Sierra East Side Smoke

[Preston]

Harley Goldman and I spent the last several days on the East Side (Mono Basin and Yosemite) and the haze was pretty bad. While on our way home yesterday (Sun 7/28) the smoke was affecting the entire East Side from north of Olancha according to Harley who went south) and all the way to Sonora Pass. When I crested Conway Summit the mountains to the east were shrouded, and once in Bridgeport, the Sawtooth Range was invisible.

This smoke is the result of the Aspen Fire in Sierra NF. Strong inversions…mainly at night and into the morning hours is keeping smoke near the surface. More info on current and upcoming East Side weather here (http://mammothweather.com/).

So, if you're planning a trip to the East Side, you'll want to monitor the conditions, and if possible delay your trip for a few days until the fire winds down.

Aspen Fire Info from InciWeb (http://inciweb.org/incident/3552/)

--P

[ROL]

Aspen Fire: Summit Post (http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/aspen-fire-a-lot-of-smoke-on-the-east-side-t65838.html)

[Drew Wiley]

Gosh. That's some pretty steep terrain between Mammoth Pool and the Beasore Fire Rd. I grew up with a view of that canyon wall - it's the second highest on the
continent (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon). The San Joaquin Basin acts like a huge bellows and will siphon all that smoke right thru Mammoth Pass and clear into Nevada. Glad my backpack is still a month away.

[tgtaylor]

And wildfires burning in Oregon have gummed-up the skies on the West side of the Sierra so that at least the whole northern half of California is now smokey.

Thomas

[Brad Rippe]

Thanks for the info Preston, next week I was going to meet a few friends in Dusy Basin, who are doing the John Muir trail, but they came out early due to the smoke, must be pretty bad there. I live in the SF Bay Area, and we've had smoke color the sun red. It can make for some interesting photography!
-Brad

[ROL]

FYI: Absent first hand reports, I've found InciWeb to be the most reliable predictor of the life of any fire and its affects on any potential sojourns. Updates on containment and suppression activity are frequent while the fire is aggressive. Not so much, once laying down and virtually contained, but the effects are also considerably lessened by that point anyway. Brad's friend's exodus and first hands from Bishop are stopping me in my tracks, literally, right now.

[Drew Wiley]

I was unexpectedly sneezing a little yesterday. I'm very sensitive to smoke, but what's reaching us in the Bay Area is from a fire up the coast, not the one on the
San Joaquin. What it so worrisome about that fire is that it's just below the second largest uncut ponderosa pine forest in the world, up on the plateaus behind
Kaiser Peak and on the opposite bench of the canyon toward Margaret Lakes. There was a helluva fight back in the 60's to keep logging out of there; but in the end it was largely the extreme expense of putting bridges and roads in at public expense that stopped it. Kaiser Wilderness was officially adopted at that time. I've spent numerous nights on the summit of that peak overlooking the canyon where the fire now is. You can see Balloon Dome down in the canyon, looking like a little pimple in the vastness of it, even though it's even bigger than Half Dome in Yosemite! And like I already mentioned, any smoke in that canyon inevitably spreads a long ways. I ran into smoke from the last big one in the same area clear over on the western side of Utah.

[ROL]

The Wunderground smoke map had light plume concentrations (not sure how they are calculating that) all the way out to the Utah border this morning. Last night there were high, light bands of wispy smoke defining the northern sky from northern LA County. I suppose the current weak upper level troughing could have brought it this far south, but I couldn't say from which fire they originated from. What's amazing is how far reaching the smoke is throughout the central and southern Sierra, except for western SEKI – for once!

The fight I remember, and was directly involved in, was against B.F. Sisk's (local congressman) multi decade hard on for construction of the Fresno to Mammoth, All Weather Trans-Sierra Highway. For those unfamiliar (not Drew) and as a point of historical geography, the Sierra Nevada crest is unbreached by paved road from Yosemite through Sequoia–Kings Canyon, the longest stretch of unvarnished mountains and veritable wilderness in the lower 48. The San Joaquin River, cuts a relatively low elevation path through the crest from near Devil's Postpile (eastside) through the western Sierra, south of Yosemite's Merced watershed, and the seasonal Tioga Pass crossing. It is a natural path for general westerly winds, funneling air through the Sierra to Mammoth, explaining in great part why Mammoth Mountain receives so much snowfall in the winter. Of course, these are same dynamics responsible now driving high concentrations of smoke from the Aspen Fire into the Owens valley and parts far beyond. This same, particular trick of geography was what made the prospect of an all weather trans Sierra abomination so appealing in the (19)60's and 70's. As powerful a legislator as Sisk had become, the highway was never funded past the exploratory stage.

[Drew Wiley]

Ah... the villains of the past. Before that there was a whole string of dams proposed above Mammoth Pool, which only the Great Depression stopped. Even Yos Valley itself was slated for a dam at one time. Then our last big ego Governator wanted one of the world's biggest dams to flood one of the last sections of lower canyon wilderness flooded, at the same time drowning four operative hydroelectric plants ... and just maybe the recent recession stopped that madness. Good ole Calif politics - get one bumper year when one of those reservoirs will actually fill and they'll use it as an excuse to let development run amuk with overallocated water, and you end up in a worse position than you started out. Probably the average hiker doesn't notice the subtle changes up in the high county as particular species of trees die off at particular elevations or soils due to diminished snowpack. Everything still seems beautiful. But the folks who watch the state's "water bank" are pretty paranoid. And so are people who understand fire. And I can think of all kinds of minor glaciers which have outright disappeared in recent years. Fortunately, I planned for a bad year and didn't schedule an Aug backpack. Hope it rains before Sept and clears things up. I've lived thru my share of massive forest fires and have been chased out of the high country by smoke enough times - twice in recent years. But do hope I stay in shape long enough to visit that
remote glacier on the west side of Iron Mtn, right where the most weather of all channels thu that gap. Not many people get up there.

[Drew Wiley]

... and the other abortive trans-Sierra shortcut was the persistent eccentric who did mangage to get a paved road up the hill south of Whitney as far as the Cottonwood Lks trail and (southern) Kennedy Mdw area. ... Now it's the Coast Range in imminent danger from the madness of untested fracking procedures,
right in the heart of classic textbook earthquake country. Sheer voodoo for a couple decades of economic sugar high.

[ROL]

I believe the San Joaquin is already the damnedest river in the state.

[Drew Wiley]

My property was right over some of the old SJ&E railroad narrow-guage railroad camp when those vast projects were first started. There are quite a few history
books dedicated to the theme. I still keep a few momentos, like an anvil made from a piece of the track. The whole story almost came to an abrupt turn in the 90's
with one of the boldest scams ever conceived in this country. PG&E was actually plotting with Enron. They were going to sell their dams and hydroelectric infrastructure to them, but could still monopolize the price of electricity by owning the distribution lines. Meanwhile, since water use has to stair-step downstream
from hydroelectric to agricultural use, Enron would be able to essentially blackmail California by manipulating water. The whole plot was far bigger than their rigged
natural gas scheme of the era. The problem is, you can jerryrig electricity supply using computers, and can simply turn off gas lines. But what do you do to create
an artificial shortage of water to drive up prices? So this is where the plot started to unwind - some big unknown party was attempting to buy vast amts of adjacent Valley acreage underlain by spongy sandstone - where they could play a shell game by hiding huge amts of water underground. They sure did their geological homework! But some of the local ag interest started getting pretty suspicious (they always are where water or wells are involved) and began an investigation into who these folks might be... Ah, it could have been another Calif classic like Land of Little Rain, or Cadillac Desert, or the movie Chinatown (about Mulholland in LA)....

[Preston]

Yet another Sierra Fire...

This time in Stanislaus NF, Tuolumne County. CA 108 (Sonora Pass Highway) is currently closed between Clark Fork Rd. and the eastern side of the little burg of Strawberry. The fire is running parallel to 108 and is currently at 275 ac. with a growth potential to 400 ac. The fire was reported early Monday morning, 8/4. The cause is under investigation.

More on the "Power Fire" from InciWeb (http://inciweb.org/incident/3598/)

If you are planning to head over Sonora Pass, you should check for any further info on the 108 closure.

I live about a mile from the Columbia Air Attack Base and the air resources having been flying all day.

--P

[Preston]

Power Fire Update...

Typo in my original post: The fire was reported Monday, 8/5, not 8/4 as stated above.

CA 108 is now open. This could change at any time, so be sure to check current conditions.

Smoke is very heavy in the Columbia/Sonora area this morning.

--P

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks Preston. I'm still a few weeks from heading out, but as usual am plotting Plan B, Plan C etc ... I always want options for backpacking destinations, esp on a year like this one when fires can sprout almost anywhere in the West. Hopefully there will be a bit of serious rain in the high country between now and Sept - there generally is; but it won't prevent smoke drifting from a big fire somewhere lower down. I've been prematurely smoked out of the high country twice in the last ten yrs. The odds would be worse midsummer; but that's when skeeters are the bigger nuisance anyway.

[ROL]

FYI: I just got back from a few days on the East Side. Things really turned around Tuesday, 8/6, and by Wednesday there was barely any noticeable smoke anywhere from Virginia Lakes to Whitney. With the Aspen Fore 85% contained, that particular source seems negligible now, excepting very close to the source. It won't be stopping me from going out again next week.

[Drew Wiley]

That's good news. The smoke has completely cleared here on the coast too, related to a southern Oregon fire. I packing up now, double-checking everything for a
week in the high country. Each summer counts more and more, as there will inevitably be a point in time when I won't be able to get as deep into the backcountry,
at least with large format gear. The clock is ticking. Only have a week this time. I've never been to Lk Reflection and it's on my "must see" list this trip. I'll go in over Kearsarge to avoid the heat in the lower canyon, but I doubt I'll be able to get as classic a shot as you did, ROL. If I have time, might wander into Vidette Lks too, which will give me at least a bit of off-trail excursion.

[Preston]

Here's a brief update on the Power Fire in Tuolumne County...

Containment is 60%, with full containment expected on Tuesday, August 13. With the exception of a couple of forest roads and the fire area, all public areas, businesses, and Highway 108 are open. Smoke has been significantly reduced.

Power Fire info from InciWeb (http://inciweb.org/incident/3598/)

--P

[Drew Wiley]

Here we go again... another big burn shutting down Hwy 120 outside Yosemite. Wonder how far all that smoke will travel?

[Preston]

Here we go again... another big burn shutting down Hwy 120 outside Yosemite. Wonder how far all that smoke will travel?

Drew, I am sitting in it! The smoke here in Columbia is horrible. When the afternoon breeze picks up, things get a little better, but I imagine the plume will extend over the crest.

The fire is called 'Rim'. It very active in the Tuolumne River-Clavey River canyons. it is currently at over 16K acres with only 5% containment. I was on an engine strike team during the Stanislaus Complex in '87. That country is steep and a lot of it is basically inaccessible. I pray for the firefighters to stay safe out there.
At this time, you can only access Yosemite from the East Side, Hwy 140, or 41. No traffic is allowed on 120 west-bound out of Yosemite.

Also of note: Due to the Spring Peak fire, which started in Nevada and has crossed into CA, Bodie is threatened. The park is closed and structure protection engines and dozer lines are in place. So, I would imagine the smoke is probably bad in the Lee Vining-Mono Basin area, as well.

Lots more info on these fires at InciWeb.

--P

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks for the update, but ouch!!! ... I'm only two weeks away from crossing over Kearsarge Pass to explore a little of the Kings/Kern divide area. Naturally, I'll have a Plan B desination, like I always do, just in case that part of the world gets smoked. But I was expecting a dicey season, given the drought.

[ROL]

Luckily for us (not Preston :(), the smoke from the Rim fire seems to be heading NxNW, for now, with no other large active fires in the important part of the Sierra (:p) at this time.

The Kings/Kern is my absolute fave high country of all the Sierra (and that's sayin' sump'n), although I'm probably never carrying LF that far again. Such a Landscape!, one somewhat recent tome on the Brewer expedition with LF work by Wiliam Alsup, along with the classic Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada by Clarence King, all of which I am certain you are already familiar with, Drew, are worthwhile reads for the uninitiated. I'm off to the desert next week, but plan a trip there soon thereafter.



Clearing Storm, Lake Reflection
http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/albums/High-Sierra/Clearing%20Storm%2C%20Lake%20Reflection.jpg

[Preston]

ROL,

Yeah, the plume is pretty much trending N-NE at the present time, so it's unlikely to affect the southern part of the range unless we get a significant north wind event. The incident management is using ANG Pave Hawk copters, C-130's and a DC-10 tanker on the fire, along with S-2s and Huey's--they're hitting it hard. I think it's going to get worse, before it gets better.

That's a nice shot, sir! I wish I was there right now!

--P

[Drew Wiley]

I've spent only a few trips above the South Fork of the Kings. I'm pretty familiar with the Middle and North Forks, with the upper Kern, and the entire San Joaquin drainage, some of the Kaweah - hundreds of trips in all, but little of the South Fork per backpacking. So, depending on specific weather and pace, I'd like to check out East Cr and Lk Reflection, or perhaps Vidette Basin and Center Basin. Don't think I'd go into Rae Lks unless well off-season. Lake Basin, Marion Lk, and Bench Lk are on my wish list for a different year. Going alone this time, so probably won't venture anything steep or radically off trail. The little Ebony folder sure makes life a lot easier than back when I was hauling a Sinar system over the high places! But I still use a Norma dayhiking.

[tgtaylor]

The problem with driving from the Bay Area and going over Kearsarge Pass is that 5 miles from the parking lot you're suddenly at 12,000. I've done it several time - each time camping at Tioga Pass (10,000) before hitting the pass the next day. The last time I got "sick" - didn't feel like eating or doing anything for most of the next day. Gong in from the West avoids that sudden change in elevation as you hike up to that elevation from 5,000 or so feet so you gradually acclimate to the elevation change. It's also a shorter drive from the Bay Area and the total hiking distance and elevation gain is probably the same. It's a warmer start from the West, though, and a little sandy at the beginning. Mist Falls is an easy day trip from the west entrance and could serve as a tune-up pre-hike or post trip opportunity.

Thomas

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks Thomas, but I've never been bothered by altitude like that. I find that good conditioning and being careful what you eat the first day is the ticket. A few
times I've had a bit of a headache when actually spending the first nite atop some high summit after hauling a heavy load up there (view camera and all). But this trip I plan to car camp on Sonora Pass after work, a fairly easy drive, and sleep up there the first nite, and then still have a spare day to day hike at altitude before doing Kearsarge. I'm more worried about the people on that horse trail freeway, but things should calm down once I pass the Muir trail intersection. I figure anyone around there will most likely be heading toward Rae Lks. I've done 12000 ft first day many times, and even 13,000. Now that I'm in my mid-60's the biggest problem I'm having (besides not be interested in twenty mile days anymore) is a lack of heat tolerance carrying those big packs. Maybe it's because I've lived here
on the cool coast for so long; but that's why it is much better for me to go in over Kearsarge than up from Cedar Grove - if I did something like that I'd wait until
late Oct.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Drew, I am sitting in it! The smoke here in Columbia is horrible. When the afternoon breeze picks up, things get a little better, but I imagine the plume will extend over the crest.

The fire is called 'Rim'. It very active in the Tuolumne River-Clavey River canyons. it is currently at over 16K acres with only 5% containment. I was on an engine strike team during the Stanislaus Complex in '87. That country is steep and a lot of it is basically inaccessible. I pray for the firefighters to stay safe out there.
At this time, you can only access Yosemite from the East Side, Hwy 140, or 41. No traffic is allowed on 120 west-bound out of Yosemite.

Also of note: Due to the Spring Peak fire, which started in Nevada and has crossed into CA, Bodie is threatened. The park is closed and structure protection engines and dozer lines are in place. So, I would imagine the smoke is probably bad in the Lee Vining-Mono Basin area, as well.

Lots more info on these fires at InciWeb.

--P

Preston, thanks for the update. Going to head up the Eastern Sierra Labor Day weekend. Bodie was on my list. Like Drew says, plan B,C,D ......etc!

[Preston]

Jim,

Unless the Spring Peak fire that had threatened Bodie takes a turn for the worst, you should be OK going out that way. Here's a brief quote from InciWeb dated today:

"The fire crossed the California state line and has now stabilized approximately three miles east of Bodie State Historical Park (CA State Parks). Public access to Bodie State Historical Park on CA State Route 270 (Bodie Road) and the Cottonwood Road running north from CA State Route 167 will REOPEN to all traffic on Thursday, August 22."

That fire is 68% contained, and has burned 14,230 acres.

"Rim" fire Update:

The fire has grown to over 53,000 acres, with only 2% containment. Highway 120 west of Yosemite remains closed and evacuations have been ordered for several camps and the community of Pine Mountain Lake near Groveland. There is an air quality alert for the entire county of Tuolumne. The smoke in our area here on the west side of the crest is horrible.

Be safe out there everyone!

--P

[tgtaylor]

Interesting and somewhat odd that the Yosemite webcam indicates that today is a good visability day.

Thomas

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Preston, I appreciate the update. Thanks for all of the wonderful info. I know who to talk to should I ever head into the backcountry again.

[tgtaylor]

Drew,
I don’t think that you will have to worry about horses too much. There is a packer station at the parking lot but so far I have never run into horses hiking into or out of that area. There are bear boxes in the parking lot which are usually full but once I had small incidentals that I decided not to bring that had “disappeared” when I returned. The park service really doesn’t want anyone traveling to Bullfrog lake and the trail markers on the other side of the pass can be confusing. It’s real easy to end up on the trail to Glenn Pass instead of Bullfrog Lake where you drop down to the junction.
Morning light on the Kearsarge Pinnacles makes for a spectacular photograph. Have a great trip!

Thomas

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks. I've always avoided the popular trails, with the exception of the part of the Muir Trail going thru the Evolution country and LeConte Can, where it is the only realistic option. The whole upper South Fork basin is now bear canister rules, so I just invested in one of the damn things - the good carbon fiber one, which will also be useful in the other part of the Sierra I have yet to visit - the Yosemite high country (though I have done quite a bit on the quiet southern and northern rim country to Yos park). Normally I just carry a kevlar critter bag. The rules this year state that only Muir thru-hikers can use the big metal boxes near the trail junctions. I won't leave anything but upopened canned food in the truck, for when I return. I know the parking lot bears can be aggressive. Won't leave any secondary camera gear in the truck either, maybe just a few extra loaded filmholders, though I've never personally had either a human or ursine breakin yet - just
a few mice. Once I get into backcountry I start to unwind, but it takes me about three days to get fully acclimated. I usually can steam uphill pretty good the first
day, but then it hits me the second, when I have to push myself. But large format just inherently tends to pace things pleasantly. Sooner or later I'll see something that makes me want to put the pack down. I really don't know when I'll reach a sea change, but know it's coming, and that my years backpacking with
view camera gear are limited. So I want to keep whittling on my checklist. I'd have to live to be 400 to see all the places in the Sierra on that list.

[John Kasaian]

The Rim Fire is brutal. Only 1% contained according to the tv this morning.
The last I heard the DC-10 tanker was in Idaho.

[Preston]

John,

According to our local news this morning, the Rim fire is now 105,000 ac.. Air quality is horrible, especially in the morning. I saw the DC 10 fly over at about 7:00 pm last night, headed west. It was making drops on the fire all day yesterday, so there must be more than one of these big beasts.

Just a note for anyone heading to Yosemite. According to the NPS, and looking at the webams, the air quality in Yosemite is actually quite good--no smoke. Looking at NWS satellite images, the plume from the Rim fire is basically trending to the N-NE.

--P

[Drew Wiley]

The local news had regular updates in Yos Valley and the air indeed looks clear there, but the road passes might be a different question. I can always camp on the
backside of Sonora, but driving much further after work wouldn't leave me enough sleep. Wait and see. Still two weeks away. I've lived thru two 250,000 acre fires,
and several nearly as big in the vicinity. One they get in the canyons it takes awhile. But Calif brush is engineered to burn, and nature never planned for the
suburbanization of those landscapes. Hope there will be no loss of life in this one.

[Preston]

Sunday 8/25: The Rim Fire has grown to 133,980 acres and is seven percent contained. The NPS is taking steps to protect the Tuolumne and Mariposa groves of giant sequoias. Some evac orders have been lifted for areas near Groveland while advisory evac is still in effect for the Hwy 108 corridor between Soulsbyville and Mi-Wuk Village. Hwy 108 is Open. Hwy 120 is closed to inbound and outbound traffic to Yosemite NP. Air quality remains very poor for most of Tuolumne county north and west of Yosemite Valley. Smoke is forecast to impact Sonora Pass, the crest to the north, Lake Tahoe and the Reno-Carson City area.

Be safe out there, everyone.

--P

[ross]

This is what it looked like at 7 pm tonight:
100866
100867

[Preston]

I have only one thing to say...

Holy crap!

Thanks for sharing these, Ross. They do put the size of this thing in perspective.

--P

[Drew Wiley]

Well ... guess I'll just have to hold my breath driving over Sonora. Hope the car air conditioner keeps most of the smell out. I'm not too excited about starting my
backpack with sneezing and nosebleeds, and don't want to either drive clear around the horn or over Hwy 4, but will if I have to. Guess I spent too much time with fire control myself in my youth... everybody pitched in back then, and control burns were routine too, before air quality laws kicked in (and wildfires aren't very good about following those regulations). When it's all over after the winter, those canyons will green up beautifully, followed by a decade of spectacular wildflowers. But living in the brush has its inherent hazards.

[tgtaylor]

From the latest news reports, the fire is not at the Rancheria Falls area.

Thomas

[Larry Gebhardt]

We just got back from a week in Yosemite. The air in the valley was just fine. On 120 we encountered some smoke early last week when the fire was smaller, so we stayed to the south after that (my daughter has asthma). I was shocked at the scale of the fire. Being from the east coast we just don't see things like this.

Here's a shot from the 21st on Glacier Point road.100894

[Preston]

Hey Larry,

I think this is from Big Oak Flat Road heading from The Valley toward Crane Flat overlooking Big Meadow and the Foresta Fire burn area. Either way, that's a pretty good sized header!

--P

[djhopscotch]

Hey Larry,

I think this is from Big Oak Flat Road heading from the The Valley toward Crane Flat overlooking Big Meadow and the Foresta Fire burn area. Either way, that's a pretty good sized header!

--P

Was visible from Bakersfield on Sat.

[Drew Wiley]

Well the plot (or smoke) is thickening. I notice the Rim Fire has pretty much taken over Kibbie Ridge and the whole Cherry Lk area - scratch those areas off my list
even next yr. Meanwhile a significant fire in the southern part of the Kern looks like it is smoking up almost all of Kern Can including the Muir Trail approach, with a
small secondary fire on the Chagoopa Plateau closing part of the High Sierra Trail. There is a small fire in Simpson Mdw causing some air issues on the Middle Fork.
So far no smoke reported on the South Fork of the Kings (keepin my fingers crossed). At the opposite extreme, all the "Fearsome Foursome" east side passes (Shepherd, Sawmill, Baxter, and Taboose) have sustained serious flashflood damage and are deemed impassible to stock, and not even recommended for foot travel either, for those of you super eager to tangle with seven thousand foot grades from desert oven heat clear up over timberline. The Mineral King area seems clear of issues, as does the San Joaquin drainage, but all that can change quickly as the current lighting storms pass thru.

[Preston]

And, just to add to the ongoing fire issues in the Sierra, this article was posted on our local news website (mymotherlode.com (http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/)) today, 8/27.

Yosemite, CA -- A Portion of Tioga Road in Yosemite National Park will be temporarily closed to support firefighting efforts in the Park. The section is from Crane Flat to White Wolf. Park Officials say starting tomorrow at noon that stretch will be closed to all traffic except fire response vehicles. Also, they (say) that closure will run through Labor Day Weekend.

"The work that will be performed over the next few days is instrumental in suppressing the Rim Fire within Yosemite. The safety of the firefighters working along the road is our paramount concern," stated park Superintendent Don Neubacher.

Park Officials say Tamarack Flat and Yosemite Creek Campgrounds, both located along the Tioga Road within the closure, will remain closed during the fire suppression efforts. White Wolf Campground and White Wolf Lodge will remain closed.

The Tioga Road will remain open east of White Wolf to the Tioga Pass Entrance. The Porcupine Flat Campground, the Tuolumne Meadows Campground, and all visitor services within Tuolumne Meadows will remain open.

Highway 41, from the southern portion of the park, and Highway 140, from the western portion of the park, will remain open. Both of these roads provide access to Yosemite Valley.

The park will issue an update as conditions allow for the reopening of the roads and facilities.

The rim fire is now 179,481 acres.

Be safe out there everyone.

--P

[Drew Wiley]

Today they've got dense smoke advisories in northern Mono Co too, spilling over the top as far south as Bridgeport. Wind conditions in upcoming days will affect
that one way or the other. Bad smoke is reported on all the road passes between Tioga and Donner, with Tioga itself closed to thru traffic from the west. The good news is that minor lightining fires in the southern part of the range are now out, and only the main Kern Canyon seem to have a serious smoke problem. That leaves all the side canyons and basins above Owens Valley realistically accessible. Guess I'll have to drive the first nite clear to a campsite up by Virginia Lks, if I want to camp high. Oh well, I can sleep in the next morning ... not intending to start the backpack the very next day anyway. But don't imagine the smoke driving up to Sonora Pass will get any better a week from now. Plan B? (hope it's not Donner).

[Larry Gebhardt]

Hey Larry,

I think this is from Big Oak Flat Road heading from The Valley toward Crane Flat overlooking Big Meadow and the Foresta Fire burn area. Either way, that's a pretty good sized header!

--P

I'm sure I took that shot on Glacier Point road. I took a few more shots on the 23rd when we were heading out of the park, but they didn't have the impressive pyrocumulus cloud.

[Drew Wiley]

Well now all the smoke has drifted over Carson Pass etc well into that corner of Nevada. Allegedly wind will clear some of it out by midweek, but it could just drift
back in once that weather pattern subsides. No getting around it unless I drive clear around the horn at Tehachapi. Don't want to start a long hike with my lungs
irritated. If I gotta take Donner I might as well just gun clear across the state to the Ruby Mtns, which are on my wanna-backpack&photograph list anyway.
Probably won't make up my mind until I see the final forecast the very day I plan to leave. But I was expecting bad fire conditions this year.

[tgtaylor]

Smoke from the Rim fire finally caught up with Yosemite Valley: http://www.nps.gov/common/commonspot/customcf/webcam/dsp_webcam_image.cfm?webCamURL=http://pixelcaster.com/yosemite/webcams/ahwahnee2.jpg&refreshRate=300&title=76939894ECBA807259&width=1024&height=759&altText=689B9185EC91893F7DDB2A868517B87A06BFAC779FA1DB&description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

Visibility in the Valley is less that 1/2 mile. Dense smoke is also impacting the Central Valley south and also to the west around Hollister and Gilroy.

Thomas

[Preston]

The Rim Fire is now 219,277 acres or 343 square miles and is still 35% contained. Containment efforts continue with line construction and firing operations. There are nearly 5000 personnel assigned to the fire.

A look at the NWS Satellite imagery shows the plume trending to the SE, but east of the Sierra crest south of Yosemite this afternoon. It appears that the plume is trapped in the thermal belt between the Central Valley floor and the crest.

Incident command is projecting containment on September 20, so it looks like we've got long and smoky times ahead. The interior of the fire will likely continue to burn until the rains come.

I wish I had better news for all of us Sierra junkies.

Be safe out there, everyone,

--P

[tgtaylor]

Good news:


YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Crews working to corral the massive wildfire searing the edge of Yosemite National Park made major gains on the blaze overnight.

The fire was 60 percent contained as of Monday morning, up from 45 percent Sunday night, according to California fire officials. The blaze also grew about 9 square miles and now covers more than 357 square miles.

Full containment is not expected until Sept. 20.


The particulate matter in the valley dropped down to the upper levels of unhealthy from yesterdays extreme levels on the graph and on this morning webcam you can actually see Half Dome. Smoke that was impacting the west yesterday has retreated back east.

Thomas

[Preston]

More good news from the evening briefing on Monday, 9/2...

The Rim Fire is 70% contained and has now burned 235,841 acres or 368 square miles. Some of the latest burned acreage is due to firing operations, but fire activity remained active in the south and east fire perimeters. An air quality alert is in effect for all of Tuolumne county through 9/4. Expected containment is still September 20th.

There was some smoke in the lower Foothills this morning, but it was much reduced from previous days. The smoke plume will affect areas of northern Mono county, Sonora Pass, Tahoe, and the Reno area according to a map (http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/pdfs/Rim%20Fire%20Smoke%20Impact%20Map%20projection%20for%209-2-13%20approx.%2011PM.pdf) released today.

According to the latest forecast from NWS, the winds will continue trending WSW and some rain, from monsoonal moisture moving north, may fall on the fire tonight.

The fire fighters having been doing an outstanding job in what are arguably some of the most challenging conditions of terrain and fire behavior seen in quite some time.

If you're headed to the Sierra, be safe,

--P

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks again, Preston. As usual, I'm a complete schizophrenic at this point, and probably won't make the final decision on my backpack destination until the day
before I leave. Flashflood warnings subside mid this week, so Nv Mtns should be scoured somewhat of trail dust etc. Harder to predict a weeks worth of Kings Can
weather, though it looks reasonably dry for the approaching weekend. I don't mind weather - it's good for photography, but my gosh, the last four backpacks I have
taken have had snow, sleet, or heavy rain every single day at altitude. ...wanted a little change of pace this time. Looks like some smoke any Hwy I take, but at
least it has subsided some. With that fire approaching 250,000 acres, its right up there in the top ten worst ones for the state. I think the very biggest was around
550,000.

[Bodyslam]

With that fire approaching 250,000 acres, its right up there in the top ten worst ones for the state. I think the very biggest was around
550,000.

Not that everything has to be a competition, but it's at number four right now, and closing in on number three. They started keeping these records in 1932. All four of these fires have happened since 2003. The latest count for the Rim Fire, as of this afternoon, is 235,841 acres.

1 CEDAR (Human) October 2003 SAN DIEGO 273,246

2 RUSH (Lightning) August 2012 LASSEN 271,911 CA / 43,666 NV

3 ZACA (Human) July 2007 SANTA BARBARA 240,207

4 RIM FIRE (Under investigation) August 2013 235,841

Number two would be number one if you include the acres that burned in Nevada. Then it would total 315,577.

[Drew Wiley]

Well ... guess it depends how the calculations are made per juridiction, Bodyslam ... cause I lived right next to two fires of over 200,000 acre range each that merged, so even though they were classified apart, by the time it was all over, a lot of ground was black. Both were arson, and it was like living under a volcano
weeks as the ash fell. The caught the guy starting a third fire, but it went 40,000 acres anyway. Since there were fatalities involved, that would be a capital
offence by today's law; but back then they just locked him up in the nuthouse for the rest of his life. Guess you heard about the guy they caught starting several
fires in the Sonoma Co woods just last week. The Santa Barbara fire ruined my Brother's livelihood, since he was dependent on selling about an estate a year in the old money Montecito neighborhood - so back to the hard life of trying to sell Linhof and Rollei cameras. That was a bigger fire than the 2007 one, so looks like your statistics are only for the 21st C. That the same neighborhood burned twice shows once again that nobody learned the lesson the first time. But I guess we
shouldn't crow with all our earthquake risk around here.

[Drew Wiley]

Looks like the smoke is finally clearing out from the passes ... just in time... I'm headed over tonite. Meanwhile they caught the guy who started it - a hunter with
an illegal campfire lower down, which quickly got out of hand. They won't release his name, probably for his own protection. ... but now it's sure going to be his turn to feel the heat.

[Preston]

This note regarding Hwy 120 in the Rim fire area was just posted on our local news site"

"Groveland, CA -- Caltrans confirms that Highway 120 will re-open between Groveland and Yosemite National Park.

A stretch has been closed since Monday, August 19, when the Rim Fire jumped over Highway 120. Caltrans spokesperson Angela Deprato says the highway will re-open at noon today. She points out that crews have been working 12-14 hour shifts to repair guard rail posts, signs, and remove damaged trees.

1,000 burned out guardrails have been replaced, and 1,800 trees have been removed. Deprato encourages motorists to still use caution when traveling to and from Yosemite, as several firefighters remain in the area.

Cherry Lake Road, Evergreen Road, Old Yosemite Road, Harden Flat and all other secondary roads and trailheads off of SR-120 will remain closed.

SR-120 (Tioga Road) will also remain closed from Crane Flat to White Wolf within Yosemite National Park. Park visitors can access the Tuolumne Meadows area from SR-395 via the parks east entrance at Tioga Pass. "

The Rim Fire is now the third largest fire in California's recorded history.

The fire is listed as 80% contained, and it is up to 246,350 acres.

--P

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks Preston. I have just enough time after work to get over the top of Sonora Pass and still get a decent night's sleep. But I would like to visit the burn area in
the Spring when things start greening up a bit. As horrible as fires are, they produce some incredible colors - scorched earth reds and browns, deep puprlish snags,
emerald greens on new growth. ... and wonderful for black and white photog too. Then the following years the wild flowers go absolutely insane. I could hardly believe some of the fireweed in the smaller lightning fire areaswhere tamarack groves went down last summer. In those lower canyons the poppies and Mariposa liles, then farewell-to-spring can become particularly abundant. But I don't think I'll want to use either Cherry Lk or Lk Elenor as a trailhead for quite awhile - might drop down from the top however (above Leavitt Lk). This trip, just over Kearsarge and some exploring of the South Fork. ... some nice clean thin air.

[John Kasaian]

Smoke obscured the moon over Fresno last night and we could smell the smoke. I'm wondering if it was from the rim Fire or if it drifted down from the Mt Diablo fire?

[Preston]

A quick look at the NWS satellite imagery shows that you may be seeing smoke from both fires, but more from the Rim fire. The winds have been out of the north and NNW most of the night.

--P

[tgtaylor]

There's a wildfire burning on Mt. Diablo here in the Bay Area as of 1pm Sunday afternoon. Big plume of smoke here in Pleasanton.

Thomas

[Preston]

Things are looking better on the Rim fire. The smoke is much reduced, but there is still active fire in some areas. If you plan to travel along Hwy 120, be careful, and keep an eye out for fire apparatus and personnel.

From our local news today:

"Yosemite National Park Officials reopened Highway 120 to all vehicles at Noon today."

"Motorists can drive to the Yosemite Valley from Highway 395 via Highway 120. However, Park Officials say due to fire activity in the area stopping along the roadway is strictly prohibited. They warn the public to use extreme caution as firefighting activities continue in the area and visibility may be reduced due to smoke."

--p

[Drew Wiley]

Just came back across. The mid-week storms cleared up all the smoke that had filtered into Mono Basin etc. Very nice now. I avoided Tioga Pass. But there is still
a bad traffic knot (about an hour delay) on 395 just north of LeeVining due to repaving the Conway grade, which should be completed in a week or so, right on time
for those who like to visit this area for the aspen color. I'll try to post on that a bit later today.