Author Archives: Shawn E. Bell

Activities, Adventures, Offroading - General

CA 4WD Association’s Sierra Trek 2015 – August 6-9

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

California Four Wheel Drive Association, Inc. is holding their annual Sierra Trek this August. It’s a great adventure!

Sierra Trek registration closes July 24, so get head over to the website today!

From Cal4Wheel:

The 48th annual Sierra Trek is a Cal4Wheel event which is located in California’s beautiful Tahoe National Forest. This family oriented event is geared toward stock 4x4s on guided historic and slightly challenging tours, toward mildly modified vehicles on the Saturday Outer Limits run and off-road enthusiast on the extremely challenging Fordyce Trail.

Stock vehicles should consider signing up for the Wednesday/Thursday Overnight, the Saturday Historic Run and the Saturday Outer Limits Run.

Moderately modified vehicles will love the beauty and the challenge of the Bear Valley Loop on the Saturday Outer Limits Run.

We welcome the ATV/UTV community for a day run out of Meadow Lake on Saturday morning. Continue reading →

Offroading - General

Marine Corps announces Johnson Valley closure for military training

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

From the Bureau of Land Management:

The Marine Corps recently notified BLM of their plans to utilize the Johnson Valley Shared Use Area for military training from August 1-30, 2016, and of the associated temporary closure. BLM is working with the Marines to address issues associated with this military training/closure, and to keep the public informed.

BACKGROUND: On December 26, 2013 the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 (NDAA) was signed into law, authorizing the Marine Corps to occupy the Johnson Valley Shared Use Area (SUA) for two 30-day periods annually during which time the area would be closed to the public. See attached Johnson Valley Subregion map.

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Big Bear Lake, Wildlife

Mill 2 fire update

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

InciWeb is reporting that the Mill 2 fire is burning off the 38 near Bryant street off Highway 38.  They’re also reporting that a drone was flying in the area, which caused the tankers to abort their mission(s). Keep your damned drones away from the fires, idiots!

From Inciweb:

The Mill 2 Fire started in Mill Creek Canyon near State Highway 38 and Bryant Street at about 2:30 pm, east of Mentone, and north of Yucaipa.

It is reported to be approximately 35 acres in size. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Four homes are evacuated on the lower or west end of Yucaipa Ridge.

State Highway 38 is closed between Bryant Street and Lake Williams.
The fire is being managed in unified command US Forest Service and CALFIRE.

Resources responding include: 17 engines, 7 crews, 2 dozers, 5 helicopters, 2 fixed wing air tankers, air attack, DC-10 (VLAT) on order.

An Unmanned Aircraft System (drone) temporarily halted tanker operations, but operations soon resumed.

You can get the latest information on the fire HERE.

News, Wildfire

Yosemite Fire Restrictions

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

From the National Park Service:

Yosemite National Park is experiencing very high fire danger along with continued hot and dry weather patterns. Due to current and predicted fire conditions and possible active fire behavior, the park implemented Stage 1 Fire Restrictions until further notice.

By order of the Superintendent Yosemite National Park and under authority of Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, and Section 2.13(c):

  • No building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, campfire, or cooking fire (including charcoal fires) within Yosemite National Park including designated Wilderness and at High Sierra Camps below 6,000 feet in elevation. Portable stoves using pressurized gas, liquid fuel, or propane are permitted as are alcohol stoves (with and without a shutoff valve) including alcohol tablet/cube stoves. “Sierra” (twig) stoves are not permitted.
  • No smoking below 6,000 feet, except within an enclosed vehicle, a building in which smoking is allowed, a campground or picnic area where wood and charcoal fires are allowed or in a designated smoking area.
  • Campfires and cooking fires may still be used in designated campgrounds in developed portions of the park in accordance with park regulations.
  • Designated Campgrounds: Upper Pines, North Pines, Lower Pines, Camp 4, Wawona, Bridalveil Creek, Hogdon Meadow, Crane Flat, Tamarack Flat, White Wolf, Yosemite Creek, Porcupine Flat and Tuolumne Meadows, Yellow Pine, and Housekeeping cabins.
  • Cooking fires may still be used in designated picnic areas in developed portions of the park in accordance with park regulations.
  • Designated Picnic areas: Lembert Dome, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite Creek, Wawona, Mariposa Grove, Glacier Point, Cascade, El Capitan, Cathedral Beach, Sentinel Beach, Swinging Bridge, Church Bowl and Lower Yosemite Falls.
  • There are no administrative exemptions to this order.

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Adventures, National Parks, News

Google’s Vertical Street View of El Capitan

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Google, not satisfied with street views that occasionally show very interesting images, has now set their sights on the skies above places like Yosemite National Park. Specifically, El Capitan.

From Google’s Official Blog:

Today we’re launching our first-ever vertical Street View collection, giving you the opportunity to climb 3,000 feet up the world’s most famous rock wall: Yosemite’s El Capitan. To bring you this new imagery, we partnered with legendary climbers Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell. Read more about the project from Tommy Caldwell, who completed the world’s hardest climb in Yosemite in January of 2015.

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