Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board The winter of 11'

Hi Got back today from the Bay area. Doug had told me about the trees ,Richard made a trip into the canyon and talked about the downed trees. So Earlene and I drove up to see how it looked and check on damage to the cabins and the area , The campground and the cabin area looks like normal , Just past the group campground the world changes. Several large trees blown down (the fire crew had cleared the road) as we traveled into the Portal the trees down increased on both sides of the canyon .
The pattern was a strong force from the South blowing directly North. This was a force that you can see start just above the Campground stripping the tops of trees off and moving upcanyon/downcanyon and the most downed trees are around the Portal proper , trailhead/pond/ parking lot below the pond . Say 50 trees? Most are out of the traffic area.

The longer you look into the forest the more you see , dead trees toppled ,tops broken off and ones next to creeks or water the root structure not strong enough to hold the crown and they just leaned over and rest on the surface.

The good news is we could see very little structural damage. The large trees that fell near the trailhead missed the structure and trail.

Add this event with the snow we had last Dec/Jan and things in Mayberry are not the same. Not sure this wind would come close to a microburst/blast or just several days of strong wind with gusts . When I went up last week the wind was just starting and it was at the tree top level which we see often during storms ,this must of lasted longer and stronger.


If you plan on going into the area watch for trees leaning and branches hanging from trees that didn't fall but are caught in the standing trees ,they may come down . See you next Trails Day!!!!! For a little cleanup work .Thanks Doug

This story is what I heard when I turned on the radio that night at the Portal:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45528931/ns/...wild-windstorm/

I was thinking to myself: Doug wouldn't be up here... but hey, I'm an Idiot!

I definitely didn't have an iPod on as I came down the next evening with the wind having picked up again.

I happened to be in Fresno the last few days, meeting yesterday with the Forest Supervisor of the Sequoia National Forest, and the Lead Ranger on the Sierra NF.

This wind event has caused havoc in all the forests of the Sierra, and it appears that there will be a massive mess, come the spring, from all the downed trees. Some trails may not be navigable.

For example, about 4 miles, then again at about 7 miles north of Kennedy Meadows on the PCT, there are two sections where the fire killed ALL the trees adjacent to the trail, for about a mile in each case. Some trees were so unstable (root systems burned out), that you could push them over! I managed a crew that had cleared those sections of trees this summer, but I shudder to think what is up there now. I expect there to be hundreds of trees down.

Mammoth Lakes Basin was hit hard, with 300-400 trees down, and much of the basin access closed.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/news-events/?cid=STELPRDB5341073

So here are some photos of the damage:















There's much more... Unfortunately.

Unfortunately, if it doesn't get cleaned up before the big storms hit (which is probably an impossible wish), a lot of people are going to have a rough Spring on the Main Trail.

Thanks Richard for the photos. Those winds must have been huge for all those trees to be knocked over.

I agree with what you said, including the "unfortunately" part. I fear if those trees are not cleared that people will start making little beaten paths around them and the Mt. Whitney Trail will have a bunch of these little side trails which could lead to erosion. I wish they would let volunteers go up there and take care of it since they will probably say they don't have the budget to do it themselves. I'd be willing to operate a chain saw to help in the effort but I'm guessing they wouldn't allow one of those in the wilderness either.

Some random comments:

I waited for about 6 months for the Owens Peak Trail to be cleared before I finally said ef-it and went in with a 30" handsaw to clear it myself. I would have violated the Wilderness Act if I owned a chainsaw.

Extremely limited resourses that will have to go in with hand tools... give me a break!

I don't think volunteers is a good idea in this case. Many of the downed trees are HUGE, on STEEP slopes. Someone without the expertise to know WHAT WILL HAPPEN when a cut is complete is just looking at having a disaster happen.

Yes it would definitely take some expertise to get those trees cut. When I said volunteers I failed to mention they would have to be experienced and with training. I had in mind Ken who posts here a lot and fills in for Kurt Wedberg's Whitney clinics when Kurt can't be there. Based on his posts and presentations he's a volunteer who has knowledge and training in this area. A crew including Ken to direct a work force could probably get it done. Alas though it looks like the Sierra is about to get stormed on so the window of opportunity may have already closed. I'm ready to step into some ski bindings and make some turns though!

I'd grab the end of one of those saws... good upper body workout.

Just in follow-up to good suggestions: Last week, I contacted Jeff Novak, the Wilderness Manager for Whitney, about going up the trail with a crosscut saw and assoc gear to take out the fallen trees. Jeff hiked the trail to see for himself. I've worked with Jeff, so he knows my skills.

He discussed it with the District Ranger, and they thought the conditions, and circumstances with the tools being out to be sharpened, spoke against the safety of doing this now, and they felt it would be better to do it in the spring. Icy footing with a razor-sharp saw is nothing to be casual about, so I think they are probably right.

Ah, well. Timing for things is sometimes just not right.

Thanks for the photos. Sorry to see all the fallen trees, some of our trails have become more of an obstacle course.

But I'd like to politely disagree on one point: I wouldn't consider this "damage."

Wind is nature and trees are nature and high winds blow trees down. That's nature. The downed trees will turn into mulch and the next batch of trees will have stronger root systems. Inside or outside of our lifespans. This isn't landscaping; this is life, it happens.

Some erosion will be caused by hikers skirting the downfall, but the first paths are cut by other animals. We're just high-tech animals, sometimes I'm happy to follow them.

I noticed that quite a bit of the smaller "damage" had been worked... I asked Doug and he stated that Ranger Brian Spitek (sp?) had done a lot of work before being handed his layoff notice. Nice work, Brian.