Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Several topics

First Discovery Channel will show a report on the Steve Fosset search and may have an interview with Bob Rockwell and show some of his photos , Time 10 PM PST, MONDAY Dec. 1 .


Drove to the Portal last night temp. 41 degrees around 6 PM very little snow in the Portal , road was clear until the campground and some ice from the campground to the Trailhead.


Talked with two hikers that made it to Trailcamp yesterday, they had some trouble following tracks and one set that looked right cost them some time as they had to back track, This is the # 1 PROBLEM in the winter a delay and with the limited daylight hours can cancel a trip . I know somewhere we say never follow tracks that you would not make.
They had about 2 ft. of snow in some areas , stayed at Trailcamp and hiked out in 3 1/2 hours with gear so conditions not that bad. Weather pattern is following the past years we should see warm dry days for several weeks. Thanks Doug

The temp had dropped to 36 by around 6:30.

I ran into the same two fellows at Bighorn Park. One mistake they made was not carrying snowshoes. They told me they thought the route about Trail Camp would go (on the switchbacks), but burned a LOT of energy postholing from above Mirror Lake to Trail Camp.

Thanks for the suggestion of using the patio for winter camping. Nice, flat slab under the tent made for some comfortable nights.

Photos should be up in a little while. Beautiful weekend!

Doug, your Crow is still up there. I'm wondering whether s/he is going to be able to make it thru the winter. Don't know why s/he hasn't moved on to warmer temps.

Hi About a week before we closed this "crow" shows up Doug Jr is cleaning and working outside all day and talks to the bird calls him Jake from some movie, so the next few days we see the same bird and if you called it by Jake it would come and watch you sometimes as near as a foot away, Doug left his truck window down one day and Jake spent the day watching from the truck, Jake walked into the store several times and one day let a man pick him up and put him outside. Doug drove back to the Portal looking to see if the bird moved , I think he would have "trucked" Jake down if he could of found him, Glad Jake is fine, we see very few crows /ravens in the Portal so another event in the long story. Thanks Doug

Hope to meet Jake when I'm down next May or June.

Jake.

And more wildlife on the road.


5 in view and about double that hiding in the brush!!!!!

Hi About a week before we closed this "crow" shows up Doug Jr is cleaning and working outside all day and talks to the bird calls him Jake from some movie...

"The Shawshank Redemption." The old con, Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore), was the crowsitter. Crow was named Jake.

I've thought about using the patio in the past but decided on the picnic area. We usually dig out a picnic table...you got to know where they are, there is flowing water...usually, and outhouse can be used as a food locker...there are usually a few scavengers about.

How do we know it isn't a raven?

Does anybody know the difference between a raven & a crow?

Birds have long feathers at the tips of their wings, called pinion feathers. Ravens have four, crows have five.

So what's the difference between ravens and crows? It's a matter of a pinion.

Say thank you for the straight line!

Good one, BOB. I have older eyes and find this means of I.D. easier:
Crows have straight/blunt cut off tail feathers
Ravens have Rounded tail feathers "R" for Raven
But I have to agree, crows are very 'pinionated, while ravens are one of the few birds observed to "play", i.e., sliding down snow paths (similar to otters). I observed two Ravens playing in the updraft of a local hang glider launch site in the Laguna Mtns in San Diego County. They would fly into the updraft and let themselves be somersaulted up, while vocalizing repeatedly. Then come back and do it again, and again.............steve

Let he who is without pun cast the first groan.

One can not quote a crow, only a raven...
Just to pine the day away...
Pinoin...

Ravens have thicker and larger bills than crows. They are intelligent birds and fascinating to watch. On more than one occasion I've seen them do silly acrobatics in the air. They also mate for life.

Rafael...

I am sorry folks but all of this "birdbrained" chatter about ravens and crows is too "fowl" for me! :-(

Why'r we rave'n 'bout all them birds?
We shur are flockin' to this thread like a bat outta ... well...
Guess we gotta have sumthin' t' crow about...
Maybe we should all just take a flyin' leap (except fer da Moose, who don't have no wings).
Boy, this thread sure has migrated south...
But it don't matter, cuz ya know what they say about a group like us:
"Birds of a feather..." -- well, y'all know the tail end of that one...
And I have noooo doubt that, by now, all you Poe folks are screechin', "Nevermore!!"
(OK ... I'll quit tryin' to be so cagey and get off my perch now before I really start to take some serious flap for this flight of fancy...)

CaT (Bird?)

Do I have to apologize for the threadjack?
Do I have to eat crow?