Late opening to Reds Meadow, June 29.

[PE395]

Thanks!

[Sierra Lady]

It appears they will be opening the road to the valley on Friday, June 29th with the bus starting on the 30th! This is great news!!!

(per Slamski who was down there a few days ago for USFS training.)

[Sierra Lady]

June 22nd update on the Inyo National Forest website.

Scroll down and read the "Work Progress Details" for, well the details.

[PE395]

Wow. First a tough winter, now summer campground closures. Double whammy for sure.

[slamski]

Tomorrow (Friday) the road to Reds opens at 9AM with an opening ceremony at the Ranger Station. Campgrounds in the valley will not open until 11AM! Bus service for the rest of the Summer will start at 8AM, you still may drive down before 7AM and after 7PM!

[Sierra Lady]

^ That's great news!

This will definitely be the summer not to miss the photo ops witnessing the aftermath of Ma Nature's fury and the massive clean-up efforts of all involved!

[slamski]

These photos were all taken June 20th during our training with the USFS. Agnew Meadow which will be left as is for the near future is what all the Campgrounds in the valley looked like after the "Devils Windstorm" Nov 30th. Sustained winds of 100mph hit the top of Mammoth Mtn for many hours, the gusts (estimated at 190 mph at the highest) acting like Niagara Falls raced down the backside into the Reds Meadow area! Trees over 200 years old were blown over by the wind. The tops of trees acted like a sail to trap the wind. Tens of thousands of trees were down!
If you get the chance walk into Agnew Meadows and see for yourself, photos just don't capture how bad it really is!
Make sure to take bug spray.......we were attacked at Agnew!
Big KUDOs to all the people who worked tirelessly to clear the destruction, repair roads and trails!



Agnew Campground

[PE395]

Went down yesterday. The devastation is really something. You can tell how hard they've been working to clear things.

[Sierra Lady]

Sierra Wave News 9/8/12:

Regelbrugge spells out tree salvage

Still countless numbers of trees, blown down by a fierce windstorm at the end of last November, lie on Forest Service land in Reds Meadow. Major clean-up efforts did clear the road to Reds Meadow Valley at the end of June with repairs of some campground damage and blocked trails. The Forest Service now stands ready for the final project – efforts to salvage downed trees on 220 acres next to Devils Postpile National Monument. Mammoth District Ranger Jon Regelbrugge laid out the details to the Mammoth Town Council Wednesday.

...

Previous story on 9/5:

Wind-fallen tree removal starts in Reds Meadow

We've got to get down there and see the blow down in Agnew Meadows before the snow flies. I want to see it up close and personal and take lots of photos!