More Bears, Lots More Smoke

 

On the Overlook Bench last night, August 17

Behind us is Emerald Bay and the mountains which are not visible in this picture, nor in real life due to the extreme smoke - thus the N95 mask I am wearing.

    Since my last blog post, I have not taken a lot of pictures - the smoke has been hiding the blue sky and the blue lake most of the time. I have also not taken any long hikes because of the smoke, but until this week I was still hiking down to Vikingsholm and back (5 mile round trip) between morning and noon camp checks most mornings. When it is just hazy, even thick haze the smoke doesn't bother me too much, but the past couple of days with smoke from a new fire in El Dorado County (Caldor Fire) I am keeping my walking to the Overlook in the mornings and evenings. Beginning yesterday we have had lots of ash falling as well so we are staying in the motor home most of the time. Yesterday morning when I woke up the sky was blue and the lake was blue when I walked to the Overlook. At 7:00 AM I was planning to hike down the Rubicon Trail to Vikingsholm between camp checks, but by 8:00 AM the winds brought thick smoke in and we've been staying in most of the time. I'm pretty resigned to the fact that smoke will probably be with us until we leave here on Labor Day, but hopeful there will be some pleasant days in the midst. We did go bike riding several days ago when the smoke was more than I wanted to hike in, but on the electric bicycles riding was OK. We rode about 19 miles round trip from the Raleys in South Lake Tahoe to Myers. We went out on a beautiful dedicated bike path and rode back on the bike lane on Pioneer Trail.

    Because of the smoke the campground has been pretty sparsely occupied with lots of reservations canceled and many people not showing up for their reservations. Last night was a record low of only 13 of 97 sites occupied. I feel sorry for the families that have come here for vacation and they can't even see the lake! But mostly I feel sad for the devastation the fires are causing. 

August 7 in the morning looking east from the Overlook

    We have had off and on again bear activity in camp. There is a mama bear and cub who are regular visitors here, but we aren't aware of her every day or night. Sunday evening August 8 about 8:00 PM we heard the horn honking and yelling that meant there was a bear nearby, actually just down the hill below us in site 4. By the time we got there she and her little cub were on the table eating the remains of the family's dinner. She was completely unfazed by the noise and commotion - once the bears are into the food the only thing that will make them leave is a ranger with their gun to shoot rubber bullets. As soon as the ranger, whom we had called, arrived and got out of her truck, the mama and cub took off running fast! Most times the bears get into food it is considered a violation and the campers get a pricey ticket, but this one wasn't a food violation. The family of four, including young children were sitting at the table eating their dinner. They were aware of the bear making a commotion by the dumpster, but because of previous experience in bear country, they weren't too worried until she approached within 10 or 12 feet of their table. They panicked - hard to blame them, especially with children - and retreated to the car, abandoning their food on the table. The bear would not have attacked them for the food, but it's hard to believe that if she's approaching you. This particular bear has gotten pretty bold, stealing food from one part of a campsite when the people are in another. Ranger advice: put all food in locker if you see the bear anywhere around! 

Mama and cub in campsite 4 on Sunday, August 8

Mama and cub on the table finishing dinner

    The bear and cub were pretty active that night from reports we heard, but until this past Sunday morning we weren't aware of her again. I wasn't in camp, but Rob heard the bear alert noises coming from campsite 13 about 9:00 AM so he went to investigate. The same mama bear and cub were trying to open bear proof ice chests. Even an air horn that a park maintenance employee was using wouldn't deter her. But when Dave, the other camp host came by in the gator she took off - she apparently doesn't like the sound of the gator. By the time the ranger responded the bear had just left. Later, about 11:00 Rob saw the ranger head down the hill from near our site in a hurry, so he followed on foot to campsite 24, where the bear had been, but was of course gone because she ran from the ranger. Rob walked up the hill into the woods with the ranger and they saw depressions in the ground where the mama and cub apparently sleep. They looked up and there was mama bear in one tree and the cub in another. Mama hissed at them and they left. Brooke, the ranger, said that during the summer the bears need about 5,000 calories a day, but now as fall approaches they need more like 12,000 calories a day, so she'll keep looking for easy human food. The bear "proof" ice chests the bear was trying to get into were locked so she didn't get them open, but she did break off the catches and roughed them up good. They are legal outside with padlocks, but it's really better to have them in the bear box.

    In addition to checking for occupied campsites when we do camp checks we are always looking to make sure all food is put away, and we are constantly reminding folks to keep their bear lockers closed ALL the time. Campers are all told this when they enter the campground - to lock up everything that smells and to treat the bear locker like you would your refrigerator, never leaving the door open, but some how, until they get a ticket or a bear gets their food, many campers don't get it. Frequently we hear, "but I just left for a minute to go to the bathroom," etc. One day at noon we found ice chests outside in two campsites, thus causing us to call dispatch. That particular day we were told by the dispatcher that a ranger might not be able to get back to us because they were looking for a missing person, so we put as much of the food in the bear lockers as possible and then took what wouldn't fit to the kiosk until a ranger did arrive. Both campers got cited. It's hard to feel sorry for them when they are warned so much!

Here is an ice chest and package of cookies in a tent with the door open so we could see it.

This particular camp site had food and food trash all over it 

- like they hadn't heard any of the warnings they had to sign for when they checked in!

Here is one of those giant ice chests left out  in a different campsite. It was super heavy for Rob and I to move together, but we managed to get it, another ice chest, and some other left out food put it in the bear locker for safe keeping.

Yes, the ice chest was loaded with food!

We always check because is is OK to leave an empty ice chest or one with just ice and water outside.

It feels invasive to walk into someone's campsite and look in their ice chests and bear lockers, but it is necessary to protect the bears!

    Monday, August 9, on a day off we decided to go for a drive down 50 to 89 and then to 395. The drive down 89 to 395 from Markleeville is especially dramatic and beautiful. We had driven that way after camping at Grover Hot Springs State Park two years ago, and looked forward to driving it again even though we knew visibility wouldn't be great because of the smoke. We drove though areas burned by the Tamarack Fire and were amazed at how well fire fighters were able to protect Markleeville - it is an oasis in the midst of fire devastation. We saw utility crews working on the restoration of lines in the area and were amazed at how many new poles and new line they had already replaced. I only managed to take one picture on our drive that day and that was of a creek at the campground behind the Big Meadows Tahoe Rim Trail Head parking. This was a campground Alex and I stayed at on our fifth night out on our Tahoe Rim Trail thru hike in 2016. This campground fascinates me because it's really not very far from Lake Tahoe and its free. It has only 11 sites, but they all have tables, fire pits and bear boxes. There are pit toilets, but no piped water, but there is a beautiful little creek running through it. We stopped there because I wanted to show it to Rob.

Alex's Creek

We had only hiked 5 miles that day on the TRT, as originally planned, getting to the campsite before noon. I wanted to hike some more miles, but Alex insisted in taking a break - he sat by this creek for hours that afternoon - a memory I treasure from our mountain top around the lake adventure. I sent him this picture and he responded, "That was a nice creek."

August 10 looking east from the Overlook

I keep taking pictures of the smoke altered views!

Lower Eagle Falls on August 10

- one of the few days I have hiked down the Rubicon Trail in the past couple of weeks.

Moonset on August 10 looking west from the Overlook

A Rock at the lower Eagle Point Overlook

    I continue to notice things I haven't seen before, like the survey marker on the top of this rock at the lower Overlook here in the campground. This spot is about a mile and a half from our campsite, so I don't go there very often in the morning. This morning that I was there I had just returned the Gator to the other camp host and then walked out there. I was looking around thinking about what rocks might have been moved to accommodate the space for a picnic table. When I looked at this particular rock I was wondering if it had "always" been where it was and that's when I noticed the marker. Nope, that rock hasn't moved!

A close up of the marker

This one is pretty dented and scratched, so pretty hard to read. I marvel at the surveying techniques to figure out exactly where this is! I can figure out the gps coordinates with my phone now, but not so when this was placed! I also can't figure out where the arrow is supposed to be pointing - definitely not north!

There is a woodpecker at the base of this tree - honest!

One morning at the Overlook closer to us I was sitting near this tree when I heard a woodpecker. I kept looking up to try to see it because that's where I thought the sound was coming from. Finally I got a glimpse of movement near the base of the tree.

August 16 looking east from the Overlook

August 16 looking into Emerald Bay from the Overlook

In this picture you can barely see the mountains behind the bay - not visible this morning!

Looking north from the Overlook the same morning with Emerald Point visible and part of Rubicon Point visible behind it. This morning I was barely able to make out Emerald Point.

Sliver of reflected sun looking east from the Overlook this morning, August 18.

    Today, August 18, 2021 is the 107th anniversary of my father's birth, so feeling a bit nostalgic remembering him and one of his legacy's to me of the love of the outdoors. He lived to one week short of his 96th birthday.

Kitties looking at each other - the smoke doesn't seem to phase them.

Kitties looking at us