We had an earthquake the other day ,Doug Jr and I was outside talking to Martin , from the Best Western Motel first felt like the average California ho hum wave , but picked up speed and then we heard the rock shearing off Candlelight Buttress. We knew from past rock falls yup they will come into the Portal . Doug ran up the road to get a view and I went up to the top lot to see if we could find the landing site ,it was clear the major fall area was in the backpacker campground area and the walls around the falls were holding ...just a little dust showing.
Doug Jr ran back into the store and called 911 , we then waited for the dust to lift and went down to the area looking for any signs of campers or hikers , Myles and Rob met up about this time and went down the NRT . On the quick search we didn't find anyone or anything that indicated a camper in the campground.
Within minutes Agency crews started to arrive, we closed and went to Bishop for supplies . We hear rock fall often from the Canyon and the area just south of Lone Pine Peak is very active.
A search with dogs yesterday and Rangers are checking the main trail for damage, we have had reports from hikers coming down the main trail seems clear but is being checked.
The main problem now is the chatter, So ONLY trust the Inyo County Sheriffs/FS press releases. They may have local jargon that is not easy to understand for outsiders but the main messages are clear.
