Out in the Boonies

Man, what a great day! Irrespective of the huge fire burning nearby, I had a fabulous day exploring an area I have never been to and had no idea a road existed in. I was out near Dodge Mine and I was planning on hiking into this little valley I found on my maps and in Google Earth but as it seems, people riding ATV's have opened up an old road back into it. There is a nice camping spot at the end of the road right by Last Chance Creek. This is one of the most pristine spots on the east side of the Plumas and it hasn't had fire in it for a long time, so I hope the monster that is lurking to the west doesn't come this way.

About that, I read this morning that the wind shift had allowed the firefighters to gain some ground, but looking at the column in these pictures I can say for sure that it blew out big time today. Driving down Highway 395 it was so smoky that you had to have headlights on as you can see in the picture. This fire has gotten so large that it has the potential to burn all the way to Honey Lake Valley, taking out some beautiful country with it. I would really hate to see that happen but it's up to the whim of the weather now.