A couple of months ago in my book group we read a book by James LaPine called Putting It Together. It was the story of how the play Sunday in the Park with George was put together. The second act of the play starts with the characters in the painting saying “It is hot up here!” That is how Sherri and I felt today-it is hot up here in the tower.
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| Gary on the lookout, trying to keep cool |
This is Sherri’s first time up this year. Between having a surgery four months ago and having foot problems for the past two months, she has not been in any condition to travel down 80 steps to go to the bathroom. So this is a big step for her-or should I say a lot of little steps. Got to admire that she even wants to try to do this.
We get our food, gear and
water-particularly the water up into the cab. Just opening up the
cab greets me with a flow of hot air from a closed glass building.
The first thing I do is open windows and get a fan running. I am
thankful we have solar panels to provide electricity for conveniences
like this. Today, I would rate the fan being a necessity.
And now the day starts with going in service with the other lookouts. There are a couple fires left over from yesterday. The first is the Rock Fire, near Buck Rock. Sounds like it is a runaway campfire based upon the size and activity. Various patrols and resources will visit it throughout the day
The interesting one is the Cherry Fire. This is at Cherry Flat, to the southwest of Redwood Canyon. It is on private property, but it is a residue of the KNP Complex fire from last September. From what I am hearing this fire was in a pile or a mound of sawdust. It finally got going after ten months of appearing dormant. This is causing some concern. Park Ridge was able to spot it-that does not surprise me. That lookout spots everything. Interesting way with Park Ridge tackled calling out the smoke. He alerted that a smoke had been seen and an approximate location. This bought him time to get an azimuth as well as a legal location. All in all, this shows what experience will do. As a note, the residents were working on putting it out when Forest Service personnel arrived. But it would take several days of effort to completely remove all of the heat from the sawdust.
A little after 1100, a vehicle fire was called out around Ruth Hill and Indian Guide Roads. Both Park Ridge and Delilah call out, no smoke visible. In our case, Pine and Dude Ridge block our view. Later on, at times I wonder if I can see the faint outline of smoke.
We return back to our normal programming until 1245 when a medical emergency is called out at Jennie Lake-this is where the kids and I went backpacking a couple weeks ago. But even without that point of interest, there is always excitement-maybe the same excitement as rubbernecking an accident on a highway. In this case, it will hold our attention for a lot of the afternoon. Which is good, because it is hot. Div 3 stations people both at Stoney Creek and at the Big Meadows Trailhead to meet the hikers, if they come out. The issue is a 19 year old has been vomiting for most of the night. Both Park Ridge and Delilah see a black helicopter fly by in the direction of the emergency. Park Ridge thinks it turned around at Poop Out Pass. In a few minutes it passes us and flys off in a NorthWest direction.
I am wondering if I should communicate what I saw with someone. So I phoned Park Ridge to get advice. He suggested calling dispatch on the phone and explain what I saw, which I do. A few minutes later, I hear Porterville relaying on to Division 3 what I said. In the meantime, Division 3 has heard directly from H40. So all is good.
Finally at 1543 we hear that the patient is loaded and will be transported out by H40. But then he refuses hospitalization. I do not know how those people in the air or on the ground feel about this, but I feel if the person does not want to be hospitalized, or at least be examined by medical staff at a hospital, why is a helicopter bringing them out? But that is my own thinking and definitely not any official policy.
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| Hang Glider over Sontag Point |
While all of this is going on, we have been doing our lookout stuff, particularly scanning around for smokes. About four miles south of us is Sontag Point-it is right about highway 180. Hang gliders use it to jump off at and float along the warm currents. A lot of times we can catch glimpses of them and we saw one there now. And then we realize that H40’s path seems to be following Highway 180. We get on the radio and call in what we are seeing. They relay it on to Division 3. Judging by the track we see H40 take, they seem to hove a couple of miles off of Sontag. So they must have seen the hang glider. Points for us.
And then the rest of the afternoon is pretty normal, that is except for it being really warm in the cab. But at least the afternoon breezes have come up. It is a hot breeze, but it moves the air. At 1800, we went out of service. We then have our lasagna dinner. Isn’t life in a lookout great?
Well it was, until I received a text from Wendy who asked what was happening in Shaver Lake/Blue Canyon. And just to be clear, what follows is more on me than anyone else. I really should have remembered Kathy’s mantra: Think, Breath, Report. I take up the binoculars and look in that direction, towards the northwest. To set the scene for you, and I really should have taken a picture, during the evenings, shadows really predominate in that area. You will remember a few blogs back about a fire in Auberry which I could not see because of the shadows, same thing here. I see a light cloud of white, then a small patch of solid white. SMOKE! I jump into action and get the information. Looks like it is at an azimuth of 337o 10’ beyond Sacata Ridge, but I cannot see the base. So it is beyond 13 miles. I think it may be in Blue Canyon. Sherri also is looking, but is hesitant about what is over there.
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| AA430 in Flight |
I radio’d in to Sierra what I was seeing. They wondered if it was a CalFire fire at Shaver Lake. No, it is not that far. BC42 gets on the radio with me and questions what I was seeing as well. Rumors had it that there were lightning strikes in the area and wondered if they were the result of it. By this time, what I was seeing disappeared. The conclusion was that a reconnaissance plane, AA430, was sent up.
A little while later, we hear from AA430-it is the first time I have spoken to aircraft as a lookout. The person wanted some information about what I saw and the azimuth, which is what I gave him. He then comes over Delilah and flies the bearing I gave him. He saw nothing. BC42 requests that he continue on to Shaver and Huntington as long as he is up and see if there is anything in that direction. Nothing. In the meantime, I pull a lightning report, with no strikes. I phoned BC42 with that information.
The rest of the evening was pretty calm, with me looking to the northwest occasionally to see if there was anymore smoke. We went to bed around 2100 with no glow in the sky from a fire.
Trail Lesson: Think, Breath, Report.
Extra Photo's
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| Evening sky to the northwest |
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| Evening Clouds over the North Fork of the Kings |
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| Evening Clouds over the North Fork of the Kings |
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| Delilah's flag in the evening |
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| Clouds to the Northeast |
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| Clouds over Park and McKenzie Ridges |
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| Cloud beyond Big Baldy |
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| Mystery Helicopter |
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| Gathering thunderclouds to the northeast |
Animals
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| Young Delilah Doe |
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| Young Delilah Doe |
