Terrible smoke in Yosemite valley from Ferguson fire!

[Drew Wiley]

Never say never. It's amazing how fast brush and forest fires can move. I've lived through several big ones, so now can't even be around a fireplace or campfire without sneezing. Having a lush well grazed pasture around buildings definitely helps. Looking at topo maps lately for alternate backpacking options. The high country remains lush and is far less susceptible to actual burning, but the smoke from fires further down often siphon up canyons and over high passes, and it's sure a big disappointment to be prematurely chased out of the mountains due to smoke. It can also be potentially dangerous because one generally has to return to lower terrain just to get out, where actual fires might break out. Part of the mantra.

[John Kasaian]

I'm probably be going to Tuolumne Meadows for a job in two weeks. I do hope the air stays clear up there!

[Drew Wiley]

Hard to say. Depends on the wind and what the fire itself does. Last time I went over Tioga Pass there was so much smoke I could hardly see anything. It had even settled around Mono Lake, where I got a very unusual shot of the Lake fading out in the haze. I started smelling and seeing that smoke in the middle of Nevada around Austin, on my way back from the Rockies. A lot can change in two weeks, either for better or worse. But it would be uncommon for the breathing quality of the air to be bad that high up. Photographic air quality depends on what you are after. Sometimes a bit of haze lends a sense of scale, just like old blue-sensitive films. My very favorite shot of El Capitan down in the Valley is a big albumen prints by Muybridge with a totally blank sky and all the rock itself very high key, with some deep black foreground trees. The sense of scale is amazing in that print. The monolith almost seems to float skyward.

[tgtaylor]

According to the web cams the air quality is much better today than in the past two days but still not good. The park seems to be posting misleading stats: Yesterday's Maximum PM2.5 1-Hour Average 268.0 µg/m3 24-Hour Average 0.0. IIRC 268 was yesterday's 24 hour avg. Further when checking on campsite availability it comes back both yesterday and today "This page is currently being worked on. Please check back later. If the conditions inside the park were hazardous as they reported yesterday, then I don't see why they don't close the park until they improve. I understand that they want visitors in the park but hazardous is hazardous. You would think they would have a public duty to close it when conditions reach that state.

Thomas

[Drew Wiley]

Unless the news is local it tends to give a false impression, like the national networks last nite claiming Yosemite was at risk. Well, fire could indeed invade the southwest Park boundary. But very few tourists would associate those many square miles of brush with postcardy sights of Yosemite. The lower Merced canyon is interesting, but there are probably more pot growers down in the brush than hikers. And that chaparral wants to burn about every forty years. What is so dangerous now is the mid-elevation pine die-off. But the floor of Yosemite Valley itself is not very high itself by Sierra standards and can get downright hot, smoggy, and have distinctly diminished visibility even on "normal" summer days. Some of the smog filters in from the San Joaquin Valley, and some is generated by the idiotic practice of still letting people have campfires under such conditions. I think the bears are behind it, still wanting their customary seasonal marshmallow toasting. Once in awhile a bit of tourist gets added to the skewer to create real shish kabob.

[Gadfly_1971]

Unless the news is local it tends to give a false impression, like the national networks last nite claiming Yosemite was at risk. Well, fire could indeed invade the southwest Park boundary. But very few tourists would associate those many square miles of brush with postcardy sights of Yosemite. The lower Merced canyon is interesting, but there are probably more pot growers down in the brush than hikers. And that chaparral wants to burn about every forty years. What is so dangerous now is the mid-elevation pine die-off. But the floor of Yosemite Valley itself is not very high itself by Sierra standards and can get downright hot, smoggy, and have distinctly diminished visibility even on "normal" summer days. Some of the smog filters in from the San Joaquin Valley, and some is generated by the idiotic practice of still letting people have campfires under such conditions. I think the bears are behind it, still wanting their customary seasonal marshmallow toasting. Once in awhile a bit of tourist gets added to the skewer to create real shish kabob.

I camped in Wawona on Sunday and Monday, left a day early on Tuesday. The park service at that time was indicating that the park was threatened at least somewhat. There was talk of shutting down 41 from Fish Camp to Oakhurst on Monday. The views in the valley itself were non-existent. On the whole, while the Village wasn't exactly a ghost town, the number of people visiting the park was minimal considering the time of year. Hell, the campground at Tuolumne actually had vacancies (in July). It was pretty awful.

[Drew Wiley]

One reason for shutting down a specific highway is not always risk of fire spreading there, but in order to keep things accessible to fire fighters and their big trucks. Hwy 41 can be infamously slow. I used to tell people that there are two curses to mountain travel: the mosquito and the motorhome. One makes you move along faster, the other, a lot slower.

[John Kasaian]

Yesterday the local news reported the fire jumped the Merced River and that Badger Pass (or whatever you call it) is being used as a base camp for fire crews and Glacier Point road was being closed.

[Sal Santamaura]

I suspect the best thing for the valley, long term, might be a fire completely out of control that incinerates everything combustible in it. None of us, or your children (I have none), are likely anxious to accept that, but your grandchildren would greatly benefit.

[Jac@stafford.net]

I suspect the best thing for the valley, long term, might be a fire completely out of control that incinerates everything combustible in it. None of us, or your children (I have none), are likely anxious to accept that, but your grandchildren would greatly benefit.

Sal, I look forward to your posts. The one above puzzles me. Why would that be a good thing?