San Gorgonio Wilderness: Dry Lake
July 12, 2006
Nicole and I took out first hiking trip with our dog Tippy! The weather was good and there was still some lingering patches of snow on San Gorgonio. Dry Lake was still completely full and the meadow was nice and green. While at Dry Lake, we noticed large smoke plumes coming over the ridge behind us. It was the Millard-Sawtooth fires hitting explosively dry fuels. Turns out the fire was headed toward the wilderness. A couple days after our hike, the area was temporarily shut down to hikers and campers due to the approaching flames.
Dry Lake in the San Gorgonio Wilderness.
Tippy discovers that playing in the lake is twice as much fun as looking at it!
Dry Lake...not so dry.
Tippy enjoying her first ever hike in the mountains with Nicole and I!
The engagement ring.
The engagement ring.
One of Many Smoke Plumes from the Millard & Sawtooth Wildfires. To date, the fires have burned more than 85,910 acres of wilderness area, 50 homes, 171 outbuildings, hundreds of cars, and resulted in the death of a Pioneertown resident. The fire has also forced the closure of the San Gorgonio Wilderness, the same wilderness that Nicole and I hiked through on our recent Dry Lake trip.
More smoke plumes above the Millard-Sawtooth Complex.