Our day started out quite peacefully as we headed up to Rose Canyon Lake to check it out for the first time. The first realization that the mountain can be a dangerous place came early in the ride when we came across about 20 people by the side of the road where a vehicle had failed to negotiate a curve and had crashed . It was completely out of sight over the edge of the embankment. As we moved higher up the mountain we were able to see the smoke from one of the two wildfires burning on the mountain.
As you can see from these pictures the weather was very nice with puffy white clouds and temperatures that got lower as we got higher on the mountain.
Our visit to Rose Canyon Lake was a waste of time. It was crowded and not really a lake. In fact is was more of a puddle than anything so we quickly moved to higher ground. Not really worth $8 to see.
During a stop at Loma Linda picnic ground we were watching several juvenile western bluebirds when Nancy noticed smoke in an area about 5 or 600 yards down the mountain on a very steep slope. At this point we had had to retreat to the truck a couple of times because of lighting strikes. I moved as far as I could in the direction of the smoke to get a better look as I did not want to call in a campfire. My binoculars revealed a large tree with a pretty good fire about half way up the trunk presumably from a lighting strike. I called 911 to report the fire and was transfered to the county,who transfered me to the Summerhaven fire department.
The Summerhaven truck arrived in about five minutes and I took them to where you could view the smoke. At this point they called the forest service to notify them and left the scene.
I watched the smoke for an hour or so with no change.
I spotted this little guy while I was watching the fire.
The weather really started to take a turn for the worse. We moved to a location closer to the fire but could not get a better view.
The thunder and lightning was getting closer,too close in fact so we decided to move down the mountain.
We came across the Coranado National Forest fire crew a little farther down the mountain. I stopped to see what they were up to and was able to talk to a couple of them as they planned how to get to the fire area. The plan because it was in such a dangerous area was to map a route and wait for first light to descend to the fire. As we talked it was beginning to rain. If it rained enough it would make the treacherous decent unnecessary. They thanked me for calling it in and we headed down the mountain.
Right after we headed out the sky opened up, lightning strikes all around, instant thunder claps and pouring rain which turned into a heavy hail storm.It hailed from 8000 ft down to 7000 feet.
I had been hoping to be on the mountain on just such a day and it finally happened!
As we were about to leave the mountain we came across another accident where someone had left the road in an area of steep canyon drop offs. As there was already a crowd and no safe place to park we continued down as several police and fire fighters from Rural Metro raced upward. It was a tough day on the mountain.
Our day started out quite peacefully as we headed up to Rose Canyon Lake to check it out for the first time. The first realization that the mountain can be a dangerous place came early in the ride when we came across about 20 people by the side of the road where a vehicle had failed to negotiate a curve and had crashed . It was completely out of sight over the edge of the embankment. As we moved higher up the mountain we were able to see the smoke from one of the two wildfires burning on the mountain.
As you can see from these pictures the weather was very nice with puffy white clouds and temperatures that got lower as we got higher on the mountain.
Our visit to Rose Canyon Lake was a waste of time. It was crowded and not really a lake. In fact is was more of a puddle than anything so we quickly moved to higher ground. Not really worth $8 to see.
During a stop at Loma Linda picnic ground we were watching several juvenile western bluebirds when Nancy noticed smoke in an area about 5 or 600 yards down the mountain on a very steep slope. At this point we had had to retreat to the truck a couple of times because of lighting strikes. I moved as far as I could in the direction of the smoke to get a better look as I did not want to call in a campfire. My binoculars revealed a large tree with a pretty good fire about half way up the trunk presumably from a lighting strike. I called 911 to report the fire and was transfered to the county,who transfered me to the Summerhaven fire department.
The Summerhaven truck arrived in about five minutes and I took them to where you could view the smoke. At this point they called the forest service to notify them and left the scene.
I watched the smoke for an hour or so with no change.
I spotted this little guy while I was watching the fire.
The weather really started to take a turn for the worse. We moved to a location closer to the fire but could not get a better view.
The thunder and lightning was getting closer,too close in fact so we decided to move down the mountain.
We came across the Coranado National Forest fire crew a little farther down the mountain. I stopped to see what they were up to and was able to talk to a couple of them as they planned how to get to the fire area. The plan because it was in such a dangerous area was to map a route and wait for first light to descend to the fire. As we talked it was beginning to rain. If it rained enough it would make the treacherous decent unnecessary. They thanked me for calling it in and we headed down the mountain.
Right after we headed out the sky opened up, lightning strikes all around, instant thunder claps and pouring rain which turned into a heavy hail storm.It hailed from 8000 ft down to 7000 feet.
I had been hoping to be on the mountain on just such a day and it finally happened!
As we were about to leave the mountain we came across another accident where someone had left the road in an area of steep canyon drop offs. As there was already a crowd and no safe place to park we continued down as several police and fire fighters from Rural Metro raced upward. It was a tough day on the mountain.
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