Sierras 2017 – Page 2 – Not Your Average Engineer

September 28, 2017January 5, 2018

Salvage Logging at Forked Meadow

After all of the dead trees over the last few years, it was time to take down the standing dead to reduce fire danger. We had some logging done on the dead trees to clean the place up. It took a month or two to get everything done. This was a big operation for Forked Meadow.

One of the landings starting to fill up with logs.

Another landing with a log deck about 10 feet high ready to be hauled.

It’s been interesting watching the logging operation. It’s also sad to see so many white firs and sugar pine trees die and be cut down.

September 28, 2017January 5, 2018

Big Creek

The little town of Big Creek is like something out of a Hayao Miyazaki movie. This little company town that was built to service the Southern California Edison Big Creek Hydropower Project is perched on a huge granite dome down in the canyon where Big Creek runs. At the very tip of the granite dome there is a fire fighting base with a helipad.

At one point in the last 20 or 30 years, there were over 300 people here. Wikipedia puts it more at around 175 now.

The old general store is available for purchase.

The church on the main drag.

This is the Big Creek Powerhouse #1. There are swastikas on some of the old penstock pipes that were produced in Germany prior to World War I. Pretty amazing the history in this place.

The powerhouse makes an incredible deep humming rumble.

September 28, 2017January 5, 2018

Mono Hot Springs Resort

We stopped in at the historic Mono Hot Springs Resort. My mother spent a weekend or two here when she was young. The place hasn’t changed a bit although they do have internet now.

Even at the end of the season, the little general store was pretty well stocked.

Their logo is of a stereotyped Native American drinking from the spring water. But it’s a historic image so there it is.

Heading on back out over Kaiser Pass.

Big mountains in every direction here. This remote road really is spectacular.

On the other side of that ridge is the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness.