These photos were taken Monday night, and I have been trying to upload them ever since. I am having undiagnosed internet connection problems, and it is frustrating beyond belief.
You know those days, when one notices the clouds are rather spectacular? You know, sort of like this:
And I knew, this is going to be one of those sunset nights. I mean, We have sunsets every night, and from up here, they are all pretty spectacular. But this one? I had a feeling, this one would be more spectacular than usual. Okay, maybe just simply spectacular. But I got my camera ready, kept an eye on the sky, and started shooting.
One of my challenges, in photographing a sunset series, is the changing light. I can barely keep up with it, changing the speed, the aperature, and the exposure compensation.
Until finally, the light has dimmed so sufficiently, that I must increase the ISO. I always do this last, as it increases the grain – err, the “noise” of the photograph, and that is difficult to address in a software program. Of course, one can always shoot into the sun to increase the light, but that presents its own set of problems.
Wretched lens flare! And yes, I have a hood, and a filter, but shooting directly into the sun is tricky! And I clearly haven’t gotten the hang of it. I sometimes use my hand to shade the lens, but did not, this time.
Of course, once the sun dips below the horizon, this is not a problem.
And finally the sun has slipped beneath the Pacific.
Okay, time to vote. You have until next Sunday, June 20th at midnight to vote for your favorite photo to be featured as my blog header. So no one gets confused, the number of the photo is on the photo itself. Some photographers have cropped their photos to fit my header already, others have not, but don’t let that confuse you. Pick the one you would like to see for a month or more. A winner will be picked on June 21st and posted on or about June 22nd. #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
Whoops – please don’t vote for “other.” There is no “other.” My bad, but do vote. As ever, it is completely anonymous. You can leave a comment below, or on the poll itself. Which one is your favorite?
Several fires today near Highway 41 on the way to Yosemite, the Walker, the Ranch, and Yosemite. The Walker (10:50 am: Vegetation Fire :Location: Rd 200 X House Ranch Rd,) and Ranch (11:10 am) fires were relatively close together, and were contained at about 20 acres total this afternoon. The Yosemite Fire near Coarsegold (Location at Rd 415 and Polk Ranch Rd.) just started at 6 pm and is only approximately 5 miles as the crow flies from the Walker incident. The first two fires were in north fork the third is near yosemite lakes park. With resources already on hand, I suspect this one will be contained as quickly as the other two were.
All three of these fires are near Highway 41. Coincidence? I suspect not. Of course, what this all means is that fire season is definitely here, and we need to be aware and fire cautious where ever we are in this state.
This next week, during the once-in-a-decade US Open, the TAMC is experimenting with allowing “free-flowing” right hand turns from CV Rd. unto Highway One, north. This “experiment” may continue for some time, up to a couple years, until a second lane is added between Rio Rd and Carmel Valley Rd.
While Carmel Valley residents are pleased with this idea, those who live (and work) in Big Sur or the Carmel Highlands, are not. Many of us remember the back-ups on Highway One going into town, that sometimes snaked all the way past Point Lobos, and through the Highlands. Big Sur’s concerns are primarily two-fold: One, is the delay in response times for emergency vehicles; the second is discouraging traffic down the coast, given the nightmare that can be the return trip.
You can express your views in several ways, one of which is writing the following people:
TAMC
55B Plaza Circle
Salinas, CA 93901-2902
info@TAMCMonterey.org
and copy Dave Potter, our County Supervisor
Monterey Courthouse
1200 Aguajito Rd., Ste. 1
Monterey, CA 93940
district5@co.monterey.ca.us
Call TAMC at 775-0903
Call Candace Ingram at 373-3609 – she really wants to hear from us
ingramgp@ix.netcom.com
There is a public meeting this Monday:
Carmel Valley Road Committee scheduled for Monday, June 14th 11-12:30. I think that meeting will be held at one of the Hacienda Carmel meeting rooms, but a call to TAMC can confirm the exact location.
Also, the “Question of the Day” on The Herald front page (at the bottom on the left) is about this plan. Do take the poll, as the “powers that be” do pay attention to these online newspaper polls. Find it here-Herald online poll Currently the poll is showing 20 to 14 in favor of allowing the “free” right hand turn, so vote, if it matters!
Per NOAA: “HAVE UPGRADED THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH TO A RED FLAG WARNING FOR ZONE 511. THIS COVERS THE EAST BAY HILLS AND INLAND HILLS OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY ABOVE 1000 FEET. INTEL FROM LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES IS THAT GRASSES BETWEEN 1000-2000 FEET ARE CURED AND WILL CARRY FIRE IN WINDY ENVIRONMENT…THE SACRAMENTO OFFICE ISSUED RED FLAGS FOR THE ENTIRE SAC VALLEY SO WINDY WEATHER WILL BE FELT IN THE DELTA AND OUR FAR EAST BAY VALLEYS AS WELL. FAIR AMOUNT OF PRESCRIBED BURNING AS WELL AS HEADING INTO A HOT WEEKEND RAISES CONCERNS. SPC HAS OUR AREA HIGHLIGHTED IN A CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER THREAT. INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH SEVERAL OF THE RECORD HIGHS FOR TODAY ONLY GO BACK TO 2008 WHEN A SIMILAR SYNOPTIC PATTERN TOOK HOLD. JUNE 10TH IS THE DATE THE INDIANS FIRE STARTED IN MONTEREY COUNTY UNDER A SIMILAR WEATHER PATTERN WITH AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG TROUGH OVER THE GREAT BASIN WITH FAVORABLE WIND FLOW ALOFT FOR CREATING STRONG NORTH/NORTHEAST WINDS IN THE HILLS.”
And this news release was issued by Cal-Fire today, June 11, 2010:
“Sacramento – The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning this weekend for the Sacramento Valley and Bay Area, resulting in an elevated fire danger.
In response to the heightened fire danger, CAL FIRE is increasing its staffing and urging the public to be extra cautious this weekend. “The grass across the region is already dying or dead,” said Chief Andy McMurry, assistant deputy director for CAL FIRE. “Our firefighters are ready to respond to any wildfires, but we really need to the public’s help in preventing fires.”
Today, CAL FIRE will preposition many of its airtankers from the department’s maintenance base at McClellan Air Park in Sacramento County to its air bases across Northern California. Throughout the winter the aircraft undergo extensive maintenance preparing them for firefighting activity. CAL FIRE has staffed its airbases in Southern California since the beginning of May, where conditions have dried out earlier.
The Red Flag Warning stretches from Redding to Modesto and into the East Bay from 11 a.m. Friday to 8 p.m. on Saturday due to a combination of warm temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds.
CAL FIRE officials are urging the public to remain extra vigilant this weekend and help them prevent fires.”
It is time to start really paying attention, particularly since the LPNF policy is to base any campfire restrictions on forest-wide conditions, rather than local conditions, and with high temps predicted for this weekend, it is time to tune the neighborhood watch up a ratchet. I have a number of other “news” events to cover in the next few days, as well as the photographs for the summer header to post for voting, so will be busy keeping you all updated this weekend.
My first love, Gideon, came home today. He is so much better, and so peppy, it is hard to believe he has been through hell for the last couple of months. His first shot created so many problems. This time, he got two shots in two days, but he is like the puppy he was (even though he is 9 years old – he is a BC/Aussie mix, after all). We are all so grateful for the thoughts and prayers of our extended family of friends. We still have to watch him rather closely for a couple of weeks, but the worst is over. Now that this is over, I should be able to go back to regular reporting.
Here is that beautiful guy, again: Gideon, the Wonder Dog
Today is the last day to submit your entry – until midnight tonight, so get those entries in. Photos and voting in a few days.
Gideon received his 3rd heart worm shot yesterday, his second the day before. He’s had to stay at the vets for the last few days. I go pick him up, shortly. He will have to stay quiet for a few weeks, but so far, he has come through this difficult treatment very well.
Of note: A fire was reported yesterday around 4:15 pm in the area of Prewitt Ridge and/or Wild Cattle. Follow-up reports from neighbors indicate this was a false alarm, nothing was located. WildCAD-LPNF does have a “wildfire” report listed on their site for 6:30 pm, but as I said, it appears to have been a false alarm.
A lot is going on with the traffic light at CV Rd and Highway One. Emails and postings have been provided by Pelican Network and the Chamber email systems. I will try to get a post up regarding this situation in the next few days. Gideon comes first.
Per a retired FF friend from Ft. Hunter-Liggett, controlled burns on the North Boundary have begun. Camp Roberts in SLO is also engaging in controlled burns, so if you see smoke in those directions, that is what it most likely is.
And my day was interesting, to say the least. Mountain Adventure #736:
Okay, I made that number up. I don’t know what number this one is. I’ve lost track, I’ve had so many.
With all the adventures I’ve had, one thing that has never happened is my 1998 Jeep has never broken down on the dirt road….or my 1988 Range Rover before that. It is almost as if they know that is verboten. Well, today, that luck changed.
I was going through Turkey Flats, you know, Turkey Flats … I’ve taken lots of photos there. Turkey Flats See Cone Peak in the background?
anyway, all of a sudden, there was no response from the gas pedal. None. Okay, I said to myself, Ms. Cool Big Sur Mountain Mama. It is all down hill, so I’ll get to the bottom, and get my friend Lynne to call Triple A for me. (I forgot my cell phone, for the first time in ages – not that there is any signal there) Except that it is not all flat.
I am going through the Buttle property, making good progress, coasting, and I get to the itty bitty creek that still has water in it, and there is THE hill. I forgot about THE hill. It is one that is so minor in the scheme of things, that it is easy to forget. BUT, the Jeep would not make it up.
It’s just a little hill! This shows it coming back, going down it.
I tried coasting back down and up the back hill as far as I could, hoping for a sling shot or pendulum effect. I didn’t have to go too far, just get the momentum going. Three times, I tried. No dice.
So, I coasted back down to this itty bitty creek, figuring, if I am stuck here for a couple days, at least the dogs and I will have water.
What? You can’t see the “creek” in there? Okay, maybe not a creek, but a drizzle. Still, enough to keep the dogs and I alive for a few days or weeks, or until someone stumbled upon us.
I turned off the engine, sat there for a minute, then scrambled down to the creek bed in my town clothes and town shoes, and got water for the doggies.
Then, as calm as can be, I opened the hood. That’s what guys do, right? Well, it is still as foreign to me as the day I bought it. Makes no sense. Besides, it was the gas pedal inside that quit, not the engine.
I get down under the dash, check out the gas pedal, and see that it is to the floor and unresponsive. Hmmm. Throttle cable? Maybe? There must be something like that. I find that there is this elbow shaped thingy that is behind the gas pedal. Huh? That must go to something, I thought. Wow, if I pushed on that, then it did something – what I wasn’t sure, but I was sure this elbow shaped thingy was the key. THEN, I found this cable type thingy that came through the back top above the gas pedal from the engine compartment. It had a knob on it.
Now, the elbow shaped thingy, I found by feeling about, had a round hole with a slit in it. If I put the cable thingy through the slot to the hole, it held, and the elbow shaped thingy was now connected to the cable and connected to the gas pedal. And voila! The gas pedal and the throttle cable were again connected and speaking to each other, and I put my foot on the gas, and get a response. Hooray! I conquered the unconquerable!
This, from a woman with not a single mechanical bone in her body. I was, and am, absolutely surprised at myself.
Watch out Indy mechanics, here I come! Am I too old for another career?
