September 5, 2026 - Delilah

 

 Title: September 5, 2026 - Delilah

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals 

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

Description:

Friday, September 4, 2026

I came in at the end of Delilah’s Friday shift because it is a three day weekend and the traffic is usually terrible. Sherri made me chicken cordon bleu for a lunch/dinner. I ran a few errands before leaving at 1515. While there was pretty good traffic until Centerville, it flowed along smoothly. I made better time than I thought I was going to.

Once I turned off of 180, I met no one. I stopped at a couple of places to look over things, such as the Armenian/Hye Camp and the area which Davis Road runs through.

Outhouse View

I made it to Delilah by 1715 where I was met by Richard-not that person whom I was expecting. Richard is one of the two leads for Delilah. He said that there was something which happened last night where he needed to come up. It was good that I came up early and it was good to talk with him face to face. I closed out the evening at Delilah and went out of service in quarters.

I felt tired, so I laid down for a while. Then I had a sandwich. Finally, I finished bringing up my stuff. Either I am getting weaker or packing more stuff. The stuff at the end of the pulley felt really heavy. When I was going up and down the stairs, I realized I did not bring my knee brace. It did not hurt too bad. There was a hunter who drove by. He indicated he was bow hunting and looking for deer.

After I got things sorted out, I decided to go back down and see if I could take some evening shots of the tower and stars. I was somewhat successful on the tower, not so much on the stars.

When I went back up, I let Sherri know that I was available for a call. Then I crawled into my bag and read and waited for her call. About 2100 she called. We talked for 45 minutes, then I read a bit more until shortly before 23000.

Delilah from the road

Saturday, September 5, 2026

It felt like a short night of sleep last night. When the moon rose, I woke up for a while, but not because of the brightness, but just to gaze on it. Like the sun which causes the moon to fade from view, the moon causes stars to grow dim to our eyes. Isn’t this like how heaven will be? We think we see clearly now, but we do not. When heaven comes, we will see that our current times are just a ghost of reality. What is more, even heaven will fade before the glory of God. If our hymns could only capture a bit of this!

Having rambled on with my thoughts-no apologies, just realizing this is what was going through my mind. I did look for lightning on EGP, but there was none. I had my breakfast and then went down to the ground. On the way down, I realized that things did not feel quite right with the body. Not feeling sick or bad or achy like the flu. More breathing harder than I should going down.

After taking care of the things which were on the pulley, I decided to go for a walk. Maybe that would help out whatever is happening. As it turned out, I probably walked too far and up too much. If anything I was breathing harder and not feeling better. Also the heart was beating pretty good on the uphill. At least a good part of this walk back is downhill. That helped with the breathing and heart. But there is a climb back up to the base of the lookout. Which I take easy, but I still feel winded, fortunately not lightheaded or feeling like I will faint. But I am careful not to push it. That was only about a two mile, 50 minute walk.

I still have the climb back into the tower, which I make, stopping at each landing. These stops would have been a good picture break, but I have done that so many times, not sure what would be different. When I get back into the cab, I laid down to get my body back into a comparatively normal state.

I did the normal going into service stuff-flag raising, weather taking and scanning. Then went into service at 0930. I was the last one in. Then it was pretty much a normal, quiet Delilah morning.That is until three visitors showed up. What made them unusual is they appeared on bikes, mountain bikes. They came up and I showed them around. The usual visitor, not that I would know this year, will come up, look around, ask a question or two, ask if I stay up here at night and leave. Maybe 10-15 minutes, just enough to catch a breath and go back.

These three stayed for 30-40 minutes. The three had come from Millwood and were a bit out of breath from the hills. They asked about various places and roads in the area and did not seem to be too concerned about leaving anytime soon. They stayed for over half an hour and were very content with the visit as they got to see areas around them which they normally do not see. One person was from Squaw Valley, the other two from Clovis.

And then it is back to the normal day. At 1100, I responded to the Sierra Lookout Checkin. Then it is doing the scans. I am still tired from this morning and still not feeling right. I lay down for 15 minutes until the next scan. This continues through the morning until lunch time.

At 1230 I fixed my lunch-peanut butter and Nutella sandwich along with some chips. But then I faintly hear a call on R5 Project, our off command channel calling out Delilah. Turns out it is 335 trying to reach a couple of her staff. They are down in the Kings. I try to reach out to either of them. The Kings is far enough down where we cannot directly reach them. I also try on Channel 2, which is a command channel using repeaters.I do reach them and say what the message is, but I cannot hear their replay. Porterville does get a response from them. Not sure how well I relayed the message, but the jest of what is being transmitted. I do not do many relays. I knew the mechanics, but not sure how well I would execute in reality. I gave myself a middling grade.

 During all of this, I knocked over my carton of milk. I ended up having to remove the glass on the desk and cleaning up under it, along with some papers there. Sigh, not the way I wanted to down my milk nor to conduct a relay.

I do the weather and fall into the familiar patter of scanning. About 1400, I heard the sound of a propeller. I realized it was coming out of the south, but could not see it. I am also seeing that there are hang gliders off Sontag Point. If there is something flying out there and it is low, how to warn them about the gliders. By the time I recognize it, it is flying over where Davis and Delilah Road meet. It is a helicopter and I can see the id of N551HQ on it. As it flys by I wave and they acknowledge. That makes my day much more than spilling milk. I follow them on FlightAware as they go out over Pine Flat Reservoir and head northwest.

Because the helicopter's path should have flown right in front of Park Ridge Lookout, I called over to him. He did not either see or hear it. I am a bit surprised, but I know that depending on the wind and direction and if he was busy with something else, he may not notice it. We talked for a while. He mentioned that a similar helicopter had gone by earlier that day going south. There was a SAR effort around Moro Rock which this may have been part of. This may be because I noticed on FlightAware history, it had lifted off from Ash Mountain.

I go back to my scanning. There is not much exciting. Well maybe just a little. As I am doing one of the scans, I looked over at Pine Flat Reservoir. There I see another helicopter. When I look at FlightAware, I see that it is a CHP helicopter. It flies off towards Sanger. Wonder what they are doing out there? A rescue? Looking for a pot farm? Something else illegal? I guess I will never know.

Around 1800, I prepare my dinner. This is Birdseye Alfredo Chicken Skillet Meal and a couple pieces of bread. Pretty easy, just heat it up and service. I will confess, not my favorite. But it is a good dinner meal.

As the shadows start to deepen, I continue my scans until 1930, which is the end of the shift. There was a nice sunset with a layer of clouds. Looked almost fiery at times. After I went out of service, I went down and got a few things, then locked myself in.

Around 2030, Sherri and I talk for a while, at least until 2130. I then look at my phone for a bit more before going to sleep.

Extra Photo's

 

Sunset through the trees

Sunset and Pine Flat Reservoir

Valley Lights at Sunset

 Animals

Hummers

Whose Track? I think a bobcat

August 19, 2024 - Delilah Lookout

 

Title: August 19, 2024 - Delilah Lookout
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

 

Description:

My welcoming committee and escort

Got up at 0520 and saw that there was no lightning in the area-which met expectations. But already there has been a bit of excitement on this trip, even before I left the house. Last night, the Ford Ranger did not start. Sherri is making arrangements to get the truck in. So I took the Highlander up to Delilah. I was already packed with only a few things left at the end. Lately, those are the things which have been my downfall. But today, I think I have everything. Addendum: Well, maybe not everything. Evidently when I was copying my needed files to the thumb drive, a whole directory was missing. Also forgot my almond milk. I guess tomorrow’s granola will be dry.

After breakfast, I am off by 0645, about 15 minutes sooner than normal. The trip up is uneventful and I arrive at 0830. Because Sherri is not with me, I only need to bring up enough stuff for one person. That means two trips up the stairs with my food, water and backpack. I will be going down again after my shift to bring up my sleeping back and some more water. Tomorrow, I start taking stuff down.

Smoke pattern from Coffee Pot

Rich, the Delilah lead lookout, texted me to say that there is a new clipboard to record some of the gauges we have up here: power, propane, water levels,… Also he mentions that a bear and its tracks have been spotted on Delilah Springs Road. A mountain lion as well. My response is, oh goody! I have never seen a mountain lion in person-I have been close enough as I have seen their tracks. Also, Sierra bears away from campgrounds are a thing of beauty. There is hope, but also doubt as we have heard this report before.

Visibility is not as bad as I feared and not as good as I hoped. The Coffee Pot Fire to the south in SEKI is puffing out a lot of smoke and it is circling around and coming up the Kings and every low place in my area. I can see the dinginess of the air because there is an inversion layer above me, maybe around 6500-7000’. At least the air is breathable.

At 0931 I go in service with both Sierra and Porterville. A few texts come my way concerning family stuff and the Ranger. It will be towed into the shop. Also Sherri is taking care of calling LG about our refrig. <sarkiness on> Ah, the pleasures of family life that I am missing being up here, suffering as the lonely fire lookout. </sarkiness off>

Inversion layer visible to the west

And then I fall into the routine of lookout like. Scanning every 15-20 minutes, listening to the radio. At 1000 the area weather and the Forest staffing comes on, and then it is back to the routine.

Coffee Pot Smoke

But wait! Around 1040, I get visitors from Fresno: George and Jennifer! They are interested in both fire lookouts as well as the view from here. They are even considering being volunteers themselves. They stick around for half an hour before leaving, apparently satisfied with their stay.

With the wind starting to blow, some of the smoke has blown away, leaving a lot better visibility. Such as I can see Mt Nelson now rather than barely seeing over Patterson Bluffs. This is to the north. To the west and east, there is still sufficient haze that I could barely see 10 miles. Wind has blown away the drifting smoke leaving an enormous smoke cloud originating where the Coffee Pot fire is from. This is 32 miles away and it is very evident where the smoke is coming from.

Not much else exciting for today. Of course the moment I say that, I spot a hang glider over Sontag Point. The glider seems to be just enjoying the loft he is getting from the evening winds. I watch him for a few minutes before continuing on my scan.

Smoke over Park Ridge

Now 1800 approaches and I go out of service with both Sierra and Porterville. My dinner is a quesadilla type meal. I do a few odd jobs to get things cleaned up. Also write up my notes for the day. Then it is off downstairs to get my sleeping bag and a few bottles of water. Now to wait around for the supermoon to arrive. While I am waiting, I go for a short walk.

The moon is to come up at 2004, but because of Park Ridge, I need to wait until 2017. Because of the CoffeePot smoke, the moon comes up an awesome blood red. It is a Wow moment. Once it rises above the smoke layer, it is the normal pale moon we are accustomed to see.

 

 

 When I get back in the tower, Sherri and I talk for an hour, about 2200. I ended up nodding off about 2240.

 
Extra Photo's

Delilah at Dusk

Coffee Pot Smoke

East looking towards Park Ridge, Verplank and Hoist in the evening

Setting sun through the trees

Evening Looks

Why is the Blue Moon Red?

Animals




 

Humming bird and feeder

July 24, 2024 - Park Ridge Lookout

Title:  July 24, 2024 - Park Ridge Lookout
Hike Info : Description : Animals 

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

I got up a little after 0600 and got ready to go to Park Ridge Lookout. I already did the lightning report last night and today might be exciting in our area with all of the strikes. I get off a little before 0700. As I passed by Centerville, I realized that I forgot the string cheese-only a minor inconvenience. At Yokut/Squaw Valley, there is construction going on-a known quantity-and so I am delayed another 15 minutes. I zoomed through the Park’s entrance station-after all I am sort of like a Park person, not quite, but close enough. Then up the Panoramic Point Road to the Park Ridge Service Road. Then another 20 minutes and I am at the lookout. Not a lot to unload after all I am here for only a day. There is even less than anticipated-I forgot my lunch and snack food. In my day pack there are a couple energy bars and some Life Savers to keep me from dying from hunger, as if my body fat would let me down.

The cab is hot, but starts cooling down once I open the windows and the door. I suppose that is the reason why we do not live in glass houses with a tin roof. I take the weather and go in-service by 0930. I talked with Buck Rock about yesterday and also about the status of radios-we still are under channel restrictions. Then it is the start of a normal day. Still no weather or staffing at 1000. I go about my lookout business, scanning the area and listening to the radio and making sure I remember where things are in the 1,000 square miles of area which I scan.

A couple from Seattle admires the view from the lookout. We talk for a while about prescribed burns and life as a lookout. They are now going to try to find a lookout to rent as a vacation spot for them.

While scans can be routine and a bit mind numbing, if you let yourself be open to what you are seeing, there can be times of wonder and amazement. On one of my scans, I see this magnificent bird approaching. Probably a hawk, probably a red-tail since they are in the area, but the markings looked like a Cooper, not that I am an expert or anything, and it came right towards me proudly showing its breast feathers. This is one of those times in which it is better to stand in awe than try to get a picture.

Around 1045 Patrol 33 calls me. She is wondering about the lightning report and what was reported around Buck Rock. Yesterday when she was in Kings Canyon, she was looking up the south walls and thought she saw some smoke. But nobody else seemed to see it. We talked about where the lightning was. I told her about a strike about a mile north of Buck Rock and gave her the legal location for it. Then talked about importing the report into Avenza. But she had some technical difficulties, so we could not work through it.

But both of these lead up to how the rest of the afternoon is. Patrol 33 goes to the Kings Canyon Overlook. Even though the Overlook is less than three miles away, it has a totally different view than what I see. She spots a great deal of smoke beyond Buck Rock, someplace around Tornado Meadow. That is an area which is blind to Buck Rock. So Patrol 33 starts to make her way towards the area.

There is a hang glider off to the west, I am assuming it launched from Sontag.

Division 3 is concerned about the smoke and starts maneuvering units to vantage points to try to come up with an exact location. Only one unit was able to identify a source, but was having difficulties saying where it was. When a smoke is behind a ridge there is no accuracy in placing the fire. This went on for several hours without success. A helicopter from Trimmer was brought in to see if they could figure something out. They were not successful.

Meanwhile the Park has told Porterville about a fire on top of Poop Out Pass. It is called the Pass Fire. A couple years ago there was a fire on that pass which originally was called the Poop Fire, at least for overnight. I noticed on that one, the name got changed. So calling it the Pass Fire does not surprise me. While the helicopter is in the air, Division 3 has them fly over to the Pass Fire and take pictures and do a size up for him. It is a single tree with little or no vegetation around it. So it is not going anywhere. I could not see the smoke as it was behind a ridge from Shell Mtn.

 

 

Now that these areas are not being as much of an issue, I try to put more effort into cab life. To be clear, even while all of this is going on, I have been scanning and doing my lookout stuff, but there is a certain amount of focus on something active like this. But since it is after 1700 and I intended to go home at 1800, I do clean up chores to end the day.

Finally at 1750, I am doing my last scan and as I walk around the catwalk, at the very end of the scan, I see some discoloration looking towards Loggers Poin

First signs of a smoke

t. I stare at it for a while and decide it is smoke. It looks like it is about 2.5 miles from the lookout, just to the south of a direction line to Loggers. I call Division 3 on this as it looks like it may have been part of the Big Stump Rx-turns out it was not. Division 3 wants a bit more info on location. When I looked again, the smoke looked like it moved ¾ of a mile closer. So I revised my location. Division 3 thinks this may be a new wildland fire. Was there lightning in the area? No, not yesterday. Another unit wonders if this is drift smoke from the Park Ridge RX. It does not look like it. But then I look over where I saw the smoke ten days ago. There is the same patch of white through the trees. It is drift smoke, which is a good thing because it is a known quantity. . I have my own “sneaky” smoke.

Smoke is a bit closer

At 1755 I had gone out of service with the Park. Now that my smoke is resolved, I go out of service at 1812. By 1820, I was in the car ready to go down the mountain. The battery on my phone has died, so I finally get enough charge by the time I get to Grant Grove that I send out texts to various people. I got home about 2020, tired. But there is no rest for the wicked as I need to pack for a trip to my daughter's tomorrow. I still manage to take a shower and am in bed by 2200.

 

 

 

Animals


 

Hawk of some type

Same Hawk

Unknown

June 7, 2024 - Delilah

 

Title: June 7, 2024 - Delilah

Hike Info : Description :  Background : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Coming to Delilah

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

 

Description:

I  got up about 0515. Looked to see if there was any lightning in the area-none. Then I got my breakfast-nothing special, just granola, my usual. It is finally time to get myself ready to go up to Delilah Lookout. Last night I got most of my stuff packed and in the car. I just needed to load a few electronics and refrigerated foods into my backpacks. By 0640, I am off.

The reason why I am off so early is that there is construction on Highway 180 where there is a half an hour delay reported. But when I pass through, it does not look like CalTrans is ready to inhibit traffic, yet. I get to Delilah pretty early about 0835. Coming in from 180, there was more traffic than what I normally see along the Forest Service roads. Ahead of me was a pickup which stopped at a gate where Millwood heads east and we continue south. Then a couple motorcycles passed me. Finally another pickup also passes me-I see him stop at Sontag.

Wildflowers everywhere

I am staying at Delilah for three days. So there is a lot of stuff I am bringing up-food, clothing and stuff. But I get that all done by about 0910. I then take the weather and go in service by 0928. I thought I heard P33 on R5 a few minutes before, but did not hear who she was asking for. As soon as I go inservice, she comes back on R5 and asks if I want water. Affirm. But then Captain 32 asks the same thing. I think they must have had a discussion because of what happened later.

The rest of the morning was normal stuff. Doing my scans, listening to the radio, and reacquainting myself with lookout life. Also the cab is pretty warm. I am wondering if this is the portent of what I will be feeling throughout today? Reacquainting myself with the lookout is done in bits and pieces. Similar to reviving an old relationship. With the lookout, there is working the radio, making sure that I can navigate around without too much effort. Then there is looking out over the territory, finding the little cracks and crevices, the waterfall coming off of Patterson Bluff, and then there is that tree on Hoist Ridge just waiting for me to see it.

E32 pumping water

About 1230, I hear the sound of a big truck. It is E32 coming with my water. We were down to the last 25 gallons. The Captain for the engine comes up the stairs. I met Dalton a couple of months ago at our annual training. He and another firefighter, John, have the engine filling our tank. They add another 200 gallons. While that is going on, I take John up to the cab and show him around. One bit of excitement was that as the tank filled, the old soapy water turned into suds, floating to the east of the lookout. It was a sight to behold. When everything is filled, down they go to tend to other needs and I return to my duties.

Most of the rest of the afternoon is continuing to find the lookout rhythm. That is until I hear P33 trying to reach Buck Rock. I know that it is not staffed today, so I responded and let her know the status. She is concerned about some hoses at Buck Rock. So I asked the regular staffer about it. Later on in the afternoon, she tells me that there is an issue which E32 is dealing with and to leave the hose there. P33 is appreciative.

 

 

By this time, it is 1530 when I hear Sierra tone out a fire. Earlier in the day, Sierra had another fire, but that was north of Mariposa, way out of my visual range. But this one is close to Prather and is called the Garlock Fire. That is because it is on a road called Garlock Lane. Once I figure out where it should be I can see the smoke faintly through the haze. But this is off of our maps, so I am not sure how far out it is, but I give them an azimuth for it. Then I sit back and listen to the activity.

 

 

I do not quite do nothing, I continue my looking around for other smoke and monitor the smoke of the Garlock Fire. I hear Sierra telling the fire people to stay late. I went out of service with Porterville at 1800 but stay in service until 1900 with Sierra. During that time, I have my dinner.

 After my shift ends, I have just enough time and energy to go for a short walk around the lookout loop. The sunset is enjoyable. About 2030, Sherri and I talk for a bit until I start to drift off-it has been a long day.

 

Background
 Garlock Fire. By Sunday, it was contained at 54 acres. Once I computed it, not observed, this fire was about 26 miles away from me. There was no smoke visible from Delilah on Saturday morning.

View from Delilah: left is as I saw it, right is filtering out the haze.

 

 
Extra Photo's

Moonset over Pine Flat Reservoir-the light on the right side is from firefighters on the Garlock Fire

Sunset over Pine Flat Reservoir

Garlock Fire

Animals

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Black Scarab Beetle

 
Flowers and Plants

Deer Brush

Dandelion

Butterfly Mariposa Lily

Butterfly Mariposa Lily