On viewing the Northern Lights like I said the predictions are pretty inaccurate. The night I seen the best ones in my life in Canada week before last the Kp index was a 1 or 2. When they are predicted the time to see them is also hard to determine but you can't see them laying in the bed. Often fleeting they might be 1000, 0200 or 0500. And of course need clear skies no light pollution. And an unobstructed view of the sky. All of that is what makes seeing them special in CONUS.
A man after my own heart I will be posting some pictures of aspen in the next couple of days\weeks. A few are coming up in a few minutes hopefully but I am leaving soon for an aspen ridge above the Gunflint Trail. Ruffed grouse nest and raise their young in 12-15 year old stands of aspen when possible. Woodcock are found in stands of younger aspen with moisture for worms and higher stem density. And moose eat the branches of the young aspen as well.
I used to purchase the aspen harvest maps for Mn. to find the grouse hotspots and run it on a tablet in my Taco
First year in 15 or so that I didn't update the subscription. Broods are breaking up now and this years juveniles have dispersed anywhere from a mile to a mile and a half from the nesting areas. They are in the woods, somewhere LOL.
I woke up Sunday Morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt. So I set out at dawn, searching for Aspen trees with colorful fall leaves. When I was growing up in Colorado, our house overlooked a valley filled with Quaking Aspen and every fall it would burst with color. Tourists would flock to the area from Denver, but our private little corner of the mountains was pristine and it was one of my favorite annual events. Last year, when visiting Bishop, I heard the familiar rustling of Aspen leaves and got hit with an unexpected wave nostalgia. I didn't realize how much I missed Aspens, and it dawned on me that I hadn't seen the leaves change in a couple of decades.
Bishop is a little too far for a day trip, even for me. So I headed up Sherman Pass from the East Sierras in a long shot attempt to see the Aspen leaves change. They aren't common anywhere in the state, and especially not this far south, but the Kern Plateau is accessible and always worth the trip, Aspens or not.
I struck gold a couple miles below the summit of the pass. It's no Pando, but beggars can't be choosers and I'll just count my blessings instead of Aspen shoots. By this point I was doubting that I'd find any, so to see this small stand in peak color was a relief.
It doesn't get any better than that. By next week these trees will likely be bald. With my mission accomplished, I proceeded to wonder around and get myself into trouble.
I explored a trail that had piqued my curiosity but I'd never attempted. Looking at the map, it appears to Peter out about a half mile before a junction with a larger trail. I suspected there'd be a path through, and I was somewhat correct. After the trail's end, it got narrower but continued as expected. I was hopping out to tuck branches back, but didn't saw any limbs. Eventually, I ran out of luck.
It's hard to tell by the pic, but this is where I turned around. The small tree on the right edge of frame was blocking about 80% of the trail. I scouted beyond that and it didn't look promising, so I did what must have been a 20 point turn until I'd swung the beast around. I was probably only a couple hundred yards from the expected junction, and I would've gone for it in a lot of my old cars, but I like this paint and my wife doesn't like pinstripes, so I called it off.
I explored yet another fork and drove it to its end in a meadow just below the main ridge. The whole area had burned, very recently, and I could see evidence of fire crews working this meadow.
As we were leaving, I spotted this wisp of smoke rising from the valley we just had lunch in. It turns out, this is the Trout Fire, and it's still very much in progress. I'm glad I didn't get cut off from my trail, as that has recently happened to folks with disastrous results. Gotta check those fire maps before heading out this time of year.
Up and over the ridge, where I took that top shot facing Olancha Peak, and I was back on more familiar turf. We were just here last spring for our last sledding trip of the year, and I could tell when my daughter started recognizing more landmarks and getting her bearings. In the background of the shot above, you'll see the Sherman Pass 4x4 trail descending rapidly. That trail has been on my bucket list for years, and one of these days I'll get the armor, lockers, and 35s needed to tackle it.
When I got down to the trailhead, I put all four tires on the trail and took a picture, before backing up and getting back on the pavement. This is the most poseur thing I've ever done in my life, and I deserve any and all scorn I receive.
We continued across the Kern River valley, and up to the Great Western Divide, where the Windy fire devastated numerous old-growth Sequoia groves back in '21. I wanted to revisit Packsaddle grove, which I found just weeks before the fire and I've read it was wiped out completely. The trails up there are still closed, three years later, so I wasn't able to check. It doesn't look promising from where I was, or from viewpoints in the area, but these ancients are resilient.
We went to Long Meadow Grove instead and hiked what's left of the Trail of 100 Giants. There was surface burns on every tree, and some of the old growth is clearly dead now, but it's better than I had feared. I think it's probably down to 60-70 Giants now, but many of the great trees were saved thanks to the hard work of our fire crews. I won't want to be there when some of that dead growth falls, but I was glad to visit these old friends of mine again.
By 7pm, we were sipping limeade at a Bakersfield Sonic, and home by bedtime (adjusted for adventure allowance). It was a great trip, but now I've got to wash all the ash and dust off this week at some point.
A man after my own heart I will be posting some pictures of aspen in the next couple of days\weeks. A few are coming up in a few minutes hopefully but I am leaving soon for an aspen ridge above the Gunflint Trail. Ruffed grouse nest and raise their young in 12-15 year old stands of aspen when possible. Woodcock are found in stands of younger aspen with moisture for worms and higher stem density. And moose eat the branches of the young aspen as well.
I used to purchase the aspen harvest maps for Mn. to find the grouse hotspots and run it on a tablet in my Taco
First year in 15 or so that I didn't update the subscription. Broods are breaking up now and this years juveniles have dispersed anywhere from a mile to a mile and a half from the nesting areas. They are in the woods, somewhere LOL.
That's what it's ALL about!
