Miles Weaver Photo

12/19/2021

So wonderful to have the best night of the year, Night of Lights, back at Mammoth! The team at Mammoth Mountain pulled it off in grand fashion yet again and brought out the lasers!

07/01/2021

Feels like we got away with one yesterday. With forecasts calling for 80% chance of thunderstorms after 11 am we decided to get an early start and still try to summit Red Slate Mountain (13,163'). The exposed summit of a 13er is certainly not somewhere you want to be with lightning in the area. With approximately 20 miles and 5500' of elevation gain we set our expectations low and were prepared to turn around if the sky got too threatening.

We made it to McGee Pass (11,800'+) just after 10 am and it looked good enough to give it a shot. As we approached the summit of Red Slate the sun actually came out. We had blue skies above but threatening clouds all around. As we finished our lunch the thunder started booming and the clouds closed in on us. It was time to get off the summit!

One minute after we started heading down it began to hail. Once we were back below McGee Pass that hail turned to a heavy rain. We were relieved to be back in the protection of the canyon where lightning wouldn't be as big of a threat. Over the next few hours, as the rain came and went, and we fluctuated between soaked and somewhat dried out, we never quite reached the point of being miserable. We were still riding the high of tagging the summit of a 13,000' peak on a storm day. For miles and miles we were treated to the tantalizing soundtrack of the cracks and booms of thunder and lightning. The rain and wind really picked up about a mile from the car. There were temporary streams rushing though the trail, an uncommon sight in the typically fair-weathered Sierra. On the 20 minute drive home we set the heat on high to dry out and warm up our barely functioning hands. We knew we had timed things just right.

04/22/2021

How lucky are we that we get to call this Earth our home? Happy Earth Day and National Parks Week everyone! We've only got one Earth so please take care of it.

01/31/2021

After up to 113" of new snow there was a considerable amount of avalanche control work for Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol yesterday. Great appreciation to all of them for working so hard so we can ski safely!

01/29/2021

How wonderful to see so many friends out skiing around town with a giant smile of amazement these past couple days.

Nine feet of snow fell on in 2.5 days ❄️

Are you the type of person that clears your car off twice a day or do you wait until the end of the storm like the van in the second photo?

11/13/2020

One more shot from fall before we go full winter mode with ski season starting tomorrow. Insert cheesy quote about embracing change. 🍂❄️

10/30/2020

Four things that have been seriously lacking here in 2020, at least lately: Blue skies, backpacking, snow, and quality time with friends. With the Creek Fire still affecting air quality in our area and keeping the John Muir Wilderness and Ansel Adams Wilderness closed, I really haven't spent much time "getting after it" in the great outdoors recently. But this week we've finally seen some colder temps and a shift in wind direction that has given us our biggest stretch of decent air quality since August. Also Mammoth Mountain has started up their snowmaking operations in preparation for the ski season. Signs of change and the good things on the horizon.

And fortunately we have photographs to remind us of the good times we've had, and inspire the good times to come. Looking back on a wonderful trip deep into Kings Canyon National Park with Joshua Cripps Photography last year.

10/14/2020

Creek Fire, October 14, 2020 // Today's fall color report is a little less cheerful. After the winds switched direction last night, we woke up to blue skies this morning in Mammoth. Joy spread throughout town and everyone got outside to breathe fresh air and get some exercise. But just out of view on the other side of Mammoth Mountain the Creek Fire raged on, continuing to inch closer and closer. On Friday it is predicted that the winds will change back to their typical SW flow and ash will likely start raining down in town again. The Creek Fire started September 4th and has been wreaking havoc on the Eastern Sierra's air quality for six weeks now. At over 337,000 acres, it is the largest single wildfire in California history. There is still no rain in sight. Our lungs hurt. We got covid tests last week because of sore throats. Nope, not covid, we've just been breathing smoke for weeks.

10/09/2020

Poppin' 🍂🍾 A few scenes from yesterday morning. The last one will show you the remoteness of this location 🙄

08/21/2020

The whole state of California is seemingly on fire at the moment so today I'm reflecting on a particularly clear morning in the Ansel Adams Wilderness last month 🔥

08/10/2020

Can you think of a more iconic pair of peaks in the Sierra? Mt Ritter and Banner Peak at sunset. Like PB & J.

07/31/2020

An ode to the local range. The Minarets are about 10 miles from my house. Spent a few days climbing them last week. Here is my trip report.

Last week I took a much needed backpacking trip to the Ritter Range and managed to summit seven of the Minarets. I didn’t have much of a plan when heading out there, just wanted to see what I could do without scaring myself too much. From the time I got to my campsite on Tuesday night until Saturd...