until Sundayby balzaccom - General Discussion
I spent this last weekend working on projects around our cabin in the Sierra... Since we only go up for a few days at a time in the winter, we don't need that much wood...but we still haven't burned up all the wood we created by cutting down a few dead trees and rebuilding parts of the deck. And over the years it had grown into a mass of a mess. So I pulled out everything from the woodshed andby balzaccom - General Discussion