Category Archives: Adventures

Adventures, National Parks

Devils Postpile Campground Update for 2017

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Due to winter storm and flood damage and prioritization of trail repairs including Rainbow Falls, the monument’s 20 site campground is not anticipated to reopen in 2017. We regret any inconvenience, but this delay will allow the park to ensure the safety of our visitors and necessary preservation/restoration of the park’s natural resources impacted by the storm.

However, within the Reds Meadow Valley, there are another 128 first-come, first-served campsites we encourage visitors to consider visiting. The Minaret Vista Station provides site availability information before you enter the Reds Meadow Valley.

Established in 1911 by presidential proclamation, Devils Postpile National Monument protects and preserves the Devils Postpile formation, the 101-foot high Rainbow Falls, and pristine mountain scenery. The formation is a rare sight in the geologic world and ranks as one of the world’s finest examples of columnar basalt. Its columns tower 60 feet high and display an unusual symmetry.

Activities, Adventures, Hiking - General

Accessing Whitney Portal: How To Make it Work in 2016

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Press Release (USDA) – If you do plan to visit Whitney in the summer of 2016, please pack your patience and carefully plan your trip to avoid the construction delays and the parking problems.

    • Check the construction schedule before you head up to Whitney Portal (Twitter (@mtwhitneyinfo), at the Interagency Visitor Center (760-876-6222), on the web HERE. There may be times when delays and parking are little impacted. There may be periods with 30 minute delays, and two 3-hour delays per day in the peak of construction.
    • Please be prepared that there may not be a parking space available for you.
    • Consider carpooling, being dropped off by friends, or explore local shuttle services.

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Activities, Adventures, Conservation

Courtright Base Camp – High Sierra Volunteer Trail Crew

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Family-friendly camping with multiple projects for people of all ages.

Event Date: 08/13/2015 – 08/16/2015
Cost: FREE

You are encouraged to stay over Thursday night to acclimate. Food will be provided Thursday night through Sunday lunch. Volunteers can work Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you do not have to be at the event for all three days. This event is family friendly, we will have volunteer work available for all ages. There are many attractions in the Sierra National Forest that you can easily visit before or after the event. Experienced crew leaders will train volunteers in general trail maintenance techniques and safe usage of hand tools. We will be removing brush and trees, repairing water bars, and installing water diversion structures on the trails in the Courtright Reservoir area within the John Muir Wilderness. A primitive solar shower setup will be provided. There is no charge for this event, base camp operations usually cost at least $3,000 with 30-50 people participating that equals $60 to $100 per person. Although we receive grant money for these trips it is often not enough to cover operating costs. Please consider making a tax deductible donation online or bringing a donation to the event. More detailed information will be sent to you after you sign up.
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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 →

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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