Category Archives: Outdoors

Conservation, National Forests, National Parks

Returning Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep to the heart of Yosemite

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep are back in Yosemite’s Cathedral Range after over 100 years of absence!

Between March 26 and April 3, 2015 seven ewes were moved to the Laurel Creek area of Sequoia National Park. During this same time period ten ewes and three rams were were moved from the Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Park and released into the cliff habitat of the Cathedral Range in Yosemite National Park. All migrated sheep are in great condition, with nine of the Cathedral Range ewes pregnant (the single non-pregant ewe is a yearling).

From the National Park Press Release:

A multiagency operation was recently concluded that returned two herds of endangered bighorn sheep to locations in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, Inyo National Forest, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, worked together on the complex operation in the Sierra Nevada.

Continue reading →

News, Offroading - General

Name change: California Four Wheel Drive Association

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Just got an email from the California Association of 4WD Clubs, Inc. letting me know that they’re not them anymore. They’re now the “California Four Wheel Drive Association, Inc.” which does roll off the tongue a bit better. From the email:

During the annual meeting in February the association’s delegates approved the bylaw proposal put forth by Steve Egbert to change the name of the association from the California Association of 4WD Clubs, Inc. to the California Four Wheel Drive Association, Inc. A new logo was also approved. The changes will be phased in slowly — we’ll keep you posted on when new decals and other items will be available.

You can visit their website HERE.

You can join the club HERE.

Activities, National Parks

Yosemite National Park Joins National Find Your Park Movement

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

National Park Week is April 18 – 26 this year.  Yosemite National Park has joined the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation’s public awareness campaign as the National Park Service ramps up for it’s Centennial in 2016.

From Yosemite National Park’s Press Release on the NPS website:

National Park Week 2015 Encourages Everyone To Find Your Park

Yosemite National Park joins parks, programs and partners across the country to encourage everyone to find their park and share their stories online at FindYourPark.com. Launched yesterday by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, Find Your Park is a public awareness and education campaign celebrating the milestone centennial anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016 and setting the stage for its second century of service.

Continue reading →

Activities, Day Hikes, Hiking - General

Hiking Review: Quail Hill Loop

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Quail Hill offers a few hiking, biking, and horse riding options from the Quail Hill Trailhead and Staging Area.  The Trailhead is located on Shady Canyon Drive, just past Fossil Road on the right.  To get there from the 405, take the Sand Canyon / Shady Canyon exit towards Shady Canyon Drive.  Enter the traffic circle and take the first exit to the right onto Shady Canyon Drive.  Turn into the first driveway on your right past Fossil.

I like the Quail Hill Loop for a few reasons, not the least of which is that it offers better views than you’ll find walking, jogging, or running around a high school athletic field.

Continue reading →

Hiking - General, National Forests

Update on the fundraiser to save Sturtevant Camp

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Last weekend was a great fundraiser to help save the historic Sturtevant Camp.  KCET did a follow up, titled “Friends of the San Gabriels Mount Fundraising Efforts to Save Historic Sturtevant Camp”

From the article:

Sturtevant Camp — which contains the country’s oldest surviving USFS Ranger Station in its original location and a historic main lodge built as the open-air Swiss Dining Pavilion in 1897 with all original wood — is the last of five resorts that once flourished in Big Santa Anita Canyon but has since been lost to floods and fire (including Hoegee’s Camp, Robert’s Camp, and Fern Lodge). There was at one point over 200 cabins just like the ones at Sturtevant. But despite its historic significance, Sturtevant has never received landmark status. Although Angeles National Forest is protected from being developed, there’s nothing preventing Sturtevant’s structures from being demolished or languishing in disuse.

You can read the entire article HERE.