Tom Moriarty
New member
Newcomb's is fine and serving food & drink to firefighters. Christian Camp is also fine. Waterman still has a battle coming up.
Angeles Forest Fires Waterman/Baldy
- Thread starter Tom Moriarty
- Start date
Most of the links I posted before have been updated. http://www.enplan.com/fires/ shows that the center of the Station Fire is burnt out and the remaining activity is at the east and west edges. Unfortunately the largest ongoing activity is in the San Gabriel Wilderness due south of Mt. Waterman. And here's what http://firefighterblog.blogspot.com/ has to say about that:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oZRuj62fehk/S ... tion21.jpg
Mt. Waterman is probably just outside the NE border of this image. Hopefully the fire will continue moving east and not turn north.
ski-the-face
New member
So best case scenario, no other buildings are burned and the fire burns half of avalanche, is then stopped, and we have a huge side-country bowl to play with this coming season. :wink:
Given the comments about Newcomb Ranch being secure, I think there is nearly zero chance the fire will burn further up the Angeles Crest Hwy. The danger is that it will burn up to the top of Mt. Waterman from the backside wilderness. If they wait until it reaches the wilderness boundary on the crest it's probably 100 feet from the chair 2 and 3 lift unloading areas. Hopefully they will send a plane with retardant if the fire starts to climb Waterman's backside.
IMHO the current tree spacing in Avalanche is outstanding; as I was reminded last February you need to watch the fall line carefully and not get sucked into the bottom gully too early.
IMHO the current tree spacing in Avalanche is outstanding; as I was reminded last February you need to watch the fall line carefully and not get sucked into the bottom gully too early.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 2484.story
This is the first time I've seen Mt. Waterman mentioned in the mainstream media since the fire began:
Day-by-day progression map of the Station Fire: https://165.221.39.44/ftp/InciWeb/CAANF ... 142-0.jpeg
This is the first time I've seen Mt. Waterman mentioned in the mainstream media since the fire began:
Day-by-day progression map of the Station Fire: https://165.221.39.44/ftp/InciWeb/CAANF ... 142-0.jpeg
ski-the-face
New member
So all is looking good for waterman to at least be alive this ski season(I'm really trying to not think about the upcoming road problems)?
Tom Moriarty
New member
Sounds like the road problems have already started. Saw an article last night stating the road is closed indefinatly. It has to be completely restriped as the stripeing melted off I guess. All the guard rails and signage are burned away and with California's money woes it may take a long time for them to get this fixed.
I am already planning to XC ski up the road, and snow shoe up the fire road at Waterman, and then catch a few with downhill skis in tow! Or, just flash a NSP card, jacket on, and truck in with my 4WD. However, there are times that the NSP is rejected by the CHP in extreme danger. Oh, well, XC ski on the roads as they do at Mammoth on Lake Mary Road! Fun way to meet the neighbors! Dream on! [-X [-o< :snowball fight: 
Waterman has had 7 years of Bad Luck, when will it stop?
Waterman has had 7 years of Bad Luck, when will it stop?
I'll be lucky if Angeles Forest Hwy is open by the time I need it for the Friday night drive to Mammoth. I was hoping for a few exploratory dog walks up there once the weather cools down as after the Griffith Park fire in 2007. That will be a while longer this time. It will be interesting also to see if they open the Angeles Crest Hwy from the Wrightwood side to the edge of the burn area.
With regard to the road in winter, major mudslides like 1978 are all too likely, especially if rain/snow is comparable as it might be with El Nino.
Restriped? Won't they have to repave the road, and create new drainage schemes for the increased runoff/mud due to no trees?
ski-the-face
New member
i heard that some of the pavement just plain melted away.
For those of you living near this area Mt. Waterman/Baldy: Driving my professor to the airport in a hurry to get back to the San Francisco area a 3 month old puppy leaped in our path. It was a puppy. We grabbed it to save its life in the heavy traffic. We cannot find the owners, have had it at a vet already who put it at about 3 months. It is a loving and fun lab mix, good for ski trips, hiking, etc. I will email a picture and if wanted to adopt: Call Carol 310 339-4305 (cell). Needs loving home, possibly other dog to play with. He is great with other nice dogs, swims well in the pool, etc. The file was too big to post here. I will try to make a URL. 
8-[ :-({|= :stir: P.S. Crocker: Can you post that picture I sent you of the dog Buddy? If you rotate it, it displays better.
Done. Pics reduced 50%. Easy to do in bulk with Office Picture Manager and I'm sure many other programs. TC
8-[ :-({|= :stir: P.S. Crocker: Can you post that picture I sent you of the dog Buddy? If you rotate it, it displays better.Done. Pics reduced 50%. Easy to do in bulk with Office Picture Manager and I'm sure many other programs. TC
California having money problems? I don't think so.
California has a spending problem and spending prioritization problem, not a revenue problem. The state has PLENTY of money to repair Angeles Crest Highway. The question is, will the choose to spend the money on repairing the highway or waste it on something else.
I suspect that the highway will be repaired in a couple of months and the lower section will open even sooner.
California has a spending problem and spending prioritization problem, not a revenue problem. The state has PLENTY of money to repair Angeles Crest Highway. The question is, will the choose to spend the money on repairing the highway or waste it on something else.
I suspect that the highway will be repaired in a couple of months and the lower section will open even sooner.
The lower section burned most intensely and probably has the most damage. It was down for ~3 months after the 1978 mudslides, so I'm hesitant to predict when it will reopen this time. I think a couple of months is reasonable too, but I fear a longer closure later if there's a major mudslide this winter.
High profile disasters like this do get priority. L.A. Times says the firefighting cost was $43 million. The most conspicuous example was the rebuilding of a collapsed section of the Santa Monica Freeway in less than 2 months after the Northridge Quake. The work was done on a 24/7 basis with incentives to the contractor to get it done on time. Needless to say, reopening of the Angeles Crest (even the lower section) is not that high visibility a project. Recall that the upper (admittedly remote) section damaged by mudslides in Jan/Feb 2005 just reopened in May 2009. The connection of Hwy 39 to that section of the Angeles Crest was severed in 1978 and has yet to be restored.
There is a revenue problem, but not what most politicians say it is. Revenue is much more volatile than in most states due to excessive reliance on personal income taxes, particularly the extra volatile capital gains. So when the state is swimming in revenue (the dot-com boom) the politicians spend at that level and then find themselves in deep $#!& when the revenue swings the other way, like now.
No, we have a spending problem. California's annual state spending has grown from $78 billion in fiscal 2004 to $103 billion in fiscal 2009. That's a 32% increase in spending in just six years! Revenue for this year before any tax increases were expected to be equal to what they were five years ago. Revenue problem, I don't think so.
SoCal Rider
New member
Uh-oh, a John and Ken show has broke out on First Tracks!
Mammoth board is speculating that flames have reached Waterman, based on Wilson web cam etc.
Mammoth board is speculating that flames have reached Waterman, based on Wilson web cam etc.
That would be this webcam image:
The Mt. Wilson Observatory Director's fire blog is now here:
http://www.mtwilson.edu/fire.php
http://forums.mammothmountain.com/viewt ... &start=705
There's a link to another forum with map and pics:
http://www.outdoorsclub.org/forum/displ ... Position=1
The trail forming the border between burn above and unburned lower Millard Canyon below was one of Samantha's walks last December.
I don't think egieszl and I disagree that much about the California spending problem. I was explaining a key factor in its development.
The Mt. Wilson Observatory Director's fire blog is now here:
http://www.mtwilson.edu/fire.php
Thread is up to 48 pages now. Following last couple of pages is a good source of info:
http://forums.mammothmountain.com/viewt ... &start=705
There's a link to another forum with map and pics:
http://www.outdoorsclub.org/forum/displ ... Position=1
The trail forming the border between burn above and unburned lower Millard Canyon below was one of Samantha's walks last December.
I don't think egieszl and I disagree that much about the California spending problem. I was explaining a key factor in its development.
From yesterday's comments online the Mt. Waterman area is finally drawing the major priority in fire defense. Enough that a planned control burn north of Mt. Wilson was deferred. From the map above the fire is not in the ski area but is in the top of Avalanche and Winston Canyons, which are the sidecountry skiing west of the top of Chair 2.
More detailed progression map, unfortunately 2 days old:
http://blog.fireground.com/wp-content/u ... 090907.pdf
ski-the-face
New member
Tony, how accurate do you believe www.enplan.com/fires/ to be?