Smoke from Dollar Lake Fire

My blog has been very "Dollar Lake Fire" oriented lately, since that is the big happening up on Mt Hood lately. I took a drive up I-84 to the town of Hood River on Monday, which joins up with Hwy 35. Hwy 35 goes back towards Mt Hood on the east side and gives a good perspective of the fire and smoke on the north side of the mountain. Needless to say, you could barely even see the mountain though. The smoke is overwhelming. Driving around the mountain past Cooper Spur, the blue sky gave way to smoke filled, hazy areas all the way until Mt Hood Meadows, about a 15 mile stretch of road.

The Dollar Lake fire, which was started by lightning two weeks ago, has scorched about 4,500 acres. Fire crews have contained about 30 percent of the wildfire. The flames are burning about 3 miles away from the Bull Run Watershed, the source of drinking water for around 900,000 people living in the Portland metro area. Fire officials expect the blaze will miss the watershed, plus the nearby high-voltage lines operated by the Bonneville Power Administration.

And So It Begins...

The east wind has been blowing like crazy lately (which is not helping the wildfires on Mt Hood or in The Dalles). I let my dog out a few mornings ago and the lawn was covered in the first batch of fallen leaves. NOOOOO!!! Too soon for autumn!!!!! I snapped this photo after watering my garden. Wish the leaf was damp from dew or a late summer rain shower instead. We need it to help with those fires!

Horrible

I have been following the horrible news about the wildfire up on Mt Hood since I visited Cloud Cap last weekend. During that visit, I photographed the very beginning of the visible smoke to this now out of control mess. This area has been victim to wildfire before, most recently only 2 or 3 years ago. While I was up there, I also photographed this tree, with the previously burned forest behind it. The charred remains of the forest have not been cleaned up at all, which leaves an incredible amount of fuel for the fire to thrive off of.

Still burning, The Dollar Lake Fire on Mt Hood has charred at least 4,500 acres.