Chasing the Cranes

by Jim and Shirley White

My friend in Truckee, Tom, says the Sand Hill Cranes are back in Sierra Valley. Although it is still snowing lightly on Donner Summit, off we go. The last of the storm is just passing Castle Peak as we scoot over Donner.

It is the last day of business for our favorite breakfast place, the Sierraville Kitchen.

A motley crew of loggers, ranchers and other locals are having breakfast for the last time. It is a happy and a sad time for most. We say our goodbys and we are off to find the Cranes!

What we really want is a nesting Sand Hill Crane. We have never been able to get close enough in the past. The wily cranes always slip away before we can get near enough. But "Sharp Eyed Shirley" spots one right away. It is nesting right along the road!!! We cannot believe our eyes. The crane watches our every move. We shoot and move along. There are (maybe ) other birds to see. 

In all we see 10 cranes, only the bird along the road close enough to shoot. But other life is kind.

A Lesser Yellowlegs poses and and looks friendly. A Rough-leg hawk soars over and lets us shoot, and all in all, another nice day in the Sierra.

Ananda Gardens,in Nevada County. A Shangri- La? Remote, beautiful, not imaginary place where life approaches perfection? Maybe not. But it is a little bit of "heaven" in Northern California. Early yesterday, no one but Shirley and I were there, 10,000 tulips and other flowers, on the north side of a very steep Nevada county mountain-side. What a way to forget your troubles.

It was just after a little snow-storm and all the flowers were refreshed and pure.The sun was warm. We could see a thousand feet below,the Middle Fork of the Yuba river. A wild river with very large Brown Trout I sampled many years ago. We saw a Golden Eagle soaring high in the canyon to the north. A Stellar Jay called an alarm as a Grey Squirrel jumped from limb to limb on a route he seemed to know.

  The laughter of a small child above us on the hill, as others arrived to share our joy. Time to trudge back up the steep hill to our car,

and then lunch at the Village deli. Real lemon juice in a can? What kind of place is this really? Come visit! It is open to the public for a few more days, The residents are warm and friendly. Come share their joy.

The N..Fk of the American River just above the Ponderosa way bridge in Placer Co. is one of the great sights you will see from this more or less primitive river crossing. This spring we crossed from the Foresthill Divide road to Wiemar  and enjoyed the steep decent with sheer drop-offs on the way down to the bridge.

Approaching the river from the south you will see the first Indian Pinks as you approach the bridge followed by Lupine,Redbuds,and whites and pinks of your choice After crossing the river the world turns yellow as Poppies by the millions cover every square inch of the hillsides.

 The tributary creeks are dry, with fewer butterflies, but the wildflowers are better than ever.
You could even take the 2 mile hike downstream to Codfish Falls, if you think there might just be some falling water when you get there. Well worth spending a couple of hours early or late in the day.

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The Sierra Without Snow

by Jim and Shirley White

For more than 20 years during the latter part of March, some of my friends and I would ride the summit ski lift at Alpine Meadows.Ski Resort and ski west into the wilds of the Granite Chief Wilderness area.We would ski down the backside of Alpine,cross Five Lakes Creek, ski up and pass Elephant's Head on our left, cross over Mt. Mildred, and then ski down Chipmunk Ridge to the French Meadow Reservoir  where we would be picked up by a friend. It was a three day trip most of the time. One time because of a big storm it took us five days.  The snow would be from five to thirty feet deep. Never was the lack of snow a problem. The last time I looked at the calendar it was March, so where is the snow this year?

We drove into Hell Hole Reservoir yesterday to see for our selves. As we approached Hell Hole we met Jason, the Placer Water Agency winter tech who spends the winter, usually snowed in at Hell Hole. When I asked how the winter had gone, he remarked " what winter?". There was maybe 3-4 inches of snow on the road where we met and Jason said the snow lasted about 200 yards down the road and that was it! No winter, no snow. The road between Hell Hole and Chipmunk Ridge did have maybe 4 in. of snow, but of all things, there were deer tracks heading up hill, climbing to their summer range. You can see Mt. Mildred which is 8398 feet elevation in this picture with only a patch of snow to be seen.

Here is Lt. Ken Nilsson Calif. Fish and Game  checking the refuge boundry on our trip back in the 1970's, with six feet of snow beneath his skis.How the world is changing.

SO WE HAD A LITTLE SNOW

BY JIM AND SHIRLEY WHITE

 

 

For a mountain pass like Donner Pass, I don't think we could call this event a snow storm.
Maybe a few snow flurries. Back in the 1950's and "60's few would remember this event as a snow storm. The above picture where we were skiing along the crest from the Benson hut to Mt. Lincoln a storm would produce cornices like you can see in this picture, with the potential of avalanches to follow. That is what we liked about the 1950's. Three to five feet of new snow during the first few days of the storm, with more to come later in the week. There was a feeling of excitement and adventure back country skiing in those "real" snow storms. We had to learn how to find safe routes, camp using natural shelters, learn that storms were the reason the mountains were so great. Once you got into shape each year it was easy and fun. Somehow the Sierra is not so great this year, I guess because of the lack of good snow storms. I took the Donner Lake pictures just after this last event.
I remembered how cold and hard the ice was on Donner Lake when we skied across the lake in late February one year during the '50s.Of course if you look real close there is still some beauty to be seen. But us "old timers" can't feel that excitement or feelings of adventure we felt during the storms of old.

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A Bump In Our Road

by Jim and Shirley White

Christmas and New Years are gone. And so are three people important in our lives. It is all part of living I guess. We haven't felt like writing or shooting photos for ourselves. We tried the other day and Shirley was rewarded with this great shot of the Snowy Egret. Maybe the best picture she has ever taken? The picture does make us want to travel down our road some more.Maybe there is more joy ahead?

The Sacramento Valley is still loaded with northern birds. We have never seen so many Rough-legged hawks from the far north. This one with a kill near Colusa.

The crazy drivers in the fog drove us out of the valley and into the North Fork of the American River canyon near Colfax.

 The fog was gone by late evening. These Swans were regal, waiting for the night and peace from the days struggle. Some snow on the mountain would be a joy indeed.

Longing for the snow?

by Jim and Shirley White 

There was supposed to be snow in Hope Valley and along the West Fork of the Carson. Somebody was dreaming or maybe having a nightmare! There is more snow in our freezer that in that part of Alpine Co. But a big cold storm is coming! Not our idea of a good snow storm. But lots of wind and cold rain drove us down into Carson valley chasing hawks. Not many hawks and the wintering deer herd is not on the winter range this year! So we photographed barns.

So you can see the cold rain coming off of Freel Peak and when it got to us our barn got really grim.

The rain turned into ice when it hit me and the camera so lets go back up to 8000ft and see whats happening? Yep, it is snowing and blowing. Chain control did not faze the big truck ahead of us so as he started sliding sideways I passed and let the Subaru's computer take us over the hill. 25 mph going down Carson Pass with blowing and drifting snow put us below the snow in about 1 1/2 hr. Not to let this little chicken storm ruin our chances for some good snow pictures we are back after Christmas to check out the damage. Nice "mare's tails" blowing off of Round Top but no place to park and shoot. Nothing but the roadway has been plowed. Managed some photos of Round Top, but 6 keepers in two days? What's happened to our old time Sierra snow storms?

On the way home Round Top looks a little better.

Merry Christmas! And pray for a little snow for Shirley and I. We still hobble around on snowshoes.