Mid Sierra Musings: April 2018

Dale Matson

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Mount Tom With Mount Basin To The Left

The eagles in the eastern Sierra Nevada are not more beautiful or majestic than the eagles on our side of the Sierra at Millerton or Eastman Lakes (near Fresno and Madera respectively) but the scenery, while beautiful here is not nearly as majestic as on the east side. That makes for a different venue and viewing experience especially when you know of a nest with an eagle chick also. The chick photos were further cropped in photoshop. I have included a few landscape photos of the area to illustrate the wonderful backdrop for the photo experience.

It is amazing to me that eagles are so adaptable that they can build a nest less than a mile from Highway 395 near Bishop CA. As we approached the nest, you could still hear the traffic sounds.

I had my Sony A7R3 and 100-400mm GM lens with the 1.4X TC (560mm) shooting in crop mode (800mm). This allows a respectable distance from the eagles and good hand-held shots since both the camera and lens have image stabilization.

As we approached the nest, an adult began flying circles around the nest tree and then departed. This happened a couple of more times and when we left, the eagle remained perched in the nest tree. We try to leave before “observing eagles” becomes “pestering eagles”. We hope to get back there again before the chicks fledge.

One Of The Chicks (Cropped)

Fresno County SAR Mountaineering Unit

Ropes Training 4-21-18

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I was buying some trail supplies at the Fresno REI and asked a clerk a question about the latest Suunto watches. As we talked I mentioned that I was an inactive semi-retired team member of the Mountaineering Unit of the Fresno County SAR team. She introduced herself as Ann and noted that she was an active member of the SAR team also and they would be training in the San Joaquin River Gorge this coming Saturday.

They would be doing ropes training (for high angle rescue) and the fitness hike for the prospective members. The fitness training consists of an 8-mile loop hike with a 20 lb. daypack on a course with considerable altitude gain. The course must be completed within three hours. The particulars of the hike can be found on a prior report here: http://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2014/03/sar-hasty-deployment-training-03-15-14.html

Well, I decided to drop in on the training and with the training leader’s permission (Michelle) I took some photos and videos. I joined the team when I was retired and 60 years old and was active for about 12 years. I did not choose to participate in the high angle rescue or swift water rescue trainings but was generally available for weekday searches when many of the other team members could not be available because of their employment. I was pretty much an infantryman.

I also wrote a book about some of the searches I participated in called “Seeking The Lost: Stories Of Search And Rescue”. During those years the team developed into a very professional civilian volunteer organization, attached to the Sherriff’s Office, with a much younger average age. Russ Richardson, Martin Wendels and Nick Kohli before them really turned things around for a team that had seen declining membership.

I was impressed with the professionalism and training I saw today and thank the team for allowing me to photograph and video the ropes training. I wish all of you folks Godspeed and protection as you ready yourselves for the upcoming outdoor activities season.

Dale+