Mountain Men Season 8

Dale Matson

Mountain Men season 8 kicked off June 6^th with a mix of old and new faces. Tom Oar and his wife have “aged out’ of wilderness living and have moved to Florida from Montana. I believe they have relatives (children) there. He and I are the same age and I understand. We sold our wilderness cabin 2 years ago. His presence will be missed. He gave his apprentice a good start last season. 

Jason Hawk and his wife and children were missing. Glad to see long time trapper Marty Meierotto and Morgan Beasley and Margaret Stern, Mike Horstman and Jake Herek. Looks like Marty will have a helper this season also. In a past episode he had a young man help him build a new cabin. I don't know what happened to that newer snowmobile he had. The one he is using looks pretty ancient and undependable. I really think Margaret has the background, experience and grit to be a good partner for Morgan. 

The segment with Jake and the mountain lions was tense. Eustace Conway is back with a new apprentice Raleigh.

We were also introduced to Kidd and Harry Youren. I think they are the real deal and will be a great addition. They are excellent horsemen.

I worry that one of these days, Marty is going to get into serious trouble crossing an ice covered lake or river.  

I believe this is a strong cast overall and look forward to an excellent viewing season. 

Huntington Lake 06-05-19

Dale Matson

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From The SW End Of The Lake

Huntington Lake is about an hour and a half from Fresno CA. It’ elevation is about 7,000’ and it usually freezes over in winter. It is another gem of a Sierra Nevada lake. There are several campsites along and above the shores of the lake. I was there yesterday and enjoyed the 73-degree weather while Fresno reached 103 degrees.

When winter arrives, the resorts shut down and the cabins are closed. We had another big snow winter and most of the resorts are not operational yet even though it is after Memorial Day.

There were scores of loggers clearing the dead pines in and around the campgrounds. The drought and pine bark beetles killed many of the pines even at this elevation. Most of cabins are on U.S. Forest Service land so it is a periodic lease arrangement for cabin owners. When Bruce Babbitt was Secretary of the Interior under President Clinton, there was talk of not renewing the leases.

Because the lake is 5 miles long and the winds at this altitude favor sailing, there are several regattas held each summer.

Anyway, it was a pleasant day and an opportunity to use my Sony A7R3 and 16-35mm 2.8 GM lens primarily. I also used my Leica Q that has a fixed 28mm 1.7 lens. As you look across the lake, you can see the China Peak ski resort is still covered in snow.

Million Dollar Mile Revisited

Dale Matson

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Hike Route

In my previous posting, I covered the 8-mile round trip hike to the Stevenson Creek Waterfall and bridge. During our hike we had two observations of Golden Eagles but with a wide-angle landscape lens, it was futile to even take a photo. I believe there are nests along the San Joaquin and that it is a kind of flyway.

With this in mind I decided to walk up the road beyond the gate for a couple of miles (400’ gain) with my Sony A9 and 100-400mm GM lens. I also added a 1.4X TC which extends the reach considerably with little weight gain, a loss of one stop of light but no loss of sharpness.

I wanted to get up the road far enough so I could sit and get a good view up and down the San Joaquin River far below in the gorge. I initially tried a finger of land that did no work out b/c there was so much brush obscuring the view. You can see on the map where I initially went off the road. I went further up and took advantage of an area filled with tailings from an excavation that gave me a good view.

I sat for about 3 hours to no avail but got some more landscape shots from 135mm to about 600mm. It is quite a contrast when compared to the 16-35mm GM lens I used on the previous trip.

This experience reminds me so much of my late father, the fisherman, who patiently waited for hours for the fish to bite… different venue, same disposition.

        

 Some Views Along Jose Basin Road

 Creek Flowing Below One Lane Bridge On Jose Basin Road

 Jose Creek From Italian Bar Road

 Jose Creek Flowing Under Bridge On Million Dollar Mile Road

 San Joaquin River Near Power Plant #3

 Helicopter With Litter

 Cows Grazing Across The River

 Return View Of Jose Creek

 San Joaquin River From Jose Basin Road Telephoto

Rugged Countryside

Combined video of Jose Creek and San Joaquin River