September 21, 2023 - Park Ridge Lookout

Title:  September 21, 2023 - Park Ridge Lookout
Hike Info : Description :  Extra Photo's 

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

Woke up a bit after 0500 and puttered around for a while. It was too late to go back to sleep, too early to get up. I ate breakfast and finished loading the car. Even with the early waking up, I got out a bit late, about 0715. On top of that, I got behind several trucks which slowed me down. Big Stump could not be passed up, after all it is tradition. Then made it to Park Ridge Lookout a few minutes before 0900.

I started lugging stuff up, but paused to take the weather-48^o with 82% humidity. Pretty cool. At least there is no wind. I continue until 0930 when I go inservice. Buck Rock goes in before me. There is about 4 miles of visibility, maybe a bit more north of me. Still pretty limited. I heard Patrol 32 trying to get a hold of Buck Rock. When Patrol 32 could not raise Buck Rock, I tried without success.

I got a couple of scans in. But then at 0952 I called both Ash Mountain Fire and Porterville that I was in a cloud with no visibility. There is a sense of calm when in a cloud. I can see outlines of trees, then they suddenly come into view and then leave. I can see the Grant Grove area mostly, as it comes in and out of view.

I spend the time trying to get a few things done to be productive. Such as Buck Rock contacts me and we go over a few things. Otherwise, I do not think I am successful in this endeavor being able to spot smoke. I do talk with Sherri about some lights which we have up in our backyard. The ones I saw at Costco were similar, but different.

 

 

About this time, I get some visitors, so I stop the chit-cat with Sherri. This is the start of a string of visitors, eleven people in six groups spread from about 1100 to 1500. A couple of middle-aged females from Reedley and Clovis talked with me at length. As they started walking back down the road, they saw me looking around and asked for my picture. I guess I am on the road to stardom. In between, times, I eat lunch, talk with Sherri a bit more, answer a question from Wendy. But there is really no need to do extensive scans-I cannot see anything.

After the visitors leave, I wash the windows. It does not look like it really needed it. But since I did not do it last time I was here, I thought I would relieve any minor guilt I had. (The next day, I noticed in places how streaky I had left it.)

SEKI issues a BOLO. I should have been more alert from the start. When I realized that it was something imported, like a wanted person is in the area, the description had already passed me by. Shortly afterwards, SEKI restricts the command frequency to emergency traffic. This lasts for about 15 minutes. By the way, BOLO means, Be On the Lookout-that should be a fire fire lookout short hand, always.

The clouds have only faked that they would lift. The sun peeks through and then disappears. To the south and west, nothing but shades of gray and white. To the east, I can see a hilltop a mile away. Then to the north, Grant Grove still is hazy, but at least visible. And now it is approaching 1800 and I am going out of service. And as I go out of service, I notice that Buena Vista Peak is now visible.

Dinner is a quiche and biscuit. The quiche is a trial run. My daughter wants Sherri to make them for the day after her wedding. This is to see how they will be as a stand alone fare. It defrosted nicely and tasted like quiche. Probably for dinner, it needed something more, but it would be good for breakfast.

Before dinner I noticed that a pickup had parked by one of the propane tanks and he was working on it. I watched them for a few minutes. After cleaning up the cab, I go down and wander over to talk to him. There are a couple small leaks in the propane lines which he is trying to track down. He was the same person who could not get to Delilah while we were there over Labor Day-he did get there the Tuesday after Labor Day.

His wife was with him. She had not seen a lookout before so I took her up and showed her around. The clouds started to clear up and we were able to see some of the peaks surrounding us. And then the sun started setting, right above the clouds-nice exclamation for the day. This gave Lovewell time to figure out a plan for the leak and get ready to leave.

After that, I walked a little ways and then back. Took some pictures of both the lookout, the evening glow and the night sky. Then it was up to the cab to get ready for bed and my call with Sherri. We talked for almost an hour until 2115. And now to crawl into bed. I must be getting old if a 2115 bedtime sounds attractive.

Extra Photo's