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I wanted to sneak out for a hike this last Saturday and thought maybe I would hike Muah Peak, but as I drove up Lubken Canyon road it looked like a maelstrom parked itself right above the mountains where I wanted to hike. I dropped the idea of doing too much, with just a hope that maybe I could hike up to Cottonwood Lakes and get some moody photos, hopefully without getting stormed on too much. But, as I drove in to the trailhead and started hiking all the clouds moved out of my way. When I got near Cottonwood Lakes I noticed it was clear above Cirque Peak. Couldn't help but be drawn in that direction and next thing I knew I was on top with beautiful views. There was some weather to the South, West and North, but just beautiful near me with all sorts of dramatic clouds floating around.
As I neared getting back to my car all the clouds started rolling in again and I got poured on for a while driving through Lone Pine and to the south. Owens Valley was looking pretty dramatic up and down it's length. Some crazy weather we've been having.
Ominous clouds above the Sierra as I drive to Horseshoe Meadows
Big beautiful clouds floating around
Slogging my way up into the clouds
Beautiful clouds over Langley
Beautiful clouds over Langley
Beautiful views to the NW
High Lake near New Army Pass, some skeeters here
Long Lake
Nice views driving back down Horseshoe Meadows Road
Last edited by ExploreABitMore on Fri Jun 26, 2015 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ExploreABitMore wrote:Some crazy weather we've been having.
Howard Sheckter @ Mammoth Weather believes we're seeing the incipient stages of an El Nino. Not only are we having late season N Pacific storms, but there's already been 3 named E Pacific tropical storms. So after the winter weather finally abates, it could be a summer of monsoonal downpours.
Thanks for your photos and tr! I'm doing the 4 hour drive to Lone Pine tonight and heading to Cottonwood Lakes tomorrow. It's good to see what I can expect.
Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the TR and photos. Hope you had a good time Bluewater. Hobbes, I was wondering about that. Looks like we got some stable dry weather finally, but I couldn't help wonder what this supposed El Nino might mean for summer. Guess we'll find out soon enough!
