Images of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument – Northern California, taken in September 2021.

Created in 2015, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is an expansive park jointly managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

As I approached the western entrance to the park, I was dismayed to see a sign recommending vehicles have 4-wheel drive to continue. It froze me for a second but I hadn’t come all this way to turn around because of a sign; I decided to continue until I came to a point I wasn’t comfortable with and then turn around. Fortunately for me, about a mile down the road I came across a Forest Service ranger on patrol, flagged him down and asked him to give me the skinny on what was ahead of me. He assured me I would be okay and I stayed on course the remaining thirty miles along the winding dirt park road. I passed through several areas which have been scared by fire over the past few years but the most alarming view was of the Indian Valley Reservoir, holding a fraction of its capacity and reflecting the drought situation throughout the west.