Wildfire Season is Upon Us in Mammoth

California has 85 million acres classified as wildlands, nearly 17 million of which are forest. Wildfires are a part of life in the Sierra. As residents of, and visitors to, these natural areas, we must all do our part to keep our communities safe.

Clear 100 feet around your home. In January 2005 a state law extended the defensible space clearance around homes and structures from 30 feet to 100 feet. Proper clearance dramatically increases the chance of your house surviving a wildfire and provides for firefighter safety. Cut weeds and dry grass before 10 a.m. when the humidity is higher and temperatures cooler to reduce the chance of fire.

Be prepared with basic fire safety. Check the battery in your smoke detector, practice fire drills with your family, keep fire extinguishers available. Firewise is a site for homeowners who live in fire-prone areas.

Campfire safety: When camping, always clear all flammable material away from the fire 10 feet in all directions, have a shovel available for extinguishing the campfire and have a responsible person in attendance at all times. Extinguish campfires with water, using the drown, stir, and feel method.

This July 4th: According to the U.S. Fire Administration improper use of fireworks causes more than 6,000 fires each year, resulting in an average of 9,600 injuries and costing more than $8 million in damage.

Useful sites for wildfire updates:
USDA Forest Service Active Fire Mapping Program
National Interagency Fire Center
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Learn how/where you can help our friends who have been affected by the Angora Fire in South Lake Tahoe.

Mammoth Moto Results

2007 Race Results from the Mammoth Motocross, June 14-24.
Save the dates for next year – June 19-29, 2008.

Mountain Bike Tune-up

After sitting in the garage all winter your mountain bike needs a tune-up before the first ride of summer. Here’s a checklist of things to get those wheels spinning:

Dust off and wipe down the frame and wheels

Check the air pressure in the tires

Lube the gears and chain

Grease the seat post

Take worn-down brake pads or tweaked gears to the shop at the Mammoth Mountain Adventure Center (760.934.0706).

Get to know your Eastern Sierra Trout

Brook trout are high country fish found in lakes above 10,000 feet such as Rock Creek and the Mammoth Lakes Basin. Brookies snack on insects and have white tail fins, red spots and red stomachs.

Wild Brown trout are hard to catch. They eat off the bottom of streams such as the 10-mile-long Mammoth Creek, which is regularly stocked by the California Dept. of Fish and Game. Brown trout are spotted with red and black. Also found in Convict Lake and other high alpine lakes.

Cutthroat trout hide out in backcountry waters around Mammoth and June Lake. You can identify them by red colorings under their mouth.

Golden trout is the state fish of California. Look out for some lakes marked as special habitats for these rare fish. They are marked with orange under-sides, with yellow and red spots. They are seen up high in areas such as Rock Creek.

Rainbow trout, with multi-colored markings, are the most commonly caught fish in the Eastern Sierra, stocked regularly in Mammoth Creek, Convict Lake, Rock Creek, the Mammoth Lakes Basin and June Lake.

Alpers is a private hatchery that produces world famous trophy-size Rainbows unique to the Eastern Sierra. The Mammoth Lakes Basin (Twin Lakes, Lake Mary, Lake George and Lake Mamie) receives regular plants of 2 to 12 lb Alpers trout, as well as the lakes on the June Lake Loop – June Lake, Gull Lake, Silver Lake and Grant Lake. Alpers fish are hand-fed and raised on the Alpers Owens River Ranch.

Mono County fishing season goes from the last Saturday in April to Nov. 15 every year. Anglers over 16 must have a fishing license. Contact Wilderness Outfitters at 760.924.REEL for information.

I Heart Summer

This weekend I went mountain biking once, golfed 18 holes, went to two BBQs, camped under the stars, jumped in a lake (and jumped right back out), played horseshoes, watched my friends race in the Mammoth Motocross, and got a little too much sun on my shoulders.

In recent years past we’ve been spending the month of June skiing and snowboarding on record amounts of snow but this year the warmth of summer sun is a welcome change. Instead of a postponed opening of Yosemite, we’ve already been enjoying it for a month. Instead of lakes too frozen for fishing, they’re swimmable (make that, “refreshing”). The once-icy breeze funneling through the snow-capped peaks is warmer than I remember. It’s paradise in the mountains.

Mammoth Mountain Bike Poster

This photo, which appears in posters and ads for the 2007 Mammoth Mountain Bike Park, was taken near the top of Broadway Express by Mammoth staff photographer Brad Peatross in 2006. “It was one of those forest fire days, so that created the tone-on-tone effect,” he explained.

The rider in the shot, Mark Hendrickson is Mammoth’s Bike Park supervisor and a former pro downhill racer. It is his job to develop and test out new trails. He calls a cup of coffee and a run down Kamikaze the best way to start the day.

Q and A with Mark Hendrickson
How long have you been living in Mammoth?
Mark Hendrickson: For ten summers.
How long have you been riding?
MH: I have been riding for 27 years. I was a BMX rat for a long time and then started to ride cross country. I entered my first downhill at 19 on my cross country bike. I had the fastest time of the day. That got me hooked. I have been downhilling ever since. It feels like BMX all over again. I love it!
What was your first bike?
MH: My first bike was a Big Wheel that I broke in half jumping over a wooden ramp. Some things never change.
What is your biggest accomplishment on a bike?
MH: Being able to give back to the sport of mountain biking by teaching others how to be better riders.
What’s your favorite trail on the mountain?
MH: I don’t know what my favorite trail is because we keep building more. I really do love all the trails, but the ones that go down are my favorite.
What do you like to do when you’re not riding?
MH: Think about riding and bikes. I like it a lot.

Spend a weekend riding with Mark at the Free Ride Mountain Bike Camp this August.

Reds Meadow Now Open

The Reds Meadow valley includes Devils Postpile National Monument, Rainbow Falls, Reds Meadow Pack Station, Starkweather Lake, Agnew Meadows and seven Forest Service campgrounds. “Rainbow Falls is beautiful right now,” says Dana, Mammoth communications manager who went for a hike there Thursday afternoon.

How to Get Here
From Mammoth Lakes, follow Minaret Road up to the Ski Area Main Lodge. Continue past the Ski Area to the Minaret Summit. Be sure to find the turn-off where you can park your car to get out and snap some keepers for the scrapbook. At the summit there is a ranger station that will kindly charge $7 per person to go down into Reds Meadow – or $35 for a season pass – or $14 for overnight camping.

May 29 to June 8 – Reds Meadow is open to cars for day use only.
June 9 to approx. Labor Day - Reds Meadow open for full summer operations. All day-use visitors are required to ride the shuttle into the valley, which departs from the Mammoth Adventure Center every half hour from 7am to 7pm. Cost is $7 per person ($4 kids 3 to 15). Cars are permitted into the valley if you are camping overnight. Campers over than 30 feet in length are not recommended.

My favorite way to see the valley
Get off the bus at Devils Postpile. After oooing and aahhhing at this natural wonder hike the two-mile trail to Rainbow Falls. This trail goes along the San Joaquin River and through the forest re-growth where the Rainbow Fire burned in 1992. If it’s a sunny day you definitely want to have some water with you. Rainbow Falls is 101 feet tall and infinitely impressive.

For information call the Mammoth Ranger Station: 760.924.5500.