Gary-Summer: September 22, 2019

Sunday, September 22, 2019

September 22, 2019 - Delilah Lookout

Title: September 22, 2019 - Delilah Lookout
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Delilah Lookout

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

Woke up at 0500 and the stars are still out the moon directly overhead gazed at it for a while and then fell back asleep. Then woke up around 0630 and the sun was just making itself known, as the edge of the Sierra, had a bit of gold on it. I watched the sun getting up from the comfort of the bed, having had a good night sleep last night. When the sun finally picks its way over the crest of the Sierra, I got up and went down to the bottom of the lookout to take care of business.

Deer keeping guard

I went for a short walk down the road, a little bit past where I went last night. Actually went up the other side of the saddle towards Delilah Mountain, but not nearly up to the top. The sun was just catching the foothills to the west of us. It was a good sight to see the hills golden with dried grass-from a beauty perspective, not a fire fighters dream by any stretch of an imagination. On my walk I saw a couple large hoof prints, and was thinking I have not seen a deer this size around here. How long will this buck would last with a hunter's around? But then as I walked further I realized that was no deer that was just the heel of my tennis shoe from last night's walk. Still there was plenty of other tracks which were not my own.

Delilah from the White Deer Road

I came back had my granola breakfast and got ready for the morning. I filled out the forms for the day and read a bit. Then 0930 comes around and it is time to go in-service. Today turns out to be mostly a normal, uneventful day at Delilah. Another day of no visitors and little interaction with the outside world. This is not a thing which I am going batty over. More of a statement of condition. I am content with both solitude and company. The solitude seems more real with Sherri away.

There is radio chatter, which is pretty light, which I try to key in on things which affect the Hume Lake Ranger District. But even then there is not much.

Ants going up the repeater antenna

How much more local can things be besides right here at the tower? Or maybe it is a sign of isolation. When I am doing one of my scans, I notice that there is a line of ants going up the repeater antenna. As I gaze at them, I see they go all the way to the top. Several questions form: What is so attractive that they go all the way up at least 10’ above the top of lookout? What are they doing up there? And why did they travel 80’ up just to go up another 15’? This is all a mystery to me.

About the time I go in service, a copperish red vehicle comes down the road and parks at the White Deer Road Junction. I do not seem them getting out. About 20 minutes later, there is a single gunshot to the west of the lookout. Deer hunting season does not start until next weekend, so I wonder if I have mis-read an email? But dove/quail and squirrel season is going. So it may be that. All is quiet again. That is until 1050 when another single gunshot is heard. All is quiet again, except for the sound of a falling tree. About two hours later, another single gunshot. I am left wondering what they are doing. At 1540, two men get back into the vehicle and drive away.

Hoffman Mountain and Finger Rock

Shortly after that, will listening to Porterville’s indices and weather, there is an interruption in the broadcast. There is a call out for a fire, the Crow Fire. Wonder where that is? Then I hear resources from Delilah’s area being called out and I really wonder where it is? Where is the smoke? Why am I not seeing it? I look at Sequoia NF’s incidents and find it is along Sand Creek. For the most part that area is behind Pine and Dude Ridges, a whole swath of area which I cannot see. Helicopter 520 from Sierra is called out and I finally get a real location. Even though it is only 10 miles away, it is behind Dude Ridge. I am content to listen. Both Buck Rock, Park Ridge and I talk about what we are seeing and not seeing.

Omelette Dinner

It looks like there is still not anybody to come in Monday. Sherri and I talk about it and decide that I can stay up at Delilah one more night. So I talk with Wendy-she was assurances that it is OK all the way around. It is. I do like staying up here.

So I go out of service at 1800. Time for dinner-an omelette and muffin. Simple, easy and tasty. I am content as I watch the sun lower in the sky. I make my trip down the stairs for the evening and go for a walk. Not far, just enough to stretch out my legs. The sunset is just fabulous. The reds, oranges, purples stand me in my tracks. And then I am back in the tower. After talking with Sherri and reading for a bit, I am lulled asleep by the deepening night skies and the shows the stars. They hang over Delilah, protecting her.

Trail Lesson:

A bit of a long lesson, somewhat allegorical. At a lookout, you can see a long ways off, over a vast area. On a normal day, you have about a 20 mile radius of vision-that is 1,200 square miles of territory. You think that you can see everything. Then something like a fire happens close by on the other side of a large ridge and not even a smidgen of smoke can be detected. So can I see everything?

I am up at the lookout alone, so it gives me time to reflect. Today’s fire gave me some ideas of We think we see everything clearly and so are sure we have the answers to all questions. But like a lookout with a ridge, we cannot even see a close by fire. Maybe at times I need to look on the other side of the ridge and observe the landscape from the perspective of someone I disagree with. See what they see, hear what they hear. Will my basic take on things change? Probably not. But maybe I will add a layer of understanding and accommodation to my thinking.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Ritz Crackers, Tortillas, Peanut Butter, Nutella		Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scratch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly