A California wildfire nearly destroyed the historic Lick observatory

Re:A California wildfire nearly destroyed the historic Lick ... by spike021 on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @01:18PM (#24344153)

Last time I went up, I passed a sheriff (or maybe CHP) sitting on the side of the road and he was looking down the hill.

My friend and I passed by thinking nothing of it. Then while hanging out up at the Observatory, we noticed a sheriff helicopter flying nearby.

30 minutes later we started heading down, got maybe a half mile down Mt. Hamilton Rd. from the Observatory, only for the whole road to be blocked because an abandoned vehicle had been found at the bottom of the canyon. LEO's needed to block the road for fire trucks and other first responders and then wait for the chopper to assist with investigating the vehicle.

We ended up being stuck for a couple of hours and got to watch the first responders navigate the road and terrain.

That renewed my appreciation and respect for the risks they take in that kind of environment.

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Re:A California wildfire nearly destroyed the historic Lick ... by sizzzzlerz on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @03:06PM (#24345625)

In about the same time, you could have gone down the east side and come out the Mines road in Livermore. That is a great road by itself, especially in the Spring. I’ll be curious to see what damage the fires caused.

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Re:A California wildfire nearly destroyed the historic Lick ... by spike021 on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @04:09PM (#24346417)

Yeah, we considered that! I've driven Mines Rd. from Livermore to the Junction. But I didn't have a full enough tank of gas to feel comfortable going that way.

Me too. All my favorite driving roads and areas to explore have been affected by the fires.

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