I'd like to thank all those that worked so hard in gaining protection for all the newly designated Wilderness Lands in the Sierra, California and the rest of the Nation.  Places like the White Mountains will remain wild in perpetuity!  Congratulations

Ben Grasseschi on White Mountain Peak

Bristlecone Pine, White Mountains

Prickly Pear Cactus, White Mountains

Montgomery Peak, White Mountains 

We have just returned from skiing and measuring snow (in that order) over Kearsarge Pass in Sequoia National Park. The snow courses at Bullfrog and Charlotte Lake are both around 100% for the season. 

Skiing was quite good with corn on the south aspects and powder on the north. Great coverage.

We spent the last 12 days of February doing snow surveys for the headwaters of the Kern River. Snow pack was pretty good with 80 to 100% of the yearly water content. We still could use a few good storms in March to bring the entire pack to normal for the year.

Ann Klinefelter at Cottonwood Pass, Golden Trout Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, Sierra Nevada, CA

Ann Klinefelter skiing high on Mt Guyot, Red Spur and the Kaweahs behind, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Sierra Nevada, CA

Jim King and Ann Klinefelter skiing on the Bighorn Plateau, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Sierra Nevada, CA

Ann Klinefelter skiing near Crabtree Pass, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Sierra Nevada, CA

I spent the last ten days in the Sierra backcountry measuring snow for the California State cooperative snow surveys. We did courses in Humphreys Basin (Paiute Pass), Dusy Basin (Bishop Pass), Bullfrog Lake (Kearsarge Pass) and Virginia Lakes. The snow, though light this year, skiing was really quite good with adequate coverage.

Ann Klinefelter and Pat Armstrong, de-skining at Kearsarge Pass. A bit of a blustery day but wonderful down skiing.  Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park.

Pat Armstrong skiing in Humphreys Basin below Mt Humphreys, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada 

 Sunset on the White Mountains, winter, Inyo National Forest, CA

This fall offered a short window for backcountry ice skating, with hot weather thru November, then turning cold as it snowed. Never-the-less, Steve White and I found some nice ice this December in the Glen Pass region of the John Muir Trail.

 Steve White ice skating upper Rae Lakes, Kings Canyon National Park, CA

Steve White ice skating on Kearsarge Lake, Kings Canyon Nat'l Park, Sierra Nevada, CA