August 12, 2026 - Delilah

 

 

 Title: August 12, 2026 - Delilah

Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's 

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

Description:

When I woke up this morning, there were clouds to the west and north. When I did my lightning report.I was shocked to see all of the strikes over Jesse Morrow Mtn, Tivy, and around Trimmer-I did not hear a thing. These places are between 12-15 miles away from me. I was thinking about the discussion about how secure is the lookout if it is struck? I made sure I had my lightning stool ready and all of the things I would need during a thunderstorm. Still there is a bit of apprehension. By the way, the shock mentioned above was figuratively, not literally.

Clouds over Jesse Morrow Mtn and Tivy

 

I tracked what these clouds were doing and did not see them moving closer, so I relaxed a bit, but not much. When I looked a bit further on where the strikes were, I saw a string up highway 99 from Visaila to Kingsburg, going over to Reedley and then to the areas already noted. When I turn on the radio, I hear patrols trying to track down if there were strikes in the northern part of the Sierra National Forest.

 

I do not have time to do too much more than have breakfast, wash up, take down the stuff I do not need today, as I will be going home tonight. I get enough walk time to walk for a couple of minutes, before heading back up into the cab. When I get up there, I take the weather and get ready. The weather still looks the same as it did when I got up.

A few minutes before 0930, both Park Ridge and Delilah go in-service. Then it goes on to the normal routine of listening to the radio, doing scans and practicing locations. I am also keeping an eye on where the clouds are, which leads to lightning. So far nothing to be concerned about. I hear Porterville reporting the weather and staffing. Then at 1100, I responded to Sierra’s lookout check in.

Richard and I talk some more about lightning and what the plan is. I am still comfortable with the lightning stool/ So I will stay in the tower for the rest of the day.

About noon, I am doing my scan, when I see some discoloration through the haze beyond Sacate Ridge. What am I seeing? I looked at it for a while. Then I see some of the whiteness in the area rising. I look a minute more to confirm, then radio in what I see. The azimuth is at 338 with an approximate distance of 12 miles. I cannot see the base as it is beyond Sacate. I confirm it is in the direction of Haslett Basin-I cannot see into the basin. Sierra radios me back after a while to confirm what I saw and the azimuth. I also talked with Judy who will come in after me about what she will be coming into.

The slight discoloration in the center behind Sacate

 

Same photo filtered so you can see more of the discoloration

 

Sierra is throwing the whole army at this, including an air attack and a tanker. Several units are sent as well. Battalion Chief 42 radio’s me about 20 minutes later and asks what I am seeing now. The haze has cleared, and the column which I was seeing before has almost completely disappeared. Both air attack and unit 430 say they cannot see any smoke. The units and the air are called off. One of the units, Fresno4, is left to observe. After two hours, they still do not see any smoke, so they are relieved and allowed to do their other duties. I will go into my speculation in the Background.

Same shot half an hour afterwards

 

After this, I talked with Wendy, our lookout wise woman,both me calling in the smoke and about lightning or as I said to her, I needed a sanity check. But before I talked about that, I recapped my smoke report and the outcome. She notes that it looks like I went through the proper procedures. Which I think I did, still it sits with me wrong to radio in a bad smoke call. Wendy says not to beat myself up.

Air Attack

As far as the lightning is concerned, we talked over what the notes said as well as the inspection. I also went over what I was thinking that we have been OK for so many years, at least 20 years of staffing this lookout. With the lightning stool, there is the added protection. So I feel comfortable. She thought that my reasoning made sense. So until someone says something different, that is what I will be doing. She asked me to send her the notes and the signs. I sent it to her and to Greg.

The rest of the day, is uneventful. The normal stuff. I was hoping that I would not be faced with another situation where it was a call which would look questionable later. But there is nothing even close. I did talk with Buck Rock about the status of our hours. We are off of extended hours.

Greg calls and we discuss the inspection. There is no change of plans on my part. Greg will be talking with those in charge of our area about direction and meaning of the report. This sounds like it will be taken seriously and may not have resolution for a little while. Later on there is a directive which said, if there is lightning in the area, get out of the tower.

Hume Lake Region District will not be on extended houses, but Sierra will. What this means is that I will be leaving at 1800. After the 1600 Sierra checkin, I start cleaning up so I will leave the cab presentable for Judy. Yesterday and today I cleaned the windows. I also heat up my hamburger dinner. By 1800, I went out of service with both Sierra and Porteville. By the time I lock up, get down the stairs and put everything in its place, it is 1820. I am able to get home a few minutes after 2000. The first order of business is to take a shower-which feels so good. Then talk with Sherri for awhile

Background

A few days later, after getting home, I was processing my photos from today. I noticed that I had taken a picture of Sacate Ridge about 40 minutes before the rising white stuff which I thought was smoke. The image shows a very dark area right where I saw my smoke. It looked like a very intense spot of rain. My hypothesis is that what I was seeing and reporting was left over from this downpour. That the white going up may have been due to an updraft pushing up some of the leftover mist. I think there may be other plausible explanations. I really hope it is not that Gary is fading as a useful lookout.Below are the images I took of the area before and after what I saw:

Picture where the discoloration was 40 minutes before

Discoloration as I saw it

Lightly filtered from above

Heavily Filtered

Same area about half an hour later

 

 Extra Photo's

Afternoon clouds to the east

Outhouse view

Virga to the southeast

Morning cloud over Dude Ridge

Morning skies

 

 

 

 

August 11, 2026 - Delilah

 

Title: August 11, 2026 - Delilah
Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type:Lookout

Description:

I woke up and it was still pretty dark with only a sliver of light above the tops of the mountains in the east. It is a 0520. But even though I am awake, I do not get up. I just look out the windows. And what do I see? To the west, I see bats swarming outside of the windows. I am glad I closed that window. To the east, there are also bats, but not nearly as many. Once they calmed down, I got up. I had checked to see if there had been lightning in the area and there was none

My feet touched the floor around 6:20. I read a bit and then have my breakfast. Then I get up-it was warm yesterday and I am a bit smelly. To live with myself, I wash up, lookout style, a spit bath. By the time this is done, I go down the stairs and get some water for the day. I had time to go for a short walk before heading back up.

Pine Ridge

At 0900 I start with my lookout duty at Delilah. Things like setting up my logs and taking the weather. At 0930 I went in service with Portville, along with Park Ridge Lookout. I think Buck Rock went in earlier. Then it is into the routine of scanning and listening to the radio. At 1000 the weather and staffing was broadcast. I did not get the weather. Since Porterville does two readings, I was able to catch the staffing on the second go around.

The mornings at Delilah are warm. Today it is hot. Since nobody is around, I take off my shirt and enjoy a bit of cooling on my skin. I still sweat though.

Lookout!

Sometimes on the radio, you hear something which is out of place from reporting the normal patrol location changes. On R5, our chatty channel, I hear what sounds like a researcher and her assistant. Not sure what they are looking for. But apparently she spooked some cattle and thought she was going to be trampled. It can be a bit intimidating being around those big animals. From the radio, it does not sound like her partner is bothered.

PG&E Tower

At 1100, I responded to the Sierra Lookout Check-in. Then it continues on the normal day. A feature of Delilah is that after 1100, a breeze comes up and cools down the lookout. I put back on my shirt.

I have my lunch. After that, I did the weather. If I am at home, I would have an hour rest period. But up here, I just lay down, turn up the radio and set a 15 minute timer for my two short times of relaxation. Then it is back to full time looking for smoke.

 

 

Goat Saddle

It is a normal afternoon. The 1600 indices and weather from Porterville is noted. I responded to Sierra’s afternoon lookout check in. About 1730 I had a dinner of quesadillas. Then continue looking for smoke, at least on the Sequoia side. On Sierra, I go out of service at 1800. Because of the heat, we are on extended hours so I go until the shadows make finding anything feasible. At 2000, I went out of service with Porterville.

 

 

 

Then it is time to get the cab ready for bedtime. I go down to the ground to take a few things I will not need tomorrow to the car and bring up some more water. At 2030, Sherri and I talk about the events of the day. By the time 2130 hits, I am ready to turn in. After reading, I close by eyes about 2215

August 10, 2026 - Delilah

  

Title: August 10, 2026 - Delilah
Hike Info : Description 

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

I did the lightning report last night so that I could get an earlier start this morning. I got up around 0530. I must have not been as ready as I thought I was as it was almost 0700 before I left. The sky looked like there was some possibility of rain or lightning activity. But there is a beautiful rising of the sun.

 

Inspection tag

I made it to Delilah about 0830. I got my first load ready to take to the cab, including a full backpack. As I started to climb the stairs, I got the first reason to pause. There is a tag which says that the tower has been inspected by the FAA and has been found wanting. This was in two areas. First the inspection noted there was some rust and corrosion on the tower. But the more serious deficiency was that the grounding system for the tower was inadequate. This last was accompanied by a sign warning people not to go up into the tower because of the risk of an electrical lethal shock in case of lightning.

Even though it gives me pause, I decided to go up into the tower and find out if there are any notes in our logs. I do make another trip down to bring up the rest of my supplies, as well as opening up the cab and letting some cooler air in.

There are notes in the log which indicate a few more things. The issue with the grounding sounds like they wanted a ground on each of the four posts. There are also missing bolts as well. As I ponder this, I think that with our lightning stools, I should be able to stay safe during a thunderstorm. So I will stay.

 

 

At 0929 I go into service. Over the weekend there was a fire near Converse Basin. Park Ridge got the first report on this, Turns out it was caused by an unattended fire. The fire is pretty much taken care of at 3-4 acres and in what is called patrol status, meaning that the Incident Commander thinks it is substantially out, but it periodically needs checking on. The hoses are still on the ground in case they are needed.

Richard, one of the Delilah leads, calls me. This is a courteous call to make sure everything is OK. I tell him about the inspection-he has not heard about it. So I text him the tag and Lori’s notes. Later on he calls me and we discuss staying there, particularly during a storm. I tell him my thoughts with the lightning stool. While he reiterates about getting out if there is lightning in the area, he is OK with my rational of staying in the cab on the stool.

I realized that the weather and staffing was not broadcast, so I went on R5 to ask Buck Rock who the Duty Officer is-it is a Battalion 11. He is from out of the district. 

 

 

The rest of the day is pretty uneventful. I do the scans and listen to the radio and do the tasks of a lookout. At 1800, I go out of service with Sierra. I have a hamburger dinner-Steven had fixed some for me and I just fried one. Tasted pretty good. The Hume Lake Ranger District is on extended hours. I continued to scan for smoke as the shadows deepen. At 2000 I went out of service.

After going down to lookout and take care of things, I get back up around 2030. Sherri calls me and we talk for about an hour or more. After talking, I take a few star shots-not shooting stars-and then go to bed.

July 10, 2026 - Little Boulder Grover

 

Title: July 10, 2026 - Little Boulder Grover
Hike Info : Description :  Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking 

Trail head: Little Boulder Grover East Trailhead on 14S02

Trail:  Little Boulder Grove Trail

Destination: Little Boulder Trail

Distance:  2.51 miles

Start Time: 10:22

End Time:    1:10

Travel Time: 2:47  (0.90 mph)

Moving Time:  1:33  (1.42 mph)

Elevation Rise:  463'

Descent: 472‘

Maximum Elevation: 6,632'

Minimum Elevation: 6,365'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Back in 2017, Sherri, Rose and I walked this trail and were in awe of the Sequoias we found. Not that they were the biggest, nor the most beautiful. But because we could enjoy them without the presence of others. Since that time, I have been wanting to go back, but one thing or another prevented me from doing this. In 2024, Sherri, Steven, Korra and I tried. The only one who did not have troubles navigating the downed trees was Korra and we only got about a half mile in. Wednesday when I was at Delilah, I heard that Crew 3 was at the trailhead. So I hope they have worked on the trail.

I did not want to get up at 5, but since I did not have things ready for our hike today. I got up and did my lightning stuff-none. Then I had breakfast and made lunch. By 8, I was already and Steven and Sherri were up. We pile into the car, with Korra and the wheels start rolling at 8:20. I am driving. Most of the trip was uneventful, except for a guy pulling out in front of me. Not close as far as an accident , just aggravating.

Gary and Steven on Trail

We stopped at Big Stump. I talked with some maintenance people, appreciating their work. Then onward. We turn off of the General’s Highway at Quail Flat, going down the Burton Pass Road-I think formally it is called the Buck Rock Road or in Forest Service parlance 14S02. We arrived at the Little Boulder Grove trailhead-the east one-about 10:10. The big question is: Is the trail passable without going through an obstacle course? The preliminary look down the trail is hopeful.

 

 

 

 

 

Big Tree meets a really big tree

A note about the road going in. There are two ways you can look at this road-and probably will do at the same time. It is only 10½ miles from Quail Flat to the trailhead. But it will take about 40-45 minutes to drive it. It is a paved road in decent condition. But it is narrow and about a lane and a half with lots of sharp curves. So you are constantly looking out for cars coming in your direction. On the other hand, I think it is one of the most beautiful roads in the area, if not the Sierra. You get these occasional glimpses of far off mountain ranges. Meadows poke out to provide a sense of freshness. And there are forests all around you. If you are quick, you can see the tops of the various Sequoia groves in this drainage. It was a pleasure to drive it.

Burnt tree from Rough Fire

We were hoping that the over 100 degree temperatures in Fresno will not follow us up here, after all it is in the mid-6000’ range. Also we had hoped starting earlier would be cooler. Well in the shade, the temperature is pleasant, but when we are in direct sunlight, you can feel the warmth of the sun.

We ignore the heat and enjoy the difference in the condition of the trail from September 2024. The logs have all been cleared and it is easy walking. This is good for about half of a mile. The next third of a mile or so leads down the slope. When we successfully hiked this so many years ago, there were switch backs. But it looks like they are overgrown now. The crew which cleared looks like they obeyed the injunction that the shortest distance between two points is a straightline. The cutting was through brush and there were still stumps of brush on the ground. We needed to watch our feet so we did not trip over them.

 

 

Note: I dumped my track from 2017 and the 2017 and 2026 tracks are almost identical. Not sure where I thought there were switchbacks.

 

Tracks from 2017 which look almost the same ass we did in 2026

 

Twin Sequoias

Still, I am not complaining. Once we finish our descent, the trail levels out and we enter the grove. Anytime I am among Sequoias, there is a sense of how majestic they are and how small I am. The trees in Little Boulder Grove are young. There are no gigantic old trees whose base has widened with age. Instead, these are slender. Some of the trees have burned; damage from the Rough Fire back in 2015, at least that is what I suspect. We tried to figure out which tree we sat at in 2017. In retrospect, this was a futile task as I think the brush got burnt away in the 2015 Rough Fire. It now has had nine years of growth.

We are content with crossing a small rivulet and finding a clear space in the shade to have our lunch. We lounged around for a while, content with not going back into the heat. But we know that is counter productive as the longer we wait, the hotter it will become. I decided to walk about ten minutes further up the trail, just to see what is on the other side of the ridge. What is over the ridge? A creek, Buck Rock Creek which feeds into Little Boulder Creek just down the slope from us. But I do not descend down to the creek, only look. By the time I get back, Sherri and Steven are ready to go. We were at the spot for about 40 minutes.

Almost back to car

At 12:20, we started out, making our return trip. Once again, it is nice walking among the silent Sequoias. But then we have to ascend up to the upper part of the trail. I start lagging behind. This is mostly because my left knee has some pain. This is not the first time. When we were in Minnesota going up stairs, I had the same pain-that was not the first time. I just move slower when I put stress on that knee.

I quickly catch up when we reach the more level upper portion of the trail. I look around and there are impressive views of the mountains on the other side of the Kings-I do need to find openings in the trees to catch the view. Also there are some flowers such as the lupine and indian paintbrush along the way.

We get to the car at 1:30. It certainly is hot inside-and the water bottles will not provide relief and refreshment. Fortunately Steven has an insulated thermos which has kept the water cool. He generously shares it. I start to drive as I want to figure out where a trail is. I did not see it. So Steven drives us home. Shortly after he started driving, I figured out where this trail is, a mile further on. This trail meets the road up to Buck Rock.

Steven asks about stopping at Bear Mtn Pizza. We are all in, until we figure out Korra would be stuck in a hot car. We decided to forgo the pizza. I have Steven stop at the Ranger Station where I tell the information officer that Little Boulder Grove is hikeable now. We get back home about 3:30. I promptly chug some cold sun tea, feeling so much better

Extra Photo's

 

Korra

Sequoia

The one dead Sequoia we saw

Sherri and Steven on trail

The first Sequoia we came to

Buck ROck

Sherri and Korra in car on way to the trailhead

View of across the Kings

Lunch break with a Sequoia

 
Flowers and Plant 

Lupine

Little Princess Pine, I think