Snow yesterday morning, 25-degrees F this morning .. but things are looking up! (DIAL-UP WARN)

Yesterday was miserable. I woke up early to 1-inch of snow on the ground. That quickly sublimed. High winds, low-temps, and snow squalls ruled the day on Thursday. The top of the butte was whitened three times during the day by the heavy snow showers.

I woke up at 04:30 this morning, anxious about a big meeting in the ranger head-shed downtown concerning the carbon monoxide incident on May 22-23. It was 25-degrees F when I left the lookout at 05:30, with a heavy rime frost.

The good news is a warming trend starts tomorrow! I can't tell you how badly everyone needs that, especially my old ass hung out here in a fire lookout at 6500 feet above sea level.

The best news is that the meeting with the brass went well. They acted swiftly (and are following up properly) on a problem that they are convinced very nearly cost them an employee's life: mine! And it looks like (hate to be mercenary) the USFS will pick up my hotel and expenses for the time displaced from the lookout (which they consider my home) during the carbon monoxide investigation and mitigation. My supervisor and battalion commander led the charge on the whole investigation, and kudos are in order. The higher-ups recognized this fact today.

The brass also recognized that having a retired airline pilot (and ALPA Central Air Safety Committee member and airline accident investigator) who could analyze the problem, act quickly that night, and report details back to them like they have never seen before, was way above the performance level they expect from my GS level. I have been told that I am being put in for a GS-level increase (raise)!

BTW: There was a weird alert broadcast over the US Forest Service radio net late yesterday afternoon. It warned USFS employees to watch for a vehicle (with a complete description) that was being driven by an individual thought to be armed, suicidal, and possible in the national forest. The warning was to avoid approaching the vehicle if sighted. Of course, out here at "Twin Peaks," I flinched and tossed every time the flag flapped during the night.

So I asked my supervisor about it early this morning before the big meeting. He said all the known info was in the broadcast alert. He also said that the dispatch center was set to re-broadcast the alert at 08:30 this morning (I was in my meeting by then).

Any of you in central Oregon know what this is about? I ain't real worried, but I do have the trap door padlocked from the top-side (and the low-mountain gate is padlocked with a standard-issue USFS lock and heavy chain).


Yesterday morning, after my walk around the buute


Very early Thursday morning (bad white balance - not shot RAW)


The snow literally sublimed before my eyes


Pine Mountain's early snow squalls were light, but they persisted and got heavier and heavier all day long


Looking toward Pine Mountain later in the day


Snow squalls came to me from over the Crater Buttes


And from over the Newberry rim (China Hat near-ground)


The Newberry rim took most of the moisture out of the Pacific storm, before it reached me

Glad your meeting went well and that they appreciate your expertise.

Okay, I've got to say it: I do love your photos, they are fabulous. But I feel cheated if Nick isn't in one of them.

Today, he was flirting with the ladies at the ranger station.

I loved the photo of him from a couple of days ago. What a pose!

That's the one!

I almost lost it in that meeting today. I'm really raspy now.

style of your writing -- you're always a delight to read because you're so unpretentious.

I am now in the plains (The Great American Desert) but lived for a few years in the Oregon Cascades so your photos are like pictures from home. I would guess your fan club here is much larger than you suspect!

Heavy rain cooled things off as only 100% humidity can do.

I'd give my left nut for snow.

Oh, those are wonderful pics! You really have some terrific views up there...

And biggo congrats, sweetie, on the raise! You more than deserved it, considering the circumstances that led to it!

:toast:

I guess I'd better not spend the money 'til I see it. Eh?

Probably not!

:P

Didn't realize you were east of Newberry.

The Cascades get about 112-inches of rain a year. The Cascade Lakes area gets about 80-90, and the Newberry Caldera about 50-60. My side of the rim averages TWELVE inches of rain a year. Thus the dust, lack of bears, and incredible fire hazards.

Where are they?

Taken from a 30' fire lookout tower on a 6470' butte (mountain).

Lat/Lon
N 4340.034
W 12059.749

TRS on the Deschutes National Forest Willamette Meridian GLS map
Township: 22S
Range: 14E
Section: 13

the pics of the snow you got last June! The more things change, the more they stay the same!

As much as I enjoy your awesome photos (The 2nd one looks like a Christmas card!), part of me wishes you were reporting on the goofy politics going on in SC!

Congratulations on the promo! Sounds to me like recognition for a job well done!

:hi:

Last year, about this time, we had our SC GOP gubernor "hiking" on the Appalachian Tail. I had an "Appalachian Trail Conservancy" t-shirt that I'd wear in Bend that always got funny comments about the SC gubernor's philandering.

What kind of camera do you have? You should post those in the photography forum. GORGEOUS!!!!

I mainly shoot with a Canon 16-35mm f2.8 wide-angle zoom and a 70-200mm f2.8 telephoto zoom lens (but also use the 24-105 f4 that came with the package). I catalog with Lightroom 3 (just out) and use Photoshop Elements 8 (Premier for video) -- soon to be transitioning to Photoshop CS-5.

I shoot mostly camera raw and set custom white balance in Photoshop.

My back-up camera is the Nikon D-70 I used last fire season.

I trained over the winter months at Showcase School of Photography in Atlanta. I have been accepted at SCAD (Savannah School of Art and Design) Atlanta, but I'm not sure I'm up to spending those bucks at my age.

I'm hoping for better tomorrow.

I use http://www.nixle.com for local police incidents. Maybe they're using it in your area and you can get more info.

But the skies are clear. I just missed an incredible sunset because I had the wrong lenses on both cameras. By the time I had the 70-200 on the Canon, the light was gone. There will be many more sunsets between now and 10/9 (the planned end of fire season).

It's an awesome sight to see, and you went and captured it perfectly!

Yeah, the wind was nasty today and a lot colder than forecast. We have got to have a few days of sun here some time!

and the pics. Congrats on the raise!