Pleasanton Ridge Trail by Susan Alcorn
According to news sources, there are more than 1,000 wildfires burning in California. The air quality is rated unsafe. It's recommended that people stay indoors with the windows closed. The danger is greatest for the very young and the very old. We aren't often smelling the smoke where we live, but the haze is pretty bad.
Ralph and I have had to postpone our hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. The "Clover" Fire, which we have been following for almost a month, has not only increased, it's gone over onto the east side of the Sierra. For quite a while, the fire was allowed to burn because it was a naturally occurring fire—caused by lightning. But now that it is close to structures—including the Kennedy Meadows store and Highway 395, it's being more actively fought.
The trail was closed at one point, then opened with escorts, now closed again. We're disappointed about having to cancel our trip because the miles from Kennedy Meadows to Cottonwood Pass are our last 50 miles to hike of the PCT in California and we'd really like to complete it. At the same time, we realize that our concerns are nowhere near as important as those of the firefighters and the residents who have homes, property, even lives at stake.
Because we want to keep in shape and ready for our next backpack trip, we are taking local hikes. We decided it was safe enough to hike because we haven't been smelling much smoke. We're hiking many of the trails listed in this year's East Bay Regional Parks Trail Challenge and being introduced to many new places to hike. Yesterday we hiked the Pleasanton Ridge trail (Pleasanton); today we hiked along the Nimitz and Wildcat Canyon trails in Tilden Park (Berkeley). The eerie thing is that most people are heeding the warnings about air quality and the trails are close to deserted. Our hikes have been wonderful—I just hope that we aren't undermining our health!
Today we met a man on the Nimitz Trail. He warned us that he had seen a mountain lion about a mile back. We've always said we'd love to see a mountain lion in the wild, but not too close. We weren't lucky enough to see this one, but it did keep us on our toes.
Our big sighting of the day was a mama and papa quail that we startled as they were crossing the trail. Mama flew to one side of the trail and then the other, warning her little ones to stay quiet. We moved off several yards and waited patiently; after Mama thought we were gone, she ran back across the trail and collected her two tiny chicks and brought them back to where Papa was waiting.
Today as we sat having our lunch in the foothills and looking out at the haze, I was reminded of Stewart's Earth Abides. The book was set in Berkeley and the main character awakes (after recovering from a snakebite as I recall) to find himself all alone in the hills—and the air filled with smoke. Turns out most of the population has been destroyed by a nuclear holocaust. Eerie? Yes!