IMG 8156

CA - Crater Lk

Folder: Sierra Nevada, California
Well, yes. This is a different Crater Lake than the famous one in Oregon! This one is in California's Sierra Nevada west of Hope Valley. And it isn't a "crater" at all; it's a small cirque lake that's been enlarged with a low outlet dam for water storage. And it's accessed by a serious 4wd track, so it has more vehicle traffic than if it were hiking-only. Still, it's a nice setting.
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14 Aug 2016

29 visits

IMG 8156

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14 Aug 2016

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448 visits

Sentinels

A couple of enormous junipers flanking a ragged ATV track above the Alpine Mine, near Crater Lake in California's Sierra Nevada. These are more specimens well out of their usual range--the elevation here is just under 8800 feet (~2680 m). The inset shows a close-up of the right-hand tree. Looking northeast.

14 Aug 2016

48 visits

IMG 8168

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14 Aug 2016

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6 comments

283 visits

IMG 8170

14 Aug 2016

48 visits

IMG 8171

14 Aug 2016

43 visits

IMG 8173

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14 Aug 2016

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546 visits

Back to nature...

The Jeep road that used to cross this high valley has pretty much vanished, overgrown completely in the drainage below. Altho the old alignment becomes more obvious beyond that point, not even ATVs have been that way in years! Sierra Nevada, California, above Hope Valley and north of Carson Pass. The road had continued beyond the site of the old Alpine tungsten mine, and I suspect it was intended for tungsten prospecting, except that the Federal government yanked the "strategic metal" subsidies ca. 1957--

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14 Aug 2016

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582 visits

Crater Lake

Well, yes. It's a different Crater Lake than the famous one in Oregon! This one is in California's Sierra Nevada west of Hope Valley. And it isn't a "crater" at all; it's a small cirque lake that's been enlarged with a low outlet dam for water storage. And it's accessed by a serious 4wd track. Still, it's a nice setting. The figure on the right is in fact a fisherman standing out on a bar. The butte framed in the outlet is Hawkins Peak. Looking pretty much east.

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14 Aug 2016

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452 visits

Flooded

Alhambra Mine, in California's Sierra Nevada above Hope Valley to the west. That's actually still, clear water--the little light-colored spots are bits of floating vegetation. The Alhambra was originally worked for gold in the 1860s, but had a new lease on life in the 20th century as a tungsten mine. It closed in the mid-1950s, presumably when the "strategic metal" subsidies went away, and the run-up in gold prices in the late 20th century didn't lead to any new activity.
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