The first presentation was by Kathleen Hilimire a USFS scientist from Sequoia Kings NP who happened to be here studying the downed trees.
NWS Meteorologist Rhett Milne dubbed the wind event the Devils Windstorm! These next slides were from his presentation.
What made this wind event so unusual, besides the hurricane force wind blowing from the NNE for 14 hours, was the low sitting on our area with a high bumping up against it.
Finally, Superintendent of Devils Postpile Deanna Dulen gave a presentation about the challenges of this massive clean up and their partners who are helping, specifically the USFS, Sequoia Kings NP and Yosemite staff.
A tree fell on the DPP administrative building in the valley. The roof was damaged, but thankfully not too much of the structure.
Once the chipping began, crews filled three of these huge cargo containers in the first 7 days of clean-up!
Q and A afterwards with staff from USFS, NPS and Rhett Milne answering lots of questions. The goal is to get the Reds Meadow open by July 4th, but there is no guarantee at this point.
Here are 5 photos taken by our friend Phil Benefiel a few days ago. This is the trail from Red Cones to McLeod Lake. Here is what his wife wrote me in an email:
Philip went to Red Cones the other day from up off the Crest trail. He said it was hard going getting back to McLeod Lake, but the Mammoth Pass trail was cleared from there back to Horseshoe. The pictures were amazing, and he said it took him almost 1 1/2 hours to do a part of the trail that usually takes 20 minutes. Hiking this year will be a challenge.
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