The most dramatic weather of this fire season and I survived! (PIC HEAVY)

[DemoTex]

The heater would not cut it Sunday night. I went three days with temps
ranging between the mid-teens and about 25. The heater would only heat
the lookout to about 37-degrees Sunday night (45 Saturday night). I
would have to burn the three gas lights and boil two pots of water on
the stove (neither of which I could do at night) to get the lookout up
to a comfortable temperature.

After the near-hurricane winds of Sunday night (which followed the
24-hour blizzard of late Saturday afternoon to late Sunday afternoon),
I called and said I could not spend my two off days up there (no sleep
most of Sunday night). My boss was great. He immediately sent a fire
crew in a big Ford F-450 crew truck up to get me. They knocked down
the high drifts and made ruts coming up. I followed them down in their
snow ruts. Worked great!

Snow depths ran from 10-12 inches in places to near two feet on the
windward side of the butte. Drifts were up to 3 feet or more.

I'm going back up tomorrow to finish packing and finish the season.
The forecast is for nice weather through the weekend. I'll be back
down on Saturday evening.

Thanks again to EarlG for allowing these dispatches in DU's GD Forum. Not many more left!

[Hekate]

1. Wow. Kicking this post!

:kick:

[roguevalley]

23. that area is awesome but the winters come early and are strong.

I love that part of Oregon. My Aunt and Uncle live just down the road in Lakeview.

[gateley]

29. Beautiful -- it would be a nice place to VISIT! nt

[kentuck]

2. Desolate but beautiful.

Thanks for the photos.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Beautiful place and photos

thanks for the dispatches...

[DemoTex]

5. Fire season is officially OVAH!

I'll be taking some USFS fire-fighters out to dinner Sunday night (my relief and her husband).

:toast:

[Hawkeye-X]

24. Thanks for all your dispatches.

I assume you're doing it again next year?

Hawkeye-X

[DemoTex]

26. I have been invited back.

I plan to be here for the 2010 fire season. I will have to lock-in on February 15.

[gateley]

4. Wow - AMAZING photos -- thanks! At least you had a One Dog Night! nt

[DemoTex]

6. Nick was actually IN the sleeping bag with me Sunday night.

At three AM I moved the sleeping bag to the floor, dressed, put my truck keys in my pocket, and crawled back into the bag with Nick, fully expecting the lookout glass to start shattering any minute. The winds must have gusted to 80-90 for about an hour there.

[TahitiNut]

15. He's a treasure, ain't he? What a GREAT puppy!

I can't imagine a better companion.

:applause:

[DemoTex]

16. 10-4!

Greatest dog ever!

[BrklynLiberal]

32. I was going to ask about DemoDog..and then I saw his picture.

It must be great to have him up there with you.
Thanks for including his picture.

Years ago I camped out in Yosemite in November. I also slept with my dog in my sleeping bag with me.
They are truly worth their weight in platinum.

[BrklynLiberal]

33. oops. Puter burped.

[intheflow]

7. I've enjoyed reading these missives, DemoTex,

along with your wonderful photography. This batch of photos is the best! I particularly like the 6th, 7th, and 9th photos. You have a good eye for composition. Thank you for sharing your wildfire watch life with us! :hi:

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. What an amazing change in only a few weeks..

From a dry tinderbox to a winter wonderland.

Reminds me of the UP of Michigan.

Stay warm.

[drm604]

9. K&R

Thank you for these dispatches. Part of me wonders how you do it and part of me is envious!

[BlooInBloo]

10. Heh! Wondered what it was like down there! Brrr!

[DemoTex]

13. The NWS did not issue a WINTER STORM WARNING until 3:45 AM Sunday!

The blizzard on my butte started about 4:30 PM on Saturday. It was obvious to me that the NWS-Pendleton was picking erroneous weather data from the Pine Mountain Observatory (U of O), which had been putting out weather data stuck on 7:20 PM Thursday (40-degrees F, light and variable winds). At about 3:00 PM on Sunday I called NWS Pendleton in a total WTF? moment. I gave them a real-time observation (still white-out snow conditions, 19-degrees F, with winds in excess of 36 mph - BLIZZARD). They were rather sheepish.

[BlooInBloo]

17. "I gave them a real-time observation" - hahahaha!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. My dear DemoTex!

I'll bet you thought you'd never be warm again! And these pics are so damn terrific...

You really do have a great eye for photography.

Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with us. If it hadn't been for you, I would never have had even the slightest idea of what doing your job entails.

K&R

[TahitiNut]

12. Kicking ... like Nick.

Brrrrrr!!!!!

[DemoTex]

14. Nick loved the snow, but ..

He hated the violent winds of Sunday night. So did I.

[KoKo]

37. Nick and You might enjoy that break...TIME To GO HOME...but like Thomas Wolfe Said:

"You Can't Go Home Again." ...."Look Homeward Angel." But, you will never be the same.

Godspeed to you....

[stevedeshazer]

18. Welcome to Oregon!

Just kidding, some native Oregonian snark.

I've really enjoyed your posts from East Butte. What an experience for you and Nick.

Next time around I hope we can share a beer or two in Bend.

[bridgit]

19. We seen the pattern from here siphoning Arctic air right out the middle...

swirling all down through Oregon from the NE but in particular the mass went right over Bend. As mentioned previous, my husband lived in Bend for some 15yrs and I've told him bout where you are - he knew, but when he seen the pattern he was all, "That boy is pretty much right underneath it and it looks chilly" The short of it?

Stay warm & safe :)

[shireen]

20. i've enjoyed your posts!

Look forward to reading the wrap-up posts and hopefully you'll be back up there next year. What an amazing experience ....

:yourock:

[pansypoo53219]

21. great pics

snow has to be good fire suppression.

[Electric Monk]

22. I've enjoyed reading your threads like this. I bet you'll also really enjoy seeing Ken Burns' series

on the National Parks, if you haven't seen it already. I really enjoyed it, all 12 hours.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. Stay Warm. K&R

:hi:

[Captain Hilts]

27. Great stuff! Thanks for giving it all a personal touch! nt

[ljm2002]

28. What a treat these dispatches have been!

Thanks for sharing your experiences at the lookout tower!

[owlsayswoot]

30. Awesomesauce

Makes me thankful I can look out my window and see a nice, warm fall day. Burrr! Still, one of the coolest (heh) photo series I've seen in a while. Thanks for sharing!

[annabanana]

31. Great pics! I *LOVE* your doggie padding and galumphing around

down there in the snow.

[BrklynLiberal]

34. Thank you so much for your posts. They are always wonderful and informative.

Love your pictures...and pls give Nick an extra ear-scritch for me.

[onehandle]

35. You are a better man than me. nt

[Octafish]

36. Man! That is great adventure!

Thank you, Mac! You've done an outstanding job of making us feel like we're there with you.

Don't drink your way to warmth... Save the matches... Think about hot cheerleaders and stewies...

[sazemisery]

38. Demotex takes DU on an Adventure

Wow, this has been so interesting, following your tenure in the tower. I forward every one to my son who is a standby firefighter. He has eagerly looked forward to your experiences as have I.

Thanks for the wonderful ride.