Today's destination led to Huntington Lake in the Central Sierras, altitude just under 8000 feet. About 50 miles to the south, the "Rough Fire" as it has been called is consuming massive swaths of forest in Kings Canyon Nat'l Park, home to giant Sequoias, some of the largest trees on earth. The fire has been burning for weeks, and firefighters are have a very difficult time getting a hold on it. Over management and human residency has upset the natural cycle, and the central Sierras have too high a tree population and loads of deadfall that natural fires, which are not allowed to burn just piles up. Thanks Sierra Club. Coupled with the drought, it's an explosive situation.
The smoke has been hanging in the air for a while now. Riding up near Huntington Lake, it was like a fog. In that photo of the lake, there are boats out there, and the mountain range, which cannot be seen. Ash was falling like a light snow.
It has gotten to the point to where there's virtually no where in the central Sierras one can go and not feel the effect.
All we can do is pray for rain.
The ride itself was pleasant aside from the thick smell of smoke. Traffic was light. Distance covered out and back was 140 miles with about half of that on delightfully curvy mountain roads.

 

Yeah that is sad, i was going to ride the bike up to Jamestown harley this weekend, but worried that the smoke would really hurt the motor. So i rode towards the coast.

 

 

We got a couple of big fires in the area here, with alot of smoke. Strong winds today fanned the flames, but at least the temperatures are lower than the last few days and even a slight amount of rain.

MC

 

Here's praying for rain!

 

How very sad. This is some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen and a favorite area for me. 10-15 years ago there were so many trees up there killed by bark beetle I figured it was a matter of time before they became fuel. I hope they get a handle on it. The mighty Sequoias will survive.

 

You should see the number of trees killed by bark beetle this year.

 

We got a few light sprinkles here on the valley floor today. I was hoping it would have been more. Even here the ash can be seen falling. Indeed pray for rain.

 

The fires have been devastating this year. Our air quality is starting to improve, but there are still some pretty large fires burning here too. Sad how many people have lost homes, how many great places out in the woods have been destroyed, and how much of an impact the fires have had on local economies.

 

That was our hell here in northern WA for several weeks. It truly sucks and you just want it to go away but it doesn't. I've been through an F5 tornado and 2 knarly CA earthquakes but those were over with rather quickly. Massive fires are a slow ongoing nasty situation like being chained to a raging campfire that moves from one town or neighborhood to another with absolute devastation.