July 2, 2025 = Park Ridge Lookout

 

Title: July 2, 2025 = Park Ridge Lookout

Hike Info : Description :  Menu 

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

The light flashed on this morning in the kitchen about 0515. Korra, Steven’s dog, must have wanted out. After a few minutes the light goes off. Either Korra now has new skills or Steven has gotten up to let her out. I got up shortly afterwards and saw that there was no lightning in our area, but there was some north of Yosemite.

It was then time to get ready to leave as well as have breakfast. I left our house at 0650. Sherri decided not to come up. It has been a hectic couple of days without rest. I understand well. For the most part going to a lookout is mostly a time of peace for me, a time which I can recharge myself.

I get to Park Ridge Lookout about 0830 without issues. The lack of issues then ends up being getting into the lookout. The trap doors are secured through a heavy chain and a couple locks-one for us and one for NPS. There have been improvements made so the door is easier to lift and the chain set up is not as intrusive. But I did not recognize what was being done, so I tried to undo their work until I realized the reality. Not sure I put together everything how it was.

I got in and then made several trips bringing up food, water bottles and personal items for the three days. Even as I go into the cab, I notice smoke coming up from the Big Stump prescribed burn. By the time I got everything up, it was 0905. Time to do the weather. Usually I forget about this until right before I go in service, so getting it done at 0908 is an accomplishment. Even before going in service, I had my first couple of visitors. They are from Mountain View, my home town. Actually, they do not live very far from where I used to live.

I go into service with both Porterville (Sequoia National Forest) and Ash Mountain Fire (King Canyon and Sequoia National Parks) at 0929. The visitors leave and I start doing routine stuff. Or at least try to get into a rhythm to do the routine. I do my scans and then remember to look up the weather online. This is before the 1000 weather and staffing.

It is mostly a regular day. But not quite. On our base radio, we have it scanning several channels. There is a channel, R5 Project, which people communicate back and forth on a bit less formal basis than command. I was not hearing anything on R5. Then when I checked, the indicator was not showing that R5 was being scanned. I asked Buck Rock if she had gotten any traffic from Park Ridge on R5 recently. Yes. I tried to set it up, but the radio would not let me set up the channel. I discussed the situation with Wendy and she came to the same conclusions as I did. Then Greg calls me and we walk through the radio. Same thing. But as I am about to hang up on him, I saw that R5 was chatting on the radio. So the radio is scanning, just not showing.

When I had looked at the NOAA Connectivity chart this morning, it showed that there was a good chance of lightning on the eastern side of the Sierra Crest. But there are clouds which are accumulating beyond Mitchell Peak this afternoon. Around 1435 I got an alert that there was some lightning within 15 miles of Buck Rock. So I notified her. Then a while later there is lightning north of Delilah, which I dutifully notify hat lookout as well. But me? Nothing around me. Around 1700, the wind came up and blew and blew. I got out the andrometer and measured the wind as being 20-25 mph with a few drops of rain. This kept up for at least three hours. I only saw one flash of light towards the end of the evening before I went to bed. But this was a major lightning break. In tomorrow's lightning report there were over 550 strikes in our area and most of them east of Mitchell to the Crest, South of the South Fork of the Kings.

One of the things about Park Ridge Lookout is that it looks straight down on the Big Stump area. Last week there was a prescribed burn there and now a crew is mopping it up, putting out the last vestiges of the burn. I hear the Incident Commander (IC) say that there is some creeping fire, but the lines are holding and there is no smoke. About an hour before I had seen a small smoke pop up for five minutes. So I let them know. I talked with the IC and he thinks it was because a tree had fallen. I told him that I am seeing a light smoke now from around where the dry creek is. About half an hour later, the IC reports he is having 25 mph winds with some snags falling.

Around 1800 I heated up the enchiladas Sherri had in the freezer for lookout. Not bad with the ambiance of looking to the east with the mountains surrounded by storm clouds, but to the east a good view of the Sierra foothills close to me.

Because of the lightning, Sequoia NF has us in service through 2000 instead of 1800. I have already closed the windows and door into the cab and only done my scans from inside. Sherri and Steven are sweating in the Valley below, I am putting on my long-sleeve shirt. At 2000, I go out of service with Porterville. I had already gone out with Ash Mountain at 1751.

It takes me about an hour to get everything settled down. I don't even go downstairs to take care of things as the wind is still blowing hard. But with the cab all closed up, I am comfortable, particularly when I get into my sleeping bag. I talked with Sherri for about 45 minutes before going off into slumberland.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Home	Peanut Butter and Nutella Sandwich	Enchilada	Crackers, granola, jelly belly

August 30, 2024 - Park Ridge Lookout and Hike

 

Title: August 30, 2024 - Park Ridge Lookout and Hike
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking : Lookout

Trail head:  Big Stump Parking Lot

Trail: Book Stump Loop

Destination:  Loop

Distance:  1.74 miles

Start Time: 1:23

End Time:  2:59

Travel Time: 1:35  (1.10 mph)

Moving Time: 1:01   (1.69 mph)

Elevation Rise:  308'

Descent: 289‘

Maximum Elevation: 6,397'

GPS Tracks

Sherri on the trail

Description:

Got up at 0600, probably because I am used to getting up at this time. Last night we got home after 2200 from the theater. The Second Space group put on Our Town and our House Church went to it, including dinner at Cucas. This is a bit late for me, but that is fine. Also Steve from Cambria came over to join us and is staying with us. With all of that I went to bed a bit late.

After I got up, I finished up my notes on John Mark Comer’s book Practicing the Way. It is both a pretty basic book, but one which is a good reminder about what it means to follow Jesus. By the time 0900 rolls around, all of us are up and we head to the Train Depot for breakfast. Satisfying, like always. Enough so, that lunch was not needed on my part. When we get back home, Sherri finishes packing.

Gary on the trail

We are able to leave by 1130. The drive is not bad and we make good time, getting to the Park entrance around 1300. The ranger recognizes the Buck Rock Foundation magnetic sign on the side of the car and waves us through, after we talk for a few minutes. It is great to be recognized like that.

A determined Sherri

We had not decided on what hike to do. But when we stopped at Big Stump, we decided that the two mile loop is good. So down the trail we went. We shortly met a fellow volunteer, V37, who shooed some hikers off of a trail which is being worked on. Then we had a bit of a discussion about various places and the smoke. We each continue on our way, rounding the meadow and going on the featherbed trail. When we get to the Mark Twain Tree , we break for lunch. Sherri actually has lunch, I have a few bites of my GORP. Then onward we go. After crossing the road into the Park, we continued on, at an easy clip. We are maybe a third of a mile from the car, when we see someone stopping a little ways in front of us. When we met him we talked for a bit. His parents are campground hosts at Stoney Creek and he is staying with them. We talked about various places to go to. Sunday they are going to the Buck Rock Open House. Yea!

 

 

It is not much further back to the car. We decided to go to the visitor center and look around for a few minutes. On the way into the Visitor Center, we see some people in blue T-Shirts saying Trans-Sierra

Gary, caught in a time warp

. I recognize this as a group which a friend of ours from church started to bring the outdoor experience to his elementary students. Now one of his people is carrying on. Turns out that Chris is in the group and Mike will be picking them up when they complete their trip going over Whitney. Small world. Chris recognizes my name as we have connected with him via email.

 Into the visitor center we go. Sherri to browse their selection, and I to ask about the Dark Sky Event in a week. They do not have much on the Dark Sky event, except what is on the website. But they are also trying to help some people trying to get to Eshom. I suggest a route, of course, I cannot help myself. After the Visitor Center we went and bought an ice cream bar and split it.

 

 

 

Then it is on the road up towards Panoramic Point. We take the service road over to Park Ridge. We got there about 1620. Nancy has an early morning date at Buck Rock, so she is happy to leave early. Her friend, John from Maryland, sticks around and we talk for a good half an hour about various things.

CoffeePot Fire as seen from Park Ridge Lookout

 Once he leaves, we start hauling stuff up for our three night stay. That is food and water and bags and mats and clothing and our playthings (i.e., computer). Once we get settled in, it is time to do the scans and listen to the radio and keep the logs. At 1750, we went out of service with Ash Mountain Fire. But we will be in service until 2000 with Porterville.

Smoke to the west of Park Ridge Lookout

As the evening progresses, the sun gives a display in the clouds. Also the CoffeePot fire smoke becomes more defined and looking immense. After about 1930, it really is too dark to see smoke from unwanted fires, so I switch over to trying to see if there is any red light which might indicate fire. When I looked towards the south, there definitely was red, a lot of red. We can see the flames and glow from the CoffeePot Fire and it appears to be much larger than I thought. We are looking at it from 20+ miles away and it is big.

 

At 2000, we go out of service and Buck Rock does the same right after us. It takes a little while for us to get situated. So it is after 2130 before we get into our bags and turn off the light.

 

 

 Extra Photo's

Afternoon smoke from CoffeePot Fire

More smoke from CoffeePot Fire

Panorama of the smoke spread

Smoke and Hills

Sherri's selfie

More smoke and hills to the south

 
Flowers and Plants

Checker Bloom

Chinquapin

Indian Paintbrush

Alpine Aster

February 7, 2023 -North Boundary

 

Title: February 7, 2023 -North Boundary

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

Hike Info:

Type: Snowshoeing 

Trail head: Highway 180

Trail: North Boundary Trail

Destination:  Go up the trail as far as we feel like

Actual Destination:  Abbott Creek

Distance:  1.47 miles

Start Time: 1:28

End Time:  3:23

Travel Time: 1.54  (0.78 mph)

Moving Time:  1:20  (1.10 mph)

Elevation Rise:  349'

Descent: 339‘

Maximum Elevation: 6,949'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Sherri-first time on new shoes

Today we had scheduled a day up in Yosemite to take a friend who wants to see the Valley in Winter. But it looks like he has a conflict. So Sherri and I have decided to go to the Grant Grove area instead. We leave about 11:30 and get to the parking area by 1:00. On the way I ask the entry station about getting to Big Meadow. He does not know how long it will be closed, but he thinks it will be a couple weeks still-the area north of Ash Mountain is still a mess.

We eat lunch and do not get started with our snowshoe walk until 1:30. Sherri is on her new snowshoes. After observing my shoes, she got the same model, MSR’s Lightning Trail. We will see how she likes them after our time out today.

 

 

 

 

 

Unbroken snow-our trail

The first obstacle on our walk comes up quickly. The snowplow has thrown up a lot of snow, making it hard to get going. But we do. There is not much in the way of tracks. But I can follow the trail well enough. There is a telltale indention in the snow. Later on the indention will turn into more of a wide shelf which I am able to follow well enough.

Sherri climbing

Also the trail goes up pretty steeply. I am feeling pretty good about how I am going up this. The snow is pretty much settled, so even with my weight, I do not sink down more than an inch in most spots. I guess when the last storm came through last weekend, this area did not get much snow. Sherri is going up a bit more slowly, but she is going up and that is what counts.

We come to one of the forks in the trail. The lower one goes off and eventually meets up with the road up to Panoramic Point. We choose the higher one and continue our progression up. There are lots of downed trees. Most of them are pretty well buried. But there are a few which offer a bit more of a challenge. But we conquer. They only slow our progress.

But what stops our progress is a small tributary of Abbott Creek. There is not much water, but there is a moderate amount of difficulty climbing the far side of the rivelet. We stop, take some pictures, admire the beauty and decide that we did not want to put forth the effort. Besides, we could only go on for another 40 minutes-I had set a 3:00pm turnaround time.

 

 

Abbott Creek

Side trail

Going back down the trail is both faster and easier. When we got back to the junction, we decided to take the other way. The path is a bit harder to follow. But the good thing is that we are on snowshoes. The worst which happens is we follow our tracks back. But evidently I am following the clues right and the path is before us. But after a little ways, so is that tributary of Abbott Creek.This time instead of one side being sheer, both sides are, something like around 4-5’ on each side. Reminder to Gary-pack a small snow shovel. I think we could have gotten over Abbotts by digging steps.

And so we backtrack to the main trail. And now we head back to the car. Not really anything noteworthy, except I notice a few footprints in the snow. Evidently someone had been up a few yards after us. We got back to the car a little before 3:30.

And then back to Fresno. There was a boulder in our lane. When we get cell reception, we call it in to the CHP. We get back home a little before 5. Steven goes out and gets us a Habit burger which gets eaten during the State of the Union address. After all of this, I am a bit tired and ready for my 10pm bedtime.

 
Extra Photo's

Sherri just about back to car

Sherri on the home stretch

Burnt Tree

Sherri avoiding a tree

Icicles over Abbott Creek

Gary by Abbott Creek

Gary by Abbott Creek

Thats the trail

October 18, 2020 - Park Ridge Lookout

 

Title: October 18, 2020 - Park Ridge Lookout
Hike Info : Description :

Trail head: Park Ridge Lookout

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

Morning Light

Last night we stayed overnight at Park Ridge Lookout. Today we will briefly go into service But most of the time will be spent shutting down this Lookout. I woke up a little before 0700. The sun has not topped the mountains to the east. But light has started coming into the cab.

Shortly afterwards, Sherri gets up and we get most of our personal stuff down to the car, leaving only our binoculars and computer-after all, what self-respecting lookout would be caught without their computer? We take the weather, also get the fire weather off of the NOAA site. At 0930, we go into service with limited visibility-about 3 miles. Also a short day. Delilah follows us. Buck Rock comes in a bit later. Sherri gets the staffing from the SQF site while I do our scans.

Smokey Horizon to the West

 

Wendy and BJ have driven up. So the process of shutting down the lookout will start. BJ and Wendy are experienced in this, so Sherri and I assist where we can. Log books are gathered up, clipboards are ordered and put away. Outdoor rugs are removed, and the list goes on. Sherri is mainly involved on this end. Wendy takes us out of service for the seasonabout 1125. Ash Mountain Fire’s dispatch shows appreciation for our season with them.

Locking in the panels

SEKI fire comes up as well. BC-1, Captain 51, and Unit 42 come up to do their part of the close down. The latter are seasonal workers-but they attack this job with energy-not saying the rest do not. The first task is to put up the shutters, Some of the tracks are not set right, so the panels which usually slide right in, have to be wedged in. This makes a tedious task a bit harder. Then the rest of things like removing the water pump, emptying the trash, and removing volunteer access is done. We are all completed by about noon. Enjoyable working together.

 

Draining the Water

After giving BC-1 a thank you picture, we head on down the hill. Wendy and BJ invite us to lunch down in Grant Grove. We have an enjoyable time eating together, discussing various things. The ulterior motive which Wendy had in having Sherri and I help out was to work us into more of a role with Park Ridge, to spread the knowledge. We will see how that part is, but we enjoy our roles as volunteer fire lookouts. It gives us a chance to be outdoors and to give back to the places which has meant so much to us.

Appreciation

 We take off after lunch and head home. Seems strange getting home before 1500 without being smoked out. Now to see if we can get to Delilah before the end of her season!