August 14, 2019 - Delilah Lookout

Title: August 14, 2019 - Delilah Lookout
Hike Info : Description :  Background : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals 

Trail head: Delilah Lookout

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

I woke up at 0600 with the sun just beginning to clear the Sierra to the east. I read for awhile, but not moving too fast. Might be because even though my body and mind are awake, my right foot is asleep.Sherri wakes up about 0645. By the time I start making breakfast-oatmeal-it is closing in on 0800. Sherri works on getting the place cleaned up-we have been here two days and it is in need of a bit of tidying.

Our newly charged battery looks like it is going to cooperate this morning. At least the radio turns on and keeps on. We go in service at 0929 and then begins our normal day.

More hummingbirds

One decision-how can you have decisions in a fire lookout? You are in a small room crowded with furniture and no place to go except on the catwalk or down to the bathroom. Anyway, I digress, we have is what to do tomorrow. Originally we were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. But the Wednesday and Thursday person needed to backout, so we offered to take Wednesday if no one was available to take it. We are up here still so nobody took that day. Now the question is do we want to stay up there Thursday? That will sort of does a crimp in going camping Friday through Wednesday. Resources is not an issue. We had prepared for three days. But after the Davis Fire a couple of years ago, Sherri packs a bear canister for dual purposes: to take off on an overnight backpacking trip and as an emergency reserve in case we are held overnight in the lookout.

The debate is on. (What else would we be talking about with little activity around Delilah? Not that life is boring up here, just relaxed-that is until a fire breaks.) The key question is will we enjoy another day up here more than doing other things? While I cannot say yes to this question as to “more”, I can say it is enjoyable being up here. We decide to stay up here, assuming Kathy cannot find anybody else, but only to 1600 at the latest Thursday. I think the two reasons are: 1) we do enjoy it up here; 2) there is a need and this is a means we can service and return what we have been given. So it is not grudgingly given, but more viewed as one of several possibilities. Besides it will be hot in Fresno tomorrow.

There are a couple things which I need to take care of now that we have decided to be here. My brother and I are selling a property which belonged to my parents. Earlier this week we were told it would close Friday. Now it looks like it will close Thursday. There is a paper to sign and services to stop. I am so thankful for the Internet and the services which have developed. The only drawback is that I did not bring the sign-on information up here. But I am able to wade through the DocuSign procedures and sign the paper. Then work through shutting off services for PG&E and the water, sewer and garbage. I feel like I have accomplished something today.

Where's the ssmoke? Haze and ridges blocking view

Besides interspersing the closing of escrow matters with fire lookout duties, it was a pretty routine morning. That is until we hear Park Ridge calling Porterville with a smoke report. Park Ridge nails the report, giving the azimuth, distance, and legal. He even follows it up with the location-one mile west of Highway 245 and Dry Creek Road. As he is giving the location, I start zeroing in on it can I see it as well-Sherri is down stairs taking inventory. I can see where it should be, but there is a lot of ridges which I cannot see behind. So I look and wait and keep on looking. There has been a lot of haze in that direction which will mask any smoke. Still I look. After a couple of minutes, there is a puff of smoke which appears-later I have questions about what I am seeing. I get the azimuth, but cannot determine the distance as the puff has disappeared. After Porterville has called out everybody, I give a confirmation of seeing the smoke with the azimuth. I never see the smoke again. But I do a play-by-play action for Wendy so she knows what is going on usually she is glued to the radio and would know by now, but she decided to do some shopping-imagine that, having a life?

Smoke as seen from Park Ridge - Photo by Greg G.

We talk with Kathy about our decision and I go over the that we will vacate by 1600-she is OK with us leaving earlier if we need be. She has concerned about us being cooped up in solitary for four days, but we should do OK. Also told her that the batteries seem to be doing good. Talked about Park Ridge’s fire and she is delighted in how things went there.

The rest of the afternoon is pretty quiet-sort of seems to be the theme doesn’t it? I finish charging the rest of the batteries. But they are not needed as the “New Battery” is holding its charge. I type up Sherri’s inventory list and send it off-Delilah will need certain essential supplies in a couple of weeks, like toilet paper. I also finish up cleaning windows-a task I started yesterday. All the while Sherri and I keep watch.

There is one thing of interest to us. Shuteye Lookout reports a smoke which looks like it is coming from the footprint of an earlier fire called the Peak Fire. Wherever this is, it is north of Shuteye and definitely out of our viewing area. Mt Tom can also see it and confirm. It is fun and interesting hearing the interaction and coordination between the two lookouts. This smoke is causing enough concern that they are sending people up there to investigate. I think I am remembering this correctly, also the helicopter out of Trimmer is being sent up to do a recon. Eventually the coordinates are given and we can place where the fire is-on the flank of Madera Peak, next to Yosemite and Vanderburg Lake. This is where we had been thinking of going camping. So this will give us cause to consider.

Park Ridge calls after 1630 and says that he sees a bit of smoke from the Needle Dump, but it is pretty light. We start looking in that area. After awhile we think we see some smoke there, rising just above the ridge. We talk with Park Ridge, but he does not think so as the smoke is very light-he sends a picture to show what he is seeing. We take another look and decide it is some grayish-silver looking trees and brush which we may be seeing.

Left is as we saw it; right is filtering out the haze

Sunset over Pine Flat

By now, it is time to start closing up the lookout as 1800 is closing in. Sierra does their lookout checkout out and we go out of service with Porterville. Now it is time to eat and relax. It is the freeze dried beef stroganoff from Mountain House. It does taste better backpacking, but neither is it the throat gagging, retch inducing thing called turkey tetrazzini. Definitely not worthy of pictures tonight-I guess we have not had any dining pictures this trip.

Once again, time for the trip down to the outhouse. But this time we are a bit slower. There is Delilah Doe and three fawns wandering around. They get startled by us and disperse. But we see a couple of them hanging around. So we watch them as they watch us. Back up in the tower, we get ready for bed, but not until we play the game of what are we seeing in Fresno. We decide that some of the lights are not the SaveMart Center, but what is it? Maybe they are more on the Barstow side. By the time we get down and I finish reading it is 2130 and I am falling asleep.

Background

Legal. This is a system marking land which goes back to Thomas Jefferson. It essential marks off from a set point, called a Primary Meridian, a series of 6 by 6 mile tracks, divided up into 1 mile squares. Each 6x6 square is designated by how many sections north or south it is from the Primary Meridian. This is called Township. The east and west designation is called a Rane. Each 1x1 square is called section. So a legal definition would be T12S R26E Section 5.

Park Ridge. Later that day, Greg and I talk a bit. I congratulate him on a good report-BC31 has done that previously on the R5 Project channel. He was telling me that some hikers had also seen the smoke. He felt relief he had seen it before they had-after all, isn’t that why we are paid the big bucks in beauty to report such things? But I can share a sense of relief. No lookout wants to have a smoke reported in his home territory by someone else. It does happen, and not because the lookout is at fault, just when you have someplace between 900 and 1200 square miles of surface area to gaze out closely, you are not going to see every tree out there. My prayer-Lord, don’t let me look too foolish, just enough to keep pride at bay.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Mountain House Beef Stroganoff	Smoked almonds, mixed nuts, cheese

Extra Photo's

Man in the Moon with his mustache

City Lights and Sunset

Animals

What'cha looking at?

June 26, 2018 - Delilah Lookout

Title: June 26, 2018 - Delilah Lookout
Hike Info : Description : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: _Delilah Lookout

Hike Info:

Type:  Lookout

Description:

 Today is the first of three days up at Delilah Lookout. We were up there once this year, for a day, so we have a mixture of excitement to be back up there and the question of, are we really ready to spend three days up there. We leave Fresno about 0725, a bit later than expected, so when we get to Delilah, we will be rushing a bit. We get to the lookout a bit late-0910, so rush to get set up for our 0930 check in with both Sequoia (Porterville) and Sierra National Forests(SNF).

We take our weather readings, checked the various logs and see in general, what the state of the lookout was. Normal stuff. 1000 comes and Porterville gives their weather and staffing. I have a page where I get to what they read for their report, but we need to take the staffing over the air. Such a hard life.

Delilah Springs Road closed due to falling logs

There are some fires in SNF land, but well outside of our visual. But one fire which is affecting is is the Lions Point fire in SNF near Mammoth, about 55 miles away. We could see the area last week when we backpacked to Vanderberg Lake, but did not see any smoke there. But today there has been a pretty good haze, limiting visibility. At one point, there was a big smoke cloud coming down both the Middle and South Forks of the Kings. I called over to Buck Rock to see if there was something happening up their way. no-she sees the cloud, but thinks it is from the Lions Point fire.

Delilah View of Dunlap Fire

There was a sound from Porterville which got our hearts beating-three beeps. This means that a fire is being called out. Then we heard where it was-just six to eight miles from us! We hear P31 report that he saw a fire on his way in. We cannot see it, not even the smoke from it. Pine Ridge is between us and the fire. But Park Ridge Lookout calls in a confirmation. Pretty soon we hear the area fire crews responding to the incident. There is a plane-not sure what plane I am seeing in the area, so I phone Porterville dispatch and tell them. They are pretty sure it is one of theirs. The plane is right at ridge line, so we cannot see the insignia’s. After an hour, or maybe more, they get the fire out. Back to the routine of being a lookout, not that we were involved, nor did we stop observing our area.

Can you see the smoke? Look above the dead tree in center right. View from Park Ridge Lookout, Courtesy of Wendy Garton

Spotter Plane from Delilah Lookout

 At 1100 we do the SNF lookout check-in. No problems with the radio battery. In past years we have had a lot of issues where SNF could not hear us because the battery would go dead when we checked in. This is a good sign for this year.

A little while later, we see a truck come up the road. Looks like it is ready to do business, since there is a ladder and other maintenance gear in it. It is Mike-we meet him last year. He is here to check on a couple of things. First, one of the camera’s has gone out.We talk about about the solar panel situations and the charging/discharging patterns. He particularly wants to know what is plugged in at night. Really not much. Since no one was here last night, maybe a clock was on, the web cameras (which he says are automatically powered off at night), and the wifi. This puzzles him-he thinks that maybe a battery is going out. During the day the panels are charging up OK, but at night, the voltages drop considerably. We also talk about the phone situation. He thinks that since the phones are VOIP, the phones dropping or having poor connection maybe due to traffic on the network connection. By the time we get done talking, it is approaching 1400. Mike’s next stop? Mammoth to put in some cameras to monitor the Lions Point fire. I have learned a great deal about how the network Delilah is set up with.

Around 1300 two vehicles come up the road and park below the tower. A couple guys get out and they ask how to get to the Kings River? You have to go around Pine Flat Dam as Davis Road and other roads in the area is closed. They are not satisfied. They say their friend has a gold mine close to Davis Flat and trying to get there. But it has been many years since they were there and not sure of its exact location. I told them all roads into the area are closed and they really should check with the Hume Lake Ranger District about how to access their mine. They mumble and go off. I am assuming that if there is an active mine in the area, it is not a gold mine. According to some notes I have about Sampson and Davis Flats, there was some quartz and placer (gold) mines in the area. But they are all closed down.

Cloud watching

By the way, while I have been goofing off, Sherri has done the routine stuff like doing scan’s, taking weather readings and listening the the radio. Also there was a report of some missing personal keys, so I went down to look for them with no success.

Then Kathy comes up. She is the head of Buck Rock Foundation and we have been expecting her. The word of warning: beware of head of foundations bearing gifts, they may be wanting something, or could be a genuinely nice person. In this case it is the later. Kathy stayed with us pretty much all afternoon. I went over some of the the things on my Delilah useful links page. Also we talked about various things affecting the lookout. She also went through some of the refresher material to make sure we were familiar with them.

Lowering the flag

One of the things which we do in the lookout is observe changes in weather. Being mostly a cloud free day, when a cloud pop’s over Park Ridge, we take notice. In this case, the cloud was of unusual shape and we try to imagine what it is-I think it is a cow with horns. When I posted it on Facebook, I got lots of answers, such as a CareBear, a genie, The Hulk, and many others. A friend posted that it looked like the final cloud from the space shuttle Columbia disaster-it does, and that really sobers things up here.

 

Dinner with a view

 

A little after 1700, Kathy left. We did a few more scans and then. It was time to go out of service with both SNF and Porterville at 1800. It has been a busy day, But there is some compensation for the hard working volunteers up in the tower: there is no place in Fresno to eat which has a better ambience for eating than we have up in the lookout. Just spectacular as the sun sets, turning the skies red, watching the lights come on. Wonderful. We get to bed around 2030 and turn off our devices around 2115-Sherri in bed, looking out across the Mill Flat Creek drainage at the rising moon and I on the floor. What a good life.

Animals

Western Taneger

Western Taneger

 
Flowers and Plants

Butterfly Mariposa Lily

June 19, 2018 - Vanderberg Lake to Fernandez Trailhead

Title: June 19, 2018 - Vanderberg  Lake to Fernandez Trailhead
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons :  Menu : Extra Photo's :  Flowers and Plants

 Trail head: Vanderburg Lake

Hike Info:

Type: Backpacking

Trail: Lillian Lake Trail

Destination: Fernandez Trailhead

Distance:  4.71 miles ¹

Start Time: 10:31

End Time:     3:10

Travel Time:  4:39 (1.01 mph)

Moving Time:   2:43 (1.73 mph)

Elevation Rise: 446 '

Descent: 1,637‘

Maximum Elevation: 8,232'

GPS Tracks

 ¹Because of some confusion of where I was in relationship to Rose and Sherri, I backtracked about a quarter mile to see if I had missed them. Also as a note, someplace on this hike, the elevation readings were dropped. So the elevation information is off of Google Earth’s estimates.

Distance:  5.15 miles

Travel Time:   4:39 (1.11 mph)

Moving Time:  3:01 (1.71 mph)

Elevation Rise:  571'

Descent: 1,762‘

Description:

Got up 7:45. I must have been somewhat rested as I woke up several times last night and stayed awake for awhile. Nothing profound. I had a short quiet time and then went exploring about how to get across Madera Creek. Had our breakfast and then got things packed. Evidently breaking camp is not our specialty as it took us until 10:30 to hit the trail.

Rose Log Crossing

From my earlier scouting of the area, I thought I had a plausible way across the creek without taking off boots. But I seem to have misplaced it. Am I getting that old? This is the third time this summer which I was not on the ball in my navigational skills.

Rose and Sherri and a steep place

We do cross Madera Creek safely: Sherri and I rock hopping; Rose doing a high log balancing act. We are downstream a little ways from the trail, So I propose we head up the slope and then angle over to get to the trail. We do this without too much struggle, and nor buck brush or manzanita. The trail comes up shortly and we are almost at the top of a ridge.

From the top of the ridge, we lookout over where the waters drain into the San Joaquin River. This includes the areas where we have hiked, but also views all the way to the crest of the Sierra. After returning, we see that there was a fire called the Lion’s Point fire straight across from us. But we do not see any smoke with our naked eyes or later on our the pictures. Mt Ritter is still with us, but not for long.

Lion's Point Fire Location

As we descend, we realize how steep the ascent was. We also get into more the meadows which we passed up earlier. There are two things which really impress us about these meadows, first is the variety of flowers in bloom, Particularly the Hartweig Iris seem to be all over the place. The second is the abundance of mosquitoes which have found us so quickly

View of the Sierra Crest

After a quick stop to film the flowers and meadows before the mosquitoes get to me, I take off and catch up with Rose. She wants me to pass her-I guess it is a bit intimidating to have this huge person pondering dirt right behind you. I think Sherri is in front of me, so I hurry a bit to catch up with her. It feels good to stretch out my legs a bit and the general direction is down, not steeply. So I do pretty good. After going on close to an hour, there has been no sign of Sherri, which gets me to thinking, where is she? I hit the junction with Lillian Lake and decide to continue on down to the Norris Trailhead junction. Still no Sherri. So I drop my pack and head backpack and head back to the previous junction and wait.

One of many meadows

After waiting there for awhile, Rose and Sherri appear. Where has Sherri been? Well when I was talking my pictures, Sherri was actually behind me. So when I took off, I lost both of them. They were wondering what happened to me and now they know! I was looking for them and they for me.

We had a few snacks. A few pictures on top of a small rise and we got our final view of the tip of the Sierra Crest. Just a good way to say goodbye to the area. And then we were off. It was about another mile and a half down to the trailhead. But it seemed like it took us awhile to o this easy downhill. May have been the heat. But we got back to Rose’s vehicle at Fernandez Trailhead in good shape and good spirits.

The drive back was long, but not as eventful as the drive to the trailhead. We stopped at El Cid’s for dinner. Sonya met us there and we had a pleasant conversation. Then went across the parking lot to Remier’s for ice cream. A good way to end a trip.

Trail Lesson: You never know how bad of a climb it was until you come down it. Sherri

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Ritz Crackers,  Peanut Butter, Nutella	El Cid restaurant Reimer’s ice cream	Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scratch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly

Extra Photo's

Mt Ritter

Gary, the missing hiker

Unnamed meadow

Unnamed meadow

Snow patch

 
Flowers and Plants

Lupine

June 18, 2018 - Vanderburg Lake to Lillian Lake

Title: June 18, 2018 - Vanderburg Lake to Lillian Lake
Hike Info : Description :  Background : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Vanderburg Lake

Hike Info:

Type:  Backpacking

Trail: Lillian Lake Loop

Destination: Lillian Lake

Distance:  4.01  miles ¹

Start Time: 11:05

End Time:     4:53

Travel Time:   5:47 (0.69 mph)

Moving Time:  3:21  (1.20 mph)

Elevation Rise:  777'

Descent: 756‘

Maximum Elevation: 9,030'

GPS Tracks

 ¹We lost the trail-see below. I went looking for it. 
The data below includes my wanders when we were off the trail.

Distance:  4.38  miles

Travel Time:   5:47 (0.76 mph)

Moving Time:  3:41  (1.19 mph)

Elevation Rise:  879'

Descent: 808‘

Vanderburg Lake

Description:

I woke up at 6:30 and got up by 7:00. It seems a bit warmer with no wind, but there is a lot of moisture on the inside of the tent’s rain fly. Guess we sweat a lot when we sleep.

After doing my morning business, I went for a wander. The wander took me to the inlet of the lake, on the northern shore. This is part of Madera Creek which comes from Lady Lake. There is a nice big campsite there-probably a packers site. I had my quiet time there, continuing in Psalm 119. A place to meditate and think.

Madera Creek

Vanderburg Lake

When I got back to camp, Rose is up by the lake and Sherri is getting up. No rush to get going. We have decided to do a day hike to Lillian Lake.

Mt Ritter

We get out of camp around 11:15. We head up the same trail we did yesterday, towards Lady Lake, but instead of turning, we go straight at the junction. Now about 30 yards from the junction, we head up what looks like a sandy trail. After awhile it peters out and we start following false leads. I finally head out, scouting for the trail. After covering much ground, I do not find the trail, but get an idea where it is going. So I get Sherri and Rose and we set out across some granite slabs. It actually is pretty nice walking, at least I think so. We climb up, taking our time. Shortly after getting to the spot where I had previously been, we spot the trail.

Clouds to the east

Little Dam at Lillian Lake

Shortly afterwards,we go over a saddle and drop into Staniford Lakes. I was calling it Stanford, but discovered the error while researching the name. The trail meanders around some of the lakes, making for some pleasant walking, if it was not for the winged, blood sucking, swamp inhabitants. When we clear the lakes, and most of the mosquitos, we stop for lunch out on a small point, and in the shade. A late lunch, but when you start as late as we did, a late lunch is what we get.

The trail starts up a ridge of about ¾ of a mile. While an exposed trail and we are in the afternoon sun, there is compensation-the views. That is we are able to see across to Mt Ritter and up the San Joaquin River. But we do not spend much time view chasing, at present.

After topping the ridge, we descend into the outlet creek for Lillian. Soon we get to the lake itself. Rose notes a small retaining wall, probably a small dam to raise the lake level. Was there mining around here? So easy to only see what is here now and not the past. I need these reminders that everyplace has its own history, even if it is not in book form.

Lillian Lake

One of the Staniford Lakes

Lillian Lake is pleasant enough to look at. I would not mind camping here. But yesterday's lakes were more pleasant and refreshing to me. We stay around for about half an hour, relaxing. Sherri thinks this is where she, Andrea and Steven put out a fire several years back. 

 

Coming back, we mostly retrace our steps, with the exception of our little cross country excursion. Those views which we did a cursory glance at before? We now spend the time examining. We can see where the JMT goes and the Red Cones by Red’s Meadow. To the south, one of the small knobs in the distance may be Mt Goddard, a point I look for whenever possible. Many pictures are taken, which do not capture the grandness of what we are seeing.

Which way would you go?

We do see a couple people before returning to camp. I also intentionally lag behind-unlike my normal slowness of late. I am interested in seeing where I went on the wrong trail this morning. I cannot say I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

Once back at camp, we do not disturb a whole lot. Water is drawn, mosquitoes are swatted and relaxing begins. A group or two pass us by. Dinner of Beef Stew is cooked and devoured. Rose, Sherri and I talk for awhile before heading to our tents for another night of restful sleep.

Background
Andrea says the fire really was at Staniford Lakes.
It was a single tree,which probably had been struck by lightning two weeks before.

Also as a fire note, the Lion's Point fire had been burning since the start of June. This was pretty much in line of sight with the Red Cones area. But looking at the pictures, there was not a sign of smoke. Shortly after we were there, the fire exploded into a multi-thousand acre fire.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang. .	Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Mountain House Beef Stew	Clif Bar, GORP, Scratch, Coffee Candy

Extra Photo's

Sierra Crest

Southeast along the Crest

Rose and Gary in his Angle of Repose

Lillian Lake

East looking. As a note: The Lion's Point fire happened in the center left of the picture

Lillian Lake

Gary and the Mountains

East towards the Sierra Crest

East towards the Crest

Animals

Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeak

 
Flowers and Plants

Penstonmon