To what degree, if at all, did the Lion Fire affect any of you who recently were on the mountain? Ash fall? Breathing issues? From the looks of the webcam this afternoon, you can barely see the Alabama Hills in the foreground. The webcam was clear this morning and yesterday morning, but as was the case yesterday afternoon the winds shifted and smoked out the crest on down through the Portal canyon and into Lone Pine. DMatt has reported that thus far the smoke has remained above his Owens Valley monitoring stations. Heading up this weekend. Thanks in advance for any information you might be able to provide.
BruinDave
I summitted Tuesday July 19th at 1 P.M. During the early evening of Monday, July 18th, smoke filled the Portal, stung my eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Ash was falling like snow and accumulating on my gear. It was wheezy up until I fell asleep at about 9 P.M. When I woke up for the hike at 2 A.M., things had cleared for the most part. During the ascent, the views were unspoiled early but by 11 or 12 A.M., smoke began to affect views southward, southwestward, and as the day progressed to the west. North and northwest remained clear, as, if I remember correctly, did eastward views. However, the view on the climb down was affected. Smoke had accumulated in Lone Pine, but, fortunately, had not moved into the Portal by the time we got back at 7:40. Lone Pine at 8:30 P.M. was hellish.
The word on the street was "summit by 11". The wind pattern seems to be clear days through about noon and then smoke and haze moving into the area thereafter. Interesting how predictable the wind pattern is.
