[pct-l] Clover Fire: Bypass or not?

[Travis Beals]

After seeing the fire webcam pictures and looking at the live smoke  
sensor data from Kennedy Meadows, I started worrying that even if the  
PCT detour was open, it might be so smoky as to be very unpleasant and  
also potentially unhealthy (smoke levels at the Kennedy Meadows USFS  
smoke sensor today spiked well into the unhealthy range before  
dropping way back down).

Since I'm not going to be at Kennedy Meadows until around July 5, I  
phoned the Clover Fire information line listed in the press release  
for information on conditions, and asked whether they thought I should  
do. Specifically, I asked whether I should plan to hike the PCT or  
whatever detour was in place, or whether I should bypass the entire  
area by taking a bus up to Lone Pine. The response I got was that I  
should be fine to continue as planned, as they expect to have things  
more under control by then. Conditions can change, there are no  
guarantees, etc, but I take this as a good sign.

Just in case anyone is interested, I did do some research on how one  
might bypass the fire area, and it seems possible by exiting at Walker  
Pass (Hwy 178) or Mojave (Hwy 58). From Walker Pass, the easy way is  
to hitch east to Ridgecrest. Alternatively, hitch west to Onyx or  
preferably Lake Isabella. From Onyx, take Kern Regional transit to  
Lake Isabella. From Lake Isabella, take Kern Regional Transit to  
Bakersfield, then to Mojave. From Mojave, take Kern Regional Transit  
to Ridgecrest. From Ridgecrest, take the Eastern Sierra Transit  
(easternsierratransitauthority.com) bus to Lone Pine. From Lone Pine,  
hitch to Horseshoe Meadows, then take Trail Pass or Cottonwood Pass to  
the PCT.

-Travis