Our grandson David has been here recently and when he comes, we spend a lot of time at the motocross track in the backyard.

It’s a great place to practice, one we’ve been using for more than 60 years with some of the world’s best riders. I coached them and learned at the same time.

We just have a few shots today but we’re scheming up a lot of new stuff to share with you, including a lot of fun with the electric vehicle. Have a great weekend.

-Dave

On Mother’s Day we went up to Cardinal Village for breakfast, lunch, and a wonderful Rhino ride.

We took a few hundred pictures and you’ll only suffer through about 10 or 15.

There were wildflowers, but not very many. I guess that’s what we’ve got with the drought. But we do have many cactus flowers that are wonderful.

We also saw a five-foot-long gopher snake. As soon as he saw us, he headed for his hole.

It was a fantastic day celebrating with a few of the mothers in the McCoy family. It’s no wonder we enjoy life in the Eastern Sierra so much, close to family.

Here and here are some shots from this weekend, last year. It was our 70th anniversary and we spent most of the week in Death Valley.

-Dave

Today we’ve got some video from last week’s trip up to the Bristlecone Pine Forest.
We went there through Silver Canyon with our son Poncho, our daughter Penny, and some friends.
There are photos and story about the day here.
In this clip, we mixed video with some stills and a time lapse of our lunch break at more than 10,000 feet. Enjoy.
That’s all for this week. We’ll have more on the way, both old and new, so come back soon.
-Dave

Silver Canyon and Bristlecone Pine Forest Rhinos April 2012 from Brandon Russell on Vimeo.

We made two trips to Silver Canyon last week and each time we found something different.

For those that don’t know, Silver Canyon is just east of Bishop near LAWS Railroad. It’s a spot we go to several times every year and once in a while we’re lucky enough to see some of these guys.

We haven’t seen the sheep up there this year, but it’s still a great ride in a beautiful and remote canyon in the White Mountains.

The first day was a bit overcast so the light was great and we went up to the gate a few miles into the canyon. It’s the right time of year for the cactus with bright orange and yellow flowers to bloom. There’s a shaded area where a spring-fed creek winds along the base of a cliff along the road about half way up, and the cactus and wildflowers are amazing there right now. The hummingbirds are also hanging around the lower part of the canyon now and our son Poncho got some great shots of them in the same area both times.

The second day, we continued on past the gate to the Bristlecone Pine Forest at the top of the White Mountains. Here and here are some good places to look for info about the Bristlecones, some of which are almost 5,000 years old.

It was a beautiful spring day down here in the valley, but it was a bit chillier up at 11,000 feet. There wasn’t much snow up high, but twice we were stopped by deep snow drifts. The first one was probably four feet deep and forced us to go back a few miles to get out towards White Mountain Peak. After the detour, we got to a spot where it was clear the snow was going to stop our progress so we turned around and headed for home.

It was a long day in some beautiful country. We put together a short video of the trip too, which we’ll post in the next few days. Enjoy these photos and come back soon.

-Dave

Some of our kids came to Bishop for a visit last week and the weather couldn’t have been better for a week of Rhinos.

We spent a few days in Silver Canyon and a few days around the Buttermilks. The flowers are blooming, the water is running and the lizards are warming up in the sun.

Enjoy the spring beauty and keep coming back. We took a short break but we’re back now with a lot of great photos, video and stories.

-Dave