High Sierra Topix

InciWeb:

The French Fire has burned 13,816 acres of grass, brush and timber understory near Sawmill Road and Wagy Flat, west of Lake Isabella in Kern County and is 10% contained. The fire is exhibiting extreme fire behavior due to dry fuel conditions, gusty winds and long-range spot fires. It is being managed under Unified Command with Kern County Fire Department and a Type 2 Incident Management Team.

Evacuation Order Update: as of 7:30 pm Sunday, August 22, 2021


Mandatory evacuations are ordered for Wofford Heights is on an Evacuation Order, starting at Black Canyon Trail where it turns into Calgary Drive east to Burlando Road where it turns into Wofford Boulevard from the Sequoia Forest Boundary south to Old State Road.

Starting south of the Tulare County border on the west side, extending south to Rancheria Road and follows east to where it turns into Black Gulch. Following Black Gulch where it goes south to 178. Sequoia Forest boundary to Black Mountain is now a part of the evacuation order. East to Black Canyon Trail where it turns into Calgary Drive, north to the Sequoia Forest Boundary. The Evacuation Order extends to Lake Isabella Reservoir and follows Highway 155 to Keysville South. This order includes the following communities: Pala Ranches, Shirley Meadows, Alta Sierra, Slick Rock, Dutch Flat, Isabella Highlands, Wagy Flat, Black Gulch, and Keysville North and South.

Este es un mensaje de emergencia. Para espanol, llame a 2-1-1. Gracias.

If you have physical limitations and require evacuation assistance, please call the Aging & Adult Services hotline at 1-855-264-6565.

If you have an emergency, call 911. If you have any questions about the content of this message, please contact Kern County Information and Referral Services at 2-1-1. Thank you.

The American Red Cross has set up an evacuation center at:
Woodrow Wallace Elementary
3240 Erskine Creek Road
Lake Isabella, CA
https://twitter.com/RedCrossCCR/status/ ... 0088780806

Animal Services will assist with sheltering companion animals at the center.

Visit Kern County Fire Department site for interactive evacuation zone map: kerncountyfire.org


ROADS AND TRAILS CLOSURE (FOREST ORDER NO. 0513-21-25): Sequoia National Forest - Kern River and Western Divide Ranger Districts French Fire Area.


EMERGENCY CLOSURE OF The Keysville Special Recreation Management Area.

InciWeb:

On Sunday evening, winds caused the Walkers Fire to spread north, igniting spot fires further into the Golden Trout Wilderness. Fire officials are focusing their efforts on protecting the historic Quinn Patrol Cabin in Sequoia National Park. Forest Service and Park Service personnel are working side-by-side to coordinate fire suppression efforts across agency boundaries.

Early this morning, infrared-equipped aircraft estimated the Walkers Fire had reached 3,547 acres in size, with 38% containment primarily along the southern perimeter. Five hand crews and four helicopters continue efforts to fully suppress the Walkers Fire. With limited firefighter resources available nationwide, the priority will continue to be public and firefighter safety.

Smoke throughout California has limited aircraft use due to visibility. Fire officials are coordinating with local packhorse operations as an alternative for transporting equipment and supplies to the crews.

The trail into the historic Quinn Patrol Cabin has been closed by Sequoia National Park to stop the public from entering the fire area. Trail closure information is available on their website. https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm

Wilderness trailheads located in Sequoia National Forest near the Walkers Fire remain closed under the Castle Fire Area, Roads, and Trails Closure. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 926055.pdf

Both Sequoia National Forest and Sequoia National Park are open to visitors. Know before you go and check for local fire conditions.

quickly: distant (and not so distant) views were pretty badly impacted on our trip. however, the experience of walking through the high sierra is still one of the best things i know and the smoke concentrations didn't feel particularly harmful.

we could smell campfire in the middle of the night and early mornings a couple times, but otherwise it was mostly a visual thing.

it ultimately felt like a crapshoot -- our clearest air came on the day we descended through evolution valley to the piute creek bridge -- all the way down at 8k! whereas our next night in humprehy's basin was very hazy and exiting over piute pass this morning was the worst of the trip. i'm wishing better air for anyone heading up there soon!

InciWeb:

The French Fire has burned 20,678 acres of grass, brush and timber understory near Sawmill Road and Wagy Flat, west of Lake Isabella in Kern County and is 19% contained. The fire is exhibiting extreme fire behavior due to dry fuel conditions, gusty winds and long-range spot fires. It is being managed under Unified Command with Kern County Fire Department and a Type 2 Incident Management Team.

Evacuation Order In Effect. Visit Kern County Fire Department site for interactive evacuation zone map: kerncountyfire.org

ROADS AND TRAILS CLOSURE (FOREST ORDER NO. 0513-21-25): Sequoia National Forest - Kern River and Western Divide Ranger Districts French Fire Area.

EMERGENCY CLOSURE OF The Keysville Special Recreation Management Area.

InciWeb:

Firefighters were able to increase containment on the Walkers fire to 40% on Monday, lessening opportunity for the fire to spread south. It continues to burn north through drought-stricken brush, standing dead trees, and dead and down vegetation. Mapped overnight by an infrared-equipped aircraft, the Walkers Fire is now 4,448 acres.

The priority is protecting the historic Quinn Patrol Cabin in Sequoia National Park and two private inholdings in Sequoia National Forest. Five hand crews and four helicopters continue efforts to fully suppress the Walkers Fire. Once they are available, local packhorse operations will be added to the fire organization to help transport equipment and supplies to the crews.

The trail into the historic Quinn Patrol Cabin has been closed by Sequoia National Park to stop the public from entering the fire area. Trail closure information is available on their website. https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm

Please be extra cautious with any ignition source. Currently, both Sequoia National Forest and Sequoia National Park are open to visitors. “If we continue to have wildfires similar to what is happening now, it is possible the Sequoia National Forest could implement a full forest closure,” stated District Ranger Eric LaPrice. “Closure of the forest, similar to those in northern California, would be considered due to the extreme fire conditions and the lack of available fire suppression resources.”

The Sequoia National Forest has two closures in effect: Castle Fire area closure in the Western Divide Ranger District and the French Fire area closure in the Kern River and Western Divide Ranger Districts.
Castle Fire Area, Roads, and Trails Closure. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 926055.pdf
French Fire closure https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 945985.pdf
Map: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 946158.pdf

A Quick Update:
We planned 5 days but bailed on day 3 due to increasing smoke and concern for the potential that it might worsen quickly.

- Leaving Lodgepole - hazy sky but good AQI and no smoke detectable by smell
- Silliman Lake first night -- smoky skies to the west but air around us was blue/clear (not classic deep-blue Sierra sky, but not obviously obscured)
- Over Silliman Crest 2nd day, blue sky above and AQI as we hiked was fine. Despite moderate wind all day, entire Tablelands cloaked in haze making it hard to pick out smaller lakes/tarns as we walked along the crest. Visibility nearly zero down the canyons to the north, and we had only ghost-like silhouette views of the Great Western Divide and peaks to the south. Smoke worse to the east and we started to pick up odor of smoke with darker skies as we approached Tableland Pass. Went over Pterodactyl Pass to find brown air to our east. Camped at Lonely Lake, very smoky in the evening with dark orange sun setting over Big Bird Peak. No distant peak views. Smelled smoke all night in the tent, but only mild to moderate and no ash dropping.
- Woke up 3rd day to pale blue skies but a very distinct smell of smoke prompting us to don N95 masks for a bit of a respiratory break. We had planned to continue over Horn Col, Coppermine Pass, Lion Lake Pass, and Lion Rock Pass then return via Kaweah Gap/HST. Although the sky above us was blue-ish, it remained quite smoky especially to the east. Rather than hiking deeper towards bad air with no views, we decided to cut our losses and cut down to the Elizabeth Pass trail from Lonely Lake and head out 2 days early.


As we hiked out the HST on 8/21 the smell of smoke dissipated (or we became used to it?). Views from over-the-hill trail were better than those from the Tablelands, though remained quite hazy. Worst sky to the far east. AQI fairly good by the time we reached Buck Creek though still hazy across the canyon to the south. Alta Peak nearly crisp against a blue sky (by the "new normal" late summer standard, that is!). We considered spending a night at Alta Meadow but it didn't seem a good enough consolation prize for missing 2 nights in the high country and came out via 7-mile hill and Wolverton.

On the plus side, we saw ZERO people on day 1 or day 2, and only a total of 12 on day 3 (7 HST hikers, 2 trail runners on 7-mile hill, 1 day hiker returning from Alta Peak, and 2 girls camped at Panther Gap).

YMMV -- as others have noted, it seems nearly impossible to predict smoke/AQI. After an especially miserable self-evac in terrible conditions last year as the Creek Fire blew up, we decided to err on the side of caution this time. Others might have continued, as the air in our exact vicinity was never terrible.

Cheri

www.reasonnumberseven.com