John & Anne Wiley

2015/12/10

River of Dust

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 09:46

The beautiful Santa Ynez River would have been nothing but dust this year, but for the three main dams. We were surprised to see pools like this along the stretch below Gibraltar Reservoir.

5400 Tiny Oases

5400 Tiny Oases

In case you didn’t notice them amid the vast expanse of brown, I’m talking about the string of pearls bringing the water of life to the lower middle-left of the above pic. As you know, I’m also a fan of rock formations, so it was nice to say hi to this one again as we passed. It was probably carved by eons of epic floods before the dams were built, until the edge stood alone.

5404 Stalwart Stone

5404 Stalwart Stone

Another rock I like is next to another deep pool that harbors some precious water at its base.

5414 Rock, Tree, River

5414 Rock, Tree, River

No doubt these pools have been replenished by occasional releases from the dam at Gibraltar Reservoir, and there’s a nice pool beneath the dam that you can just make out in this pic.

5423 Beneath Gibraltar

5423 Beneath Gibraltar

2015/12/08

Puddles

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 09:15

Did you love splashing in puddles during your youth? In the dry climate where I grew up, it was especially fun. In recent years we’ve been reminded that this is a dry climate too. Flying the Santa Ynez River we were struck by the “puddles” our three main lakes have become. Jameson is showing its heart, with that shape formed by the only remaining water.

5460 Jameson Reservoir

5460 Jameson Reservoir

The puddles are so small that splashing in them (or boating, fishing, etc.) are pretty much prohibited to conserve and protect the dwindling water supply. Gibraltar Reservoir looks even worse, looking from the shallow end toward the dam.

5446 Gibraltar Reservoir

5446 Gibraltar Reservoir

Most striking though is Lake Cachuma as you can see by comparing this next pic with the one on the wiki link above.

5396 Lake Cachuma

5396 Lake Cachuma

Rather than red dirt beneath the blue haze, this is usually a lot of blue water surrounded by green hills with sometimes white caps on those distant mountains. According to the SB County OneRain website Jameson is at a hopeful 30% of capacity, but the much larger and more crucial Gibraltar & Cachuma are down to 14% & 15% respectively. Hopefully we’ll have nourishing rain this Winter accumulating in moderate amounts with no flash floods. If so, it will be fun to fly over and get lush pix to share and cruise the hills checking out all the waterfalls.

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