The Eastern Sierra~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life

Got slammed with 111 inches of snow in the most recent 5 day storm.

UC Berkeley’s Snow Lab records this as the snowiest 5 day stretch in 40 years.

But the Sierras are once again,

silent,

still,

serene.

Even the twin waterfalls are sleeping!

Life perseveres, waiting for spring thaw.

The White Mountains (in the back), are home to the few surviving California herds of wild mustangs who are now going to be captured and removed by helicopter roundup and bait water trapping. See prior post on these magnificent wild creatures and their keystone place in the wild habitat:

Wild Mustangs of Mono Lake~

The US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are moving forward with plans to capture and remove approximately 500 wild horses from their home near Mono Lake in California’s Eastern Sierra. The mustangs have lived here since the 1800’s. The Forest Service and BLM claim the horses are a danger on roads and disturb sensitive habitats.

Interestingly, cattle are allowed to graze in much of this “sensitive habitat.” Reports indicate wild mustangs are consuming habitat allocated for privately owned cattle. In more than 50 years I have never seen a wild mustang on a road, and neither have my friends and family, some whom live in the area, and had no idea they were even here.

https://americanwildhorse.org

https://www.easternsierrawildhorses.com

Cheers to you from The Eastern Sierra and her not long remaining, wild & free mustangs~

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256 thoughts on “The Eastern Sierra~”

  1. Cindy! I have missed your posts. I’m glad that there has been much snowfall that way because I heard that the West has been pretty low on snow lately which will make water shortages more severe. I hope you weathered it okay during the storm. Beautiful photos! 😍

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  4. I’d say someone with lots of cows want their grass back Cindy, with regard to the horses. Sorry, I love horses. Thin them by all means, but what is good for one is also good for the other…er, not the politicians, I meant the cows 🤣 Beautiful white landscape kind lady, I have no doubt to just sit there in that silence would be magic…with a very big coat on. Here’s to the coming warmth 🤗❤️🙏

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    1. Yes indeed!!! Cows, politicians, what’s the difference? Wonderful to hear from you Mark and thanks for the smiles. I have tried repeatedly to like and comment on your posts but wordpress will not allow me ㅤღ

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      1. Haha, near wet myself Cindy, that was good. Not much difference is there 🤣 My site is still being difficult with that. Currently building a new one, here’s hoping it can just accept a like or two…or I’ll just give up and allow the horses in to graze. No politicians allowed 😂❤️🙏

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      2. Yay! I got three likes, just waiting for your comment. Mind you, I do have it setup so that I must approve it first before the comment goes public. A bit slow I know but makes me check them with all the hiccups I’ve had with the comments. Thank you Cindy, glad to see your wanders again 🤗❤️🙏

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      3. Sorry Cindy, I’ve waited for hours and the comment doesn’t appear to have arrived. Very frustrating, for you and me. I think I’ll borrow your horses and start up a mail run. It would have to be faster than this 🤣❤️🙏

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  11. Lovely to see you back, Cindy! A gorgeous collection of photos. And all that snow will probably be good for the water table. Horses on the roads sounds like a weak piece of propaganda to me. I wonder how many deer wander on the roads; are they going to collect them too?

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  13. Beautiful photos, Cindy, and sad news about the wild horses. I’m wondering if all the snow is a good thing–less drought and forest fires next summer?
    It’s good to see a new post from you; I actually checked my followed blogs list recently to see if WP had disconnected me from your blog.

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    1. Hi Audrey! Lovely to hear from you and touched that you thought of me. Thank you. Most thoughtful of you! I am still here. Just posting less these days. Snow is very good thing. We need all we can get. Cheers to you & take good care ㅤღ

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  15. It’s so good to hear from you, Cindy and see your peaceful, beautiful photos. That’s a LOT of snow!
    Thank you for sharing the tragic story and plight of the mustangs. These are such brutal, heartbreaking times. It’s clear that nothing is sacred to those in power these days.
    Still, I’m grateful the snow came to replenish the lakes and rivers and reservoirs. Sending my best wishes to you, the mustangs, and the abundance of life in the Eastern Sierra. 💜🪶

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  18. WOW, Cindy. Your photographs are outstanding. One hundred and eleven inches of snow in five days is almost beyond imagination. The mountain in your photograph looks less like weather and more like presence as if the earth has drawn a deep white breath and held it. And that reflection in the lake is so still, so calm, it feels like winter contemplating itself. There is something humbling about knowing that Berkeley’s Snow Lab marks this as the heaviest five-day stretch in forty years. It reminds us that nature still writes the larger story, no matter how we try to measure or predict it.

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    1. Isn’t wonderful that “nature still writes the larger story.” So beautifully expressed Rebecca and so wonderful to hear from you my friend. Thank you for your thoughtful words & only the best in the new year to you my friend ღ

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  19. Lovely photos, Cindy, but so sad to read about the mustangs. Once again, the authorities make poor choices. The mustangs were there first and deserve to be left alone to live their natural lives according to Mother Nature.
    As you say, you and your family have never seen them on the roads, so it’s probably not a regular occurrence, whereas the cattle………well, I won’t say any more.

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        1. Sorry. My mistake. I apologize. I know you and love your wonderful birdie blog Ashley. I apologize. In my defense, if you scroll down you will see multiple examples of how wordpress messes up comments, allowing commenters to inadvertantly reply to commenters without knowing and making my replies complicated and confusing. I use first names to try to clarify who I am responding to. I am afraid you fell into this confusion Ashley. I empathize when people call me another name. I understand the confusing nature of online communication.

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  22. I am so happy to follow you! Thousands of wild mustangs in the US are rounded up each year and far too many are sent in the “slaughter pipeline” to be sold to Mexico and Canada.

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  24. Wow! What an amount of snow. Changes my perspective of the only snow we have really seen this winter on the Pyrenean peaks (on way back to Spain ) but there has been tremendous rain in our little hollow or valley, throughout Spain and very damaging floods in Andalucía.
    As for those mustangs, hopefully making them more visible to others through the media might help. I remember seeing posts some years ago about mustangs and the pressure to get rid of them. I will look up your links. Ironically wilder horse species are being reintroduced in some European nature reserves. Seems they do not destroy everything but help keep certain habitats. Cattle overgrazing and in general are not good for the environment. Seems in Australia some ranches commit to preventing this overgrazing and move them around. Good to hear your news and views and wishing you all the best.

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    1. Australia has much better management of wild horses than the US. We like to round them up and sell them with no oversight to where they go. Many end up in the slaughter pipeline. The Montgomery Pass Mustangs are the only horses whose numbers are managed by mountain lion predation. Their removal will affect the struggling lions too. Sigh….. Dumb and dumber. Hope all is well with you my friend დ

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      1. Terrible situation and so sad. My young memories are filled with those wild horses. And my youngest grandaughter’s first love was to watch the US animation Spirit. Pioneer stories with a love of the wild horses. She was so young but was captivated by the horse and the movement!

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  28. Dear Cindy
    Great to have some snow, isn’t it? A couple of years ago we lived in an area where at least two meters of snow (79 inches) were normal. We loved it. We just came back from a short winter holiday, where we had a little bit of snow, half a meter. Great pictures. The world looks much nicer covered with snow.
    Happy winter
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  29. I thought of you in the recent time, because I missed you. So good to read you again!
    It is so emotionally moving and so beautiful to watch free and untamed horses. It is a shame what this Government is doing to people, animals, the nature. I’ve read that Trump wants to dissolve the US-Nationalparks. That would be a worst case scenario!
    Stay safe, dear Cindy!

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    1. Hello Martha. I missed you my friend. Lovely to hear from you. Yes, wild horses are incredibly moving to experience in their natural state. Trump thinks National Parks are golf courses. Hope you are well my friend & thank you for stopping by დ

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  30. Welcome back, Cindy! Your snowy scenes are beautiful. I’m saddened to hear about the Mustangs. Seems there are better options than to destroy them. Hugs!

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    1. Hi Jennie! Lovely to hear from you & thank you very much. Yes, the roundups and baitings will result in severe trauma, split up mothers and colts and herd groups, and horses will be sold or given away. Many will likely die. It is very sad. Thank you for caring and for stopping by დ

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  42. Anonymous

    Good to see you back, Cindy. It looks incredibly beautiful in the mountains but as for the snow, I’ve had enough of it for one year. We had a 3″ dusting of it this morning so I had to clear the driveway. Since it was still cold the snow was light in weight. We’ve had a lot of snow this year too. I wonder if that means a long, dry, hot summer?
    Leslie

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    1. Hello Leslie. I empathize with having to clear the driveway. Ugh. I suspect the summer will be warm. It is now over 80F at The Holler! I hope all is well with you my friend დ

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  43. Welcome back, ma’am — I’ve missed reading about your fascinating travels and seeing your gorgeous scenery! Wow, that’s a LOT of snow (and here, I thought we had a bad winter!). I hope this will translate to a summer of no wildfires, though, so you can preserve this natural beauty.

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  44. The mountain images are fantastic, Cindy. The amount of snow is mind-boggling, but it was a good thing as a potential water storage for the dry season in the summer.

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    1. Hi Melinda! Great to hear from you. And yes, the explanation for destroying these mustangs lives makes no sense at all. Hope all is well with you my friend დ

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  46. Wonderful pictures Cindy, and me too when visiting the eastern Sierra’s haven’t seen any wild mustangs (or cattle). So this seems an unneccesary approach. I vote for letting the mustangs in peace.

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  48. Deborah

    Nice to see you back.

    Regarding the wild mustangs and sensitive habitats, it’s a paper-thin lie. The cattlemen know it’s a lie too. The sensitive habitats are poorly suited for grazing, and cattlemen know this too. To graze one beef cow for one day, it needs 200 acres to graze because of the thin vegetation. Nixon (yes, that one) said the wild mustangs are free to roam the western range without interference. The Bush 43 administration reached an agreement with cattle interests to end the round-ups and return those in captivity to the range. Cattle interests backed out of the agreement and the consent degree, and here we are.

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    1. Yes. It is disgusting isn’t it. They will trap and roundup 500 horses and sell or give away to anyone who wants them. Many will end up in the ‘slaughter pipeline.’ This herd is managed soley by mountain lion predation, so the mountain lions will suffer as well. Many horses are injured in the helicopter round ups and trapping. It is horrible to watch. These are gorgeous creatures. Iconic symbols of the American west. Shame on us. Hope you are well Deborah & thank you my friend

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      1. Deborah

        Since you rarely visit IG, here’s your link on wild horses:

        https://www.instagram.com/p/DWRX2A9Dy0j/

        Bobby Khan who featured the wild horses on his IG account, he’s running for Congress in Nevada’s CD-1. (He’s running as an independent.) Of the current congresswoman, he said she’s useless. She introduced a bullsh*t bill that would ban the use of helos in mustang round-ups but continue the round-up practice.

        Don’t expect the courts to do anything. Our horses are considered to be real property, while wild horses are considered to be wildlife. They are protected only if their population levels decline into the hundreds by the Endangered Species Act. But, Trump doesn’t like that act because he doesn’t personally benefit from it.

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        1. Yes. So reckless and un-necessary. The US is planning to eliminate up 14,000 wild horses in 2026 out of n of approximately 70k total. Australia as a comparison has approximately 400K wild horses. Thank you for the link, most appreciated and thank you for caring about our magnificent wild mustangs Deborah. Take good care my friend დ

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    1. Hi Kathy. Great to hear from you and thanks much. Impressed you know about this my friend. The lawsuit is still pending. BLM plans to go ahead with the roundup in summer of this year. We will know in the next few months what will happen. Hope you are well my friend & thank you for stopping by დ

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