Bob Kent Bob Kent

Owens Valley: The Tule Elk on Hwy 395

The tule elk herd was established in Owens Valley on October 10, 1933. Twenty-six tule elk, 7 bulls, 3 yearlings, 11 cows, and 6 calves, were brought from Yosemite National Park to an enclosure in the Owens Valley near Aberdeen and held for several days before their release. Four months later, 28 more elk were brought from Buttonwillow (which became the Tupman Tule Elk State Reserve) to augment that initial release. These original translocated elk have since expanded in size and range and have formed eight distinct tule elk sub-herds located throughout Owens Valley.

Bull Elk

Our Elk Photographic Journey

When traveling on 395 just south of Big Pine we always look for the Tule Elk at the wildlife turnouts.  It was always a mystery to us when they would be in the field there.  Unfortunately, when we were lucky enough to see them, I hadn’t had much luck in photographing them. 

We usually find the Elk in the late afternoon.  That meant I was shooting straight into the sun, which is not ideal.  Lots of lens flare.  Other times they were way at the far end of the field.  Too far away to get a good image.

Riding with the King

One time, all the conditions were perfect.  They were near the road.  The sun was still high in the sky.  I even had rented a long telephoto lens.  When we saw the Elk, we pulled off into the viewing pull-out.  I grabbed my camera with the telephoto on it.  I took a bunch of images and they all looked great on the camera display.  When I got them on the computer it was a different story.  All the images were blurry.  I use a tripod a lot, so don’t usually worry about the shutter speeds too much.  Turned out I was shooting a 400 MM telephoto handheld and only had the shutter speed at 60th of a second.  Another fail.

A couple of weeks ago we hit all the right conditions.  The images you see in this post are from then.  I can check another bucket list from my Hwy 395-image list as I now have some Elk images I like!

Keeping an Eye on Me

History of the Owens Valley Elk

Some history about these Tule Elk.  Most of the info below is taken from the Fish and Wildlife’s “Distribution and Abundance of Tule Elk in the Owens Valley January 2020” report.  You can see the full report here.

The Tule Elk herd was established in Owens Valley on October 10, 1933. Twenty-six Tule Elk, 7 bulls, 3 yearlings, 11 cows, and 6 calves, were brought from Yosemite National Park to an enclosure in the Owens Valley near Aberdeen and held for several days before their release. Four months later, 28 more Elk were brought from Buttonwillow (which became the Tupman Tule Elk State Reserve) to augment that initial release. These original translocated Elk have since expanded in size and range and have formed eight distinct Tule Elk sub-herds located throughout Owens Valley.

The count of the Elk in 2018 showed the following herd sizes.

  • ·         Bishop: 80-100

  • ·         Tinemaha: 80-100

  • ·         Goodale: 50-70

  • ·         Independence: 60-80

  • ·         Lone Pine: 60-80

  • ·         Whitney: 40-60

Where and When to See the Elk

One place to view the Elk is the wildlife viewing pullouts on Hwy 395 just south of Big Pine.  The herd there includes bulls with expansive antlers and plenty of cows and calves.  There are "Wildlife Viewing" signs that point car pull-outs near two of the herd's most favorite places to graze and bed down. This allows you a safe way to look and photograph the Elk.

Gorgeous Antlers

The best time to see the Elk is spring through fall as the herd stays on or close to irrigated fields to take advantage of the ample water and feed.  The best time of day to see them is in the morning.

I am sure to include one of my Elk images on next year’s Eastern Sierra calendar!

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Bob Kent Bob Kent

FIVE SIMPLE STEPS TO ENJOY YOSEMITE ON A CROWDED WEEKEND

Yosemite can be the most beautiful place on earth or a crowded hell.  Five steps to make your visit a truly pleasant and memorable trip.

Mammoth Peak Trail to Mono Pass

Everyone loves Yosemite!  The reality is we all areloving Yosemite to death.

Yosemite is one of the most beautiful and relaxing places on Earth.  Except when it is Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day weekend and:

  • a third of all the inhabitants on the planet are in the park (5,217,114 people visited Yosemite in 2016)

  •  at the same time,

  • looking at the exact same things.  

Now you have traveled 3,000 miles to the Sierra on your one and only “Holiday” (doesn’t Holiday sound so much more relaxing than vacation) for the year! 

It is Labor Day Weekend.  Your camping or fishing in the Eastern Sierra and one of the items on your bucket list is to see Yosemite. Unfortunately,  a gazillion other people have the same idea.  You have two ways on how to visit Yosemite:

  1. As a  tourist that wants a picture of every water fall in the valley

  2. As a sane Human Being that actually wants to have a truly pleasant memorable time

Looks Like Fun to Me.....

As a Tourist

You sleep to nine in the morning.  You have breakfast. Then go straight for the valley floor to see the water falls.  You and those gazillion other people are going to spend the day enjoying:

  • an immersion into primitive and wild environments ("not" 2 hours in to go approximately 1.3 miles)

  • a high degree of solitude (trying to find the sole parking spot left on the valley floor)

  • natural sounds (car horns and bus brakes)

  • natural smells (diesel)

  • great views (well this is a given because even when it is packed wall to wall the views are great)

Yea right. Not my cup of tea. 

Your remembrance will be more of traffic, smelling car fumes, and standing in lines than beautiful nature.  By the end of the day, you will come out of Yosemite more stressed than you ever were at work.

Fist Light

A Sane Human Being

It takes a little bit of work and planning but even on a busy weekend like Labor Day you can get a lot out of Yosemite and miss most, if not all, the crowds.  

Here are Five Simple Steps to see Yosemite as it should be seen:

One - Get up early or Start in the Early Evening

 

Nothing Like Aplenglow


When I say early I mean before sunrise.  Get into the park early. Pick a location in advance, preferably up in the high country like Tuolumne Meadows, Glacier Point, etc. Get there before sunrise and then plan to stay there for a while.  For the next two to four hours, ninety five (95) percent of the “Tourists” will be:

  • Still asleep

  • Cooking breakfast in camp or ordering breakfast at a crowded food stand

East Side -Tuolumne Meadows

Seeing a sunrise or sunset in Yosemite is an unforgettable experience; seeing a Yosemite sunrise in quite solitude is “priceless.”

Yosemite Sunset

If you choose to go to a meadow, really early or really late, area there is a good chance that deer will be out and about.  Seeing a deer up close will stop the kids whining about getting up so dang early faster than anything on earth.  For the rest of the morning they will be occupied scouring their surroundings to see if they can find more deer.

More importantly you will get the chance to experience that primitive environment and with a high degree of solitude that makes Yosemite heaven on Earth.

Sunset with Deer in Tuolumne Meadows

Two - Take a Hike

After the sunrise take a short hike on one of the many trails in the park.  You don’t have to hike seven or eight miles to get away from the crowds.  Just a half mile or so will do.  Remember by now the most of the masses are still in their camp just now washing their breakfast dishes!  Walking through Tuolumne Meadows, Lyle Canyon, or the Panorama Trail (Glacier Point) are incredible.  You go for as long a distance as you like then simply turn around and come back.

Three - Stay In One Spot a While

So many people rush through the park get to one of the famous scenic spots, take a picture of themselves in front of it, and then rush to the next spot.  I highly recommend finding a picnic table in a quite area and sit for a while. Bring some snacks, sit back, and soak up the park; the views, the smells.  You will be amazed on how much the look and feel of a single location will change as the sun rises in the sky.
 

Wine and Snacks at Tenaya  Lake

Wine and Snacks at Tenaya  Lake

Even better will be the people you meet.  What was that saying "If you stay in one place long enough the entire world will pass you by.  Well, Yosemite is a "Holiday" destination for everyone on the planet. 

If you stay in the park long enough, bring a bottle of your favorite wine and some plastic wine glasses.  We did this once at Lake Tenaya.  A flustered lady, in the middle of a death march to see every single thing in Yosemite in one day, stopped and looked at us.  She said with a big smile “You must be locals because you know how to do this right!”.  We agreed.  She took her picture and marched on.  We on the other hand  continued to enjoy our wine for a spell.  Really don’t know how long that spell was because we were having such fun we lost track of the time!
 

Act I Tenaya Early Afternoon - Water Ripples

Act III Tenaya Early Evening - Firework Show

Four - Talk to the People You Meet

I think you will find the people you meet in the high country this early in the morning will be:

  • Friendly as hell, as they are not being stressed out by big crowds

  • Interesting, maybe hiking the entire John Muir Trail and have great stories to tell

  • Helpful, they probably know way more than you do about where to go and what to see

  • May be from another country with great stories of foreign lands to tell

We have met the nicest people from all over the world jsut by saying hello.
 

Five - Get the Heck Out of Dodge Before the Hoards Arrive

Over a Hundred Cars Waiting to Get in at 12:30 PM

If you followed Step One you have been in the park for several hours now.  You have

  • seen an incredible sunrise

  • were able to watch deer on a meadow

  • met some friendly interesting new friends.  

Just like a casino if you are ahead - take your winnings, cash out, and leave before you lose it all!


Go back to your campsite or condo and take a nap (you deserve it you were up before the sunrise!) and dream of the laid back and wonderful adventure you just had.  

If you are leaving the Yosemite Park going east I highly recommend stopping at Whoa Nelli Deli, in the Mobil Gas Station. It is near the intersection of Hwy 120 and Hwy 395.  They have incredible food and you can sit out in a grass yard over looking magnificent Mono Lake.  The other restaurant I recommend is the Mono Inn.  It is a bit on the more expensive side but the view of Mono and the food are both top shelf.

In closing, a couple of ground rules about Yosemite:
 

  1. It's not Disneyland, it is nature, and its wild. It is not designed for your safety. Always be prepared and careful.

  2. Never leave food in your car.  Locked cars will not stop a hungry bear.

  3. Be careful around large streams.  It is probably moving faster than it looks and is dangerous.

  4. The falls are stunningly beautiful but they are not the only thing to see in the park.

Have a great time in Yosemite!

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Bob Kent Bob Kent

Another Bucket List Checked Off – Getting to a Sierra Pass

Hiking Mono Pass Yosemite is a great hike full of wonderful views of granite peaks and alpine meadows.  It has a hidden gift in being able to see Mono Lake 4,000 feet below you!

Trail Head

Trail Head

Working to complete my 54 for Dave Quest I have done more hikes this summer than ever before. I came to realize though I had yet to hike to a mountain pass, ever. I had come close.  Once on the McGee Creek trail but was stopped by snow.  Another time on the Crystal Lake hike but was going to Crystal Lake not the pass.  So I had never actually stood on top of a Sierra mountain pass. It became a bucket list item! So I started looking for a day hike that got me to a pass.

Mono Pass in Yosemite seemed to fit the bill. It was in the Yosemite high country in which I love hiking in. It had a reasonable difficulty level at eight miles in length (round trip) and 900 feet of altitude gain it figured it would be pleasant hike.

The description of the hike on the Yosemite Hikes web page seemed to good to be true to get to a pass.  “There are only a few stretches where the incline is steep enough to make you notice you're climbing.” Well it was to good to be true as one of those “stretches” was as over a mile and had a pretty steep grade.

Even with the unexpected climb I really enjoyed this hike. While it did not have a big lake at the end like some hikes do; the high country meadows and the view down Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake more than made up for it.

Mono Pass is the type of hike I like because it starts of flat and saves the climb later on once your warmed up. My start time at 6:30 AM was perfect to catch the first morning light on Mammoth Peak

First Light on Mammoth Peak

First Light on Mammoth Peak

Mammoth Peak Overlooking a Meadow

Mammoth Peak Overlooking a Meadow

eing late in the summer most of the creeks were dry. That is good and bad. Bad, because I imagine the streams were knock down gorgeous. Good, because I did not encounter one mosquito on the entire hike. Dana Fork was the primary exception to this water drought and provided a beautiful log water fall right next to the trail.

Dana Fork Waterfall

Dana Fork Waterfall

Looking Up the Trail in the Morning Light

Looking Up the Trail in the Morning Light

There are a couple of decaying mining cabins along the trail. A bit of background on these cabins. The Homer Mining Index, one of the few papers in the area at the time, states that Fuller and Hayt (or Hoyt) discovered antimonial silver in Mono Pass and called their claim the Golden Crown. The Mammoth City Herald, another newspaper of the day predicted that within a year, thousands of miners would be working in Mono Pass at the Golden Crown. The mines never panned out and Mono Pass will be remembered as a way for miners to cross the Sierra to get to Dogtown and Monoville, mines on the eastern Sierra near Mono Lake. The cabins are a quite reminder of the mining history of the area.

First Cabin

First Cabin

Cabin II

Cabin II

There is  long section that climbs up.  After that ordeal you are rewarded as the trail weaves in and out of a stunningly beautiful alpine meadow. There are also beautiful views of Mt Lewis and the Kuna Crest.

Looking Forward to Mt Lewis

Looking Forward to Mt Lewis

Looking Back to the Kuna Crest

Looking Back to the Kuna Crest

Just before the pass is a lovely unnamed pond. A short distance farther up the trail, at the summit, is a small lake appropriately named Summit Lake. This is the end of the Mono Pass trail and the beginning of the Bloody Canyon trail. It is also the edge of Yosemite Park. Up to this point the Mono Pass trail was beautiful forest and meadows. In contrast, Bloody Canyon is barren rock. An incredible difference and a testimonial to the impact the Sierra has on the weather and the land around it.

Unnamed Pond

Unnamed Pond

Unnamed Pond

Unnamed Pond

Other Places to Go!

Other Places to Go!

Mono Pass and Summit Lake

Mono Pass and Summit Lake

I continued for a for just over a quarter of a mile down the Bloody Canyon trail toward Upper Sardine Lake to get a scenic look of Mono Lake 4,000 feet below. The view is awesome and one of the reasons I did this hike!

Bloody Canyon with Mono Lake Below

Bloody Canyon with Mono Lake Below

This was a wonderful hike with great views of the Yosemite high country, granite peaks like Mammoth and Mt. Lewis, and Mono Lake. I will definitely do it again and maybe finish at Spillway Lake.

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