well off the beathen path

2021 Tamarack Fire 68,637 Acres burned Alpine County, California Markleeville, CA Woodfords, CA Hollbrook Highlands, NV Spring Valley, NV US Highway 395 (Hwy 395) California SR 88 (Hwy 88) California SR 89 (Hwy 89)   Meadows near Grover Hot Springs Toiyabe National Forest Turtle Rock County Park Grover Hot Springs State Park   Carson River East Fork Indian Creek Reservoir  Harvey Place Reservoir   Indian Creek Reservoir Wildfire Affected Areas:  Airport Road Barney Riley Bryant Creek Buck Creek Charity Valley Creek Haypress Flat Hot Springs Creek Indian Creek Leviathan Mine Road Little Cottonwood Canyon Millberry Canyon & Creek Mountaineer Creek Musser & Jarvis Creek Pleasant Valley Pleasant Valley Creek Poor Boy Creek Raymond Canyon Creek Sawmill Creek Sawmill Road Scossa Canyon Road Shay Creek Spratt Creek Thornburg Canyon   Markleeville, California       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarack_Fire TAMARACK FIRE perimeter map JPG

California National Forests, State Parks, Campgrounds, Trails What is Closed off this Summer?   Last year it was multiple disasters on top of a pandemic. News about lightning caused wildfires was almost unbearable for me to watch. I knew the areas, the very best camp sites and the dirt roads.    I studied the headlines daily, scoured maps, each new area, every forests, every acre of grove in flames. The Santa Cruz redwoods burning. The helicopter rescue at the lake campground.   My head was reeling with the destruction, the toxic smoke, when it hit home - hard! We were evacuated and on the run from flames. #BearFire   Now that all smoke has cleared and I am living in the aftermath of the 6th largest fire in state history, I am trying to make a tally of what is burnt. What campgrounds and dirt roads are open, what forests were affected by wildfire and what is actually closed.    California Forests: CLOSED 2021       2021 expect tighter campfire restrictions this season!

Our government has a way with acronyms, and broken URLs. .gov broken links It always amazes me that the most link repairs I tackle on Total Escape is predominantly for the dot gov web links. USFS has a fondness for the PDF pages w/ Alerts & Notices being almost cryptic. Outdated, old search features rarely produce what you are really looking for. Instead you get some long document from a meeting a decade ago. The US Forest Service has changed their URL structure at least half a dozen times since they came online, back in 2000. No need for redirects, or better forethought, old broken links are found all the time within the government managed web. wildfire info Incident Web Incident Information System INCIweb for short You would think that something as serious as wildfire information and maps would be a high priority, but the web site responsible for tracking individual fires - could not decide on a stable web address. The URL has changed a few times over the past decade; it was a .o

California Wildfires & Fire Information Extreme drought conditions means super high wildfire dangers for all of California. As of August 1st, nearly 60% of the golden state is under EXCEPTIONAL drought, one level up from the 'extreme' classification. We are more than one years worth of water overdue. Wildfires in California are quiet common and occur annually in the later part of the year (summer - autumn)  when the natural vegetation, brush and forests are the driest. Drought.gov will show just how bad the drought conditions are currently in the Western U.S. drought.gov Southern California as well as Northern California experience wildland fires, and since Central California is backed by the Sierra Nevadas, you should expect forest fires at high elevations and lower river canyons too. California is currently experiencing extreme fire dangers, so many parks and forest areas have higher than normal restrictions. The new normal is becoming extreme, as you can im

Day Fire burned most of Sespe Wilderness and then jumped Lockwood Valley Road. Los Padres National Forest, California California Wildfires & Campfire Safety A homeless man, Steven Emory Butcher, was found guilty for starting the longest burning wildfire in California state history. The Day Fire burned more than 162,000 acres in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests in 2006. They also found him responsible for the Ellis Fire near Lake Piru in 2002. California, with its dry desert hillsides, steep lush canyons and oak lined valleys, is a haven for seasonal wildfires. Campfire restrictions could be higher in the later months (July-Dec). Many Southern California parks & forests place extreme campfire restrictions on the wilderness backcountry camping, for primitive campsites on remote back roads - and sometimes even inside developed campgrounds. If you cannot imagine camping without a campfire, then make sure of the conditions before you head out. Prescribed