August 14, 2019 - Delilah Lookout

Title: August 14, 2019 - Delilah Lookout
Hike Info : Description :  Background : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals 

Trail head: Delilah Lookout

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

I woke up at 0600 with the sun just beginning to clear the Sierra to the east. I read for awhile, but not moving too fast. Might be because even though my body and mind are awake, my right foot is asleep.Sherri wakes up about 0645. By the time I start making breakfast-oatmeal-it is closing in on 0800. Sherri works on getting the place cleaned up-we have been here two days and it is in need of a bit of tidying.

Our newly charged battery looks like it is going to cooperate this morning. At least the radio turns on and keeps on. We go in service at 0929 and then begins our normal day.

More hummingbirds

One decision-how can you have decisions in a fire lookout? You are in a small room crowded with furniture and no place to go except on the catwalk or down to the bathroom. Anyway, I digress, we have is what to do tomorrow. Originally we were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. But the Wednesday and Thursday person needed to backout, so we offered to take Wednesday if no one was available to take it. We are up here still so nobody took that day. Now the question is do we want to stay up there Thursday? That will sort of does a crimp in going camping Friday through Wednesday. Resources is not an issue. We had prepared for three days. But after the Davis Fire a couple of years ago, Sherri packs a bear canister for dual purposes: to take off on an overnight backpacking trip and as an emergency reserve in case we are held overnight in the lookout.

The debate is on. (What else would we be talking about with little activity around Delilah? Not that life is boring up here, just relaxed-that is until a fire breaks.) The key question is will we enjoy another day up here more than doing other things? While I cannot say yes to this question as to “more”, I can say it is enjoyable being up here. We decide to stay up here, assuming Kathy cannot find anybody else, but only to 1600 at the latest Thursday. I think the two reasons are: 1) we do enjoy it up here; 2) there is a need and this is a means we can service and return what we have been given. So it is not grudgingly given, but more viewed as one of several possibilities. Besides it will be hot in Fresno tomorrow.

There are a couple things which I need to take care of now that we have decided to be here. My brother and I are selling a property which belonged to my parents. Earlier this week we were told it would close Friday. Now it looks like it will close Thursday. There is a paper to sign and services to stop. I am so thankful for the Internet and the services which have developed. The only drawback is that I did not bring the sign-on information up here. But I am able to wade through the DocuSign procedures and sign the paper. Then work through shutting off services for PG&E and the water, sewer and garbage. I feel like I have accomplished something today.

Where's the ssmoke? Haze and ridges blocking view

Besides interspersing the closing of escrow matters with fire lookout duties, it was a pretty routine morning. That is until we hear Park Ridge calling Porterville with a smoke report. Park Ridge nails the report, giving the azimuth, distance, and legal. He even follows it up with the location-one mile west of Highway 245 and Dry Creek Road. As he is giving the location, I start zeroing in on it can I see it as well-Sherri is down stairs taking inventory. I can see where it should be, but there is a lot of ridges which I cannot see behind. So I look and wait and keep on looking. There has been a lot of haze in that direction which will mask any smoke. Still I look. After a couple of minutes, there is a puff of smoke which appears-later I have questions about what I am seeing. I get the azimuth, but cannot determine the distance as the puff has disappeared. After Porterville has called out everybody, I give a confirmation of seeing the smoke with the azimuth. I never see the smoke again. But I do a play-by-play action for Wendy so she knows what is going on usually she is glued to the radio and would know by now, but she decided to do some shopping-imagine that, having a life?

Smoke as seen from Park Ridge - Photo by Greg G.

We talk with Kathy about our decision and I go over the that we will vacate by 1600-she is OK with us leaving earlier if we need be. She has concerned about us being cooped up in solitary for four days, but we should do OK. Also told her that the batteries seem to be doing good. Talked about Park Ridge’s fire and she is delighted in how things went there.

The rest of the afternoon is pretty quiet-sort of seems to be the theme doesn’t it? I finish charging the rest of the batteries. But they are not needed as the “New Battery” is holding its charge. I type up Sherri’s inventory list and send it off-Delilah will need certain essential supplies in a couple of weeks, like toilet paper. I also finish up cleaning windows-a task I started yesterday. All the while Sherri and I keep watch.

There is one thing of interest to us. Shuteye Lookout reports a smoke which looks like it is coming from the footprint of an earlier fire called the Peak Fire. Wherever this is, it is north of Shuteye and definitely out of our viewing area. Mt Tom can also see it and confirm. It is fun and interesting hearing the interaction and coordination between the two lookouts. This smoke is causing enough concern that they are sending people up there to investigate. I think I am remembering this correctly, also the helicopter out of Trimmer is being sent up to do a recon. Eventually the coordinates are given and we can place where the fire is-on the flank of Madera Peak, next to Yosemite and Vanderburg Lake. This is where we had been thinking of going camping. So this will give us cause to consider.

Park Ridge calls after 1630 and says that he sees a bit of smoke from the Needle Dump, but it is pretty light. We start looking in that area. After awhile we think we see some smoke there, rising just above the ridge. We talk with Park Ridge, but he does not think so as the smoke is very light-he sends a picture to show what he is seeing. We take another look and decide it is some grayish-silver looking trees and brush which we may be seeing.

Left is as we saw it; right is filtering out the haze

Sunset over Pine Flat

By now, it is time to start closing up the lookout as 1800 is closing in. Sierra does their lookout checkout out and we go out of service with Porterville. Now it is time to eat and relax. It is the freeze dried beef stroganoff from Mountain House. It does taste better backpacking, but neither is it the throat gagging, retch inducing thing called turkey tetrazzini. Definitely not worthy of pictures tonight-I guess we have not had any dining pictures this trip.

Once again, time for the trip down to the outhouse. But this time we are a bit slower. There is Delilah Doe and three fawns wandering around. They get startled by us and disperse. But we see a couple of them hanging around. So we watch them as they watch us. Back up in the tower, we get ready for bed, but not until we play the game of what are we seeing in Fresno. We decide that some of the lights are not the SaveMart Center, but what is it? Maybe they are more on the Barstow side. By the time we get down and I finish reading it is 2130 and I am falling asleep.

Background

Legal. This is a system marking land which goes back to Thomas Jefferson. It essential marks off from a set point, called a Primary Meridian, a series of 6 by 6 mile tracks, divided up into 1 mile squares. Each 6x6 square is designated by how many sections north or south it is from the Primary Meridian. This is called Township. The east and west designation is called a Rane. Each 1x1 square is called section. So a legal definition would be T12S R26E Section 5.

Park Ridge. Later that day, Greg and I talk a bit. I congratulate him on a good report-BC31 has done that previously on the R5 Project channel. He was telling me that some hikers had also seen the smoke. He felt relief he had seen it before they had-after all, isn’t that why we are paid the big bucks in beauty to report such things? But I can share a sense of relief. No lookout wants to have a smoke reported in his home territory by someone else. It does happen, and not because the lookout is at fault, just when you have someplace between 900 and 1200 square miles of surface area to gaze out closely, you are not going to see every tree out there. My prayer-Lord, don’t let me look too foolish, just enough to keep pride at bay.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Mountain House Beef Stroganoff	Smoked almonds, mixed nuts, cheese

Extra Photo's

Man in the Moon with his mustache

City Lights and Sunset

Animals

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