Gary-Summer: August 7-8, 2017

Monday, August 7, 2017

August 7-8, 2017 - Delilah Lookout

Title: August 7-8, 2017 - Delilah Lookout
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Background : Extra Photo's : Animals

Type: Lookout

Trail: Delilah

Description:

August 7, 2017

Do not let it be said that being a lookout is boring! We started a bit late from Fresno so we knew that we had to rush to go in-service with Sierra and Sequoia National Forests in time, that is 9:30. But usually that part is routine. When we make the turn off of Highway 180, we see shortly a crew of CCC workers clearing off dead trees from the side of the road. This is a good thing as with the pine bark beetle having done a number the last five years, it is good getting these potential dangers down.

Early clouds above the crest

A short time later, some bovines stare at us from the road side. But they are not bothersome. After passing the High Sierra Camp, there is a cat which takes off running down the road in front of us. We only get a quick look before it heads off down the hill. Sherri thinks it might be a mountain lion; I speculate on a bobcat.

When we pull in to Delilah, I go and get the keys while Sherri unpacks. When I come back I see that Sherri has company-a friendly doe has snuuck up behind her. I call attention to her-she seems friendly. We find out after reading a diary in the tower that this deer is called the Delilah Doe.

I charge up, well actually sort of make it to the top of the 80 steps of Delilah Lookout. Turn on the radios and read the board. Taking the weather will have to wait until after we go in-service. I notice on the board that there are channel restrictions* to the radio, so I call Mich at Buck Rock to see if these are still in effect-none.

So I go in service with Sequoia NF, or at least I think I do. I hear myself over at Sierra’s channel**. I explain I want to go into service with them as well. How did this happen? Probably the base radio was left with Sierra, usually it is with Sequoia. I change the priority and set it to Sequoia Command 3 and key the mic and I still hear it on Sierra. How is that? I am now concerned, not sure how I can talk on this. So I use the handheld to go into service with Sequoia. Next up, another call to Mich. She thinks I am set up right. So we leave it at that. I guess she will become my best friend while we are up here.

Later that morning we hear Shuteye Lookout call in a fire close to Junction Butte in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Way outside of our line of vision-about 45-50 miles away, behind a couple tall ridges. But as the day progresses, we hear more and more activity. It does not seem large, but they are saying it has room for growth. It was interesting how they go about some of the simplest things. Such as the helicopter requesting to land, because it is a wilderness area. Mechanized items need to go through a process within a Wilderness area. Later on, there is a request to “dip” into a lake. They needed to talk with their aquatics to see if it is OK-it was. Also permission was granted to use chain saws as well.

The rest of the day was pretty routine. Look around about every 20 minutes for smoke-only the general smokiness in the skies now. Also we make sure we are getting the important radio messages.

Turkey Vulture

In addition to the other wildlife, we see a turkey vulture roosting on a tree to the west of us. Later on there is the screech of a hawk. Sherri picks them out of the sky-I do not see them. She also sees a hang glider over Dude Ridge.

At 6pm, we go out of service. Sierra is easy, they take roll call. But Sequoia does not respond for a couple of times, raising the fear that the radio is not really reaching them. But eventually I get a response.

For my part, I am tired, so quitting time does not come soon enough. Sherri fixes a dinner of chicken and pasta. Not bad and it does me OK. Usually after dinner we will go down and walk a ways just to stretch our legs. Tonight, I am content with just sitting around talking. Night eventually comes and we are treated to a colorful, smoky sunset sky. One of those reasons why we keep coming back to the lookout. This is followed by a full moon. Only wish I was awake enough to enjoy it. But I fall asleep by 9:30.

Windcock against setting sun

Firefinder and evening sky

August 8, 2017

That was a good night sleep. Only got up once to go pee-in a bucket. I definitely did not want to walk down and then back up to go to the outhouse.

The thing about a lookout is you want to have a good clear view all the way around you, 360 degrees. So all the walls are windows. But this also means that all the light outside comes in. The full moon last night illuminated the lookout interior. It also means that morning light gently breaks over you around 5:30am, which is the time I woke up. By 6:00am I was up and about. It is a beautiful morning.

Pine Ridge morning shawdows

I have been thinking about our radio problems and decide that I would clear off all of the scanned channels and the priority channel and then reset them up on the base radio. That I do. I then click the mic and still hear it over on the Sierra side. Something is wrong with the base radio, so my plan of attack is to use the handheld for both sets of communication, leave copious notes and notify Mich and Wendy about the situation. That I do. When I talk with Mich, she says she is only hearing my clicking on the Sequoia NF side, not the Sierra. Why? She has one more suggestion-check the handheld for scan’s. Sure enough, that has been set to scan Sequoia channels-the source of my clicks, but not my original issue. Thank you Mich.

Oat Mountain

At 9:30, we go into service with both forests and begin our calm day. I find more web pages which we can use to help out hearing the status of the forest. Each morning we get the morning staffing as well as weather. All of this information is written down in the lookout logs. This a communication tool for the next people who staff the lookout after us.

There is much more buzz throughout the day about the Butte Fire we heard about yesterday. In the afternoon, we hear an order for a Type One Helicopter. These are the largest helicopters the forest has available to them. They are able to lift 700-2,300 gallons of water. The Butte Fire must be really going. It is now on InciWeb as well.

More clouds

By now it is getting a bit late. Sherri cooks another meal of chicken and pasta while I do another final scan-still no smokes. Delilah has one more radio trick for us. When Sierra calls our name to go out of service, our handheld is a low battery, so it will not transmit. Mich calls over to let us know and we issue a phone call to go out of service, after changing out the battery.

Fallen Branch

It is now a 90 minute drive home. Still like a bad horror movie, Delilah will not let us go. Delilah does not get many visitors and we find out why. A pretty good size oak branch has fallen across the road just inside of forest service area. We are able to move it and be on our way. We are glad to be back home, but wanting to go back up to Delilah again in September.

Trail Lesson: Sometimes we jump to the unnatural conclusions being blinded to the more obvious answers.

Background

*Channel Restrictions-Within the radios the frequencies we use get put into channels. Each channel is assigned a purpose. With Sequoia NF there are channels used for administrative or command channels. When there is a critical need, such as a fire which needs coordinating for its efforts, a channel will be used only for that purpose. Hence a channel restriction.

**Sierra and Sequoia. Delilah sits at the edge of both Sierra and Sequoia National Forests, as well as Kings Canyon National Park. Each has its own command centers, not only for fire but for law enforcement and other administrative purposes. Each uses different frequencies to communicate with its personnel. So when we need to communicate with each entity, we use different channels. At Delilah we have a base radio which we talk to Sequoia with; a handheld radio to talk with Sierra.

Extra Photo's