gdanmitchell Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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tsinsf wrote:
Dan, that sounds wild and a bit frightening. The Eastern Sierra has always had intermittant wild and dangerous weather. In 1983 my wife and I were living in Bishop. That winter had a massive snow fall. Tioga pass did not open until June 29. In May, during the peak snow melt and runoff season, there was an intense unseasonal rainfall.The dam at North Lake broke. All of us medical people got called into the hospital to treat potential flood victims because nobody really knew what to expect. Fortunately there was only minor flooding in West Bishop. The North Lake dam was rebuilt in a totally different style such that now you can't see a dam at all and there is a stream outlet. Yes, nature does always bat last. I kind of love that......Show more →
I've been traveling to and around the Sierra (often in the backcountry) for decades. I've seen some pretty extreme weather and the aftereffects — winter storm winds that sounded like 747 engines on take-off, the wipe-out of Walker Canyon, the aftermath of the cataclysmic rockfall near Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley, the Yosemite Valley flooding, the spin-off from an early-September snowfall killed four in the backcountry the day after we went over Whitney....
But when it comes to the sudden onset of extended and stunningly heavy rainfall in the backcountry, this was one of the few times that I've actually worried whether out there on the fringe of what was possibly happening was the potential for very serious stuff. It was really amazing. And more than a bit intimidating.
Every so often, among all of those days that range between benignly beautiful and mildly exciting weather, every so often nature coughs up something that smacks up upside the head.
Dan
Edited on Aug 21, 2022 at 08:13 PM · View previous versions
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