Hike Mt. Shasta

Meager alpenglow illuminates the thick blanket of smoke on Mount Shasta.

The last couple of days had somewhat better air quality in Mount Shasta despite the still-burning Carr Fire as well as the addition of the newly ignited Hirz Fire. Nonetheless, the smoke poured back into the area around the mountain with a vengeance today. In spite of this, my family and I went up to the Old Ski Bowl to have a picnic dinner. No doubt due to the smoke, the entire mountain from Bunny Flat to the end of the road was strangely empty of activity. It made our dinner strangely eerie. While my kids played on the rocks, my wife and I watched the sun set amidst the smoke. Oddly enough, we spotted someone descending past the sun on a parachute. After this, I managed to capture a few images of the smoky but gorgeous sunset. At least some beauty can be found midst the terrible conditions.

Click to enlarge:

Everyone is eager for the smoke to clear out. Hopefully the end is in sight. A quick glance at the Carr Fire incident map from 10 August reveals a well-established fire line hemming in the conflagration’s northern advance.

The long line at the top of the map indicates the fire line that has been established. I imagine that the plan is to let the fire burn up the Clear Creek watershed and then get contained within the lines. Everything below the line will like get consumed by the flames but the fire will have been effectively bottled up. The live map, as of 12:30 AM indicates that this is the case:

Note how the valley below the fire break is filling up but, for the most part, the fire has not advanced past this rallying point. Hopefully the fire line will hold and this will spell the ultimate end of the Carr Fire. Unfortunately, as is evident from the map, the new Hirz Fire has sprung up along the McCloud arm of Shasta Lake. Let’s pray this fire is brought to heel swiftly. Either way, it feels like, at long last, we are nearing the end of this ordeal. Lord willing.

Follow the fire’s progress here.