Still Smokey

[reddesert]

FWIW I was camping and hiking in Yosemite from Oct 26-31. At the beginning on Oct 26 it was noticeably hazy in the Valley and at night there were many visible particles in a flashlight beam, as if downwind from a campfire. Hiking out to higher elevation, it seemed like the haze was strongest at lower elevations. Not sure there was an actual inversion layer trapping it, but there was no smoke in a flashlight beam in Little Yosemite Valley (6100 feet ASL) or up at 9000 feet. Blue sky for several days while hiking, but in longer distance views such as from famous viewpoints, it was still clearly hazier than usual.

[Drew Wiley]

Its very clear on the coast now, but the bit of haze that drifts in is still from the seemingly endless Creek Fire above my hometown, where it's still working its way around cliffs and meadows at both high altitude and down in the canyon. Only heavy rain or snow will put it out completely. Yosemite Valley itself is not very high at all at the Valley floor. Smoke and smog settles in there from all over the place, including a couple of slowly smoldering burns they still have in the Park itself.
I'm waiting for the first good rain before I run up there. The mandated reservation system was lifted Nov 1st, so you can just drive in now. My nephew and his wife just last week hiked to the summit of Mt Dana above Tioga Pass and sent me snapshots. Some haze in every direction.

[John Kasaian]

We're eagerly awaiting rain this week end, and the snow level is predicted to be at 4,000'.
The big issue right now is getting the toxic mess from all the burned cabins in the Creek Fire abated before it contaminates the watershed.

[Drew Wiley]

Much of the watershed was ruined long before simply by resort development peripheral to Shaver without proper effluent control. Suds were going down into the creeks where once there had been huge native rainbow trout and wonderfully clear swimming holes beneath a series of tall waterfalls, if one wanted to risk getting to those. I could hypothetically do a whole exhibition of large format prints from that area, probably knew its secrets better than anyone else alive. There were also incredible very ancient archaeological sites, which I won't give details on, as well as lot of old logging artifacts, some of which our family has preserved.
The burnt pines will look like a mess for awhile, but there are lots of intervening patches of bare rock and streambed which have always had wonderful Springtime wildflowers, and now will no doubt have even greater displays of the kind of flowers which typically follow fires. I feel sorry for the mountain lions; huge ones used to use the bowl-shaped terrain to get the advantage from above over deer taking paths down toward streams and meadow forage. Now they'll have less cover. I don't have any plans to visit until there's a bit of new start of vegetation, a Spring or two away.
The cold wind is just now starting to arrive here. No problem. I figured I'd have to make due with MF gear this weekend anyway due to wind. If it turns too cold, I'll just switch on the drymount press and do those kinds of chores - no need for a separate heater! Actual rain is unlikely.

[John Kasaian]

Much of the watershed was ruined long before simply by resort development peripheral to Shaver without proper effluent control. Suds were going down into the creeks where once there had been huge native rainbow trout and wonderfully clear swimming holes beneath a series of tall waterfalls, if one wanted to risk getting to those. I could hypothetically do a whole exhibition of large format prints from that area, probably knew its secrets better than anyone else alive. There were also incredible very ancient archaeological sites, which I won't give details on, as well as lot of old logging artifacts, some of which our family has preserved.
The burnt pines will look like a mess for awhile, but there are lots of intervening patches of bare rock and streambed which have always had wonderful Springtime wildflowers, and now will no doubt have even greater displays of the kind of flowers which typically follow fires. I feel sorry for the mountain lions; huge ones used to use the bowl-shaped terrain to get the advantage from above over deer taking paths down toward streams and meadow forage. Now they'll have less cover. I don't have any plans to visit until there's a bit of new start of vegetation, a Spring or two away.
The cold wind is just now starting to arrive here. No problem. I figured I'd have to make due with MF gear this weekend anyway due to wind. If it turns too cold, I'll just switch on the drymount press and do those kinds of chores - no need for a separate heater! Actual rain is unlikely.

Wind blowing over burnt trees up there is going to be another hazard with the wind we're having now

[Drew Wiley]

Not many tall trees were left prior to the latest fire. Most of it was all logged in the 1880's, then again in the 1950's- 60's. There were a number of lovely old golden oaks around 3500 to 4500 ft elevation range which might have be killed, but they don't uproot as easily. A lot of beetle dead sugar pine on the Courtright Road, but that's the one route the utility companies did a got job with brush control, in their own interest. The massive red fir and lodgepole district which heavily burned is between Kaiser Ridge and Lake Edison; but nobody lives there. Hopefully snow will stop any ongoing burning along the north perimeter of Edison Lk itself. Across the River in Madera County is a different story. But the cabins in Beasore Mdw dodged the bullet. Hard to say how bad the damage really is up around Granite Creek; but not much beyond the trailhead toward the Clark Range seems to have been affected. Up toward the lovely Granite Creek Niche and past Cora Lks and down into the Canyon is is another story; but there are quite a few meadows in there, so maybe the damage was hop-scotch. The west side of Madera Pk below timberline looks like it got hit pretty hard. I should ask my other nephew if he has seen that side of the SW Clark Range directly, but he had enough worries of his own due to a closer fire above Mariposa.

[John Kasaian]

I had to have a graft in my jaw.
The periodontist wanted to use cadaver material.
I told him I didn't want no dead guy in my mouth, so he agreed to use bovine material instead.
Last week end we took a little drive to the mountains to check out the fire damage.
On the way up we passed a pasture full of heifers.
It was just like being at a family reunion!

[Tin Can]

A very good sense of humour!

[Jim Noel]

I had cadaver material replacing a thumb joint until it died again after 10 years. It was recently replaced with tendon material from my body. At 91 i'm not predicting long life for this replacement either.
Let's all have a good day and enjoy all those we have left.

[Drew Wiley]

John - I finally got a full update from the family who bought my house. It was slightly below the fire. But when they were all helicopter rescued out of Edison Lake and then couldn't even return home, they all caught covid (the first cases of people I personally know at this point), plus smoke inhalation hospitalization, and are just now starting to feel normal again. But since their business is going to be directly involved in the reconstruction phase uphill, and now snow itself is going to dramatically impede that process even if the side roads get cleared, they have quite a challenge ahead in terms of work load. Good for business, bad for stress, just trying to put all their ducks in a row again.