Sierra snowmelt

Snow melts and drips along Hwy. 120, Tioga Road about ten miles west of Lee Vining, Calif. The water runs downstream into Lee Vining Creek and Tioga Lake.

In early July, two standup paddle boarders skim along the icy waters of Tioga Lake off Highway 120.

The snow is melting faster than the giant pumps can remove water from Agnew Lake in the mountains above June Lake.

Snowbanks still line the road in early July near Tioga Lake.

Massive snowbanks damaged the main building at the Tioga Pass Resort off Highway 120.

Many of the campsites in the Tioga Lake Campground are still flooded, and the roads in and out are still blocked by snow.

Melting snow and increased flow in the streams around the Tioga Pass Resort are flooding the cabins and destroying the small foot bridges at the historic lodge.

Water from Lee Vining Creek and melting snow cascades over a cliff.

Nora Livingston, lead naturalist guide for the Mono Lake Committee, walks through a field of seep monkey flowers blooming in the Horse Meadows area in the Mono basin near Lee Vining.

A white-lined Sphinx moth pollinates a field of seep monkey flowers.

The warm colors of sunset are reflected in the pools of water next to a tributary of Bishop Creek. A wet winter and heavy snowmelt have caused the water levels to rise in the creeks and rivers in the Owens Valley and throughout the Sierras.

Water flows over the spillway at the Lee Vining Creek Hydroelectric Project.

Inyo National Forest Ranger Deb Schweizer walks through the snow that still blocks the entrance to the Tioga Campground.