October 7, 2026 - Park Ridge Lookout

 

Title: October 7, 2026 - Park Ridge Lookout

Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

Description:

It was a good night, full of stars, many of which I could make out even without my glasses. The sliver of a moon did not rise up until a few hours before I woke up at 0500. There was no lightning to report-that is what I also observed from my perch in the lookout yesterday.

PG&E Block and Tackle

By 0630 I started to move around and change into the clothes for the day. I had my normal breakfast of granola, then took what I did not need and lowered it down to the ground. From there I went on a 40 minute walk. When I returned, the PG&E contractors were there, collecting their stuff. I guess they are done with this assignment.

By this time, it is 0900 and I go and do the lookout thing to get ready to go into service at 0930. But at 0916, Porterville comes on the radio and says the command channels will be down for 20 minutes. So much for the 0930 going into service.

Morning light

This throws me off a bit. Around 0940 I realized I had not gone into service with Ash Mountain Fire (AMF). Portervilles’s issue gets resolved and I go into service. I also ask if channel 4 is available. Affirmative. A short time later, Porterville does their weather and staffing. Well sort of. There is static during the weather part. Then during staffing, I hear about 30 seconds and then it silence until the Great Western Divide staffing gets read. I missed the Hume Lake Ranger District’s staffing, which is what I wanted. Evidently, I was not the only one as Buck Rock radio’s me if I heard who our duty officer is? Negative. But I had seen that BC31 is our duty offer.

A little while later, Wendy called about a few things. She asked that I unplug the refig before I leave, so that it would defrost for the Saturday closing of the lookout. I asked if there was anything else she would want done? Yes, if I could look in the visitor log and count the number which we have gotten this season. That is what I spend most of the day on when I am not doing lookout things.

At 1230 I have my dinner of quesadillas. I then take the weather and do a scan. After that, it was time to have a rest period. I set my time for 15 minutes, then get back into scanning. I finished counting visitors at 1430.

This makes it two and half hours until I go out of service at

Park Ridge for the season. Park Ridge Lookout will be going out of service for the season Saturday and I have things I need to do so staffing again up here is not an option. So I know I will need to wait until next year to be back on the catwalk. There is an appreciation of the time I have been up here. But also a bit of sadness that I will have to wait. I will be able to do other things during that time. Still it is a sense of sadness and longing. The other two lookouts, Buck Rock and Delilah, look like they will be going out of service by the end of the month. I probably will not be able to get to Delilah either.

  

Flag over Park Ridge

Oh well, I guess that is enough mopping around. I should start cleaning up the lookout. I do not see that it is that too beneficial to clean the windows since Saturday the lookout closes. Before I can get very far, I have two couples from North Carolina. My first visitors in two days. They are suitably impressed with my babbling. But I am more impressed with one of the wives. She overcame her fear of heights and came up to the catwalk, but quickly came into the safety of the cab. She is successful on our trip down the stairs, looking at her husband’s back.

At 1600 the weather and burn indexes are reported, but it is very staticy. Not that it really matters since the lookout will be vacant tomorrow. I work on finishing cleaning up. When I do one of the final scans, to the south, there is a whole murder of crows squawking and circling around. At 1655 my final visitor, from Medford, Oregon, came up the stairs. He sees that I have packed up and is just about out to close up. We do talk for a while, enough to give him an idea of what happens in the lookout.

At 1708 I go out of service. With the rope system, I am able to get everything down in one load. With a last look, I say farewell to the lookout. An enjoyable season, all seven days I spent up here.

It turns out that I have a bit more fun going back home-good fun. On the way out, I come across my final visitor who was at the saddle. He still needs to set up his campsite, so he accepted a ride to his car at Panoramic Point. After dropping him off, I head down to the Grant Grove Village. It seemed like every quarter mile there is a car coming up. Where are all of there folks going I wonder.

When I get down to the Village, a woman flags me down. She is by herself and her rental car dows not seem to be very reliable as far as showing how much fuel she has. After my usual disclaimer on how little I know about vehicles, we talk about the symptoms. I think she is OK that it may have to do with how the gas sloshed around on mountain roads. She is pleased and calls me “cheeky”-she is English. I think she is trying to compliment me. After this, it is a normal drive back to Fresno. I get back in time for our family Zoom.

October 6, 2026 - Park Ridge Lookout

 

 Title: October 6, 2026 - Park Ridge Lookout

PG&E work below

Hike Info : Description 

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

Description:

This is probably my last time at Park Ridge Lookout this season. It is good to wrap up the season without major fires in our area. But it is also good as I do have plenty of things I can be doing as well. Still I will miss being up here. There is a chance I can staff Delilah, if my schedule and Delilah’s match.

At 540 I woke up. It was another slow getting started day-they all seem that way. It is just me with no one else to blame. I left 700, a bit later than I wanted to, especially since I needed to get gas at Costco. I still got to the Park entrance at 810 and arrived at Park Ridge Lookout 900. I lug my stuff up, some of it with a rope. PG&E Contractors are working on establishing a pole just to the northwest of me.

Setting sunlight through haze - not as bad as it looks. Not enhanced.

Once I finish lugging stuff up, I start doing lookout stuff: observe the weather, raise the flag and scan my area. At 0928, I go into service with both Porterville and Ash Mountain Fire (AMF). Then it is onto the normal things a lookout does: scans and stuff. At 1006, Porterville reports on the weather forecast and the forest staffing. Also AMF/Park staffing is done 1008. Back to doing scans. One of the things lookouts do is to review locations around us. This is what I do between scans. It helps me to identify where things are and I keep an eye on my surroundings.

Most of the morning and into the afternoon, it was pretty routine stuff. I had been hearing road crews below me on the General’s Highway, south of the Wye. Then I heard on the Park radio that the General’s Highway is closed between Quail Flat the the Wye at 1411. Traffic is backing up. Initially the Park said they did not have enough staffing to provide traffic control. Then when the road looked like it was going to be shut down for a while, they sent someone.

I heard Patrol 33 talking to Buck Rock, asking if the highway was still closed. I got on R5 and told her what I heard. Also the Duty Officer told Patrol 33 we will be on extended hours today. First I heard of it today-the lookouts had been warned this might happen. Wendy sent me a text letting me know based upon this conversation. Along those lines, I went on R5 Project and asked Buck Rock if I was to go into service at 0800 tomorrow-negative.

 

 

 

 

Starry night

 

I do not hear Porterville reporting of fire indexes or weather. Delilah Lookout goes home at 1732. Sometime after that, Patrol 33 tried to contact Porterville on one of the command channels. She was told to change to channel 2 as there was an active fire being managed on channel 4. That was the first hint I had about channel restrictions. Sort of makes you think I may not be hearing everything.

At 1855 both Buck Rock and I went out of service and in quarters. I go downstairs and lock up. Then I let Sherri know that I am available for talking. We talked for over an hour until almost 2100. I read and scrolled through my phone until 2200 until I went to sleep.

October 2, 2026 - Buena Vista Peak

 

Title: October 2, 2026 - Buena Vista Peak
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking 

Trail head: Buena Vista Trailhead

Trail: Buena Vista Trail

Destination: Buena Vista Peak

Distance:  2.02 miles

Start Time: 10:37

End Time:   12:56

Travel Time:  2:19 (0.87 mph)

Moving Time:  1:19  (1.53 mph)

Elevation Rise:  532'

Descent: 504‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,639'

Minimum Elevation: 7,611'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Start of trail

This morning did not start off very well. Evidently yesterday while timing some things, I inadvertently set my alarm. So the rooster alarm crowed at 5:45. I apologized to Sherri and I got up. I sort of moseyed around doing things which I had neglected to do for the past couple of days. Rachel came in a little after 8; Steven was up a little before 8; while Sherri got up about 7:40.

By the time we are ready to leave, it is 9:07 on the car’s clock. I am driving. One of the things which we discussed on the way up to the Park is where do we want to go with our Alaska Air companion fare? No definite decision, but I think there was some clarification about desires. We stopped at Big Stump once we passed through the entrance station. We then progressed on to the Buena Vista trailhead, arriving about 10:20.

I can tell that we have not been hiking in awhile. It takes us a while to get ready once we parked, about 20 minutes. We hit the trail about 10:40. There is another clue that I have not been hiking much-The trail starts off going up and I am leading. I immediately go into a deliberate pace. That should be interpreted as being that I was making sure I did not suck air. 

 

We quickly encountered a fallen tree which we walked around. One thing which we noted is that the tree cover was sparse. In October, this should not be too much of a problem. But today is a warm day and we can feel the mid-day sun bearing down on us. That tree is not the only one down. Another tree there was no going around and it is about 3 to 3½ feet in diameter, a bit of an obstacle. But we all got over it.

Kings Canyon Overlook

We stopped several times on the way up, making sure there was shade when we stopped. But we make steady progress. I had chosen this trail for two reasons. First it is only a mile up. The second is that there is a good, but manageable climb. I think I need this just as much as Sherri. At least I stop as my breathing gets labored and my heart beats hard. All manageable, just an indicator that my body is not what it once was.

When we reach the top of the ridge, we do our final rest break. When we head out, Steven goes on ahead and reaches the top about ten minutes before us. Somehow this segment seemed a bit shorter than what I remember-usually it is the other way around. Rachel, Sherri and mine arrival is 11:35.

Either way, we all get to the top. From here we enjoy the view, as you should do from a peak. From here, we view two of our lookouts: Buck Rock and Park Ridge. Usually Park Ridge is hidden behind trees, but there it is. I am wondering when was the last time we were up here? Was it before the KNP Complex fire? The answer when I got home was June of 2022, a year after the KNP fire.

Looking towards Buck Rock, there is what looks like a trail. I am not familiar with a trail in that area, so I called Jessi at Buck Rock to see if she knows of a trail down there. No, but there are a couple of roads. But it does not look like a road. Later on when I got home and blew up a picture, I could see that it could be a road.

Looking to the west, there are three predominant features: Redwood Mountain, Redwood Canyon and Big Baldy. That KNP fire devastated the canyon as well as the south side of Redwood Mountain. But surprisingly the upper part of the canyon still has Sequoias standing.

We looked some more, and had an energy bar before we left. The trip down is a lot easier than coming up. On both ways, there is not much in the way of floral. I see a penstemon or two. Also some of the grasses have turned to their Fall colors. We made it back to the car before 1:00.

I drove us back. The question which always comes up after a hike is where to eat? We talked about Bear Mountain Pizza or Habit Burgers in Fresno. Instead of these places,we decided to go Mexican at a place some friends of ours introduced us to: Los Panchos Mexican Restaurant on Kings Canyon. This means delaying eating for an hour, but I guess I will be off to live off of my fat until we get there. The food is good when we get there and we are content after eating. We get home about 3:30, a bit tired,

Extra Photo's

Gary towards the end of the hike

Rachel on the trail

Park Ridge Loookout

Buck Rock Lookout

Some sort of mello plant, I think

Redwood Canyon and Mountain

September 20, 2026 - Park Ridge Lookout

 

 

Title: September 20, 2026 -  Park Ridge Lookout

Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

Description:

Another good, but seemingly short night of sleep. I woke up at 0630 to the early morning light. My lightning report showed no lightning, like usual. Then I had my breakfast and got packed up, taking down what I did not need for today. Today, I will be staffing for about half a day until 1300. Sometimes plans go astray. such as I had planned on going for a good hike, but by the time I was done, I think it would be about 30 minutes max. I went up about 10 minutes up the Park Ridge Trail, enjoyed the view and returned,

By the time I got back into the tower it was 0845. I turned on the radio. Around 0900, I caught part of a conversation where Division 3 was investigating a smoke reported by AlertCalifornia around Millwood and Todd Eymann Roads. I do scan that area, but not really expecting to see anything as McKenzie Ridge would block that area for me. About fifteen minutes later, Division 3 gives a new location at Highway 245 and the Hogback. That I have eyes on. I scan the length of the Hogback and do not see any smoke. And then a second time; negative on the smoke. I radio’d that in the Division 3, but he essentially only heard static. So Porterville relays the information to him. He also noted that in what he was watching, there was no smoke either.

At 930 I go in service, noting I would be on until 1300. Normal stuff for most of the morning. I did have a couple of older visitors from Seattle. I talked with them for about 20 minutes. Then back to routine stuff.

Porterville does the Weather and Staffing at 1005. Then on the normal lookout stuff-sounds rather repetitive. There are some more visitors to which I talk about lookout life is like. They leave. Then a little before noon, my final set of visitors come by. They are from Poland, but speak pretty good English. They have been touring the Parks in America. This is the first Lookout they have been to and I show them around.

At 1242, I get a radio message from Delilah asking if I see anything down in Wonder Valley. After looking for a few minutes, I report back that all which I am seeing is haze.

I am trying to get out at 1300, but I am not going to succeed. First, I need to clean up a bit, wiping down the counters and mopping the floors. By the time I am ready to go out of service it is 1316. I lug my stuff down to the car and leave. There are many more cars coming up Panoramic Point Road than when I usually leave at 1800. But nothing terrifying. I get home about 1530. A good two and half days.

September 19, 2026 - Park Ridge Lookout

 

Title: September 19, 2026 -  Park Ridge Lookout

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's 

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

Description:

I woke up a couple of times last night, which is not unusual these days. What is not normal in my life is being able to look out the window from my sleeping bag and enjoy the stars from the perch of a fire lookout. That is just wonderful. Maybe I should get paid in stars instead of sunsets. But that means staying overnight. Such a tough life!

At 0615, I woke up as the light was starting to get bright enough to disturb my slumber. Still no lightning to report-no surprise there. I then had breakfast and cleaned myself up. Also cleaned up the cab a bit so that when visitors come, they do not get the real me. Since I am going home today, I took a load down to the car-my sleeping bag and dirty clothes.

There was still about 45 minutes before I needed to play lookout for the day. So I went for a 40 minute walk which consisted of going down the road and walking the Park Ridge Trail for about a third of a mile. Along the way, I got some nice early morning views of the front country. Looking out, the smoke from the Dome Fire is different today. Instead of looking at haze out towards the valley, the view of the Valley is relatively clear. But about 8,000’ there is a layer of dark clouds, which is the smoke which has gotten trapped in the inversion layer. At least it does not look like I am breathing it.

By 0840, I am back in the cab and opening up for the day. At 0900, I start doing the things which lookouts do: taking the weather, raising the flag and doing a scan. The relative humidity is 22%, a bit low, but not reportable yet. And then another scan. 0930 comes along and I go into service with Porterville and Ash Mountain Fire. Buck Rock goes into service when I do; Delilah is not staffed today due to sickness.

Now onto a normal day of scanning and listening to the radio. At 1005. Porterville does their weather and staffing. Then more scanning and listening. A friend, Don, called around 1040 and asked a few things. At 1115, my first visitor of the day came. We talked for about 15 minutes, explaining lookout life and showing locations.

Ar 1139, I hear sirens below me. Highway 180 and the General’s Highway are about half of a mile away. I hear on the radio Division 3 is responding to an accident, but the location is uncertain, but someplace along 180. There seems to be two locations being broadcast. Division 3 asks for clarification and they figure out that there are two accidents: one is a car accident on 180; the other is a medical emergency at the Hume Lake Christian Camp. No wonder there was a concern about what was being responded to.

At 1200 my second group of visitors came along. One of them calls up and says, Is that Gary? This is Ziegler. I know that name. He retired as Chief 1 from SEKI a few years back. He has hiked up here with his wife and a friend, Bridget. After they ate their lunch at the picnic bench below, they came on up. Ziegler knows the lookout well and there is no need to do my prattle with him. I know that he and Wendy have a connection, so I phone her up and let them talk while I do lookout things.

Bridget and I talk for a few minutes until a group of eight women from Indianapolis comes up. This is the start of about an hour and a half of visitors. All of them are interesting and interested in being up here. Their origins range from Fresno to Florida. There are lots of conversations with questions extends from can we see Whitney-no, to how long do I stay up here-this time two days, one night. One over achiever family-father and two grown up daughters flew in from Texas this morning came up here and hiked, will be going back to Fresno tonight and then on to Yosemite tomorrow. Much more than I could do now and maybe ever.

 

I had my lunch, or should I say dinner, of lasagna after everyone leaves and I have taken the weather. It is a good time to rest and just enjoy being up here.

During my rest time, I saw that there was no one coming in tomorrow. The person coming in could not make it. I was planning on staying up here for two days, with today being the last day. Pondering if I could or wanted to stay one more night and part of the day. I talked with Sherri and we agreed that if I left in the early afternoon, that would be OK. I let Wendy know-she is one happy camper.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty much what a fire lookout wants-borning. Remember my prayer: Lord, let there not be a fire on my watch, but if there is, let me find it. At 1750, I went out of service with both Ash Mountain Fire and Porterville. 

 

I have a sandwich for dinner/lunch. I saw that I had a tentative, adorable, four-legged creature just down the road from me by the transmission transformers . I rested a bit more. By this time it was after 1900 and if I wanted to stretch my legs, I would need to do it now as it would get dark soon.

I walked down the road a bit and started up the Park Ridge trail a few steps when I saw three deer on the trail. Then a fourth and fifth joined them. I just stopped, watched, trying not to disturb them. They were a bit hesitant, but then some crossed the road close by where I was standing. After about 10 minutes, I headed back to the lookout.

I got some pictures of the sunset and the lookout. The sunsets were better than last night, but the lookout was lacking. I also tried my hand again at shooting stars with the phone’s camera. I really need to get better at that. By the time I got into the cab, it was 2020. Sherri and I talked for about an hour and 20 minutes until we ran out of topics. I stayed awake for a while longer, much too long.

Extra Photo's

Smoke Layer to the northwest

Delilah Lookout

Sunset

Sunset