Rough Fire

I’m trying to stay cool about the fact that the Rough Fire might keep me from finishing the last 30 miles of my 195-mile Sierra High Route hike this season. I’ve hitch-hiked 850 miles to Portland to visit family and friends and wait it out a bit, but it’s now the biggest wildfire in California, 85,000 acres and only 31% contained (135,000, 36% on Sep 13). I hiked a good amount of this trail in smoke, but the part I’m missing is dangerously close to the fire and probably hellishly smoky. And the trailhead area is officially closed. Keep an eye out though, I’ll be hiking the Lowest to Highest with fellow PCT hikers and copperheads Ariel and Kevin few weeks! Photo taken of the northern tip of the Black Divide on the way up Muir Pass on the JMT / SHR a few weeks ago (August 19).