In March, Friends of the Inyo partnered with the Access Fund, Bishop BLM, and the Flash Foxy Climbing Festival to put on a morning of clean up in the Tablelands. The Flash Foxy Climbing Festival brings young women to Bishop for the weekend, many of whom have never climbed outdoors or recreated on public lands. This event was a great opportunity to connect young folks to conservation efforts in the Bishop area. In all, we picked up 80 pounds of glass from a restoration site at the end of Quarry Road, cleaned over 40 fire rings, removed 1,000 pounds of…
Stewardship
Thanks to all of your support at the Inyo County Board of Supervisors meeting and the LA water commision meeting, things are moving forward on the Owens River Water Trail Project, which Friends of the Inyo will be taking the lead on the long term, annual stewardship. Check out the Inyo Register article about the great support for the Owens River. Stay posted for progress moving forward.
“It takes all of us that love the wild to keep it wild.” By Janet Carle I will never see the wilderness in exactly the same way after a five-day service trip into Humphreys Basin, organized by Friends of the Inyo in partnership with the Sierra National Forest. I have enjoyed many backpacking trips over the years, but “working” in the wilderness took my knowledge and appreciation to a whole new level. Our group of seven intrepid volunteers from all over California joined Sierra National Forest wilderness rangers Greg Dusic and Zach Barton and Friends of the Inyo staff Tristen…
“I sat watching this world slowly exist around me while every trouble I had trudged up here began to fall away.” By Jack Hereford For nine days the Friends of the Inyo Stewardship crew packed into Chicken Spring Lake above Horseshoe Meadows. This was my inaugural season of trail work and the crew’s first big trip for the summer. I had already blundered through learning how to run a chainsaw, had no idea how to set a stone step and was quite unsure how many more 10 hour days of manual labor I could muster. For me this was the…
High Sierra “You get to connect with others in a way that reminds you how good people are.” By Ben Wickham My first job out of college was in the Yosemite Wilderness, and being from Idaho, I knew nothing about the Sierra Nevada. It never occurred to me that mountains existed in California. That summer at Merced Lake changed me, and I fell in love with the unique, spectacular characteristics of the Sierra Nevada High Country. After reading that opening paragraph, you can probably connect the dots on how I ended up at Friends of the…
Once again this year, Friends of the Inyo worked with partners MLTPA, Mammoth Lakes Recreation, the Town of Mammoth Lakes, and the Inyo National Forest with funding from Measure R to put on a series of volunteer events on trails and at popular places around Mammoth Lakes. In June, for National Trails Day, we signed trails, cut logs, and did other trail work around Panorama Dome. In August, for Mammoth Lakes Trails Day, we worked on trails around Earthquake Fault. The final day, the Great Sierra River Clean Up took place in September. The Great Sierra River Clean Up…
We’re always inspired when we work with Athenian High School. Each senior at Athenian must take a wilderness trip with classmates. They begin in Northern Yosemite, and work their way into the Ansel Adams Wilderness. We usually meet them around the junction of Rush Creek and the John Muir/Pacific Crest Trail- about a 10-15 mile hike from the trailhead- when they are on day 20 out of 30 days of their trip. They are always enthusiastic, and still enjoying their time and each other. Many students have not backpacked before this trip, and its impressive to hear how well they’re…
What a wonderful place to enjoy a Saturday. As usual, people in June Lake were wonderful to work with (not that people in other places in the Eastside are not wonderful to work with). This year nearly 30 volunteers came out to help out on the Parker Bench Trail, Gull Lake Trail, and Fern Lake Trail. Together we were able to maintain nearly 5 miles of trail and removed 50 pounds of trash. Check out photos of volunteers removing invasive cheat grass and brushing the Parker Bench Trail. Volunteers “brushing” the Parker Bench Trail. Brushing is cutting or pulling vegetation overgrowing the…
Inyo County has been working to finalize details on the Owens River Water Trail Project- a project that is still in the works, but would create new recreational opportunities outside Lone Pine. Friends of the Inyo is excited for the potential benefits- fun activities like fishing and floating, and economic benefits from more people recreating near town – that this project could bring in the future. Friends of the Inyo is excited to partner with Inyo County to take the lead on long term river stewardship on this section of river. We worked with volunteers on 3 different days this…
To celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service, Friends of the Inyo partnered with Devils Postpile National Monument. While we always enjoy our work on the Inyo National Forest and BLM around the Owens Valley, it was really nice to partner in another special place in the Eastern Sierra. Thanks to a grant from the California Wildlinds Grassroots Fund of the Rose Foundation, Friends of the Inyo and the National Park Service were able to sponsor a couple of projects as ways for volunteers to connect with Devils Postpile. The Founder’s Day Stewardship Event kicked off with National Monument…