Well I just finished the Christmas letter we send out every year. It is 736 pages this year , A few hints on web sites, snow conditions and Hi tech clothing.
So if you want some reading the Portal Road project bid and plans are out easy way to find go
www.inyocounty.us main page Bids/RFPs and link to Portal Road project, all the details about the construction should covered.
We had a very busy season with very few rescues until the end of the season, this tends to be the pattern now as early storms will cover the upper elevations and warm days we have the melt/freeze cycle making it harder to reach the summit quickly , Some slipping others overdue .
The PCT/JMT numbers were again up by hundreds and started weeks earlier so parking /permits and what if questions were endless. As I posted the last day the Store was open a young man started the JMT/High Route.
We are still seeing very little snow at the lower elevation and not normal amounts higher up , but have had very high winds as the storms develop .
The Alabama Hills trail work is moving forward , we have several very short section left and plan to finish by summer. The BLM is planning several days like we did for NPLD and these should finish the easy sections and do work on several other sites in the Hills. A parking lot for the Fin was built early Nov. and this needs some planting and cleaning.
The Hospital was taken over by the State several days ago, the Board and the CEO resigned. My thoughts only but many times when accidents happened on the mountain and the injured party was air born it makes no sense to delay getting that person to the ER that can start treatment ASAP ,the same for vehicle accidents. Over the years it was harder for the Hospital to retain Doctors and Staff as the cash flow was limited. Lone Pine as other rural areas see a loss of population , Insurance and other payment systems changing and will not have the means to adapt quickly or have a reserve to carry forward until changes are made, the Community did an outstanding effort to keep the Hospital open , raised thousands of dollars and offered to help with business experience that may have been lacking.
Well short of the other 700 pages Thanks everyone for making 2015 a great year, and another thing Myles (the guy that quit several weeks ago) will be back. Amy and Myles put papers in to buy a house in Lone Pine. Amy is starting a Guide service so stay tuned!
Stay safe watch the snow condition where ever you travel, stay warm and dry and see you this winter somewhere. The Portal Crew
