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PostPosted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 11:37 pm 
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They're calling it the "Chariot Fire" due to its proximity to Chariot Mountain near Julian - it broke out around noon today, in the desert floor just below Sunrise Highway. I haven't seen the news yet, but one report says it may have already burned its way up the hill and crossed Sunrise Hwy. (I'm not sure that's accurate, though).

As chance would have it, I was headed up there today for an afternoon cruise around BLT. I drove past the fire around 1:00 so I pulled over at the Kwimee Point overlook to snap some pics. I'm kicking myself for not bringing a real camera, but I guess my Blackberry shoots fairly decent pics. When I arrived, there were no crews or signs of aircraft, but after about 20 minutes the first spotter planes showed up. I saw one tanker swoop down and drop retardant ahead of the flames before I moved on.

The fire started at about 32°57'29"N 116°27'35"W, near the Butterfield Ranch resort on Hwy. S2.

(for more pics, click here)


Early stages of the fire, looking down from Kwimee Point. For reference, Kwimee Point is about 3 miles north on Sunrise Hwy from the Penny Pines/Noble Canyon trailhead.

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I drove further south and up the access road to the old USAF Radar base, where I parked and then rode my bike up to the top of Stephenson Peak (site of the big white "golf ball" radome).

This shot shows the plume of smoke creating its own mini-cumulonimbus cloud. You can see Cuyamaca Peak (as well as Middle and North Peaks) to the left.

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I continued on to Monument Peak, and got this shot of the smoke rising up from behind Garnet Peak:

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Last edited by chuckanado on Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:20 am, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:15 pm 
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I had it in my head to ride Lagunas today even though I saw this thread beforehand (thanks for the heads up Chuckanado)
Wanted to start at Penny Pines but there wasn't a sole down there due to the fire

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Here's another pic overlooking the desert floor

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I decided to head over to the south side and ride Los Gatos. Here's looking back from the top of Chico Ravine

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Had a great time and only saw a half dozen people all day.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:19 pm 
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The Pine House Cafe just posted via their FB page that the fire had made it's way through the Laguna Campgrounds and was into the BLT area. :(

Hope they can get it contained soon.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:42 pm 
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Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:56 pm 
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This sucks. The last pine tree forest we are allowed to ride in in the county is burning.

Here's a time-lapse video from the Mt Laguna showing the 2-days of progress of this fire. It's a downloadable video, so I can't embed it:
http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/HWB/20130706-Chariot/index.html

:cry: :crying: :cry: :crying: :cry: :crying:

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:05 pm 
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I was up there Sunday for three hours and also drove north past Penny pines to check it out. I never saw any aircraft or presence of fire fighters. Why is that? It seems like they didn't throw everything at this when it was much smaller is easier to deal with.
The road was open when I drove up but a Hwy patrol car was blocking it right before the fwy

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:09 pm 
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I saw a comment on a news article earlier today that said San Diego may have loaned out some fire equipment and crews for the big Arizona fires. Not sure if that's accurate or not but seems at least somewhat likely.

I also remember hearing something about not renewing the leases on some big tanker aircraft a while back.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:15 pm 
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Of course, first and foremost is that the people who live up there get out safe, and their homes/businesses don't burn. Gotta keep things in perspective.

Quote:
This sucks. The last pine tree forest we are allowed to ride in in the county is burning.


But yeah, this. As fun as the trails are in Cuyamaca, that place will never, ever be the same as it was prior to 2003. Really hoping Lagunas don't suffer the same fate.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:36 pm 
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CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:55 pm 
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Al Bahr Shrine Camp lodge is gone. El Prado campground and its "famed meadow" have been spared.

According to: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul ... vacuation/

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:11 pm 
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Been watching this closely and keeping my fingers crossed. I own one of the cabins along the meadow in the Laguna tract at the end of Laguna campground. This really sucks! :(


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:19 pm 
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McLovin wrote:
I saw a comment on a news article earlier today that said San Diego may have loaned out some fire equipment and crews for the big Arizona fires. Not sure if that's accurate or not but seems at least somewhat likely.

I also remember hearing something about not renewing the leases on some big tanker aircraft a while back.



two of my buds are FS Fire here locally and they were just sent out to a NV fire last week or so.
even so, i highly doubt CALFIRE would send out men and leave themselves vulnerable...specially after the big fires a few years ago and all the drama that surrounded them.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:12 pm 
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On the way home I heard the fire had burned 3,000 acres and is only 15% contained. My buddy's son is a firefighter, so I may stroll across the cul-de-sac to see what info I can get straight from the source.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:39 pm 
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Latest update sadly has 108 structures gone, but campgrounds spared so far. Hope there are no more injuries. So much depends on what the wind does this afternoon.

http://m.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/09/chariot-fire-continues-burn-mount-laguna/

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 1:20 am 
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I went back up there this afternoon. Sunrise Highway is open all the way through, but with reduced speed limits in places, as there are still a lot of fire crews up there watching for hotspots, etc.

I think all the MTB trails were spared. The fire crossed over Sunrise Hwy just south of Penny Pines, but the trailhead itself was spared. For the hikers, though... the PCT runs right through much of the burned area. It might be closed for a while.

BLT, Noble, etc were all spared. One guy I talked to (a fellow MTBer) said the fire got just to the edge of Upper Noble (I think it's the section that links BLT with Noble Canyon trail, right near Penny Pines)

All the southern BLT trails (Gatos, Chico, Escondido, etc.) are open. The guy I talked to said BLT all the way around Big Laguna Lake is open, but I'm not sure, as the official closure map they have posted at the lodge shows everything from about halfway up the lake to the north is closed.

The fire burned right up to the edge of Pioneer Mail picnic area, but stopped there. It didn't cross the highway in that area so the whole Pine Hills/Indian Creek/Champagne Pass area was spared, but that area will probably be closed for another week or so.

I rode up to the top of Monument Peak (where all the radio towers are, on the east side of the highway) and shot a few pics and videos.


These were all taken today (Sunday, 7/14/2013), 8 days after the fire started. Cal Fire is reporting 7,055 acres burned, 149 structures destroyed and 9 damaged, 98% contained (as of 6pm today):


Penny Pines, looking east. The PCT is just a hundred feet or so off the road here

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Looking down into the canyon where the fire came up and crossed Sunrise Hwy (Garnet Peak is just off to the right)

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Here's where the fire jumped across the highway

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This was shot from the top of Monument Peak (where the radio towers and microwave repeaters are). You can see Cuyamaca Peak in the distance, and Sunrise Highway where the fire jumped across near the center of the picture. There are a few dust devils spinning away in the burned area.

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More of the same:

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I was up at Monument Peak last weekend, on the day the fire started, and signed the summit register. Since then, a strike crew had gone up and cleared away a lot of the brush near the peak and all along the access road. I guess they found the summit register too!

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More dust devils...

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I shot a couple of videos of the dust devils





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