Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Back to the Lakes Basin

I headed up to the Mammoth Lakes Basin again in search of soft winter snow and to see how much the snowpack had been affected by the big winds the last few days (up to 145mph on Mammoth!).

I toured through the tree kill area west of Horseshoe Lake. Volcanic activity produces elevated CO2 levels in the soil that literally suffocate the tree roots.

The familiar zone. I climbed the sunny trees on the right, traversed the open slopes beneath the crest, and descended the darkest tree area on the left.

The obligatory shot of the backside of Mammoth.

Wind hammered!

Magnificent granite.

Wind erosion distant, wind deposit foreground.

I was happy to find unaffected snow here. Good skiing for about a 350' run. Took two!

Nice outing. Still blowing and chilly up high. Calm and mild low.

2 comments:

Bob Shattuck said...

Secoind time this week I've seen a photo of that barn or whatever it is--what is it?

Scott E said...

Hah! Photogenic shack eh?
Seems like I used to know, but have forgotten.
Gettin' old.
Think it's newer than it looks.
Most likely related to monitoring of volcanic activity/CO2 levels.