August 31, 2019 - Delilah Lookout

Title: August 31, 2019 - Delilah Lookout
Hike Info : Description :  Background : Menu 

 Trail head: Delilah Lookout

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

Mother and Child

Today will be the first day of a three-day stint at Delilah. At least our first day was pretty quiet, but still active enough. I get up at 0540, just before the alarm. Sherri gets up a few minutes afterwards. We make it out the door and out the alleyway pretty much on time. At Clingan’s Junction, we stop at Sherri’s coffee shop but it is really full, so she decides to continue on. Around Davis Road, we see a young buck, but it is picture shy and scurries away fast. And then a friendly, but protective bovine is encountered with her calf. A Ford pickup truck comes out of the Delilah area as we go in-wonder if there is meaning here? Also We get up to Delilah just a few minutes before 0900. This means no rush to go in-service at 0930.

I take the weather while Sherri unpacks. Glancing at our white board, it says that Davis Road is now open, but only to those who have a Forest Service key. Wonder if this means we will be able to walk it this Winter/Spring? (Don’t get your hopes up too much Gary. ( Read the note at the bottom.)

We go in-service without a problem. But internally we have a problem Houston! No Internet-oh catastrophe of catastrophes. One of the luxuries we have at hotel Delilah is for the most part a reasonable Internet. But a good thing about being a former techie, is that I know one how to look in those little cupboards to find things. Yep, there is the Wifi router under the fire-finder. But wait, there is a second one! Our old one is disconnected and a new one is in its place. Evidently it was swapped out. But the kind tech person left the SSID and password on the router for us. I am able to get in. Actually they have a 2.2 and 5ghz networks and I am able to get in for both. In reading through the lookout log, I see that the tech was here Wednesday. Sort of explains things.

But also reading through the log, I come across a reference to a smoke at the : Bailey Bridge. I know about the Bailey Bridge by Bubb’s Creek, but it does not sound like this is the one, since Delilah was asked to check on it. I am thinking it may be near Rodgers Crossing since that is the only other crossing I am familiar with. But there are lots of other places where a Bailey Bridge could be.

After our 1100 Sierra lookout check-in, I asked Buck Rock if they knew either about the Wifi or the location of the Bailey Bridge. No was the answer on both. So I called up Kathy to see if she knew about either of the items. She was surprised by the Wifi and asked me to write it up-I did. But she knew about the Bailey Bridge-widely known (I guess I am still learning). It is not at Rodgers Crossing, but a bit up from it and Camp 4½. It is where the road turns to go into Balch Camp instead of heading up the Kings. We cannot see the bottom there, but if there was a lot of smoke, we might be able to see that. Kathy said that Park Ridge has a good view down into that area. I texted Judy to see if that is the area which she was talking about-yes. Then she called about the WiFi-the person before us was having issues as well.

Meet Celeste, our newest member of Team Duran

I have not introduced our newest lookout member of Team Duran. We are not sure of its gender, but we are calling it Celeste for the time being. We are trying out Celeste to see if it will work out. So far it has done a good job of getting a bit closer to the action than what my old eyes are able to. But it does not really help when the visibility is a bit hazy. So why did we add Celeste to the team? A couple of weeks ago we were looking for a hike and was thinking about going up to Shuteye. Looking at a web site, we saw a telescope in the picture! Aha! That is the reason why Shuteye is so sharp eyed! (They are good for several reasons-accuracy, clarity of reporting, and always on their toes concerning a smoke.).Now to see if it helps our ability to pinpoint a smoke.

As the afternoon progressed, it started to get more hazy, particularly to our south. When the haze comes in, being a lookout is not much fun. Not that a fire lookout is there for the fun. But I get a lot of enjoyment of looking at the trees, paths, ravines and mountains as I look for that telltale sign a smoke provides. When the haze comes in, it is akin to driving with fogged up glasses. You squint and try to make out a different shading of gray among the gray of the haze. All the while, just hoping that you are not missing something.

We are not the only ones. Park Ridge and us had a discussion of what we could see. We both agreed our visibility was decreasing, particularly in the south. But to the north, we can still see OK.

Pre-meal nourishment

We work with Celeste a bit more to see how it does in the haze-just magnifies the haze. It seems like to 20mm lens is the best, the 20mm lens even though has a high magnification, tends to wash out everything. Not good with already issues with the haze washing things out.

The afternoon passes along pretty well-maybe because I took a nap. What will happen when I need to stay awake for a whole shift? Will Porterville be upset if they hear snoring? Some of the reason for taking a nap is that our shift today is a bit longer-until 1900. It is Labor Day weekend and those who have primary concern for the forest want eyes in as many places as they can get during this time of high possibility of fire.

Gary and Dinner-Celeste is on the lookout for smoke

Is Smokey the Bear no longer effective? Some of the radio traffic we heard was for abandon campfires. Not many, yet.

Sherri starts to cook our meal even while we are in-service. It will start to get dark soon after we go out. So getting that done ahead of time is prudent. We actually eat our left-over hamburgers while in-service. Of course, we are looking around for smoke. After cleaning up we go down for personal maintenance. Here we find our friends, the Delilah deer. Then back up into the tower as it is getting dark.

Gary trying to get a hammock to work

Now what will be the sleeping arrangements? We do know where Sherri will sleep-in the bed. But Gary? Steven gave him a hammock for Christmas. So Gary wants to try it out hanging 80’ above the ground. But evidently Delilah is not ready for such a swinger. Gary put it up to its farthest reaches and still his bottom touched the grates of the catwalk. So he gave it up and said he will sleep indoors on the floor.

Night comes and the lights come on in Fresno. There is a sliver of a moon out tonight, so the stars shine brightly. I read for a little while and then fall asleep.

Background

Bailey Bridge. Technically a Bailey’s bridge is not a place but a thing.It was developed in 1940-41 by the British as a pre-fabricated truss bridge which did not need any specialized equipment to put together. It was light-enough to carry in via a truck and put together by hand, but strong enough that a tank could be rolled across it. The bridge type is named for Donald Bailey. See Wikipedia for more.

Davis Road. In talking with Kathy, there seems to be a translation problem. Being “open” really means that if there is a fire or a reason that forest service personnel need to go down into that area, it is available as an access road. It is not open to the general public.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Ate at home	Peanut Butter, Nutella, Chips	Leftover Hamburger-still tastes pretty good.	Jerky, Cheese, nuts