Fireworks on the Fourth of July,  by Leatrice Dotters

On July 4, 2001, the Board of Directors of the Buck Rock Foundation held an Open House at Buck Rock Lookout.  Little did we know what a “bang-up” affair it would turn out to be!The first volunteer helpers arrived at 8:00 a.m. to set up the tables and arrange a large array of food and drink.  Jane Ziegler, our local watercolorist, set up her aluminum supported tarp covering her art work and our Buck Rock merchandise.  It was an impressive display of beautiful items. 

The weather looked somewhat threatening with many large dark cumulus clouds about.  However, the temperature was warm when the gusting winds ceased.  Because wind gusts can be very strong on the mountain top, someone commented they hoped a gust of wind did not take Jane’s tarp to Weston Meadow.

At 10:00 a.m. we wondered if we, the volunteers, would be the only attendees to this, the first Open House of the Foundation.  It was Wednesday – how many travelers would find their way to this lonely outpost in the High Sierra?    But soon, it was as if a flood gate had been opened as people began to arrive.  We became very busy acting as hosts and interpreters and guides to large groups, families, foreign tourists and hikers. We tried to regulate the numbers climbing up the rock but some would slip through before others descended.  Foundation President, Kathy Ball, was on official duty watching for fires and at times was overwhelmed with the numbers of bodies topside.

About 1:00 p.m., as 30 or 40 visitors were gathered, Board Director Jeff Monaco introduced John Exline, the new Hume Lake District Ranger and we presented to Ranger Exline a framed certificate noting Buck Rock Lookout as being registered on the National Historic Lookout Register. 

More people arrived and a lot of interest was shown in the work of the Foundation. Members of the Hume Lake fire crew were there as were two Forest Service student “interns” and Smokey Bear. Meanwhile, clouds were building and a low rumble of thunder was heard in the distance.

One young man, Jason, who worked as a back-country ranger arrived with a big grin and headed for the cookies. He said to me, “Guess I got out of the back-country just in time!”   I said, “Jason, you came to the wrong place,” and pointed to a black cumulus cell I had been watching approach us from the direction of Shell Mountain.

“That cloud is going to arrive here in about 2 minutes and it is going to hammer us unmercifully.“  We soon heard a rumble of thunder and the breeze picked up.  I looked at the crowd, all huddled together. “Everyone,  take shelter the best you can and get away from the trees!”  People scattered including the fire crew, who ran to their engine and, I understand, dove under it!  By that time lightning was cracking and exploding on all sides of us. 

The wind picked up Jane’s awning and was about to sail it to Weston Meadow, but six or eight of us grabbed it and it was all we could do to hold it down.  We hung on.  Of course, this was the absolute worst thing a person could do for their survival in an electrical storm!  We were hanging onto aluminum poles, waving them around, with lightning striking the ground only yards from us!

Those of us who had not sought shelter were soaked to the skin.  People clad in shorts and T-shirts stood inches deep in hail, shivering.  The storm passed in a few violent minutes and warm sunshine returned.  No one there appreciated as I did how close we came to being electrocuted en masse.  Many times, while on the lookout, I observed the lightning bolts choose those very trees and rocks to bounce around on.  A bolt of lightning is not like an electrical charge on a wire.  It is like a 100 ton locomotive boring down at incredible speed from straight overhead to crash and blow everything apart within reach.

Water and hail poured off the plastic tarp covering the food table as we uncovered the protected food stuff.  We were soaked and muddy, but the food was okay and we were back in business.  Just as the storm arrived, all access to the tower was shut down.  After the storm passed we allowed only 6 people at a time to ascend because the official in the lookout, Kathy, was more than busy reporting lightning strikes and fires that were springing up fast in all directions.   One tree on the north side of the lookout was on fire and two smokes on Converse Mountain were visible even from our low  vantage point at the foot of the rock.

The storm had passed for this day and still more and more visitors arrived.  The line grew long, awaiting turns to ascend the lookout stairs.  This was a genuine experience of “virtual reality” for those that were there through the storm.  They experienced the greatest cause of forest fires at this elevation and they were able to witness the fires and smokes erupting after the storm passed.

All in all, we felt it was a great day for the Buck Rock Foundation.  A lot of public awareness had been developed, merchandise sold, and the public departed unharmed, satisfied, with a day to talk about.