High Sierra Topix

Hi Paloma,

Here is a current webcam shots from Hume Lake and the Giant Forest in SEKI, the conditions look horrible:
http://humewebcams.s3.amazonaws.com/lake/latest.jpg
https://www.nps.gov/featurecontent/ard/ ... 9577329261

Paloma wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 7:53 am I have not been following the CA wildfire situation as I’m in WA but I have a friend that just left and it headed to Cedar Grove

If you'd leave Washington state to come down here, you're going the exact wrong direction. Your friend sucks at trip planning.

Also, palomas are delicious . One of my favorite drinks.

Lol, Paloma is my dog. She is a beautiful white german shepherd. I’ve never heard of this drink. My friend is nuts! He got an email from whatever agency issued his permit and they didn’t say not to come, just something about only using trails into and out of The National Park and not the forest lands that were closed yesterday.

Wow your friend is in for a rude awakening upon arriving to Norcal/Kings Canyon.

I would have thought that the agency that gave him
His permit would have revoked it but they must be letting people into the park which seems iffy. The weather forecast keeps saying clear skies for Cedar Grove for the next 10 days. I don’t see how that’s possible. We have smoke in Seattle today but that’s probably from fires in WA.

Definitely not clear skies. Check out this map. Dude should cancel that trip.

https://gispub.epa.gov/airnow/?campaign ... 011d1baa44

Also the fire is fast moving, strong winds are in the forecast. Just because you can enter Kings Canyon today doesn't mean that will be true tomorrow. It's not going to get any better anytime soon.

Creek Fire becomes ‘unprecedented disaster’ for Fresno County as it grows to 135,500 acres. (210 square miles)

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/californ ... 55265.html

Created below map in Photoshop this morning from an online UCCE page. Now threatening a lot of lower elevation zones where people have homes.

I hate to say it, but I'm glad it's heading to lower elevations instead of ripping through the wilderness to the East.

Hopefully we can start getting more resources allocated to proactive fire management, more controlled burns etc.

schmalz wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 10:39 am Hopefully we can start getting more resources allocated to proactive fire management, more controlled burns etc.

Not to derail things, but controlled burns are tough. If you light a controlled fire and it gets out of hand, the Forest Service is liable for the damage. If lightning sets a fire, and it wipes out the community, Forest Service doesn't pay a dime. The incentives are all messed up.

Hmmm. I remember Yose doing them all the time, just to clear the underbrush..
Still would be a better option than what is being done now.
And, bring back logging. Loggers seem to do a good job at thinning and underbrush clearing.