Dreaming of More Thousand Island Lake Summer Adventures!

Thousand Island Lake, August, 2009

The Spring Equinox may still be 16 days away and the Summer Solstice further still, but that's close enough for me to start getting excited about summer adventures in the High Sierra backcountry!

My love of these places - snow-fed alpine lakes, vernal meadows bursting with mountain wildflowers, churning streams, staggering mountain peak views - is the reason I moved to the Eastern Sierra in June 2008 and why I've stayed through three grueling winters. It's the thought of access to those splendors that has helped me through some of the tougher, colder, loneliest times of winter.

And I equally love (crazy as it may sound) the physical exertion and challenge it takes to get to some of the higher, more remote places. Winter blubber will fall off quickly, I assure you, and I will return to my trimmer, tanner self (yes, even with sunscreen, one still gets some bronze up here!).

Vasque Billey boots on the ridge between Garnet and Shadow Lakes overlooking Minarets and beyond

From where I live in Sunny Slopes, it's just a 10-mile drive west to the Mosquito Flat Trailhead at 10,000 feet, and an easy walk into the Little Lakes Basin, so I won't have any excuse not to get up there for several hikes a week, either in the morning before work or after in the evening. On weekends, I'll stretch myself with the 3,000 foot climb up to Mono Pass or the mere 1,500 feet it takes to get into the Ruby lake basin.

And naturally I'm wondering whether I'll find my way with a backpack into the Ansel Adams Wilderness, as I did for the first time ever with Friends of the Inyo last summer. I was at last able to fulfill my dream not just of backpacking to Thousand Island Lake for the first time, but doing it as part of my job!

Mt. Banner from Billey Campsite, August, 2009

Friends of the Inyo will bring its EVOLVE stewardship vacation program back again this summer. I may again have a chance to take some days away from the office and learn about and perform trail repair work while also having time to walk around the lake, climb through rocky terrain for unexpected view, and generally explore the wilderness, and then return to camp where Todd Vogel - FOI stewardship director and cook extraordinaire - will be preparing something for dinner.

Todd in his camp kitchen. Backpacking with Friends of the Inyo is an experience not to be missed!

Yes, life is tough here in the mountains. I'm pictured below at my corner of the group campsite, Peet's coffee in hand, with my view of Thousand Island Lake and Mt. Banner behind me.


It was warm enough at night to sleep without a rain fly, and see the stars immediately overhead through the pines. No doubt I'm smiling not just because of the views, but because Todd just made one of his amazing bacon & egg breakfasts. Or maybe it was French Toast that morning. Since mules carried the cooking gear, we were able to bring things like red wine and other goodies that you can't bring on a normal backpacking trip.

I hiked out two days ahead of the group schedule as needed back in the office, but I opted to take the strenuous 10-mile route via Garnet and Shadow Lakes (and up and down two ridges) back to the trailhead at Agnew Meadows, instead of the 6-mile high trail we took in. It was nice to be on my own for the day. Pictured here, even though it looks similar to Thousand Island Lake, is Garnet Lake. I did not yet know that a dramatic two thousand foot plunge awaited me after climbing the next ridge, and how exhausted I'd be in the final two miles of my hike.

But I made it.

Garnet Lake, Ansel Adams Wilderness

Help save the beautiful Bodie Hills!

All photos by John Dittli.


This is the first time I've posted a blog on behalf of Friends of the Inyo, the conservation non-profit in the Eastern Sierra that I'm lucky enough to be involved with both as a member and an employee. But there's good reason for this first - the beautiful Bodie Hills - which most people know from the popular ghost town there - are endangered by mining exploration, and now is the time to speak up.



Why should we care about protecting a remote corner of our world? For one thing, hiking in the Bodie Hills yields some of the most spectacular views of the eastern escarpment of the snow-covered Sierra Nevada as exist anywhere in the region. You can hike 10,174-foot Bodie Mountain, photograph abundant wildflowers in summer months, drive back roads in search of bygone Western days, camp in aspen groves, and ski or ride over virgin snow with the Sierra backdrop.

But mining interests pose an increasing threat to these wild lands and open spaces. Next Tuesday, February 15, the Mono County Supervisors will hear a presentation from mining exploration company Cougar Gold on proposed mineral exploration and mining operations in the Bodie Hills. Will Cougar Gold also make enticing promises of providing jobs in the region that will never actually materialize?

Friends of the Inyo exhorts everyone who cares about the Bodie Hills or who would like to have the opportunity to discover them for the first time to voice concern now. From the FOI website (see www.friendsoftheinyo.org), here are some ideas:

* Email a letter to the Mono County Board of Supervisors before Tuesday, February 15: Lynda Roberts, County Clerk/Recorder, lroberts@mono.ca.gov. Tell the Supervisors you want the Bodie Hills to stay protected. Cougar Gold has to follow the rules on our public lands, and there are important issues to consider beyond the lure of gold.
The most expedient and fair approach for mining exploration to move forward while maintaining a good balance between economic, community, and environmental interests is for Cougar to follow the standard course of action and submit plans to the public and to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for review. Thank the board for their leadership and consideration back in September (when they voted NOT to pass a resolution supporting Bodie Wilderness Study Areas release), and on the 2009 wilderness bill. Ask them to support dialogue and public process. Tell them why the Bodie Hills are special to you (wildlife habitat, wide-open spaces, Bodie State Historic Park).

* You can also send a letter via U.S. mail to the Supervisors c/o Lynda Roberts, County Clerk/Recorder, P.O. Box 715, Bridgeport, CA 93517.

* Copy your letter via email and U.S. Mail to our Congressional delegation, in whose hands the fate of the Bodie Hills ultimate resides: Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Congressman Buck McKeon (addresses are on their websites).




* If you are a Mono or Inyo County resident or are in the area, attend the Board of Supervisors meeting in Bridgeport on Tuesday February 15, to urge the supervisors not to support WSA release and to support permanent protection of the Bodie Hills; contact Stacy Corless for carpool information and schedule.

* If you live in Mono County, please also call and email your supervisor:

Larry Johnston (District 1, Mammoth): (760) 914-0826
Hap Hazard (District 2, Crowley, Sunny Slopes, Swall, Tri-Valley): (760) 935-4999
Vikki Bauer (District 3, Mammoth Knolls, June Lake): (760) 648-7831
Tim Hansen (District 4, Bridgeport, Lee Vining, Walker/Coleville): (760) 937-3290.
Byng Hunt (District 5, Old Mammoth): (760) 914-0469

Please call or email Stacy Corless with any questions: (760) 873-6500 or (760) 920-0190.

More talking points for your letter, phone calls and the meeting:

* Ask the Board to support a public dialogue that results in a shared vision for the public lands of the Bodie Hills, and involves all the stakeholders (not just a multi-billion dollar mining company).

* Release of the Bodie WSA by Congress is not necessary for mineral exploration. The mining company can and should conduct lawful mineral exploration under agency regulations governing the WSA to ensure its values are protected from damage. If sufficient gold is found to warrant further development, then there needs to be a dialogue involving the broad community of local, regional and natural stakeholders to determine appropriate future uses for the public lands in the Bodie Hills.

* A partial release of a portion of the WSA, which may be proposed, is unacceptable. The area the mining company is interested in seeing released to allow less regulated mineral exploration is that part of the WSA that holds some of its most important natural and cultural resources. What's more, it's not necessary for the mining company to continue exploration.

*Explain your connection to the Bodie Hills. Mention any experiences you have had exploring the wildlands around Bodie, be it hiking, mountain biking, hunting, auto-touring, photography, birdwatching or enjoying the area's spectacular summer wildflowers.

* The Bodie Hills, and the Bodie WSA in particular, contain outstanding natural and cultural values that are deserving of special protection. The Bodie Hills also provide important recreational opportunities including hiking, birdwatching, hunting and roadside exploration of the area's extensive cultural and natural history. The state park's Wild West backdrop shouldn't be degraded.

* Extensive mineral exploration or development activity, especially in the Bodie WSA, would irreversibly harm the Bodie Hills and directly threaten antelope, sage grouse and other fish and wildlife habitat as well as the area's many cultural resources and extensive recreational values.

*Ask the Mono County Board of Supervisors to support permanently preserving the natural and cultural values of the Bodie Hills, and to oppose any proposals such as WSA release that would facilitate new mineral exploration and development, absent a broad discussion among the varied stakeholders of the public lands about the future of the Bodie Hills.

*Question the long-term viability of a mine (remember Bodie's boom-and-bust past) versus the natural values that sustain tourism and recreation.