[KarlK]

I had expected to get a wildland fire assignment through Team Rubicon's Wildland Fire Program by August 5, but hadn't yet gotten one. That put the kibosh on my ability to commit to the mandatory 14+ day obligation. Maybe they think that at age 66 I'm too old a duck. Hah! I did the 36 hour wildland fire school in Boise in early May, and to qualify, you've gotta do a 3 mile pack test with a 45# pack in 45 minutes or less. I was the first among the ~80 participants across the finish line at 37:14, and would have done it in 35 min or so, but they won't let you jog; averaging 4.8 mph while walking with a 45# pack is super inefficient. In any event, I guess that all Cody Dispatch knows is that I did qualify. And am 66. So, I decided to have another go at Mt. Prophet in the N Cascades starting on Aug 6. Doug McKeever, Chuck Spiekerman and I had previously made an attempt on June 19-21 (https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8027408), but were thwarted by a route finding misunderstanding (which turned out to be a good thing owing to the onset of a severe T-storm). I opted for the SE ridge route, which starts from where the Big Beaver trail crosses 39 mile creek at ~1800' some 12.6 miles from the Ross Lake trailhead. It was notably hot, but I comfortably though sweatily averaged just over 3mph with my "old school" too-much-stuff pack. The initial third or so of the SE ridge involves steep but fairly open forest, and featured one particuarly annoying section of packed dirt at ~3800' that obliged the use of my ice axe pick per Chouinard's "Piolet Juron Terre" technique.

Deer at ~2500' on SE ridge, Aug 6

Owing to the combination of steepness, heat, old school pack, and the need to carry lots of water (I started with four liters, 8.8 lbs), I decided to call it a day at ~4100'. Plus, the skin on the "edging" aspect of both big toes was barking big time.

Camp @ 4120', Aug 6, 2018

On the 7th I hiked to about 6200' with the goal of then hiking down to a little unnamed lake at ~5500' for a much needed water refill and fishing recon.

Maise Lake, 5450', Aug 7, 2018

Maise Lake. It's got fish!

I decided to name the lake Masie Lake after the memory of our departed cat, who, we are convinced, had ESP, and know to have had the worst breath, loudest purr, and oddest mannerisms of all cats. At the lake I took a little snooze, and then explored, discovering that it does hold fish. That came as something of a surprise since it's a small and shallow lake. Nature does have a way of finding a way. I then regained about 700' of elevation to a blessedly flat spot for a comfy bivvy and a wee snort of Dr. Walker's Amber Restorative.

Bivvy @ 6200', Aug 7, 2018

The next day (Aug 8) I climbed both Mt. Prophet and a satellite peak; the latter entailed a short class 2-3 knife-edge ridge section with tremendous exposure and the need for lots of care.

While en-route to Prohpet's summit I counted a cluster of small smokes in the Arctic Creek drainage.

Smokes in Arctic Creek, Aug 8

Prophet (L), False Prophet, Aug 8

Jacob's Ladder, Aug 8, 2018

Fay Pullen Abides

P 2 of register

7th recorded ascent since Fay P's in 2014

On the way back, it became apparent that the Arctic Creek fire had grown dramatically. I saw a copter heading to the fire, but don't know if that was a recon mission or a helitack operation. I'm reasonably certain that the lookout on Desolation Peak called the fire in.

Growing plume from Arctic Cr. fire, Aug 8, 2018

Plume zoom

When I got back to my bivvy spot at 6200' I made water by melting snow using the big plastic bag technique with a new LOKSAK, a product claiming to be watertight. It wasn't, and in fact leaked from both lower corners. Lesson: check your friggin' LOKSAK before using.

From camp I could see the massive pyrocummulus clouds from the Gilbert fires at the head of the Twisp River road.

Pyrocumulus Zoomulus, Aug 8

On August 9 I descended back to the Big Beaver trail in 2h 40 min, and then hiked back to the Ross parking lot in the hottest conditions I've ever experienced at Ross Lake. Total distance from camp to trailhead was 16 miles. When I got home, my weight was down more than 5 lbs from normal (I weigh myself every day) despite having consumed a record amount of water during the trip and more than 3 quarts of assorted juice on the way home. In a couple days I'll be back to my normal 178.

[flatsqwerl]

Although I am not hammock camper, I love the way you can hang from trees comfortably on crappy non-flat terrain!

[Josh Journey]

Got to see the Arctic Creek fire just two miles or less away from the Redoubt col. Saw it double in size within a short time span. What I don't understand is how it's 4 separate fires right next to each other. Lightning striking the ridge over and over? Also good to know the big flammagenitus cloud is near the head of the Twisp river. Also alarming was the fact that there were two other fires nearby, one near Chilliwhack lake that is gaining momentum.

[KarlK]

Josh, I'm no expert, but fire school 101 did make it clear that fire behavior is complex and treacherous stuff. You can get spotting, which is when an initial fire causes new starts via sparks or embers carried aloft. Also, I think that a "single" lightning strike can impact multiple points on the ground owing to bifurcation of the electrical path. In addition, burning debris often rolls down hill and causes new starts. One of the instructors talked at some length about new starts caused by "flaming bunnies." Maybe there's a "flaming marmots" analog to this. My chief Team Rubicon mentor, Dick Schaertl, a seasoned wildland firefighter and woodsman among many other things, talked of flaming elk and deer bounding out of a fire and starting new ones. Dick's the guy who talked me into going to fire school. The flaming critter factor is likely far afield from the cause of the multiple Arctic Creek fires, but does emphasize the multiplicity of ways that fires can spread.

[KarlK]

Holy smokes, I just checked the weather record for Hozomeen (N End of Ross Lake; https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/timeseries.php?sid=HZCW1&num=168&wfo=sew) and got the following readings for the period encompassing my trip: Date High Temp (F) Rel. Humidity (%) Aug 6 92 19 Aug 7 96 14 Aug 8 101 14 Aug 9 101 15 Also, there's a special weather statement out calling for a big weather change leading to widespread thunderstorms (https://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=WAZ567&warncounty=WAC073&firewxzone=WAZ658&local_place1=11%20Miles%20ENE%20Newhalem%20WA&product1=Special+Weather+Statement&lat=48.74&lon=-121.03). We are going to get a metric F***K Ton of new fires.

[HitTheTrail]

Interesting TR

[KarlK]

HitTheTrail -- You're correct about that and I'm well aware of the physics here (same stuff as with climbing anchors). The picture makes it look like the angle from horizontal was quite shallow, but that's because my Warbonnet Blackbird has a ridge line cord that keeps the netting properly positioned and when the hammock is properly set up, that ridge line is horizontal. If you look closely, you'll see that the far suspension point is well off the ground, and likewise with the other tree; the loaded hang angle was just fine. Been sleeping in hammocks since, oh about 1968, and definitely take the angle of the dangle into account.

[Josh Journey]

Thanks Karl for the explanation. That's a substantial distance between each fire, but the rolling theory is my favorite one. Regarding 1968; used a 1968 Quad topo to get back to the Redoubt col which was superior to most modern beta. As for the incoming storm according to NOAA regarding Darrington:

[KarlK]

Josh, I sure agree about the superiority of the older quad topos for navigation. One of my (many) pet peeves is how crappy the compressed green trails maps are for off-trail navigation, or for that matter, for an awful lot of on-trail navigation given how many trails that are listed as "maintained" are actually in lousy shape or worse, especially in the Pasayten and Glacier Peak areas. I basically consider green trails maps to be a menace except for the standard hikes close to Seattle. As to the potential for T-storms and rain, I hope you're correct, but my attention is on the dramatic temperature change in the forecast, which, if the onshore flow happens rapidly could well increase convective available potential energy (CAPE) to levels that strongly favor T-storms development. We shall see. Fuel moisture is at record and near-record lows. It doesn't take much to set this stuff off, and once off, it can go to the races exponentially.

[DIYSteve]

Cool You did that solo? That's some lonely terrain.

[KarlK]

DIYSteve, yup did it solo, and lonely it is. Save for two deer about 1000 or 1500' up the ridge, I saw no other ground-bound wildlife; no marmots or other small mammals. Only saw a few birds. And not for a lack of looking -- I spent a fair amount of time scanning for wildlife with my Zeiss 8x30 binos and nada. The place seemed eerily vacant and made me acutely aware of how puny I really am. That's a good thing to periodically remind yourself of. I think I camped in the same place you mentioned; very flat, very comfy, just padded around in stocking feet. The right hand dot in the picture is where I camped; the left hand dot is where Doug & Chuck and I stopped earlier this year. Only about 0.6 miles apart. Point 6690 the intersection of the three ridge crests up and to the left of right-hand dot.

Screen Shot 2018-08-10 at 9.47.53 PM

[Brian Curtis]

FWIW, that lake is generally called Firn Lake.

[KarlK]

Thanks Brian, I'm happy to know this. It seem highly unlikely that Maisy (whose name I spelled incorrectly) will put up any objections.

[awilsondc]

Nice trip Karl! And nice job on the 3 mile 45 pound pack test! That's hard to do without jogging... I mean really hard. I hope I can be anywhere near that fast when I reach that age. Super impressive! Fun read too. Keep it up!

[KarlK]

The fire I got pictures of in Arctic Creek is now named the 'Arctic Jim' fire and has grown to 642 acres as of August 24. The last fire in Arctic Creek (2012 I think I remember) was the 'Arctic Dan' fire, named for the lookout on Desolation peak. So I imagine that the current lookout is a fellow named Jim.