Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board air quality due to recent fires.

have the recent fires affected the air quality or visibility ?

Yes, both.

I can assume Mammoth and June lake areas are also experiencing smoke and visability issues also? Anyone been up there recently?

Is the air quality bad enough to consider cancelling a day hike up Whitney on Friday July 4th?

Good question. Right now the air quality from the Piute fire near Isabella is pretty bad, and it's worse today than it was yesterday in the Indian Wells Valley, about 60 miles south of Whitney. Right now it stings your eyes/makes your throat sore.

Much will depend upon the speed and direction of the wind. Last summer we were much affected by the smoke from the fires in Ventura county, and that's 150-200 miles away. I remember doing Langley then - it made the last hour of the climb uncomfortable.

Maybe call the Visitor Center in LP and ask them?

It was crystal clear Saturday and Sunday in the Miter Basin and the Cottonwood Pass areas...some of the clearest days I've spent in the Sierra. However, it was hazy on Friday.

I would not cancel.

For a brief period this afternoon, the winds picked up before sunset, lifted the smoke (although wisps of it are visible rolling down the hillsides) and created this "other worldly" scene. To the left is 5 Fingers, then Jenkins and Owens is under the sun.

I was on the main trail Saturday and Sunday, no smoke. A few friends did a Whitney day hike on Saturday and stayed at Dow Villa and took some awesome and very clear pictures of Whitney on Sunday from the hotel parking lot. I guess it just comes down to the wind direction.

I wouldn't cancel either, have fun!

I'm leaving tomorrow (Thursday)from Arkansas for a dayhike on the tenth.

I'll be disappointed if the view is badly distorted by the fires. I know I'm repeating the question already presented in the topic, but a few days have passed... and we don't get many news stories about California fires in the southeast. How bad is the current smoke situation at Mount Whitney?

Piute Fire
Incident #: CA-SQF-001356
Incident Type: Wildland Fire
Start Date: 06/28/2008
13,504 Acres Consumed, 5% Contained
Status: Active
Last Update at 07/02/2008 08:44:02 AM



(updated 2x daily @
http://www.oes.ca.gov/WebPage/oeswebsite.nsf/InteractiveMap?readForm

Link to Owens Lake Dust Cam is @ http://www.gbuapcd.org/dustcam.htm

Air quality web cams across the US are linked at
@ http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.webcams

I think the link to the Mt. Whitney Cam is @ http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/

Air quality has been very poor here in the Owens Valley and in the upper elevations for the last two weeks. In fact it has been down right unhealthy; measured in micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) and using a Thermo Scientific MIE pDR-1500, the PM - 2.5 has been regularly over 100.4 on the valley floor and at elevations above 10K feet the readings have been even higher.

dmatt

dmatt; we always appreciate your clearing the air,
eh... would anyone recommend a wet filter bandanna?

Dennis:

Can you give me an idea of what this means, and possible ranges? Is it referring to particulate matter? Should I pick up a few masks for this weekend for me and my friends? (Yuck, but if it saves my lungs a bit...)

Thanks!
-L

MooseTracks, said to dmatt

for more on Particulate Matter (PM) see AIRNow - Air Quality Maps, etc

click on the map that displays, then click "particles now"

etc!

Hey Moose>

Yes this is particulate matter 2.5 micrometers in size which smoke is a part of. The EPA has lowered the acceptable limits of PM-2.5 from 65 to 35 ug/m3. You can see that levels at +100 is not very health at all.

dmatt

Ugh, that's heinous. I think I like the idea of the wet bandana over my face this weekend. That should make for one sexy tan line!

Oh well, can't be any worse than the cigars I used to smoke...

This smoke is the worst I can ever remember seeing. I wouldn't bother cancelling trips because of it although your views won't be quite the same until some of these fires get controlled. Here are a couple pics from my last trip I finished yesterday. The entire gallery is here.


Looking north from the summit of Mt. Williamson on July 1. Only the very top of While Mountain is visible poking above the smoke on the far right of this photo.


Looking SE from the summit of Mt. Williamson on July 1.

When the wind switched direction later that day Mt. Williamson cleared up. Here's a view of it from our camp in Williamson Bowl that evening:


Mt. Williamson from Williamson Bowl 7:25 PM on July 1

I won't be cancelling my trip to the mountains because of the smoke, but I purchased [smoke] particle masks just in case. I'd look pretty dorky hiking with a mask on; I'll use it only under the worst of conditions. I bought two 3M N95 masks (with exhalation valves) for about seven bucks a pair, masks that I saw mentioned recently in the Sacramento paper.

MicronSize N95
5.0 100%
2.0 100%
1.0 100%
0.7 99.6%
0.5 98%
0.3 88%


Sacramento paper article about smoke masks:

Are air masks the solution against smoke? Not always
By Maddalena Jackson - mjackson@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, July 3, 2008
Not all masks are created equal. One that's rated N95 blocks 95 percent of particulate matter, good for use against smoke. But masks without ratings are useless at filtering tiny smoke particulates, experts say. José Luis Villegas
If June's fires are a preview of the remainder of the season, Sacramento Valley residents and those in the foothills and mountains will again be faced with a variety of unpleasant options for avoiding the smoke.
One of those options is wearing a mask – and living with the trade-offs.
The right mask can filter almost all particles and provide your lungs with clean air. But because sucking air through the fine mesh of the mask takes energy, breathing becomes a little harder, and masks can become warm and claustrophobic.
"I've done it for 16 years – I have to protect myself," said Patty Bender, 55, who began wearing masks in times of bad air after she was diagnosed with lung disease. A registered nurse with 30 years of experience, Bender has worn the masks, with doctor approval, to prevent further damage.
Not all masks are created equal – and there is a standard by which masks may be judged.
Bender wears an N95 mask, which means that under testing by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the mask blocks 95 percent of particulate matter.
Masks with no ratings displayed may be OK for filtering sawdust, but they are useless in filtering smoke particulates.
"Every manufacturer that comes in and wants (a mask approved) submits to us a number of respirators," said Heinz Ahlers, branch chief with the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory. "We take those respirators and test them for penetration and for breathing resistance."
If they block a certain portion of particulates during testing, they are awarded a letter and a number that signify the type and percentage of particles blocked, Ahlers said.
The number signifies the percentage of particles blocked. A "95" mask removes 95 percent of particulate matter.
A common measure of air quality is the amount particles smaller than 2 1/2 microns in diameter present in the air. Some of the most dangerous particles are much smaller than that – a particle 2 1/2 microns wide is dwarfed by the end of a human hair.
Smoke produces particles so small that they act as a mist. Masks that have earned the NIOSH N95 certification block 95 percent of these particles, regardless of size.
But masks aren't for everyone. Health experts, including the American Lung Association and government health officials, warn that people with compromised respiratory systems should be very cautious about using masks.
"Certainly, anyone who has any respiratory illness or heart illness should consult their physician before considering a mask," said Bonnie Holmes-Gen, senior policy director with the American Lung Association of California.
Many county health officials don't recommend the N95 mask.
"You need to be in fairly good shape to use it," said Dr. Glennah Trochet, Sacramento County's health officer. "N95 respirators, when properly fitted, are fairly hard to breathe through."
Trochet also was concerned about the risks to those with preexisting heart and lung problems.
"Really, if the air quality got so bad that people needed masks, we'd probably be talking about evacuating people."
Trochet said she didn't see current conditions as a disaster, but some people, like Bender, want to take steps now despite the risk and inconvenience.
"It feels like part of my skin," Bender said. "I got used to it. … I had such severe lung disease, I had to."
Last Friday, Enloe Medical Center in Butte County shared its supply of N95 masks with the public.
"We actually had a little over 2,000 of the masks, and we started giving them away at 10 a.m.," said Christina Chavira, a spokeswoman for the hospital. "At about 10:15, they were pretty much all gone."
Chavira said "a range of people, all ages" showed up to get masks, including at least one person wishing to upgrade from a painter's mask, which wasn't working.
Dust masks and painters masks generally do not protect against particulates. Only masks that say "NIOSH" and have a letter and number rating printed on them will protect the lungs from smoke.
Bender, who credits the masks with her health after her diagnosis, said she she feels so strongly about public access to proper masks that she has tried leaving messages with local, state and federal officials – with no responses.
"I believe this has fallen through the cracks because there have been so many issues with the fires," she said.
But the official opinion about masks is not as enthusiastic as hers. The Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District warns against using "paper masks," saying that they reduce air flow to the lungs and do not protect the lungs from particles. The Placer County Air Pollution Control District says the same.
State health officials said the decision to recommend masks – or not – should be left to each county's health officer.

Any comments about the air from people who have been in the area recently?

July 4th, when I got up to Lone Pine, the air was a bit smoky, but seemed fine - I did a tune up hike Portal to Trail Camp and back and it was ok. I went back to the Visitor Center to pick up my next day's day hike permit and it was very windy.

July 5th, I hiked Whitney and it was a very nice day. The wind from the 4th seemed to have cleared things out and the view from the top was much better than I was expecting.

July 6th, the air was pretty awful. I rode my bike up on a loop around Horseshoe Meadows Rd/Lubken Canyon Rd/395, then up to the Portal and back, and it was hot and the air was bad. Whitney was only very hazily visible from Lone Pine, and the valley was very hazy from the Portal. Bottom line, I think things are changing quite a bit, but even at the worst I saw, they weren't a reason to cancel plans.