The wildfires

[Ulu]

The wildfires are growing up around the giant sequoia forest. The rising sun was blood-red Weds morning. I hope they can get this under control soon, but the best thing would be if it would rain.



I was standing in line outside the DMV when the wind shifted and all that smoke started catching people. Smells exactly like a redwood barbecue.

In fact I immediately thought that it smelled just like being right there in the giant sequoias, because there is always controlled burning of the smaller foliage.

At least we’re not having a volcano like La Palma. I don’t care how much my wife loves California, if one of these mountains behind us starts spewing lava, I’m going to leave.

A lot of redwood trees might burn up there around the giant forest, but I don’t think there’s any real danger to the giant sequoia. They have survived huge fires every hundred years or so and they are 3000 years old.

 

[pacu mom]

I was wondering today how the big guy (General Sherman Tree) was doing.

Really ugly fire just north of Redding, CA. The Fawn Fire supposedly is the highest priority fire in the nation right now. We are very familiar with the area, as we have spent the majority of our summers there for the last 21 years. The owner of the RV park where we set up our summer "camp" each year was probably up all night monitoring the situation. He finally got all the guests evacuated last night. Even though we ended our summer a month early due to low lake levels, we are not quite completely out of danger as our travel trailer is winterized and stored with an RV dealership which is under evacuation warning.

2021 has been a bad summer for drought, low lake levels and numerous fires. There were hardly any times that we drove to the lake and could see Mt. Shasta. Not that there was anything to see. The mountain lost its spectacular covering of snow due to drought conditions and lack of snow the previous winter. A lot of people don't recollect seeing Shasta without snow.

In 2018 we had to make a mad dash to our summer camp because of the Carr Fire (229,659 acres). We were prepared to evacuate our boat/truck and travel trailer (same camp that was evacuated last night because of the Fawn Fire). One day we launched our boat at the dam where it was really smoky. We learned later that they had done back burns to stop the Carr Fire from advancing. We drove a long ways from where we launched to get away from the smoke. Instead of clearing up, it got more and more smoky. We had driven up the McCloud Arm of the lake right to the beginning of the Hirtz Fire (46,150 acres).
We played until the smoke was down to the water and then we called it.

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Not much fun when the air quality is so poor.


Our 2018 summer was cut short because of the fires and smoky conditions. The day we broke camp and headed home, the Delta Fire (63,311 acres) started right off I-5 probably about 30 minutes after we passed through.

Last year the ugly Slater Fire (166,127 acres) threatened our area. The community 9 miles away was evacuated, and we were on evacuation alert - be prepared to leave. The sky was an eerie color, the smoke was thick, and ash rained down on houses and cars for several weeks.


Yup, I'm sick of fires. When we were on evacuation alert - be prepared to leave - I had to quickly decide what was truly important and what I could walk away from. It was a good exercise in quickly prioritizing my life.

 

[Ulu]

Well I am glad to hear that you guys are not being evacuated.

The wind shifted again, and my workshed is filling up with the smoke from the redwoods. This is the third or fourth day that we’ve had severely bad air quality on a spotty basis.

It changes as the wind shifts up and down the Sierra Nevada.

I have never seen Mount Shasta without snow on top. OMG! It has been maybe 7 years since I was in the area.

 

[pacu mom]

Old picture from December 2010


This was July. It wasn't much long after that the tiny bit of white was gone.



There was a little bit of rain last Saturday, and Shasta being in its own unique universe got a light dusting of snow. It made our hearts sing.

 

[Ulu]

My truck is covered in ash every morning. I quit washing it because of the drought.
We caught some random raindrops here. Just enough to make the truck look really bad.
Like a map of mars.

I'm charging up the electric boat batteries. My fishing buddy wants to go and so do I.
But Hume lake is right there in the Sequoias. Closed until it rains I suspect.

I've been dying to take the e-boat there. It doesn't allow engines. Electric or paddle only.

Not gonna happen this year. Either Pine Flat or Shaver Lake for us.
I don't expect fishing to be great. Probably get gassed.

 

[pacu mom]

My truck is covered in ash every morning. I quit washing it because of the drought.
We caught some random raindrops here. Just enough to make the truck look really bad.
Like a map of mars.

I'm charging up the electric boat batteries. My fishing buddy wants to go and so do I.
But Hume lake is right there in the Sequoias. Closed until it rains I suspect.

I've been dying to take the e-boat there. It doesn't allow engines. Electric or paddle only.

Not gonna happen this year. Either Pine Flat or Shaver Lake for us.
I don't expect fishing to be great. Probably get gassed.

Sounds like a whole lot of fun. In spite of low lake levels, and smoke filled skies many days from all the fires, we still had fun on the lake. Lake was too low to go to our favorite area, but we got to wake surf. We quit a month early because of low lake levels, and the boat was winterized and back in our garage by mid-August. People have been kayaking through old railroad tunnels that lie submerged in the lake but are now exposed, but that is not our thing. We go to wake surf, and if we spot a bald eagle or two, that makes the day better. On my last run of the summer, I wake surfed for 13 1/2 minutes, savoring the time behind the boat and knowing I wouldn't get to do again until next summer (hopefully, if there is water in the lake and I am not too decrepit at 73)


We had the ash, too, from the Slater Fire last year. It was a waste of time and energy to wash our vehicles.

 

[pacu mom]

Some of the numerous fires impacting air quality in northern CA this summer, including the ugly new Fawn Fire