Sierra-Lion Fire

[Preston]

Hi All,

If any of you are planning to visit the southern Sierra on the East Side, be aware that the Lion Fire in Sequoia Nat'l Forest and southern Sequoia Nat'l Park is pumping a lot of smoke into the southern part of the range. There is particular concern about this impact in the Lone Pine area.

For more on the Lion Fire, go Here (http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2400/)

Be safe in your travels,

--P

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks Preston. It's still a month and a half till I head into Sequoia, so hopefully this
will be contained and the air clear up. Strange to have such a big fire in such a damp
year, but there have been terrible die-offs of tamarack groves due to beetle damage
from the abnormally warm winters in previous years, and these get touched off easily
by lightning and can smolder a suprisingly long time afterwards. A lot of jeffrey pints up on the ridges have also been weakened and are susceptible.

[Drew Wiley]

I just checked the satellite and lookout pictures. The smoke plume is extending up the
west side of the range almost to Yosemite. The whole Kern basin is affected and most
of Sequoia. Quite a few trails are closed. This might spoil a lot of summer plans for a lot of backpackers. Short enough season already. Two years ago I went into Sequoia
in smoke but eventually got above it. Guess I'll do any tune-up hikes up around Sonora
Pass, then see what transpires later in the season.

[Nathan Potter]

Ah well; time to consider the Himalya, maybe one of the Annapurna backpack routes.
Drew, never had one of those jeffrey pints but sure would taste good about now!

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[JR Steel]

Hi all, I work in Kernville and the smoke has been bad. This is not going to die out anytime soon, they are letting this fire burn. Only 130 firefighter on a 20,000+ acre fire with 15 percent containment. We had planned a pack trip in the Golden Trout Wilderness at the end of August but that may be out now.

[Brian Ellis]

Could someone tell me what effect if any this has had or is likely to have on Alabama Hills outside Lone Pine? I went to the web site Preston provided but didn't see any mention of Lone Pine or Alabama Hills (other than Lone Pine being the location of a meeting). I was planning another trip to Alabama Hills in the next month or so.

[JR Steel]

Brian, There is a lot of smoke in Lonepine right now, worst in the mornings. In a month your guess is as good as mine. We just had a thunder storm roll through here with some rain. If the lightning didn't start anymore new fires up there, the rain might have helped.