OT Sierra Mountains Lakes OT

[pflaming]

A friend invited me along for a flight over the Sierra Mounains yesterday morning. Here are a few views. These mountains have been off limits for vehical access including motorcyles, in some ways sad in other ways it's nice to keep some things natural, and I'm not an environmentalist.

Courtwright is located at about 9,000' ASL. Wishon Res is at about 8,000'. They drop the water through massive tubes from C to W to generate electricity, then at night they pump the water back up to C and repeat.

Huntington from LA developed these reserviours to get water for the LA basin. Hume lake was a lumber mill. That is where I caught my 23" trout last summer. All these lakes are above 6,000'. Hume is an hours' drive for me. My house is at 300' so in 50 miles it's a 6'000 foot climb. It will be a nice test for the truck

Enjoy.

Edited May 26, 2018 by pflaming

[TodFitch]

Nice photos. I do like the Sierra Nevada.

My house is at 300' so in 50 miles it's a 6'000 foot climb. It will be a nice test for the truck.

It will do fine. My '33 Plymouth has no problems getting around the mountains. Is a bit slow on some of the grades but not too bad. I've had it over Donner Summit, to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, etc. Most direct comparison to you would be when I've had it up at the Dodge Ridge area: From Oakdale (elevation 155) to Dodge Ridge (elev 6600) is 66 miles. No problem at all.

Priest Grade on highway 120 getting up to Groveland can be harry, especially coming down. But other than that, I don't recall any spot that was more than a "slow down a bit and enjoy the scenery" type of driving.

[John-T-53]

Nice pics!

Not sue which direction your last shot is looking, but on the horizon might be Mt. Morgan, Bear Creek Spire, Four Gables, or Mt Humphreys. All 13,000+

This is the most dramatic area of the Sierras.

[pflaming]

Our general flight path was: Reedley NE to - Pine Flat Dam - Shaver Lake NE to - Huntington Lake - Edison Res - S to Florence Res - W to Courtwright -Res - Wishon Res

I cannot name the lakes in these pics, except for the last pic. I do not know these mountains but it was around 10:am and the sun was shining down into the valleys. Very, very nice and very smooth that early in the morning. In the pm the ride gets a bit rough, best to stay home then.

Edited May 26, 2018 by pflaming

[Guest P15-D24]

from when we did a regatta in July.

[Dave72dt]

My question would be in regards to the energy produced compared to the energy used to pump all that water back. Just how efficient is that anyway.

[pflaming]

Electrical energy ratio: It is my understanding that they sell the electricity at the day rate and pump it back up at the off hours time and rate. Now that's a lay person's explanation but mechanically that is what they do.

[Guest P15-D24]

but Edison, Huntington and Shaver are just electrical generation, no back pumping involved. In many cases they use large pipes to move water down the mountain from one lake to the next so it goes through multiple generation stages. I know they have to keep Huntington near full during the summer for recreational use but I think in September they are allowed to start drawing it down for power generation.

[Dave72dt]

Kilowatts used compared to kilowatts produced? Do they have a reservoir to store the dropped water during the day? Where do they get the energy for pumping at night if not generating more? Do they reduce flowage at night so they don't generate as much as during the day and siphon off power for pumping? You opened up a whole can of worms, Paul. The system may be profitable but doesn't sound very energy efficient. Maybe it's not even profitable and is being subsidized to keep it working.

[Guest P15-D24]

Huntington has a generator at the top of the lake! Water coming from Edison (the lake above) enters via a large tunnel/pipe after going through the generator, then fills the lake. They have a viewing station where you can watch it exit the generator. Pretty impressive flow rate coming in.

[Don Coatney]

I believe the snow water from Edison, Hunington, and Shaver lakes does more than generate electricity. It also supplies water for homes and irrigation in the SAN JOAQUIN valley. There was once a Flume constructed from Shaver Lake to Clovis, California used to transport logs used for construction. Pictured below is a photo of this 42 mile long flume. Rumor has it tha the Shaver Lake Loggers would ride the logs down the flume on Friday night to hit the bars early as the flume trip was much shorter than the ground trip. However the flume trip casualtity rate was much higher. Follow this link for more information and photos. I lived in Clovis for a couple of years.

http://www.shaverlake.org/cshs/photos.html

[48Dodger]

Very cool thread.

This is what I found when my "energy" demand was low, and my search engine set to high....lol.

48D

http://www.pgecurrents.com/video/helms-power-from-water-human-engineering/

[TodFitch]

... I think in September they are allowed to start drawing it down for power generation.

Not sure about those lakes, but Pinecrest lake a bit further north is also a power generation lake which they draw down in fall basically emptying the lake. The reason there is to make room for spring melt to help control flooding. I think that all of the lakes are managed for more than one purpose (produce electricity, provide irrigation or drinking water, flood control, recreation).

[pflaming]

Without the dams and reserviours the valley from Sacramento to Bakersfield (300 x 100 miles wide) would still be a desert. We get all of 15" inches of rain, (in a good year) here. Yet much of our water including that from Mt Shasta goes to LA. Hetch Hetchy Dam water goes to San Fransico.

The story of water in this valley is a very interesting story and that does not include what they did in the Delta region near Sacramento. Read the book "Mover of Men and Mountains" about LaTorneau and you will get the history of Case, Catapiller, LaTorneau and much much more.

[John-T-53]

The Hetch Hetchy water then gets piped to Crystal Springs reservoir, just over the hill from here. In addition to SF city, the SF peninsula communities also get the benefits of this water supply, and the quality is great. For this reason I never have to buy bottled water. Can't beat Sierra snow melt!

[Don Coatney]

I know that Fresno had water for grapes 117 years ago as my Great Uncle George Combe Coatney told me so.

[pflaming]

John, did you ever wonder what happens when a deer walks into the cold snow waters of Hetch Hetchy on a hot day?

Don, yes, there was a lot of interesting diversions of the water before the system was designed. This area was a huge wheat area also.

There are some unique things here, as well as everywhere. This is the only area in the world where peaches are grown on flat land. The peach trees roots will not tolerate standing water, but this soil is so sandy that the water penetrates and the trees thrive. Plum, citrus, apples, and nut trees are different.

[HanksB3B]

John, did you ever wonder what happens when a deer walks into the cold snow waters of Hetch Hetchy on a hot day?

No, Paul, what? (don't answer if it's a Killing Bambi thing)

Hank

[John-T-53]

Funny thing...was just filling up my glass and a bunch of deer 'raisins' popped out...

Edited October 22, 2012 by John-T-53

[pflaming]

I checked with a friend about irragation history.

"Alta Irrigation District was started in 1888. Prior to that this was a “Dry Land” farming area. The first pumps were powered by those “Hit and miss” gasoline engines that drove centrifugal pumps. As the water level receded they dug pits so they could lower the pumps. Centrifugal pumps can’t lift more than 22 feet, but can push more than that. There are still some of those pits around."

"Deer raisens!" Whatever, deep fry em!

[HanksB3B]

I think I got the picture. Glad they are not in my pitcher.

Hank