[pct-l] Air Quality in Sierras?

[Nathan Miller]

>I'd be interested in hearing feedback from hikers in the Sierras on 
the air quality they've experienced over the past few days. Some 
friends are going to be joining me in a little while, and one has mild 
asthma. I'm not in the Sierras yet, so I don't know what to tell her. 
The webcams and air quality sensors give widely varying pictures of 
what's happening, so more info is appreciated.

I just hiked part of CA Section O (bailed, mainly due to foot problems) and while not exactly in the Sierra, I'll give my smoke report.  The downside is that I'm pretty sure I've seen better LA smog.  The upside is that it didn't look that bad up close.  The downside of this is that it can be misleading.  Within about a hundred meters or so, I almost couldn't tell it was smoky at all.  I could start to see it at the distance of about a city block.  Further than that and everything faded into obscurity.  I could see ridge-lines and vague outlines of trees upon them.  Standing in the vicinity of Red Mtn, I could see Mushroom Rock and the snow still on its flanks, but next to nothing in the way of detail.  The overall impression was that of a light fog.  After leaving the trail and heading down to Hwy 89 to the northeast, it wasn't as bad, but as I drove back to I-5 and then north, it was way worse and there was smoke clear into the southern Willamette
 Valley.
In short, my advise is that if you have respiratory problems, you might consider taking the year off, or at least going way later after everything has calmed down.
BTW, does that set of mountains actually have a name?  Many of the minor ranges do, but I can't find it on my maps.  Sure, some of the peaks are named--Mushroom Rock, Grizzy Peak, etc.--but I don't see any name for the collective.  I ask this largely because when I label my photos online, many of the people I know who'll be seeing them won't have a clue what "PCT Sct. O" means and trying to type something like, "stretch of PCT between Burney Falls and I-5" is a bit cumbersome when labeling photos.

-Nathan Miller
Newberg, OR