Charley's Lookout Log - July 12-13, 2003

Picture: 0748 hrs

Fully rested from the Yellowstone vacation, it's time to head back up to Mt. Vetter to do my first Weekend semi-solo duty.

I will be meeting another Lookout, Bruce for the Saturday shift, but he will leave and I will spend the night.

I will only work until 9 AM the following day as I will be relieved by the next Lookouts.

So I get gas and ready to go.

This was an omen how this Weekend would go.

This was a very hot day and it was just getting started.

This is a 38kb image. On the 2.3mb image I later used the computer and zoomed up all the pixels.  I could actually see Bruce on the North railing of the tower, look below!!

I love that camera!

A Stage 1 episode is declared when ozone levels reach 0.20 during a one-hour average.

That level can cause some people to experience a shortness of breath. Everyone should avoid strenuous outdoor exercise during such periods, and children, the elderly and individuals with heart and lung diseases should stay inside.

However, we are above all that. hahaha

I meet Bruce for the first time.  He has been in this program from the very start of the Angeles Group and I'm happy to work with him for the day.

On the Weekends we like to have two Lookouts because we get so many visitors it's hard to keep track of them and the forest, so it allows better coverage.

(I get the feeling I'm being watched.)

Our first visitor of the day is an experienced mountain bike rider.  He does a circuit through the mountains taking the back trails and roads and likes to come up to the Tower.

He says, when he usually does his circuit the tower is closed so he was happy to see it open.

Looking over his pack, I told him he looked well prepared and indeed he was for a hot day in the wilderness.

More visitors hike up the hill to see us.

Here I give a lesson using the Osborne Fire Finder and pointing to the location of the Tower which is in the middle of the Osborne.

By turning the sight, it rotates on the Towers position.

The number of visitors was low.  Bruce says in all the years he has been here, this is the hottest day he ever spent on Vetter (just my luck).  He thinks most people are heading to the beaches.

The Angeles Dispatch sends units to the scene which is on the "Angeles Forest Highway" that leads from La Canada to Palmdale.

Los Angeles County "AIR FIVE" is scrambled from the Brawly Flats airbase they have located on the ridge across from our Tower and he heads North to the Scene.

They called on the way and I drive down to the gate to let them in.  My parents are in their late 70's and my Dad is handicapped.  He needs a cane to walk from his knee surgery and so he wouldn't be able to make the 1.1 mile hike.

Not only that... it is really really hot!

(Good thing too, because I might have got gas for the truck, but I forgot to pack a lunch... geeze Mom's are great!)

That's my Dad, always thinking.  Notice our matching trucks. hehehe

Once in the tower I was able to eat with no worries because my folks were keeping watch on the Forrest.

After awhile Dad and I went back in the Tower while Mom stayed outside to enjoy the quiet and the view.

Then the radio alerts come in again.

Motorcyclist #2 at Mile Post 46.9, just before our Tower turn off.

Since Sheriff Air 5 is on the #1 call, County Fire Helo responds to this one.

Here the copter is waiting for the Highway Patrol to close the road so they can land on it.

Rescue complete, the helo dusts off with its passenger.  The helo is to the right, and the dust is on the left, they take off and fly to Huntington Memorial Hospital which is only 10 miles by chopper, or 60 miles by ambulance on a mountain road.

Bruce ends his shift and heads down the mountain.  What a nice guy, we had fun.

He has a long drive as he comes all the way from Palm Springs to work here.

Yet again Sheriff Air 5 is enroute to Motorcyclist #3 up near Dawson Saddle.

Angeles dispatch routes ground crews to the location.

My parents notice the dying trees and I tell them about the Bark Beetle that is starting to hit the area.

I'm almost afraid to compare the picture I took about a month ago to this one.

As it's getting late, Mom and Dad decide it's time to head to the flat lands before it gets too dark.

One last pic.  I was happy they came up to see me at the Tower.

The inversion layer is raising and the smog is really starting to enter the Upper Big Tuhunga Canyon "Short Cut".  It gets so bad I can't see the end of the road about 5 miles away.

The rocks are still hot from the day and the lizards are out and about.  I have seen two kinds here, these darker ones and another one that is the same color as the rocks.

I still don't have a picture of him so that is my next goal.

Wow, the sun sets right on the edge of Messenger Flats and in the far distance is Slide Peak where we are presently restoring our third Tower.

Down at the rocks, this fellow sat for most of the afternoon and waited to see the sunset.  He and his wife have just purchased a new home in the city and he has been working hard on it.

He needed some R&R and spent the day on Mount Vetter.  He stayed for awhile then headed down.  He was the last visitor for the day.

All in all, we only had 16 visitors, counting my folks too.  Bruce noted that was very light for a weekend, but I was fine with that, this being my first weekend.

As the sun was setting in the West, the Moon was rising in the East.  What a sight.

Notice our famous Yucca.  The fruits are now fully swollen.

Ok this is a trick photo.  I set the camera up on a tripod and took a 20 second timed exposure.  To the eye, it is pitch dark night time, but with the time exposure the sky was still lit by the setting sun's "night glow".

The campfires are in three campgrounds to the North.  I make a note to go visit them in the morning to do a "field check" which allows a Lookout to be more familiar with the terrain.

Picture: 0443 hrs

I awake in the early morning and decide to capture some of the cool moon shots.

Here the moon is over Mt. Wilson and I shoot this shot from inside the Tower with the Osborne in the foreground.

The city glow and our famous Yucca.

The two lights below belong to the "Short Cut" Forest Service Fire Station.  There are often three lights, but one of them flickers on and off all night long.

The lights on the ridge are the radio towers at Mt. Wilson.

The smog and high clouds add an interesting glow to the landscape.

Wow

The sun has come up and I just called in service.  Here is the Mt. Vetter shadow on the Barley Flats mountain.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Freeze!  I caught you.

I have been trying to get a good picture of this guy for a long time, but still nothing.  He is shy and quick.  He has a crown like a jay but 1/3 the size and all grey.

I'll get you yet birdie.

My relief Betsy and Bill show up and we begin the Tower hand off procedures.  I can't believe how tired I am but understandable.

They noted how hot is was too and I briefed them on all the action yesterday with the Motorcyclists.

I'm officially off.  Time to go down the mountain.  I decide that I will go to the campground to check out the view of the Tower from that location, and then I will go down to Newcombs Ranch and get some pancakes and eggs before heading back to the big city.

Here is one of the campsites that I could see from the tower, and the tower is just to the right near the center tree.

I think I might spend some time here in the not so far future.

I make a stop at the Chilao visitor center and talk to Todd.  He says visitor count is way down for this weekend.

I stop at Newcombs Ranch Cafe to get my breakfast.  This is a favorite motorcycle stop and you can see sport bikes or cruisers here of every make model and year.

I have breakfast and due to a crowded I get out a little late.  I see a motorcyclist here, that I will see later down the road... and not in the same shape, but that is the next adventure.