September 2, 2018 - Delilah Lookout

Title: September 2, 2018 - Delilah Lookout
Hike Info : Description : Animals :

Trail head: Delilah Lookout

Rodger Ridge in early morning sunlight

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

I woke up at 0615. Moon had come up around 2330 last night. This faded out the stars and caused me to retreat a bit into my bag. Then the wind comes up and I go a bit further into my bag. Did I say I was sleeping on the catwalk while Sherri was inside the cab? Not that I got kicked-out, but it turns out sleeping out on the catwalk under the stars is enjoyable to me. Did I say that the stars were gorgeous?

To our north

Breakfast is oatmeal and then time for an early start-Labor Day weekend has us from 0800 to 2000. Today I think we will leave either at 1900 or 1930. Our usual time is 0930 to 1800. So it will be another long day. We shall see how exciting it will be.

Kaiser Ridge, the far ridge with high point being Peak

Great visual today. We can even see up to KaiserRidge and I think the Peak-but the last is speculation. That is over 40 miles-I think around 47. This is so much better than yesterday or even anytime this Summer. Of course in every other direction we have about 12-15 miles. Still not bad. Even before we go in-service, we see two white trucks come into the area. They come to the lookout’s loop. Before they leave, Sherri talks with them and finds out they are bow hunters. It is deer season for them. They are looking for bucks. Fortunately all we have seen is Delilah Doe and her two fawns.

Now to get rambling-My thoughts of looking for fires. The expectation is that we will not see a smoke today. But that will be similar thoughts as I had last September when the Davis Fire started. So even though the expectation is low for a smoke, I still need to be alert. To me this is the hardest part being a lookout. I do well with the map reading and sometimes fumble with radio communications-not with getting the right channel or changing the radio around, but the actual talking. I know that if nothing else, I can fumble around, inefficiently with the verbiage and get the message out. Later on I would be tutored in a better way to respond. But being alert is a major issue. With my scanning, it is easy to gloss over an area. But what if that area has the smoke? This is the same issue the Golden State Warriors have. But they have the talent to make up for it. If I miss a smoke, it is valuable time wasted until the smoke can be tackled. I will need to come up with things to avoid being lax in my work.<\babble off>

Then again, sometimes the best way to keep alert is by doing something else. One of the tasks which I seem to do semi-religiously is to clean the windows. Simple stuff: spray some Windex and rub and dry with a paper towel. This does multiple things. First, it makes it good so that we can look out the cab while tending to other things, such as the radio. It also lets me scan the area while cleaning the windows. So the secret is to find something boring to do so that I can pay more attention to being a lookout.

Clouds over Spanish Mountain

The first couple of hours are pretty mundane. Units going into service; Location changes; an incident stop or two; checking on yesterday’s Horse Fire near Big Meadows; all the normal stuff. Then we start getting several illegal or unattended campfires. This will go on all day. I think most of us lookouts react in disgust when we hear this report.

There is an incident which perks up our ears. There is a car in a creekbed near Stony Creek. We listen intently because Rachel and her friends will be going that way. Is it one of them? After hearing the description, no it is not-as a note: the next day, we talked with Rachel and the car which went off was only a couple of minutes up ahead of them. This incident went off and on for awhile with things like the CHP responding, but what about the tow to get the vehicle out of the ditch? Is anybody hurt? Slight injuries and they are refusing treatment-only ice packs. This kind of stuff goes on for awhile.

Gary, the Intrepid Lookout

Then we hear one which takes the prize for most interesting of the day. A young lady has gotten stung on her tongue by a bee. She is allergic and there are signs of stress to the body-losing consciousness, then regaining and vomiting. The Grant Grove ambulance is being called in. There is a discussion about how to get her out. One option is to heli-evac her out. When they discuss sites to bring her out, the McKenzie Heliport is mentioned as an option. Forest Service staff is dispatched there to secure the area. This gets us involved in a surveillance role. Sontag Point which is close to the McKenzie Heliport is a prime place for hang gliders to jump off of and soar around. Last night we saw some some. So we start scanning for any airbourne craft in the area-fortunately none. After awhile, it was decided to transport her down via ambulance rather than heli-evac her out. As Sherri says, if you are going to get hurt, you want to be around these folks as they know how to take care of business.

Around 1900 Sierra starts the staff check out.including lookouts. We will be going back home tonight, so we check out at this time as well. Then we do the same with Porterville. Throughout the day we have been hauling stuff down, so it takes little time to pack up and leave. On the way down, we call in an order the Bear Mountain Pizza so it is waiting for us when we get there. By the time we get home, it is about 2200. Tired, but feeling good after a hot shower.

Animals

Trantula