September 4, 2020 - Delilah

 

Title: September 4, 2020 - Delilah
Hike Info : Description :   Animals 

Trail head: Delilah Lookout

Hike Info:  Type: Lookout

Description:

Fawn by Delilah

This trip to Delilah may be our last one of the season. In so many ways it was very different than what I was expecting. First we were going up for four days, through Labor Day. Just like we had been doing for the past couple of years. This changed in mid-”flight”. Even though the mountains are busy, Delilah would normally get maybe 5-10 visitors. This year, none will go up the stairs. And then there was the smoke-from many sources/

I got up at 0530. Felt like I could have slept longer.But if we are to get to Delilah by 0900 and go inservice by 0930, we will need to get up soon. I check to see if any lightning happened yesterday in our area: none expected and none reported. Breakfast and finish packing. We leave at 0715 and get to Delilah at 0850.

I go up and sanitize things before we get down to business. Sherri is getting our stuff together to bring up-either via a pulley system or sherpa style. I get to pull stuff up. Kathy has left a note on the door saying that the cab is “certified as being Virus Free by COVID Technologies. Makes me smile. COVID is one of our worries. With the number of people who staff the lookout, chances are someone will. But the Buck Rock Foundation has set up a program of how to sanitize the lookout to minimize transmission. I feel confident.

 

We go into service a few minutes after 0930. I also have an OSHER class-really a book club. We are looking at a book by Catherine Arnold called Pandemic 1918. Sort of self explanatory. Like all OSHER settings this year, it is being held via Zoom. Because Zoom is such a bandwidth hog, I am phoning in. Kay knows we are in a fire lookout and is a bit surprised when she hears my voice. But it gives us an opportunity to explain what we do up at Delilah and where we are at. This will keep me semi-occupied until 1100. Interesting hearing disembodied voices. But good to be able to listen in and join in if I wanted to. While I am engaged in the book club, Sherri is running the lookout.

Our hazy view

 

Ash on solar panels

Most of the rest of the

day is just an effort in peering through haze. We even got a small amount of ash settling on the solar panels. So cannot report any grand vistas or stunning sights. Buck Rock is kept busy relaying messages to those in Big Meadow. They have a direct line of transmission to almost everybody. So we get to eavesdrop. Wendy, around Dunlap, says she has a big black cloud of smoke heading her way. We do not see it as black, just a deeper shade of gray. But Buck Rock does. 

 

 

We usually go out of service at 1800. But we are on extended hours, so we go until 2000. At 1833, we heard a fire toned out in Sierra National Forest. Our ears perk up as I always wonder, did we miss a smoke? Particularly in this haze. But it is nothing visible to us. The fire is a couple of acres at a place called Camp Sierra. This gets us looking around to see where that is-by Big Creek, next to Huntington Lake.

Smoke from SQF Complex

Our light is starting to go down, but the radio traffic on this small fire is picking up. They have named it the Creek Fire. They would like to get a retardant drop in, but it may be a bit late in the day-not enough light. Also they are having difficulties getting down to the fire. There is a bit of tenseness in their communications. But also real professionalism.

 

 

Mt Goddard and Mt Reinstein

 

In a pervasive way, this is better entertainment for our dinner. We continue to scan while we eat. But there is a lot of listening. By 1930, what ability to see we had was fading fast. We go out of service at 2000. We take care of our business downstairs-being thankful for lights on the outside. But the lights are also bringing in bugs into the cab. I guess we cannot have it both ways. We read for a while and then turn in.

Animals