High Sierra Topix

Hi Marymaryland,

Welcome to HST! Thanks for introducing yourself, you'll be visiting so pretty places
in SEKI, especially the Amphitheater Lake and the Upper Kern areas.
East Lake valley may still have snow since its wedged between some high ridges and
peaks on its southern, eastern, and western sides. Where is the highest concentration
of bats in the Sierra?

maverick wrote:Where is the highest concentration of bats in the Sierra?

Maverick: not well known, which is one of the reasons I'm interested in investigating! I have to admit that I know very little about bats in general. Most of what I know, I learned from reading reports and talking to local bat experts. Dixie Pierson (who just recently passed away, sadly) and Bill Rainey have done most of the bat surveys to date in the Sierras, and have found at least 10 species at elevations higher than 10,000 feet. Abundance is very difficult to measure for such hard-to-track species, but I imagine that both diversity and abundance of bats are highest at lower-to-mid elevations, with a dropoff in number of species and individuals around treeline. Apparently, many bats use bridges as roost sites, so some of the larger backcountry bridges may be great locations to see large numbers of bats (Woods Crossing and Bubb's Creek Crossing spring to mind). Not sure about a latitudinal gradient, but my semi-educated guess is that you may find different species of bats as you move from north to south in the Sierras, but that habitat and elevation are more important. Most bats rely primarily on emerging insects from water bodies for food, and use drainages as flight pathways.

Here's a great report on bat distributions in Yosemite (opens to a pdf): http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/u ... n.2001.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

-MMD

Thanks for the info and link MML.

Hi! I started following this site two years ago when we were planning a Minaret loop backpack.

A little about the 4 of us FWIW. My wife and I are in our late 40s and we have two teenage boys. We're from Maryland and do a fair amount of outdoor activities moderately well (whitewater canoe, mountain bike, ski, backpack). We're fit but certainly not super athletic. We really enjoy 'gnessing' the wilderness (a butchered german phrase meaning - in our family - to really soak up the moment and enjoy it), which is why we tend to be notoriously slow hikers!!

Best example, two years ago, we backpacked the Minarets. It was supposed to be a week long trip from Devils Post Pile to Minaret Lake to Thousand Island and back down the JMT. Well, we ended up having short hiking days (slow to pack up cause it was so beautiful where we were), staying more than one day at spot that we planned on only staying one day (again, it was gorgeous), etc. In the end, we covered about half the ground but we all had a great time. (Which is why we are planning another Sierra trip!)

Thanks!

Steve

Welcome aboard! Love your family's ability to go with the flow. Your trip was in a perfect area to make such adjustments.

Mike

Two intro's, one after the other, both from Maryland. Welcome to HST, Steve!
The Minarets is a good reason to move very slowly, though most of the Sierra is too.

Thanks for the welcome guys! Actually, Marymaryland and we have something else in common - UC Davis. My wife got her BS there before moving to the East Coast. (Mary obviously got the direction - east to west - right whereas we are still trying to work that part out!!)

Ok, figured I would delurk here then...

About me, early 30's dude born and raised in SoCal who got into backpacking a few years ago during grad school...now the problem is just finding the time and people to go with! Been day hiking all over the sierra's for my entire life, though my first actual backpacking trip there was only a couple years ago up over Duck Pass. Most of my other backpacking experience has been local to SoCal (Gorgonio, San Jacinto, etc..) and a few trips up in the Olympics.

Definitely looking to get a few more trips in this summer, as I can actually take vacation time during the summer for the first time in a couple years! I'm hoping to at least hit up Emigrant Wilderness at a minimum this year, and maybe a few things on the East Side of the Sierras too before the end of August, hopefully finding some new fishing holes as an added bonus

-Justin

Hi Justin,

Welcome to HST!

About me, early 30's dude born and raised in SoCal who got into backpacking a few
years ago during grad school...now the problem is just finding the time and people
to go with!

You might consider joining us Justin: http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... f=1&t=9783" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Joined this forum a couple of days ago and already learning so much
about the High Sierra...bear canisters, mosquitoes, effects of altitude, etc.

Planning a 3-4wk Sierra High Route either next season or the one after,
fishing & photographing my way across some of your mighty fine scenery.

Background....mainly an off track devotee in Tasmania's trout fishing backcountry or
in the rainforests & peaks of the Main Range National Park here in Queensland, Australia.

Anyway, great forum & resource.

ofuros