March 30 - April 1 Northwest Camp Trip 2007

[hambone]

Hey Jasan those are really great pics, very dramatic and good compositions. You have "the eye".
I can't view pics at work anymore, it's all blocked..first time I've seen em'.

[Westy78]

Thanks Bob. I really like this one of yours. The lighting and subjects are great. It's calming.

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[hambone]

what a difference a few months makes:

Ball Point Fire burns in steep terrain
Helicopters dipping water from Pine Hollow reservoir

By ED COX
of The Dalles Chronicle

A large fire buring mostly inside the Badger Creek Wilderness Area 15 miles southwest of Dufur has closed the entire trail system and four campgrounds there, and more than 300 firefighters are struggling to contain it, even as it looks likely to grow.
According to an incident report from this morning, the fire, which was ignited by a lightning storm Thursday evening, jumped over Little Badger Creek Saturday night and spread southeast, growing from 700 to 900 acres between Sunday and today. As of this morning, it was only 5 percent contained.
The terrain — in the vicinity of Ball Point Mountain between Tygh Creek to the north and south of Little Badger Creek — was characterized as “extremely difficult,” due to steepness and looseness of rock and gravel, according to Jerry Smith, the U.S. Forest Service’s fire information officer for the Ball Point Fire.
Smith blamed the fire’s similarly “extreme” growth potential on the dryness of the fuels in the area and expected 2 to 5-m.p.h. winds that could cause it to spread.
Crews planned to continue holding the fire to the west of Forest Road 27, but the outlook was for an estimated 100-acre increase to the south.
Firefighters have set up an Incident Base Camp at Dufur High School, where the Central Oregon Incident Management Team assumed command Sunday morning.
The helibase has been established at Rock Creek Youth Camp, and helicopters have been using the Rock Creek Reservoir as a dip site. The public is asked to stay back at least 200 feet from the general area when helicopters are dropping buckets for water collection.
As of the Sunday night report, the target for containment of the fire was 14 days.
The following roads have been closed due to the fire: Forest Road 2700, F.R. 2730 at the forest boundary, F.R. 4420 at the junction with F.R. 4421, F.R. 4410 at the junction with F.R. 4400, F.R. 3350 at the junction with F.R. 4891, F.R. 4860 at the junction with F.R. 4812, F.R. 4811 at the junction with F.R. 4810 and at the junction with F.R. 2710.
In addition to the entire trail system withing the Badger Creek Wilderness, the following campgrounds have also been closed: Bonnie Crossing, Fifteen Mile, Little Badger, Badger Lake.

[Westy78]

Wow, last I heard that fire was only 1 acre and that was on Friday. I was up at Badger Lake this last weekend with my dad. Camped on the lake Saturday night. We were suppose to go up Friday evening but put it off 'till Saturday morning because we didn't know exactly where the fire was in the wilderness area. We made the final decision to go into the lake when we met at the 35 FS road 48 intersection. We didn't see any smoke all weekend but we left the lake at about noon.

[hambone]

I'm glad you saw this! I know you were just up there. Weird I didn't even hear about any fires. I read that the rain didn't make it over there, too bad. But it's all a natural process.

[LiveonJG]

But it's all a natural process.

I'd like to see the day it could be seen as just that. You can already see the "salvage logging" vultures circling.

-John

[Westy78]

The bowl that Badger Lake sits in could desperately use a burn. There is an enormous amount of blowdown and very dry fuel for a fire. If it makes it that far it's going to burn hot and fast.