Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
There's suddenly a lot of blue sky this morning, and 2/3 of Pt Reyes has opened back up to the public. Hmm... I feel like some little proto-mammal sticking its fuzzy little nose out of the burrow for the first time since the Cretaceous meteor extinction event happened.
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
Many are customizing Sprinter Vans and are working and taking up space in the American West.
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
We are experiencing the smoke from the western fires here in southern Pa. Hazy skies feint smoke smell, orange sunrises and sunsets we normally don't see in the Laurel Highlands.
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
The couple that bought my property were camping at the end of the road higher up (Lk Edison). It took 4 days for a chopper to get in there and get about 40 people out. The wife has just now been released from the hospital after being treated for severe smoke inhalation. But nobody is allowed back uphill to home yet. The mid elevations in between, the pine belt or what biologists term the Transition Zone, now looks like a nuke war had been there.
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
I had a 4x5 camera delayed by the fires. It was supposed to have already been delivered.
I kept looking at the shipping and for the last four days, the message attached to the FedEx shipment has been the same: "In transit TROUTDALE, OR 97060"
I called FedEx and got some robot thing, but I noticed a link to problems due to the hurricane and due to fires.
Troutdate, OR is one of the places they won't ship to and they just had big fires there.
I hope the driver is OK (and everyone else in Troutdale).
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
I have family in Portland. And the pioneer town which my mother's clan founded has been evacuated. Hope rain arrives there soon. I guess I'm lucky to be so close to the FedEx terminal here. I recently received a camera from Tokyo in less than one day. Trout apparently swim slower. Didn't the old Troutdale riverside Inn get hit by that infamous Gorge fire due to kids tossing firecrackers? I haven't been through there since that fire.
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
Most of the evac notices have been cancelled for Southern Humboldt (West Zone August Fire) as the fire has not crossed the Eel River. But the North Zone of the fire is still causing evacuations up in Trinity County. Two other fires north and east of here are not doing well, but not spreading quickly at this point with remaining communities and homes being protected. Hwy 199 is still closed.
From this morning's report: Smoke has been preventing the use of aircraft, however yesterday air operations were able to occur on the west side of the fire.
In the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness along Wrights Ridge, the August Complex North and South Zones continue to merge, therefore it is not safe to put firefighters in the area.
One of the main trails crossing the wilderness I worked in is along Wright's Ridge. Some pretty gnarly trees growing around chert outcroppings along the ridge. They are isolated enough to perhaps still be there. The ridge leads to Windy Mountain and the headwater spring of the Middle Fork Eel River.
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
Yosemite NP is closed up due to air quality. The air index in Yosemite right now is 685.
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
I just got back from Pt Reyes. Most of the road closures are due to paving work. A couple trails have collapse hazards along cliffs. Their website explains all that. The fire is still smoldering a tiny bit, but unlike the huge fires in the Sierras and Northwest, the Pt Reyes Woodward Fire transpired in healthy forest and behaved more like a predictable cyclical fire. From the Hwy 1 side, it looks like at least 90% of the large firs survived, and the ones that burned were probably due for it anyway. Deciduous trees took it a little harder, but much of that was inevitable too, and probably "sudden oak death" fungal related. The backside of the hill was not visible, and no doubt suffered more due to highly flammable sappy bishop pine. But all that should regenerate fine. No houses or park facilities around the perimeter were lost. Air quality not ideal, but much better than it's been for the past month. That is due to change by the weekend, and potentially back to miserable smoke, but a bit of rain might be on the way for the Sierra.
Meanwhile, the entire south half of the range including Yosemite and everything south of there, has either been closed to entry or downright evacuated. They are understandably paranoid about either another lightning event or early arrival of strong autumn winds.
Re: Smoke smoke everywhere
That is what makes me hopeful for some of the Yolla Bollys. There have already been a couple crowning fires through there in the 30 years since I worked there, but also some non-canopy fires doing some good work. The huge patches of whitethorn that regrow over the trail on the burnt out sections is a drag.