High Sierra Topix

The "Sheep Fire" is south of Cedar Grove, likely to be burning (and continuing to grow?) through all of September. The report says that smoke settles into Cedar Grove at night and mostly lifts during the day.

We're planning a mid-September trip going out Road's End, north up Paradise Valley, and then up to Window Lake and maybe over to Woods Lake.

Has anybody been in that general area recently to comment on how much the smoke is a factor?

Of course changes in wind and unknowns for what happens with the fire in September make the question kind of silly, but I was thinking hearing about current observations might help us figure out if we should have a backup trip planned.

Thanks,

Rich Apple

Last week I did a loop out of Roads End, over Granite Pass, the Cirque Crest High Route, then over Pinchot Pass to exit via Woods Creek trail. On the day we went in, the smoke at Roads End was very thick, and we had zero views looking across the canyon from lower and upper Tent Meadows. But once we got to Granite Basin it cleared up. The next day we had very clear skies over Granite Pass and all the way to Horseshoe Lakes. The next day we had very clear skies over Gray/White/Red passes to Marion Lake. The following day, it was nice and clear until we got to the top of Cartridge Pass (around noon), and shortly thereafter the smoke came up the South Fork canyon pretty quickly and made it very hazy. The next day we had exceptionally clear conditions until we got close to the top of Pinchot Pass, after which it got hazy again. After camping below Twin Lakes, it was nice and clear all the way to upper Paradise Valley, and some smoke (not a lot) blew up canyon. On the final day, it was clear until we reached the flat stretch just before Roads End. When we drove by Cedar Grove, the fire was going strong, with huge billows of smoke going up.

The general pattern in the high country seems to be clear skies the first half of the day, with up-canyon winds bringing smoke in the afternoon.

lambertiana wrote:Last week I did a loop out of Roads End, over Granite Pass, the Cirque Crest High Route, then over Pinchot Pass to exit via Woods Creek trail.

Welcome to HST! Sounds like a great trip...will we get a trip report? Or (I hope) photos?

Welcome to HST!
I look forward to your TR, and pictures, you are posting one, right?

Thank you, lambertiana, for your explanation of the smoke sitch you encountered, and your TR (subject: Cirque Crest/Pinchot loop TR) is great with excellent photos and descriptions of if all, including the rumble-tumble adventure portions. Yikes.

A number of the places I've been to, a number of them I have not. Yet.

Rich