http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/news-events/?cid=STELPRDB5344090



Very sad to hear. Gunna be more sad to see this coming summer. It going to be a busy summer for trail crews and rangers.



"Given the extent of damage and the number of trees that need to be removed, there is a high probability that the spring opening of the Reds Meadow Road and Reds and Agnew Valley Campgrounds, trails, and day use facilities will be delayed."

Edited by JasonG on 01/31/2012 19:43:24 MST.

And we thought we were going to get off easy this winter. That is freaky windy!

The National Weather Service used several area weather stations to calculate that gusts on the top of Mammoth Mountain exceeded 180 mph and wind speeds did not drop below 120 mph for over three hours.

Whoa.

It has been pretty bad in RMNP this winter as well. Low snowpack and high wind advisories nearly everyday have made snowshoeing or backcountry skiing hit or miss.

But hey, this is what I get for living smack dab next to the foothills. :)

>"exceeded 180 mph and wind speeds did not drop below 120 mph for over three hours."

Wow!

I've been in winds to 60 mpg (Mt Washington) and 90 mph (Dutch Harbor) gusting to 136 mph. 180 mph would literally send you flying (and the landing would not be pretty). And snap off every tree around.

"We're not in Kansas anymore. . . "

if you read to the bottom it says winds get that high occasionally but the direction of the wind is what took out all the trees.

All the trees blew off the top of Mammoth Mtn. I looked. Now, if the gusts up there affected the hut, the one with plate glass, I wonder how it held up to pressures and shears like that? 180 is just plain gnarly.

"I've been in winds to 60 mpg (Mt Washington) "

That is impressive fuel economy for wind.

--B.G.--

"The National Weather Service used several area weather stations to calculate that gusts on the top of Mammoth Mountain exceeded 180 mph and wind speeds did not drop below 120 mph for over three hours."

I wonder how my tarp would have done.... Hmmmm

Wait, I could have used it to fly off the mountain. Think how many miles a days you could make.

In mid December me and a friend counted somewhere around 300 individual fallen trees between the ranger station and sykes camp in Big Sur. If the Sierras are anything like that, it's going to be a lot of sawing to get all of that out of the way.

Greg, the only way to survive something like that would be to go into burrito mode with your tarp... probably would have to do the same with a tent fly.

""We're not in Kansas anymore. . . ""

Since winds speeds of 120-180 mph are in the tornadic range, perhaps we ARE in Kansas after all? :)

Very odd winter the US is having this year. Very odd!

Nature is awesome.