Thursday, June 26, 2008

Oliver / Silver Fire Maps and Links

Here's a topographic map that takes you from the Ponderosa Basin Fire Dept. to the Devil's Peak area. The Devil's Gulch drains into the South Fork of the Merced River.

I tried to paste up a terrain map from Google Maps, but it wasn't cooperating. Try this link here.

Most people (except for locals and savvy explorers) don't know that you can take a vehicle up Chowchilla Mountain Road and get to Wawona without ever going through an entrance gate. This is the area where the Oliver / Silver Fire is now burning. Robert Lindsay writes on his blog
On Wednesday, the main problem area was Devils Gulch, a stream that flows off Devil's Peak towards the South Fork of the Merced River. The fire is now burning very think and very dry brush and trees down into Devil's Gulch at its northern end at about 6,500 feet.

I also found these links to various state and local agencies to be really helpful.

National Interagency Fire Center

Sierra National Forest Fire Update

Silver Complex Topo Map (it's a little grainy and hard to read - if you know the area you'll probably be able to figure it out)

Mariposa County Fire Department

If you want to slog through the process, you can download a free copy of a USGS topographical map of the area at this location. I found Devil's Gulch in the area of N 37.31.854 W119.46.259