Hike Mt. Shasta

Looking south from the Shasta Valley, where smoke from a flared-up Delta Fire covers the sky.

It has been a few weeks since I posted anything on the Delta Fire. Frankly, I had figured I would be done commenting on that conflagration, since it was winding down and had nearly reached 100% containment. The sky has been clear and the days beautiful. Even though there is still a little bit of fire season left to endure, I reckoned that we were past it for the most part. As far as the Delta Fire has been behaving, my presumptions were not unreasonable. Unfortunately, the fire has jumped the fire line and has flared up with renewed vigor.

Thankfully, this increased fire activity does not pose any threat to the Mount Shasta area or any of the communities in the I-5 corridor. The flare up is located on the southwest corner of the Delta Fire:

Strangely enough the fire jumped a line that had been cut in as a contingency fire break to halt the growth of the Carr Fire. The line was then fortuitously positioned to establish containment on the Delta Fire. Now, somehow, the fire has jumped the line at Damnation Pass and already grown to over 1,500 acres. Officially, this is being treated as part of the Delta Fire. I don’t want to be irresponsible with speculation, but the cause of this fire, at the very least, warrants some suspicion with regards to human activity. ‘Nuff said on that at this point.

The fire is currently burning on the north side of Damnation Creek. To the south is the vast, charred expanse of the Carr Fire. To the north is the uppermost stretch of Clear Creek. Fortunately, between the Carr, the Delta and Trinity Lake, there isn’t too much territory for it the flare up to consume. It is mostly along Damnation and Clear Creeks. Even better, it is supposed to rain over the weekend. That will really put the kibosh on the fire. I just hope the rain holds off until Saturday night, since the Cub Scout Pack is holding a rummage sale at Scout Hall (shameless plug!) One other blessing in all of this is that, despite the smoke piling up to the south once again, the winds have kept it away from Mount Shasta and we have been able to enjoy gorgeous clear skies. Bring on the rain!

Fire to the south, but a clear morning above Mount Shasta.