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yosguns
climber
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 26, 2018 - 10:36pm PT
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I caught some shots of the Sierra on my way back from Mammoth. Enjoy!
Grateful days.
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JOEY.F
Gym climber
It's not rocket surgery
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Mar 26, 2018 - 10:54pm PT
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Sweet, United MMH-SFO?
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yosguns
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 26, 2018 - 10:56pm PT
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There's definitely a sort of vintage quality to them now that we have drones. Still, it was wonderful to be up in the sky over a place I love so much. I've been looking for years as I've flown east for Half Dome with no luck. Southern side of the plane, SFO to Mammoth (MMH) and return seem to guarantee Valley views as long as skies are clear.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Mar 27, 2018 - 05:54am PT
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Nice! Especially the panorama shot.
Here’s a couple I took on my way to the Robbins memorial, on an early flight from Denver to Oakland.
Mono Lake and Lee Vining
Dana and Third Pillar
Tenaya Lake
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Ney Grant
Trad climber
Pollock Pines
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Mar 27, 2018 - 08:00am PT
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Here are a couple on a flight to/from Phoenix two weeks ago in a Cessna. The flight over was one of the most challenging flights I've made, with high winds, icing, instrument conditions, severe turbulence and ending with a crosswind landing. Scary but beautiful! You can read more about the flight with more photos on my blog: www.westcoastflyingadventures.com
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Mar 27, 2018 - 08:53am PT
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Thanks Yosguns! I always select my seat accordingly for my way back east or for the way home. That feeling of "coming home" over the Sierra never gets old.
Yikes Ney! Way to hold it together up there!
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kunlun_shan
Mountain climber
SF, CA
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Mar 27, 2018 - 09:13am PT
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Cool thread!
I love the photo of Half Dome on your blog, Ney.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 27, 2018 - 09:29am PT
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Ney, enjoyed yer blog, especially Alaska and the avionics job with unmarked wires. LOL!
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Peter Murphy
Trad climber
Oakland
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Mar 27, 2018 - 11:48am PT
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This is so cool! Here is a pic I got of devils tower (the only thing still lit up by the sun)
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Mar 27, 2018 - 12:27pm PT
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Great shots. Ney, yours are wild.
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Sierra Sustainable
Trad climber
South Lake Tahoe
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Mar 27, 2018 - 12:44pm PT
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Thank you sir, may I have another?
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Ney Grant
Trad climber
Pollock Pines
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Mar 27, 2018 - 02:00pm PT
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Here is one of my favorites from that trip. It shows how massive the Dana Plateau is, and you can also make out the Third Pillar of Mt. Dana. Tuolumne in the background is strangely absent of the expected granite peaks and domes, although I think you can see Lembert Dome behind a cloud.
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i-b-goB
Social climber
Wise Acres
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Mar 27, 2018 - 06:03pm PT
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Yo nice shots!
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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Mar 27, 2018 - 06:08pm PT
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Good stuff. Must be nice to have an eye in the sky.
Photo by Ney Grant.
Peak 9134 is the dome of leucogranite, just southwest of Glen Aulin, and above McGee Lake. It is the eastern extent of Falls Ridge, and sits just west of the thin screen of metamorphic rock that lies just west of the outer margin of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite. The outer margin of the TIS is composed of the tonalite of Glen Aulin and all of the domes labeled in the photo are composed of Cathedral Peak Granodiorite. The Third Swiller is composed largely of swillerite.
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Ney Grant
Trad climber
Pollock Pines
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Mar 27, 2018 - 06:48pm PT
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Minerals - that is awesome, thank you. I thought Peak 9134 was Lembert.
Ney
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yosguns
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 27, 2018 - 07:22pm PT
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Whoa! Nice collab, Ney and Minerals!
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PinkTaco
Mountain climber
Utah
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Mar 27, 2018 - 08:28pm PT
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Amazing shots!
Thanks for posting.
It does raise a dirty little subject, that few seem willing to discuss -- or perhaps few others notice.
I took the time to slowly backpack the JMT from Happy Valley to Whitney Portal a few years ago. There were very few moments that I enjoyed silence and a true wilderness experience. Not because of an over abundance of PCT/JMT hikers, the permit system is actually kinda working (albeit there are heavy weeks). But because of the excessive air traffic. Whether it was commercial, military, or civilian air traffic noise it seemed to ALWAYS be present. Like gnats; only gnats that vibrate the landscape and echo for an eternity into the next aircraft just a few minutes behind. They certainly detract from any sense of a "wilderness experience", at least as I would define.
Anyone else share my sentiment here, or am I turning into an angry old person determined be be alone on a crowed planet that I must learn to share? :)
Cheers, and would like to reiterate, LOVED the photos!
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seano
Mountain climber
none
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Mar 27, 2018 - 08:44pm PT
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PinkTaco -- You think the Sierra are bad? Try backpacking in the Grand Canyon! Outside the central mule trails, it's a constant stream of heli-tours from dawn to dusk. The jets flying techies to and from the Bay Area are mildly annoying, but easily ignored.
Nice shots of the Valley, BTW. Seeing Half Dome from 35,000 feet makes you realize "holy s**t, that's huge!"
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Ney Grant
Trad climber
Pollock Pines
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Mar 27, 2018 - 08:52pm PT
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Pink Taco,
You say gnats, so I assume you mean piston/propeller aircraft (like mine)? When I fly in that area I don't see or hear on the radio a lot of traffic, so I am a little surprised. Most of us don't dally in the Sierras as it isn't safe if you have engine failure. If you notice the photos I took are over Hwy 395. I pretty much cross at a 90 degree angle to minimize my time over harsh terrain.
If you think it is getting worse it probably isn't. Private general aviation in small planes is in trouble and there are fewer pilots. Training takes significant time and money and the instant gratification that many kids desire isn't there. There is a lot of commercial jet traffic.
Also the Bishop / Whitney area is in a "MOA" or Military Operations Area so there is a lot of military jet training there. As you probably know, many climbers have a "holy shit" story of having a jet come over at 500 feet.
Anyway, I'm fully aware that I'm a nuisance and there are times I fly over the Sierras. I apologize for my noise. It isn't the engine, but it is those damn propeller tips that are approaching the speed of sound that makes the noise.
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Ney Grant
Trad climber
Pollock Pines
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Mar 27, 2018 - 08:55pm PT
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For anyone interested, here are the rules on flying above parks and wilderness:
Pilots are requested to maintain a minimum altitude of 2,000 feet above the surface of the following:
National Parks, Monuments, Seashores, Lakeshores, Recreation Areas and Scenic Riverways administered by the National Park Service, National Wildlife Refuges, Big Game Refuges, Game Ranges and Wildlife Ranges administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wilderness and Primitive areas administered by the U.S. Forest Service
FAA Advisory Circular AC 91−36, Visual Flight Rules (VFR) Flight Near Noise-Sensitive Areas, defines the surface of a national park area (including parks, forests, primitive areas, wilderness areas, recreational areas, national seashores, national monuments, national lakeshores, and national wildlife refuge and range areas) as: the highest terrain within 2,000 feet laterally of the route of flight, or the upper-most rim of a canyon or valley
Federal statutes prohibit certain types of flight activity and/or provide altitude restrictions over designated U.S. Wildlife Refuges, Parks, and Forest Service Areas
Federal regulations also prohibit airdrops by parachute or other means of persons, cargo, or objects from aircraft on lands administered by the three agencies without authorization from the respective agency
Exceptions include:
Emergencies involving the safety of human life; or
Threat of serious property loss
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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Mar 27, 2018 - 09:48pm PT
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Thanks for sharing your photos, Ney. Nice blog. I am envious of the great views that you get to see, and you take great photos of those views.
Fun thread, Yos. Your first photo of the sea of peaks is neat – shows how extensive that part of the Sierra is. Mr. Crowley on the left and the edge of The Convict on the right.
Rick, your Mono Vining shot shows the older and younger glacial moraines on the East Side really well – nice. Grant Lake too.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Mar 28, 2018 - 06:14am PT
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A little off topic, but still of climbing interest, from farther afield:
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PinkTaco
Mountain climber
Utah
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Mar 28, 2018 - 05:37pm PT
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Ney, oh man you little guys don't really bug me. Lots of friends and family into it. It's really the big boys making the constant racket.
Seano, I agree 100%, helicopters are the worst. The Grand Canyon is an absolute joke, I can't believe they are allowed at all.
Another place that is a real disappointment is Sedona, AZ. There are so many helicopters there, it is just too bad people don't seem to value quiet as a resource. I can't believe that property owners there let that one go through the Sedona city council. I for one would never invest there simply because of that racket. (even if the routes were less studly!)
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Ney Grant
Trad climber
Pollock Pines
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Mar 28, 2018 - 08:30pm PT
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Yeah, I don't understand why the helicopters get such a break in the grand canyon. If I do an overfly, it has to be at 14,500 feet and I can't fly parallel - I have to fly specific patterns that cross the canyon at a 90 degree angle. It seems to be a good compromise that minimizes us gnats.
But sightseeing copters get to fly as low as 9,500 feet and there are about 100 of them to one of us. At least the rules separate us because I'd hate to have to worry about running into those guys.
BTW, my dad was a Navy pilot and he use to open the doors so the crew could sit at the door as they flew down the canyon well below the rim. That must have been a hell of a ride, though a bit loud for anyone below...
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seano
Mountain climber
none
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Mar 28, 2018 - 08:49pm PT
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Ney, I don't mind a few little props -- I actually enjoy seeing them wandering through the mountains. I've flown in a Cessna 152 a couple of times, and cruising along at 10,000 feet in a lawnmower with a gas tank doubling as a wing was an incredible experience. I got to take photos like this: http://www.drdirtbag.com/2015/07/22/aerial-north-cascades/
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yosguns
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 28, 2018 - 09:23pm PT
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Dug up a few more of Castleton on a SFO-DEN flight last May.
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Mar 28, 2018 - 10:32pm PT
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Nice shots Yos.
Last summer on a random flight from Los Angeles back to Fresno I got a nice view of the Castle Rock Spire area out the right side of our little Brasília turboprop. Kind of crummy photos but it really shows the spires off nicely from a unique vantage. Not an often traveled area.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Mar 29, 2018 - 03:45am PT
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I have a friend named Jack who, in the early 70s, wanted to get his pilot's license so we could go fly over the Sierra and play "Bradford Washburn." We both got married and went separate ways. What a shame.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Mar 31, 2018 - 10:24pm PT
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Whitney and Gardiner from a few days ago.
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Radish
Trad climber
SeKi, California
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Its cheating really to be able to see it all from the Heli ! This was one of the Palisades peaks?? Not sure which one now as we were going round and round and up and down in a strong wind on a search from last year. Maybe someone will known which peak..Thunderbolt?? There's someone on top even.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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No summit boulder...Can't be Thunderbolt...
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seano
Mountain climber
none
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That's Sill in the background, so probably Middle Pal or Disappointment in the foreground.
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Couple low quality shots from a SAR last year. Unique views of Kings Canyon and the Moro/Castle area.
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glenrayj
Trad climber
sausalito ca
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Super fun to see this thread. Made me finally sign up to share a few of my favorites - also from a smaller plane at lower altitudes. Weather dependent, I'll always try to take a route over some part of the Sierra's that I love if I'm crossing
Here are a few from a recent trip up the east side and across over Mammoth, then down the Valley on the way to KDVO (Gnoss) in Novato.
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Gorgeous shots Glenrayj!!!! Glad you signed up. Super cool thread.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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see how those typos just disappear when you take your time?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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We need to make that area a no fly zone so we don't get contrails in our photos.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Killer pics on this thread, thanks all.
glenrayj, the light in this pic is unreal. what a shot
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i-b-goB
Social climber
Nutty
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Vitaliy M., nice shot of Temple Crag, Mt. Sill, and North Palisade!
And everyone else too!
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RjBlake
climber
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Jan 20, 2019 - 10:40am PT
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I finally got around to identifying some waterfalls I saw out the window of a flight last november. Turns out it was Hetch Hetchy. (I like getting the window seat and carrying a small telephoto lens). Unfortunately it wasn't the cleanest window, but they turned out ok.
Despite knowing the flightpath and extensive google earth searching, I couldn't figure out where the pond/lake was in the last photo.
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marmoting
Mountain climber
CA
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Jan 20, 2019 - 10:53am PT
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RjBlake,
I believe your last picture is of Saddlebag Lake.
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RjBlake
climber
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Jan 20, 2019 - 11:39am PT
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Thanks Marmoting! I believe you are right, I was looking too far south.
Well then I have a stack of pictures of Tioga Peak and the surrounding area. Very cool to finally find out what I was looking at. Beautiful day for a flight.
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