Lake Fire (Barton Flats)

[Perry]

I hope the south side of SGW can be saved.

Is it likely that trees near reliable water sources will survive?

How old are the trees? I'm wondering how long it will take to grow back.

[Hikin_Jim]

I hope the south side of SGW can be saved.

The south side is actually looking pretty good. There have been three incursions to the south but all have been reported as stopped. The north side? Not so much. From the W Fork of Barton Creek over to the PCT and Coon Creek Jump Off got burned.

Is it likely that trees near reliable water sources will survive?

Fires are weird. I lived near the Station Fire. I saw one whole slope of brush that didn't burn right between two slopes that did. Go figure. There are a lot of reports of areas where the fire was a slow, creeping ground fire, a fire that really doesn't damage mature trees. On the other hand, I've seen photos of areas that were immolated. The area around PoopOut Hill got nuked. Horse Meadows looks pretty intact. Again, go figure.

How old are the trees? I'm wondering how long it will take to grow back.

The area hasn't burned for at least 100 years (since they started keeping records), and of course many of the older trees have survived one or more fires. Some of the trees go back something on the order of 500 or more years based on size. Hopefully those guys made it.

HJ

[Hikin_Jim]

Looks like the Lake Fire is now making a run for Big Tree Camp. MODIS is showing a lot of thermal activity in the area which indicates an actively burning fire. I don't like the idea of Big Tree Camp burning, but it wouldn't bother me in the least to have the brush in the bottom of the canyon of the drainage of the N Fork of the Whitewater River cleaned out.

I've changed the second of my two maps to include the MODIS hot spots (bright red dots) if you want to see what I'm blathering about. They are NOT very precise, but they do indicate fire in the general vicinity.
See: Lake Fire Maps

I've also added the latest US Forest Service PIO fire perimeter map in the Appendix as well as below.

HJ

[Pitownpi]

It's burning the most of south side of 10kft ridge now...and maybe part of north fork



pics tell the story..bighorn is just to the left, behind smoke.


on top of 10kft ridge as well near the end

[Hikin_Jim]

Well, maybe I'll finally be able to take that trip I've been wanting to do down the N Fork to the Middle Fork. Sigh.

HJ

[Pitownpi]

you'll be able to stomp from the east to the west (or west to east) along ridgetops of SGW in the ash,
none of those pesky brush fields...

just updated the map....definitely got to North Fork WW
looks like it may try and go up Bighorn..

[Hikin_Jim]

Good pictures, Pi. Yeah, smoke like that means hot, hot fire.

I wish they could keep the fire down in the drainage of the North Fork and off Big Horn, but it'll probably be the other way around.

HJ

[Hikin_Jim]

Looking at the latest MODIS data, yep, there is active fire on the SW slopes of Ten Thousand Foot Ridge.


The latest PIO map shows that the fire has now crossed the N Fork of the Whitewater River and is on the opposite bank (highlighted with a blue rectangle). Big Tree Camp may have now burned. The position of the camp shown by the USFS is wrong. The camp is on the east side of the river where I've put the yellow splash symbol.


HJ

[Pitownpi]

that maps way behind this am as far as North Fork;
Definitely progressed down the North Fork quite a ways…will be interesting to see what the maps show later.
Bighorn is the top/shaded ridge, 10,000' Ridge just in front of it, fire traveling from right to left (west to east), smoke blowing the other way.

Can someone from Palm Springs take a drive up Hwy 62?
you can look straight up North Fork to BigTree 5 miles off I-10.
i'll take a put later and post some pics..

They’ve been doing tremendous air assaults in this otherwise inaccessible areas, hence over 10million$$

but seems to me it'll burn down the entire length possibly, North Fork is just full of down-trees & debris.


In drought conditions, I've already seen a real increase in the guzzler activity.
wonder how many critters will be wandering around Big Bear&Forest Falls and other places?
Get ready for 'Bear Season'...

my local this am; critters! why I live where I do and am so zealous on protecting things..





Thirsty Kitty! Don't ya just wanna hug it!!! sweet kitty!

[Hikin_Jim]

I've added a fire progression map to my blog post on the Lake Fire. Lots of fire growth in the N Fork of the Whitewater.

Looks like Big Tree and Mineshaft Flats camps are toast. Good news might be that the N Fork area might become passable again.

I've also added a "tally" of what Trail Camps have/have not burned:

Red = burned.
Yellow = possibly burned.
Green = unburned.

HJ