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Fluoride
Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA
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Jul 18, 2013 - 10:13am PT
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Up to 22,000 acres and growing as it's been really hard to get ground crews in there to fight it due to the terrain.
The town of Idyllwild is under an evacuation order.
Scary stuff.
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Reeotch
Trad climber
4 Corners Area
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Jul 18, 2013 - 10:20am PT
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I PM'd apogee, I know he has a place up there somewhere.
No word yet . . .
Any other taco heads live up there???
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10b4me
Ice climber
Middle-of-Nowhere, Arizona
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Jul 18, 2013 - 10:22am PT
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Smoke is now blowing into the el lay basin
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Jul 18, 2013 - 10:26am PT
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It's smoky in town this morning, but it hasn't come over the ridge yet- it's clearly up in Tahquitz Valley somewhere, though.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Jul 18, 2013 - 10:36am PT
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Hey, are you on the scene, Cosmic, are you?
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Jul 18, 2013 - 10:39am PT
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Wow, hitting pretty close to home. Hope everyone up there stays safe, good thoughts for all.
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Reeotch
Trad climber
4 Corners Area
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Jul 18, 2013 - 10:46am PT
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Apogee, you're not in the evac zone???
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mooch
Trad climber
Old Climbers' Home (Adopted)
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Jul 18, 2013 - 11:21am PT
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Alois and Pen....I hope you are out of harms way. Same goes with your parents Phil. Thoughts and prayers to all the residents.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Jul 18, 2013 - 11:34am PT
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Sheriffs are knocking on doors, confirming evacs. Tried to stay incognito, but Max announced our presence. They are taking names/DOB/ license plates of those still in homes, and trying to leverage further evacs.
Staying put for right now, but ready for a fast exit.
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Reeotch
Trad climber
4 Corners Area
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Jul 18, 2013 - 11:36am PT
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Good Luck to you and your neighbors, bro!
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Jul 18, 2013 - 11:50am PT
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Incident Report link for this one(updated frequently, info maps etc):
http://inciweb.org/incident/3516/
From that report, updated 5min ago:
"Equipment on-Scene:
2985 firefighters, including 228 engines, 17 helicopters, 10 fixed wing aircraft, including a DC-10, 51 hand-crews, 21 water-tenders, and 15 dozers."
Our Chief said 15% contained this morning. Wild sunrise this a.m. over here with all the smoke, brought back bad memories of Fairbanks in the summers of '04 - '06.
Good luck to all, be safe, get out.
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Alois
Trad climber
Idyllwild, California
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Jul 18, 2013 - 11:55am PT
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Hi everyone
I just got back up the hill, was dropping some stuff at friends...
The town is deserted, but for fire and police people. They let me back up to gather a few more things.
The fire is at Red Tahquitz, moving NE, so very close to the Saddle and Humber Park. So far it is in the Wilderness, so only non-mechanized means are used on the ground, but once it gets out of wilderness, they will hit it with full force.
It is pretty hard to look at one's place and try to pick a few things that might remind us of good times, good years etc and to have this sinking feeling, that everything will be gone in a day or two.
But, such is life in these beautiful mountains.
Thanks for the good wishes, could someone manage to order a shift in the wind??
Love, Alois.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Jul 18, 2013 - 01:09pm PT
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It is pretty hard to look at one's place and try to pick a few things that might remind us of good times, good years etc and to have this sinking feeling, that everything will be gone in a day or two.
When I lived in fire country, I kept a box of my most precious items, and a firebox with important documents, flash drives, etc...ready to be grabbed at a moments notice.
I'm not trying to distract from what's going on, just sharing.
Positive thoughts to all affected, lets hope for the best.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Jul 18, 2013 - 01:21pm PT
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they must have every CDF crew in CA. not quite, only about half, there are 42 fire camps (2 are for women). There are 8 crews just at Ben Lomond Camp in the SCruz Mts. Each crew is 12 - 15 men.
Properly speaking they are California Dept Of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) crews. They are still prisoners of the state.
When you see the news photos/films, all the guys/gals in orange are CDCR. CalFire is always in yellow.
I used the Ben Lomond crews for 5 months this year on clearing 2 miles of shaded fuel break in the Santa Cruz mtns. There were 3 similar projects simultaneously in the SCruz mtns this spring.
Best of luck to the residents of the fire area. And to the firefighters.
They will give up their lives to do such acts. (save structures)
Actually they won't. Fortunately. They will certainly try to protect homes and structures and domestic animals as long as they have a safe exit.
This is one reason it's in a home owner's best interest to keep a fuel break around your house. If CalFire thinks it's too dangerous to protect your place, they won't even try. And you'd best have already obeyed the evacuation order because if your house is under immediate fire threat they possibly won't come to knock on your door.
My house and all my stuff isn't worth one life, not "even" a CDCR inmate.
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Jacemullen
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Jul 18, 2013 - 03:37pm PT
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From my place in Oceanside it looks like San Jac is an erupting volcano. Pretty crazy.
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MtnDeb
Mountain climber
Bishop, CA
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Jul 18, 2013 - 03:44pm PT
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Just came out of "my" mountains yesterday afternoon and it is smokey in Bishop for some reason. ? Thinking of you, Alois and Penelope; certainly hope this plays out positively for all involved. Very sad. Please tell me you packed your kooky climbing shirt Alois!
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Jul 18, 2013 - 03:52pm PT
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From the incident map does it look like things will soon burn around Tahquitz Rock? If I remember the rock is off the shoulder of Tahquitz Peak correct? Best to all, what a bummer on so many levels.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Jul 18, 2013 - 04:05pm PT
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A friend posted this map, which is the status sometime today (the InciWeb map seems a little dated)....here's his commentary, too:
This map was posted at the Mountain Center post office. It shows the current 22,800 acre area involved in the fire. The major hot spots are at Red Tahquitz on the northern front, and at the end of Morris Ranch RD on the south. They were able to cut lines during the night and have been hitting the high country with Phos-Check this morning in an effort to "paint the mountain red" from Wellman's Cieniga to South Ridge. So confidence in control now!
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Jul 18, 2013 - 04:06pm PT
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Tahquitz rock is on the NW shoulder/ridge of Tahquitz Peak.
If you look at that incident page I linked bove, there's a topo map with the fire area overlayed, and Tahquitz Peak is labeled. Just eyeball that long, prominent NW ridge running off the peak. Zoom in a bit and you can also see where the road ends in Humber Park.
Edit: Or even easier, the map directly above..."Lily Rock" as labeled on the map, is what we climbers call Tahquitz rock.
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!