Day 332: It started out like any other Botany Friday, if perhaps a bit smokier than usual. My botany partners got up at 2 AM in order to make the long drive to pick me up at 5:30 (I got up at 3:30), and if we hadn't been delayed by road construction, we'd have been at Sunrise at 7:30. The air seemed to grow thicker with smoke as we progressed eastward, but thinned as we gained altitude. It was less smoky at Sunrise (6420') than it had been in the valley, and as we climbed up to Frozen Lake, we noticed a slight improvement in air quality. However, by the time we were ready to return to the car, more smoke had moved in from the east, thick enough to smell and taste. In the distance, we spotted the billows of a rising cloud in the vicinity of Packwood, and later confirmed that it was in fact the smoke plume from the 150-acre Goat Rocks Fire (update 6 AM 10 Sept. - fire is now at 1200 acres). Meadow Rovers were recalled from duty due to the rapidly rising air quality index shortly before we arrived back at the car. Not long afterwards, an alert went out from area cell towers saying that a Level 3 evacuation order had been issued for Packwood residents, "Leave now!" Highway 12 was closed from Skate Creek Road to White Pass. We figured we could still come back through the Park, but found Hwy 123 closed at Cayuse Pass. Our only option at that point was to complete a full circle around the Mountain in order to get me back home, adding roughly 100 extra miles to my botany partners' driving day. Did we find any new and interesting plants? Nope.
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