Memorable Sierra experience

At the weekend's wonderful Sierra Nevada Alliance annual meeting, I was taken by one of the questions posed to a panel: 'what was your first memorable Sierra experience?'

There are so many Sierra experiences + memories and they continue daily. My first one was in the summer of 1977. I had just started my first 'big pay' job with PG+E and took a summer break before the job started, and backpacked deep into Sequoia National Park, you know - home of the giant trees.  My goal was to cross over 100 miles of wilderness to the John Muir Trail and get some Golden Trouts.



A bit of background may help here:  I had spent the previous 5 years in Laramie Wyoming (U of Wyo Cowboys) and every weekend I went backpacking, climbing and fishing into the Snowy Range close to town and did extensive mountaineering in the Tetons, Wind River Range, Yellowstone, etc.  So long backpacking trips was my forte. Looking at the national park map and seeing the vast unspoiled wilderness made me more comfortable after experiencing the congestion (relative to Wyoming) of the Bay Area.

I remember how amazing it was seeing my first giant Sequioa. Nowadays, they almost look 'normal'.

What made this trip so memorable is my getting cited on the second day by a Forest Ranger for not having a permit.  I was dumbstruck and naive.  I said to the ranger ' i need the state's permission to walk on god's earth?'  He laughed and we started talking and I got a quick introduction and learnings about 'wilderness' in California.  What a difference compared to Wyoming 'wilderness'!
Since then I've pulled a few permits - mostly for peak bagging - and stay away from overused trails that require day permits.

I never did make it across to the Golden Trout Area and the John Muir Trail (i finally did get there in 1998), but I fell in love with the Sierras.  They were WAY more friendly (weatherwise) than the Wyoming Rockies, and in California I eventually needed more time away from people congestion and the Sierras were the perfect antidote.

Eventually I settled on the Carson Range and that's right next to where WinSol3 is - outside my backdoor... pinch me!

Fire in the hole

Once again fire has gripped 7L.  This is the third major fire in the last 10 years.  All man made, all on the property.  The first was from forestry slash piles after logging, the second was the 2001 WinSol2 burning, and now the storage shed and other minor structures. Perhaps there's an ancient curse somewhere close-by in the National Forest that used to be home to Maidu tribes.   Then again, between all these fires on the east and south, and my thinning and burn piles on the West... there's nothing left to burn!

Storyline
I came home last nite after being gone for a few days, to my doors being wide open, and my thinking I'd been robbed. A sleepless nite - but for all the wrong reasons.
This morning i awoke to weird red stuff all over the deck - it looked liked it had rained red dust.  After a few minutes, I turned south and saw the entire forest below burnt black, including the 1,000sf storage shed.

My neighbor noticed some smoke coming from down below, and thought that there's no way Fred would be doing a burn pile at this time of year (good to have such a reputation :-)... 10 minutes later he noticed flames.  Two kids (who I know) on quads were on the other ridge and also noticed it.  Two calls to 911... 20 minutes later ... 7 fire engines... multiple helicopter water drops ...several airplane retardant drops... later - it saved my house: WinSol3     I wonder what i would have done had I been here - totally freaked out or humbled?

The uphill raging fire (burned tree branches at 200+ feet up) stopped within inches of the main house... the plastic gutters on the greenhouse melted away (see pic below).

Timely neighbors (thank you Jack + Travis, ++), incredible reaction + coordination of the Amador + El Dorado Natural Resources (used to be called fire department) along with 7 engines, countless ground crew,  multiple helicopter water and  plane fire retardant drops kept the house from burning and limited the damage to around 1 acre.

'simulated' water drop

All remnants of any construction before 2002 has turned to ash.  The storage shed, old deck, various stuff... all burned to the ground.

Personal note:  It's interesting what an emotional and spiritual toll these events take on me.  I had all these plans and projects to work on, and now all i can think of is gratitude and reaching out.  My whole body + spirit feels like it's been drained + body kicked a few times - I've been there before.  All things in life are transitional + temporary.

 Gratitude

How can I ever repay all the hard work of the fire crew?  What gratitude can i possbily give in thanks for all the state, county, equipment, personnel, etc. coordination that went into saving my house? In talking with the fire marshall, he said 'that's what we do, that's why we're here'.   I know one thing for sure: I'll never bitch about 'controlled' and 'managed' burns, or about other fire fighting related issues.  WinSol3 was one sudden windbreeze away from being a pile of ashes.
Until one has come face-to-face with such a disaster and benefited from these firefighters', pilots, truck drivers, etc capabilities can one really appreciate all their effort.
And a special thanks to Andrew for taking time out from his Supra rebuild biz, and getting ready for college  days...to sooth my aching nerves: thanks buddy!   And also to all my friends out there for your heart-felt emails + calls.

 

Top part of Burn... just down from the Courtyard

What's left of the 1,000 sf  storage shed

 This is how close it got...

Burnt Gutter right under the Greenhouse
Burn Stopped here!
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Ok - so I gotta go back on firewatch and put out some smoking embers down below.  The wind is kicking up, thankfully there are clouds and humidity.

Risks +

Lately, life at WinSol3 took at turn downward. On Friday nite I got stung by some ground nesting wasps and then today on my walk in the forest, I took a major stumble and dislocated my shoulder. At least I haven't cut my arm or leg off (yet?) with my chain saw.

Murphy has a weird way of showing up around here. Usually he just makes things more complicated and longer, but lately he's been getting downright nasty.

As I was ripping and clearing out the old firepit to make room for the patio tile expansion (20+ cement bags, and new circular firepit with integrated rocket stove and future pizza oven), I didn't even notice that I'd disturbed a whole bunch of in-ground wasp nests.  Those little bastards can really dig long tunnels with multiple entrances.  So drinking my wine and talking with friends on Friday nite, I didn't even notice the little guys circling around my bare feet - they were sizin' me up!   I got stung once... no biggie... i brushed it off and thankfully didn't feel any pain.  And then 10 minutes later 3 more bites under my swim trunks and sandals.  OUCH!   And then the swelling started.  

Last time I got stung by a whole nest of wasps at the white water tank, the entire left side of my body swelled up for a week... i was told that I could go into epilectic shock if it happened again.  Somewhere I had an old bendryl hypo somewhere, but didn't care to use it... unless the swelling didn't go down.

So my entire right leg swelled up... the more I used it and walked around the less swelling, the more i rested the bigger the swelling... so I started working and walking... and two days later... my body is TOTALLY NORMAL  and I have 5 red souvenier marks.

Cure for Wasps

After reading up and chatting with people... I went out around midnite with heavy boots and clothing to the max.  Armed with shovel, rake and gasoline... I cleared the entire area, poured gasoline on the ground and inverted some large pans (cement mixing pans).  Next morning they were all gone.  Only to pop up again about 5 feet away... so tonite I gotta do the same thing.

Humpty Dumpty

On my walk today in the forest - which I've taken hundreds of times... I stumbled on a tree stub in the middle of the road that just sent me reeling... I mean launched me and put me down straight up.  Luckily I rolled and came down on my shoulder... pop!   I've done that before skiing... but never on dirt!   Easy to pop back in.  It'll be hurtin' some tomorrow.

So now to getting more of my garden fresh salad in me (biodynamic vegies) to boost my immune system and give it a little boost.

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That's about as risky as it gets here. There's no cars, hi-speed roads, stoplights, people running around... so not much happens in comparison to the city. Wasps and stupid walks are about it.. except for the occassional drifter... :-) 

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