Smoke gets in your eyes

And your lungs and everything smells of wood burning. Today, it was a control burn in the forest, south of Prescott. The wind decided to switch directions and head into town; it was a fine day for the photographer to deal in classic Chinese-style perspective, with the smoke separating layer after layer of distance. Picture number one was taken about 10:30 this morning. Shortly after 11 a.m., we saw this pillar of smoke emerging from the burn.

With the Prescott basin filled with smoke, Thumb Butte was a ghost at the horizon. Even the Pioneer Home, only two blocks away (below), seemed to be lost in a Pacific Coast fog. When I tried to locate Granite Mountain, it had disappeared behind a curtain of smoke.

The final three pictures were taken about 2 p.m. from the north side of town. Already the smoke was beginning to clear away in the city and by the time I got home, the wind had shifted again, clearing the air somewhat.

No surprise: the grumbles are being posted at the Courier web site. I can sympathize with those who worried, citing the control burn that got out of hand when the winds shifted up near Williams last week. I think most of the others are convinced that if the PNF fire managers only put out milk at night, the brownies would take care of matters and we'd never have such awful smoke again (and any wildfires would magically disappear). Just incidentally, the Twin Fire on Bill Williams Mountain was 60% contained as of about 7:30 p.m.; I found this out via a Twitter site set up for the fire news by Kaibab National Forest. Great use of this Internet resource!

White Spar wildfire remains

My LH hated I-17; that's the reason we drove the White Spar so many times over the years to visit my mom when she lived down in Sun City. And I have to grant that all those curves take one through beautiful mountain scenery. Besides, if you drive up I-17, you completely miss the pines as you enter Prescott. (Of course, when I was a kid, SR 89 (then US 89) was the only paved road between Phoenix and US 66 across the top of Arizona -- and considered a very fine highway, indeed.)

Returning from out desert excursion Sunday, the dotter drove us back via the White Spar, which is now a heavy-duty reminder of the 2002 Indian Fire that came within three miles of downtown Prescott. The scenery on both sides of the highway consists of dead snags and downed trees for several miles.

Plus an occasional cluster of trees that survived, but lost their lower branches.

There's only one good change as we wait many years for the trees to grow back -- it is now possible to get a good view of the White Spar mountain for which the road was named. Because the big quartz outcroppings were previously hidden by ponderosas, I had never realized exactly why the road got its name -- even though one of my uncles worked for the highway department back in the aught-20s when the road was built.

Linkables: Remember our last storm? Dagny got a beautiful image of Thumb Butte in the clouds (and from her office window, yet!) And, speaking of photography, here's the URL for the Prescott Camera Club.

Postscripts to past posts

All too often, once I have posted on a subject, another picture or data point or event occurs which would have enhanced the original, but, alas, far too late. Herewith a few of these odds and ends.

For instance, an aborted visit to Miss Kitty's Cat House, that wonderful cottage near Granite Creek where some 25 felines make a cozy home. I wanted to show off the place to GD, who has been volunteering at a cat rescue facility in LaFayette LA. However, no humans were present to let us in, so we had to content ourselves by chatting with the any critters who happened out to the porch.

Next -- I discovered that not only did my archives include a couple of unexpected Louisiana gator pictures -- but they were classics, consisting of a head barely above water. Just like in the movies.

And, yes, I claimed to have found all the local Victorians with towers. Hah! I should know better. This pair above and below are on Mt. Vernon near Willis Street. Not only that, but I also discovered that the big white Victorian at my end of town, at Park Avenue and Gurley actually has a tower, tho it is hidden by trees in the summer. Turns out that I had a quite passable picture of the feature in my post about the Brinkmeyer House.

And here's the picture that sparked this post in the first place. This young man is outfitted as a Rough Rider, including a special rucksack; the picture belonged in yesterday's post. I was told that he is the son of an officer of the local group.

Fire Follow-Up: Reports indicate that the Forest Service crews managed to guide the Crown King fire toward desert terrain, where there is not nearly the fuel load found in the forest. At this point, the fire is 50% contained and residents are allowed back home; yesterday's rain certainly helped. A reader was kind enough to post this Crown King fire web site, created to keep forest residents in touch with one another and with current developments. As an added feature, the site includes links to almost every business in the mountain hamlet -- it would appear that the old mining town is very well wired indeed. Following the links, I came across one very disquieting bit of info: seems ADOT is seriously considering relocating I-17 down in the lowland west of its present route between Black Canyon City and the Bloody Basin turn-off. Which would probably be the end of Bumblebee. All I can say is "Fie on you, ADOT!" What is it about highway engineers?

Crown King four days ago

As a rule, I sleep somewhat late; I had noted in my early morning fog that the sunlight coming in through the clerestory windows had a somewhat red tinge, but it wasn't until I arose at 9 a.m. and looked out the window to see a sky hazy with smoke that I realized we had a forest fire somewhere near Prescott. A click on the Fire Alert link at right revealed that the location was near Crown King.

Approximately 250 people live full-time in Crown King, a forest inholding about 30 miles south of Prescott. Sometimes as many as 1,500 people can be recreating on the forest in the remote area on the weekend, according to the Prescott Courier. The fire was started late Saturday night by a lost hiker who stupidly set a signal fire. Sson and I were there just this last Friday.

In case you haven't visited this old mining town at the south end of the Bradshaws, it's a favorite summer retreat for Phoenicians. The business district consists of two saloon/restaurants, the general store and a small souvenir shop. You buy your gas at the general store ($5.14/gal.) The Courier mentioned that Crown King is about 30 miles from Prescott. That's if you are a crow. If you are in a vehicle, 4-wheel-drive preferable, you can make it down the mountain range in 4-6 hours on the old Senator Highway. Almost any car can drive the long way, around the mountains on the Interstate and then across the desert and up the road that was formerly an old narrow-gauge railroad grade up the side of the mountain. Maybe an hour and a half time for the "30 miles" this route.

The general store serves up curios and deli goodies and stuff for the tourist trade. A corner serves as the local post office.

The chapel is a new addition since I was last in town; a new structure, called with suitable irony the Crown King Mall, was also under construction. There is also a one-room schoolhouse.

Popular rides in this mountain enclave include jeeps and their many derivatives, not to mention quads and other ATVs. Far more important are the civic vehicles (below) -- the ambulance and, to the rear, fire equipment.

Most of the trees which died in the past couple of years from beetle infestation were already taken down in the immediate area of Crown King, though big equipment was still much in evidence. It would take dozers like these to topple the tall trees; out in the forest nearby, I saw many dead trees that had simply been uprooted, lying on the hillsides. Eventually, they will be sawn or possibly just moulder.

Many of the houses in the Crown King area are scattered through somewhat remote forest areas. Most of the residents were evacuated on Sunday, though, fortunately, the fire has moved away from the town site at last report. One home and a small sawmill burned, however. Tower Mountain (below), a handful of miles north of Crown King, is an important relay point for modern-age communications, as well as housing a fire look-out station.

Note: both Tombo and Karoliina were up early enough to photograph the red sun shining through the heavy smoke this morning.

We've Been Lucky This Fire Season

There are times that synchronicity is unnerving. Yesterday I talked about the popularity of flame and fire artwork. Today, our news is devoted to those very serious fires on the coast.

Prescott has been fortunate this year -- so far. In fact, so has all of Arizona. No major wild fires. In fact, today we (and other smaller communities in the state) sent equipment over to California to help fight those dreadful fires. I was awakened this morning by my nephew, calling to let me know his entire family of three generations had been evacuated safely. This is the second time their San Diego area home has been threatened by wildfire in the past four years.

The only smoke that we have seen is from control burns -- small fires deliberately set by the Forest Service to reduce the fuel load in the pines and the chaparral. The burns pictured here were reasonably benign. Once in a while the winds shift and our town, centered on a little bowl in the hills, fills with smoke. Rough on folks with breathing problems. And once in a very great while a control burn escapes, turning into a real conflagration.

That's why I was surprised to hear on the news that the Coconino National Forest up north will conduct control burns this week while some equipment is over on the coast. Fingers crossed, everybody.

Later: Today (Tuesday), the PNF announced it was postponing any control burns to release a fire crew to help fight the California blazes. And the Coconino is reported to be cutting back on burns by KNAU radio. However, I checked the NPR station's site to verify that I heard correctly and found no info, but this somewhat cynical link to a Reuters site about one reason some Californians have a fire problem.