Me too!Originally Posted by Roger Thoms
Me too!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
My tiny local newspaper had extensive coverage online yesterday
It is sad and dangerous
Good luck to all
Tin Can
I've been in contact with people in charge of rescues and so forth, and the windward push of smoke this direction, toward the coast, has substantially improved conditions east up higher along the Muir Trail and so forth, where there are still apparently a considerable number of hikers they really wish weren't there, since search and rescue resources are already severely overtaxed, and dramatic new fires have suddenly broken out further north. The current focus is on people potentially stranded on roads or cabins or trails lower down in the woods, where the risk is extreme.
But based upon whatever details could be put together, it's probable that my friends have just in the past day or so crossed over the top from the Kings into the San Joaquin drainage, and thank goodness, their itinerary shows them in about a day planning to egress the off-trail portion and default onto the standard Muir Trail the rest of the trip north, where they'll encounter other people along the way, and also soon be able to exit at Reds Meadow in Devil's Postpile if necessary.
I warned them about the northern portion of the "High Route" based on their fast schedule and skill level, and thank goodness, it appears they took my advice after all. That would have involved them dipping way down into a deep canyon, zig-zagging between cliffs, where the inevitable bad smoke would make route finding especially precarious. The official Muir Trail totally detours all of that.
La Nina is here:
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/...s-15556516.php
Thomas
I will certainly appreciate the extra moisture it potentially can bring here up here...not good for the rest of CA -- and while the models used to predict such things are getting better all the time, things seem to be getting weirder all the time climate-wise. But climate is what you have and weather is what you get.
Yesterday has heavy on the smoke and medium on the fog. Today it is heavier on the fog, a little lighter on the smoke. Ten in the morning, 53F.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
The golden amber light light today is photographically exquisite. But I'm not going to take advantage of it or even take a brief country road drive because the air quality is miserable. I sneeze within a minute of going outdoors. Flakes of ash falling constantly.
The sun at ~ 3:30 this afternoon:
Thomas
I did finally make it out. The light was warm but fully 3 stops dimmer than ordinary, and the air temp about 30 degrees lower than typical this time of year, but not as dark or red as yesterday or as Thomas' shot above. I was trying out my new nearly-new Texas Leica which arrived the very next morning after I ordered it from Tokyo. I guess it helps to be within half an hour of the FexEx airport terminal.
I think if you want to take multi-day hikes out west, you need a satellite phone,
That is correct, but not infallible. They're still battery dependent; and they're expensive. Yet another option is an emergency satellite rescue beacon, but the problem with them, now that they're getting popular, is that too many inexperienced people use them unwisely when they're merely too tired, or have a stomach ache due to being not acclimated yet, etc, diverting limited rescue resources from dire needs truly needing them. And in the case of these major fires, the entire system is overwhelmed, regardless.
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