Sunday, January 26, 2014

Lack of snow in the Sierras

This time of year you wouldn't travel up highway 80 towards Truckee without chains in your vehicle. Sadly that wasn't the case today. Our drive today took us to Donner Lake, where the weather was like a spring day, by noon it was in the 50's (it felt more like 70).

Our first stop along the way was at Indian Springs, 5600 ft. elevation. The roadside had evidence of snow and as you can see there was a small trace along the stream.

 
 

Our next stop was Soda Springs, 6768 ft. elevation. There was a bit more snow and the river was iced over, but still looks like May-Jun when the snow is melting. On a brighter note, the Rainbow Lodge is under new management and should be open for business in a few weeks.

 

We decided to make Donner Lake, 5938 ft. elevation, our last stop before heading back to Folsom. There was one fishing boat on the lake and several people fishing off of the piers.



One of the rest stops along 80 posted this sign.

 



I bet this picnicker is glad this sign kept the sledding and snow fights away from her.

 

I am posting this picture again of Folsom Lake to tie together how the absence of snow this winter will affect the lake (currently at a record low, at 17% of capacity), our agriculture and the potential for an increase in forest fires. I think it is time to get serious about more water storage capacity for the state of California... Just a side note, this problem has been building for years. The delay to build the Auburn Dam is a good example, which is not a funding problem, it is problem with allocation of funds.




Monday, January 20, 2014

Solved the focusing problem I was having with Sigma DG150-500

Ever since I purchased my Nikon D7000, when using my Sigma DG150-500mm I experienced problems with blurred photos. I previously used the lens on my Nikon D5100 and did not have a problem with blurriness. I remember reading a review on the lens which stated the "auto focus" could be an issue. Luckily Sigma recognizes this issue so I will have to take the lens in for repair.

On a mission today, Bill and I headed out to the Sacramento Zoo to try using the manual focus setting (wow... actually having to manually focus my pictures...).

Here are my "manually focused" photos from today's shoot.

 


 
 

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Low water levels at Folsom Lake reveal artifacts from Mormon Island

Curiosity set in when we saw around 100 cars parked on Sophia Parkway in Folsom and equal amounts of people walking up the hill on the walking trail to the lake. Since we have a seasonal "Poppy Pass" to enter the lake we figured we would bite, and headed in to Browns Ravine and took a look to see what was up. Luckily there were only ten cars waiting to pay $12.00 to enter the lake (as we left there were about 30 cars waiting to pay).

Here is what we found: The town of Mormon Island was buried by water in 1955 to create the Folsom Dam.  Due to the recent drought and low water levels, some rock wall structures and other artifacts from Mormon Island have been discovered.

This is a small representation of the crowds that came to look at the rock walls and artifacts.

 
People are bringing mineral detectors to find some of the artifacts pictured below. It is a federal crime to remove items found on state property. You will find piles of items found at the lake on legacy tree stumps.

 

 I couldn't resist making art with some of the nails left behind.


 
 
I was surprised how intact the skeletal remains were of this crawdad left on a rock.



 
 
I took this picture looking of the boat house (where you would launch your boat and buy gas) standing in the lake bed, which usually has about 200 feet of water.
 
 
A fellow photographer found what appeared to be a clay sewer pipe. She had the idea to take this picture for us.