RoadTrip Blog

(Photo: Courtesy of UCLA Dept of Astronomy & Physics)

Beautiful clear day in Southern California!

Mark Sedenquist

The Station Fire which started on Wednesday August 26th, 2009 at approximately 03:30 PM has burned over 250 square miles of land within the Angeles National Forest and near surrounding foothill communities of La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton, Soledad Canyon, Pasadena, Glendale and Sierra Madre. The fire is moving into areas of the forest with no recorded fire history. The Station Fire is now the 9th largest fire in California since 1933. Here’s a pretty incredible map of the fire progression on a daily basis!

November, 2010 Update: The Angeles Forest Highway, also known as County Road S-2, was given the honorary name of the “Capt. Ted Hall and Engineer Arnie Quinones Memorial Highway” at a ceremony at a Lancaster fire station, read more here.

Here are some photos from the Station Wildfire:

August 29th at 0100 hours Angeles Crest Highway & Foothill, La Canada
Photo by Bruce Jones

View from JPL looking west on the 29th
Photo by Bruce Jones

DC-10 Holding the line to keep the fire from
moving into the La Vina neighborhood of northwest Altadena later that day
Photo by Bruce Jones

Ed Honowitz (View of Altadena also on August 29th):

Photo of DC-10 holding the line in Altadena
Photo by Ed Honowitz

According to eyewitnesses, (but, as yet, officially unconfirmed reports from) the fire lines — the USFS fire stations at Mill Creek, Chilao, Camp 16 (near Mt. Gleason) and the Vetter Peak Lookout tower were heavily damaged and/or destroyed by the fire. In fact, some of the reserve fire trucks were lost in the firestorm at Mill Creek and Chilao. Perhaps suprisingly, the fire stations at Clear Creek and Red Box Ranger stations were saved from the fire.

September 21st, Mt Wilson Tower Cam, 10:00 AM
Photo by UCLA Department of Physics & Astronomy

November 23, 2011, Mt Wilson Tower Cam, 1:05 PM
Photo by UCLA Department of Physics & Astronomy

December 13, 2011, 6 inches of snow
Photo by UCLA Department of Physics & Astronomy

Here is a web cam that updates throughout the day from the tallest solar telescope tower on top of Mt. Wilson. It provides awesome views of the high country — a bit singed now, but it will be a great place to check in as the forest begins to recover from the devastation of the fire.

Costs as of Sept 20th — in excess of $84 million dollars to control this fire.

Angeles NF Sign near Angeles Crest station on the Angeles Crest Highway:

Sign of the Times
Photo by U.S.F.S.

Bruce Jones air tankers, angeles, fire, forest, station fire, wildfire

It may not be America but they’re arguably the ultimate roadtrippers so I hope this qualifies as a relevant entry. This weekend we visited the Appleby Horse Fair, an annual gypsy gathering that has been taking place in the north England town of Appleby for at least 270 years, possibly as far back as 1685. Thousands of gypsies, Romanies and other travellers come together from all over Europe (mainly, it must be said, from Ireland) to trade horses, show off their trotting skills, look as intimidating as possible and generally block off all the roads to and from this part of Cumbria for the week before and after the event.

Here are a few photos to give you a taste of what it’s like (and yes, sadly, this is indicative of the weather in England in June).

Peter Thody england, gypsy

I visited Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on 24 May 2009 and posted a handful of pictures to my RTA profile.

Road Hacker green bay, lambeau field, sports, wisconsin

I visited downtown Joliet on Memorial Day 2009 and came across a Chevy Dealership mural on Route 66. The dealership was Bill Jacobs Chevrolet.

A Tribute to Route 66

A Tribute to Route 66

A Tribute to Route 66

A Tribute to Route 66 (plaque)

Road Hacker illinois, joliet, mural