I have no words at the moment that do justice to describe the crazy fires in all directions here at the moment. Yesterday, we couldn't really see anything due to the thick smoke everywhere; they say the air quality in the Bay area then was the worst on the entire planet. By afternoon, it cleared up a bit, so that one could distinguish separate thick plumes of smoke coming from the coast and from the east. After dark, one could see what the kid termed "Holy Flaming Mountain" -- Mt. Hamilton -- looming orange over San Jose.
I was happy to hear that they managed to save Lick Observatory as the flames swept over the summit last night. However, the historic park structures in Big Basin over near the fire near the coast were not so lucky, and have reportedly been deemed a total loss. It is unclear how much damage the big trees in that headquarters area suffered, as it sometimes takes a while before it is obvious if the canopy will regenerate.
Since the air was relatively clear this morning, I headed up to the summit of Mt, Umunhum to see what I could see, thinking that a high vantage point well away from any active fire might yield some interesting views. Photos don't really do justice to what one can see in person, but here are a few. I spent quite a while just sitting watching puffy plumes of new smoke billow up out of the haze, orange-lit from below, before they then sank and became part of the thick pall of smoke.
View toward the coast. Just picture all of that smoke as the ghosts of the redwoods. It does sort of smell like a campfire.
