Tag Archives: sierra

It Finally Snowed in the Sierras

On Saturday it was cold, snowing, and the light was flat, but I still managed to begrudgingly pull my hands out of my gloves, and fire off some video of backcountry skiing in the Mt Rose Wilderness Area.

Despite the fact that it did not make for very good video conditions, I am absolutely overjoyed to see some snow finally descending in the Lake Tahoe region. I am praying for more!

I would also like to give a shout out to the Mt Rose Ski Resort patroller who broke his leg doing avalanche control in the Chutes on Monday. I appreciate the work that he was doing and recognize that there are inherent dangers in this type of work.

I absolutely love the Chutes and it is the primary reason why I have a pass at Mt Rose. The ski patrollers do a great job of managing a notorious area and getting it open for people to safely enjoy.

Hopefully the team was able to learn from the situation and apply that knowledge to avoid similar situations in the future. However, it could be that it was simply unavoidable.

Here’s to a quick recovery.

Snow in the Sierra

This past week we received some snow, with much of it visibly sticking to the ground in the upper elevations around Lake Tahoe. Coupled with beautiful fall foliage and the smell of winter in the air, I am definitely getting the itch for some Sierra skiing.

This is a picture I took a couple of years ago doing some backcountry above Emerald Bay on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. 

Megee Creek

Megee Creek is a beautiful high Sierra hike located 10 miles south of Mammoth Lakes, CA.

My wife and I chose this particular hike for our Labor Day Weekend retreat because of our previous year visit. We had been very impressed by the diverse geology, incredible profusion of wildflowers, and impressive high alpine views. However, we only made it 3 miles in before we had to turnaround.

This year we had 3 days, backpacks, and no one else to dissuade us from making it all the way to Big Megee Lake, which is situated at 10,500 feet, and 7 miles up a fairly grueling climb.

We followed the twists and turns of Megee Creek up and up, and it was not long before we became oblivious to the heavy loads we carried on our backs because of the beautful views. We eventually made it to Big Megee Lake and setup camp alongside its shores.

The next day we slept in, waiting for some high Sierra howling winds to subside, and eventually got out of the tent, fixed breakfast, and prepared for a day hike over Megee Pass.

Continue reading Megee Creek