fivespot cabin

big cats at Cat Haven

via www.cathaven.com

"Lions, Tigers.... but no Bears" reads the sign as you climb into the mountains on Highway 180. You are approaching Cat Haven, a conservation organization aimed at preserving the world's big cats. Based in the foothills in Dunlap (about 20 minutes from fivespot), Cat Haven is home to jaguars (including Salsa and Jazz, born late last year), native bobcats, endangered Clouded Leopards, and the marvelous Serval shown in the photo. Tours are available year-round. I suggest a visit in the spring or fall when the sun isn't so intense, to better enjoy your outing to one of the area's most engaging, and surprising, attractions.

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atmospheric effects

Winter in the Sierra doesn't just mean snow. Clouds of all kinds appear in the skies. They can be overhead, completely enveloping us as fog, down in the San Joaquin Valley as Tule fog (see my previous post http://www.fivespotcabin.com/fivespotcabin/2010/01/above-the-fog.html), or over the far horizon mingled with the sunset.

Here's a spectacular effect: overhead the clouds cap the mountains like a dome, it's snowing, and another set of clouds hover at the horizon, with space in between for the sunset. That's what happened on Dec. 29:

These unaltered photos show the view from our house (next to fivespot) looking towards the sunset. It was an eerie effect, amplified by the reflection of the setting sun on snow (on the ground and in the air) and on the wet road. Across the road (Highway 245) the light produced alpenglow, which accounts for the pink-ish tone in this photo of the cabin:

So snow is not the only reason to visit the Sierra Nevada in the winter. Light and the effects produced by the moist atmosphere are a great inspiration, at least to this photographer.

 

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Giant Sequoias on the cover of National Geographic magazine

Giant Sequoias are featured in an astounding poster in this month's National Geographic magazine. These are the world's largest trees, thousands of years old. And they continue to persist century after century in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, just 15 minutes from fivespot.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/sequoias/quammen-text

Don't miss the fold-out poster inside the print version of the magazine. You will be inspired to see these incredible trees for yourself!

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/sequoias/gatefold-image

I took these pictures, and they sure don't compare with National Geographic's. But hey, it's hard to capture such huge trees on a point-and-shoot!

 

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above the fog

When it's not snowing, winter brings gorgeous, clear days, and sparkling nights to Pinehurst and the mountains above. From our 4000' perch above California, we look down on an ocean: it's Tule fog. Blanketing the San Joaquin Valley in the late nights, mornings, and sometimes all day in the winter, the fog looks like a vast sea from fivespot. Amazingly, there are islands too - the higher peaks of the Coast Ranges, as far as 140 miles from here.

You can glimpse this phenomenon from fivespot (a sunset view):

 

Bachrun and I (and other friends) often walk from fivespot to the Hogback - an infrequently-traveled county road with wonderful views. Here's what we saw on a partly-cloudy New Year's Day.

View to the southwest: the San Joaquin Valley and the Coast Ranges, with virga (rain that doesn't reach the ground) coming down.

Here are two views to the south of the Tehachapi Range. In the first, I zoomed in on the Tehachapis 150 miles away. In the second, it is as you would see it - no zoom, just a huge expanse of land from Hogback practically to L.A.

 

It wasn't the best day to get a good shot of the Sierras to the east. I will post more blog-worthy pictures of the Mineral King peaks and nearby Big Baldy, as seen from Hogback, soon. And learn more about California geography and weather from links I've posted on the sidebar.