By Scott Lange — This week we’ll depart San Francisco on a journey to capture the nighttime sky along the 211 mile John Muir Trail, which begins in Yosemite and terminates atop Mt. Whitney. Leaving just after Labor Day will hopefully make for a quieter, less traveled trail, as well as some great late-summertime weather. Range of Light: Night & ...

OAKHURST – Sierra Tel invites area residents to return to Oakhurst Community Park this year to celebrate Patriot Day 2015, with Keynote Speaker Lieutenant Colonel David Hall of Coarsegold. LTC Hall is the current Executive Officer for the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade of the California Army National Guard. The day begins at 9 a.m. Patriot Day is intended to recognize ...

Submitted by Lynnette Balsamo Jordan As the one year anniversary of the Courtney Fire approaches, let’s take a walk back in history to the beginning of Bass Lake Heights. It all started at the end of WWII when Chief Warrant Officer Louis Balsamo Sr. visited an old Navy buddy at Hidden Valley Meadows. Dan Johnson had built a cabin retreat ...

We have a lot of great information on Grub Gulch and the mines in that area, and good information and photographs of the Texas Flat Mine. But recently some folks have asked the Raymond Museum about the “French Gulch Mine” in our area. There is a mine by that name up by Shasta, Calif., and there is a geographical name ...

Mariposa – Some of us spent Friday at the Mariposa County Fair in what turned out to be about as perfect an afternoon as one could imagine. Click here for the full four-day schedule. Photos by Virginia Lazar Photography and Kellie Flanagan  

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park invites all fourth grade students to visit the park and receive free entrance as part of the White House’s new Every Kid in a Park program. The program provides a free annual pass for fourth grade students and their families to visit more than 2,000 federal recreation areas, including national parks. Beginning today, fourth grade ...

The skies were cloudy as we headed up Beasore Rd. It rained lightly for a while but didn’t last near long enough. It made everything smell nice and fresh for a short while though.   Where: Sierra National Forest, Ansel Adams Wilderness Distance: 8.81 Miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevation Range: 6,641’ – 9,678’ Date: August 26, 2015 We headed up Beasore Rd. to ...

There’s an old saying that goes, “never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to.” That’s a good rule to live by if you’re in court, but when it comes to the business of reporting local news, question-asking is essential to forward-movement. With that in mind, Sierra News Online recently conducted a survey, and the results are in. ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY – “Give an oak a chance,” said Mariposa County Master Gardener Coordinator Kris Randal, for whom oaks are a passion. That chance includes giving them some water during our record drought, contrary to most previous advice. She and Greg Giusti, a forest and wildlands ecology advisor for Lake and Mendocino counties, are offering guidelines for keeping oaks from ...

Where: Hitching Post, 42592 Hwy 49, Ahwahnee When:  Tuesday Lunch or Dinner Not every adventure is a hiking adventure. Taco Tuesday at the Hitching Post in Ahwahnee is always a fun adventure, especially with friends. I think that Taco Tuesday is a well kept secret at the Hitching Post. Well, perhaps locals are familiar with it but I am here ...