Very early this morning, we set out for what was planned to an overnight hike. By time we got to the general hiking area, the air was slightly scented with smoke from a forest fire about 60 miles away as the crow flies.

We were not sure if hiking up to 6500 feet would result in the air being a little clearer (which it usually is). However we were able to talk with another couple who just spent the night up the mountain and told us that higher up, the smell of smoke was less and visibility was good.

Once we made our way up the mountain some time later, turns out, the conditions were worse then where we started as there was a fair breeze from the the east which is where the above mentioned forest fire is.

This photo below was taken just after 1:00 pm and the sun was almost completely blotted out from the forest fire smoke.

After a lunch, we started our way down only to be greeted with a completely un-forecasted thunder/lightning/rain storm moving in. As most of you know, being out on open ground (especially in high open terrain) is not good. Fortunately we double timed down off the high open ground and found shelter in a young small 2nd growth tree area. This was not the best...but beats being on open ground during a lightning storm. There we ditched the trekking poles about 50 feet away from us and waited as the storm passed just northeast. Although we seen a few lightning bolts which were far enough way (30/30 rule), all we got was a light rain sprinkle which lasted only a few minutes.

With the weather looking unstable and the forests tinder dry, we decided to call it a day and made our way back down to the car. On the way home, we learned that 4 new (small) fires were started because of this fire. According to the TV news tonight, one of these fires is only a few miles north of where we were up the mountain. Making the decision to call it a day and head home was the right one as considering there is only one main forestry road in/out of the area (30 km / 18 miles) and could easily be cut off if that new and nearby fire gets out of control.

Also the newly updated weather forecast for the area now calls for a 40% chance of thunder/lightning....too much percent for hiking in the high country for me...

Good call, Teslin, and glad you're okay. I remember an interview with a mountain climber who was caught in a severe electrical storm -- "we felt like flies that were about to be swatted." And with the chance of your access road being cut, it was definitely time to bug out. No sense in adding to the problems of the parks/forestry officials. Seems like there are fires everywhere.

Aside from that, I have to confess that my heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I saw your photo. I haven't been able to get to "the rocks" all year. Responsibilities and all that. I really need to reform my ways.

Cheers,
Doug

stay high and get hit by lighting,go low and be in the fire zone!!
do you have any photos of that area without the smoke so we can see the change?..

Canoedogs:

I don't have another very similar photo of the above without the smoke, however this particular photo was taken in October 2009 and gives you an idea of how the area looks like normally.

Yes the forests are very dry here and has been the lead story on the local TV news and many of the news websites for the last week or so.

When planning the hike, I didn't want to even bring the MSR stove along...to worried about accidentally kicking it over and setting the mountain on fire. Ended up taking the stove anyway for emergency use only and all our planned food intake was based on not needing to be cooked. Lots of jerky, cheese, a few sandwiches etc..

Were are you that you have mountain peaks like that at 6500 feet?

Just north of Whistler British Columbia Canada which was one of the sites of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The area we were in rises rapidly to the east of the below photo (which is facing north) and is best known for the striking ice fields seen here at the northern end of the valley.

The ice field peak is at around 8500' elevation and are about 19 miles from where this photo was taken in October 2009. Best time to see the ice fields is early spring before snow melt.

Wow. Always nice to see photos like that.

What's the 30/30 rule?

HJ

The rule is pretty simple. The first 30 is: Count the number of seconds from the lighting strike until you hear the thunder. If it is less then 30 seconds, you are within a probable 6 mile range of the lightning. 6 miles may seem a long ways but keep in mind that a storm can travel extremely fast, faster then you could ever run...

The second part of the rule is to wait 30 minutes after you have heard seen and heard the last thunder / lightning sequence before commencing whatever your activity was.

In our case yesterday, the closest I counted was 28 seconds initially (twice) then more over 30 seconds as we took off for safety in the opposite direction of the storm which was moving to the northeast. Luckily this was a small and brief storm overall and did not come directly over us. What was really disconcerting though was how fast it appeared over the mountain range behind us...

You also need to ensure that whomever you are with, keep at least 20 feet distance from each other as lightning can easily hit one person then jump and hit other people who are too close.

The Browning on the pines,It appears that possibly the Bark-Beetles have made it to B.C.,Am I Right?Those darn Bugs dehydrate trees faster than any drought ever could,hence all the fires.That is Very Beautiful Country,regardless!