Owens Peak Group

The Owens Peak Group serves the portion of Kern County east of the Tehachapi Mountains.

Meetings are held monthly usually on 4th Mondays , 7:30 p.m.at the Maturango Museum, 100 E. Las Flores Ave, Ridgecrest, CA. and are open to all. Call Dennis (760) 375-7967.

Upcoming Hikes & Events

Feb 21, 2015 - (Sat) - WYLEYS KNOB (Located just S of Bird Springs Pass in the Southern Sierra, 6350 ft max elevation, 1000 ft elevation gain, 5.4 mi RT) According to the BLM website, Wyleys Knob and the surrounding area is an excellent place for raptor-watching. Golden eagle, prairie falcon and a variety of hawk species are commonly seen from this high rocky knob. The Knob also offers sweeping views of the Mojave Desert to the east and south, the Sierra Crest to the north, and Kelso Valley and the Piute Mountains to the west. A road winds up the W side of Wyleys Knob, and the PCT climbs over the East ridge. So we will pursue our goal of exploring pieces of the PCT by climbing the Knob via the road and return on the PCT. An easy hike due to short distance and modest altitude gain. Meet Sat, Feb 21, at 7:30 AM at the Ridgecrest Cinema parking lot. For more information, call Dennis Burge at 760-375-7967 or Jim Nichols at 760-375-8161.

Mar 14, 2015 (Sat) - FLOWER HIKE (The best lower altitude flower sites we can find, max elev. 3000 - 4000 ft, 1500 - 2000 ft elev. gain, 4 - 8 mi RT) We are therefore dedicating both our Mar and Apr hikes to visiting wildflower outbursts and hiking the associated terrain. We will find the most interesting flowers, hike to those, and maybe bag a peak in the process. If we can't find any flowers, we will find a nice substitute objective. The hike will be announced a week before via email or you can call the numbers below. This will be an easy/moderate hike and a great photo opportunity. Meet Sat, Mar 14, at 7:30 AM at the Ridgecrest Cinema parking lot. For more information, call Dennis Burge at 760-375-7967 or Jim Nichols at 760-375-8161.

Apr 18, 2015 (Sat) - FLOWER HIKE (The best flower sites we can find at higher altitude; details to be announced, max elev. 4000 - 7000 ft, 1500 - 2000 ft elev. gain, 4 - 8 mi RT) See Mar hike write-up. If possible, we will find another good flower display and hike to that, and maybe bag a peak in the process. If we can't find any flowers, we will find a nice substitute objective. The hike will be announced a week before via email or you can call the numbers below. This will be an easy/moderate hike and a great photo opportunity. Meet Sat, Apr 18, at 7:30 AM at the Ridgecrest Cinema parking lot. For more information, call Dennis Burge at 760-375-7967 or Jim Nichols at 760-375-8161.

See more Kern Kaweah Chapter Outings on our Meetup Site!

Owens Peak Group, Sierra Club
P.O. Box 1569
Ridgecrest, CA 93556

Executive Committee

Chair & Treasurer: Dennis Burge
Vice Chair: Steve Smith
Secretary: Donna Leach
Conservation Chair - Stan Haye
Outings: Dennis Burge
At Large: Paul Colter, Donna Leech, Stan Haye

Our Chapter Newsletter - The Roadrunner

Updated Information about our Owens Peak Group and Chapter outings, events, meetings, and news is provided in the Kern-Kaweah Chapter's bi-monthly newsletter, The Roadrunner. Current and recent issues are now available online.

Read the Latest Issue

Local and Regional Environmental Links

Giant Sequoia National Monument Planning Process - VERY important that you pay attention to what's going on!! Monument Management Plan has been released and challenged.

see at http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/giant_sequoia.index.htm

Owens Valley Committee keeping an eye on the Lower Owens River rewatering project and what's going on at the Lake. ***!!! December 6, 2006, WATER PUT INTO THE OWENS RIVER. !! The river is recovering nicely! Go visit it at any one of the bridge crossings.

Mono Lake Committee Links page - an incredible resource of links to birds, government stuff, everything about the lake, etc. etc.

Ridgecrest area BLM has some issues going right now. Check news.

Active Fire Maps - wanna see what burned this calendar year? Or where active fires are now in CA and NV. A most interesting map!! Takes a while to download.

Inyo National Forest page with lots of great info about the attractions nearby, planning documents, etc. Also place to comment about the proposed Roadless Areas in National Forests, Inyo wants to get into logging now too. Forest Planning is ongoing now.

Sequoia National Forest contact points, etc; Just started revision of the 1988 Forest Management Plan. See their web page to get in on this

Region 5 USFS You can get a whole bunch of info here, find out about Giant Sequoia National Monument, see what other issues are being worked on right now.

California State Parks Who knows what the budget will do to our Parks...

National Parks ; revised front pages not much good - click on "in depth" button to get to the original pages with lots of info.

Death Valley National Park official web page and link to The Morning Report (road conditions)

Death Valley Tourist Info lots of info, numbers, etc. which is not on the official DV page; done by Janet W.

Mojave National Preserve , lots of useful stuff on our lovely park. Kelso Depot is OPEN as a Visitor Center- drop by to see this most elegant building in action. Lunch counter is now serving too. Great displays.