Forest Fires

Fire danger is upper most in the local's minds.  Preparedness for Ready, Set, Go is stressed on the radio, in the paper, internet and at meetings. The Chelan Complex fire has spread to within 15 miles of us though it would have to burn several valleys and ridges before getting to the upper lake that's really near us. The campground had allowed propane ring fires but no wood or charcoal during the burn ban that went into effect in June.  However, at the end of the week, the Ranger banned even those rings due to the excess of 911 calls by folks seeing flames of any kind.   No chainsaw use is allowed and all commercial work in the woods has been stopped.  The National Forest has closed all their campgrounds north of US 2  including the one right next to Lake Wenatchee State Park. It gave us pause for a moment yesterday when we were returning from our day trip to see that campground all locked up on our way into LW.  We wondered if there had been an evacuation that we didn't know about. We passed the horse camp and the horses were still there so we had a clue that LW was still operating.  The Ranger's retirement homestead, however, is in a direct path of the fire within 7 miles. It's pretty scary to see the smoke plumes looking like the fire is just over the ridge. Some campers are still testing the limits.  Today, I found a marsh mellow partially toasted in a fire ring beside two little sticks that had been lit. The campfire ambiance is more important to some than safety of the area landscape, buildings and human life.

Earlier in the week, up to an inch of rain was forecast for the weekend.  There have only been a few drips so far today.  Several inches of rain are sorely needed to help quell the fire and water the poor, stressed trees. It's a double edge sword since rain sometimes brings lightening which starts the fires in the parched underbrush.

I had a few formatting issues with this blog at the end. The pictures got out of sequence.  I don't find it completely user friendly when trying to arrange/insert photos.

Found a large sling shot in #5

Last Friday, this ominous cloud came over the lake.  The day had been
quite nice with blue sky and warm temps.  The wind changed and the
sun was out of sight.  At 6 pm, it was quite dark.

The cloud did drop ash later in the evening.

When the sun broke through the cloud, it cast pretty colors in the sky.

Saturday evening, the "Eclectric Cloggers" came from Seattle to camp and
give a performance. They were accompanied by "Moonshine and Turpentine"
on banjo and guitar.

These three girls showed us a form of hand jive using paper bags and
knees to make music.

At the beach, someone took time to make a stone, twig and pine cone
trail.

A calm, wind and smoke free morning at the lake.

Tuesday, we had our work caught up so I went in to Leavenworth for
a massage on my stressed shoulders.  This was one of the smoke plumes
from the Chelan Complex fire.  A portion of the fire is within 15 miles
of us but would have to cross a couple of drainages and ridges before
getting close. 

Similar looking to Mt St Helens eruption in 1980

The local town of Plain held a community meeting
on Wednesday so the Emergency Management Teams,
 Sheriff and personnel could give a report on their work
to prevent the forest fires from spreading into town. The little
community church was packed upstairs, downstairs
and outside.

"Banner Band" performing for dinner guests.

Once a month, Mountain Springs Lodge in Plain hosts an evening
of food and music.  This month, it was held outside on the
lawn. We met a nice couple from Colorado who are
full time RVers with a 40' diesel pusher, Harley and
a car in tow. They gave us suggestions of a couple of places
to visit in Colorado when we get there at some point.

After the briefing, Emergency Management personnel lead small groups
to hear specific questions the community had.  This leader was on the
team that has come from Arizona to assist in the fire battle. The Complex fire
is now the largest in State history, over 400,000 acres, I believe, at
last count.

During the day on Wednesday, we went into Wenatchee to run Costco
errands. This is looking West into the valley. Usually, there are
mountains and the city to see but the smoke was so thick,
not much could be seen.

Thursday, the sky cleared.  We drove over to Waterville to the
North Central Washington Fair. This was the kitty petting cage.

One of the children's project displays. It named many things Finnish except lutefisk.

We traveled back to Wenatchee over 4000' Badger Mountain and could see
the smoke plume in the Entiat Drainage blowing East.