The Rough Fire is over a month old and now at 100k acres with about 30% containment. I'd guess full containment will coincide with fall's first real storm, so give it a month or more to go.

You can follow the incident here, at the official site. Map nerds will appreciate all three maps offered: Information, Briefing and Progression.

For backpackers and campers, nothing good to report. The firefight and smoke have the park basically closed, and the maps show quite a few trails have been swallowed by the fire's progress, as have some sequoia groves. It's made it eastward to Cedar Grove. ETA the Park is presently allowing day visits to select sites, but given the smoke it's hard to imagine many folks taking advantage.

I finally saw the Rim Fire aftermath a couple weeks ago and even knowing it was a quarter-million acres did not prepare me for its scope. From the highway overlook the far reaches are literally over the horizon. Thought of it a lot when Rough Fire smoke enveloped our Yosemite campsite on and off during our four days there.

If this is the "new normal" I'd like my old normal back, please.

We just returned from a 2-week road trip to Canada. The smoke from the fires in the northwest and Idaho created a mess. Photos were terrible. We hit non-stop smoke once near Crater Lake Oregon. Then after 5 days of smoke, it rained. All the mountains were socked in. Next 5 days were nothing but drizzle, fog and clouds. Air was clear as we returned to Northern California. And all the rain did help clear up the smoke. Now I am getting ready for a 6-day backpack in the Sierra - new fire in Yosemite has even made the northern Sierra smoky. Very discouraging!

As is all that weren't enough, the Tenaya Fire started Monday afternoon, halfway between the Valley and Highway 120. From the looks of the sat photo it's in heavy timber on both sides of Lehamite Creek Trail. For those not in California we're currently having a doozy of a late-summer heatwave, which can't help, but it's at least not windy.

They're actively fighting it, not letting it burn as they may have in a more normal year. Website says the fire is visible from all parts of the park. Who needs a flashlight?

Checking in a week later, the fire is 140k acres and two-thirds contained. They're manning and watering the threatened sequoia groves 24/7 to try and spare them. Hopefully the current cool weather is giving them more leverage to get this completely under control.

Plus the Lake fire taking off again... My daughter-the-veterinarian (from Petaluma) volunteered to go up there and work for free, but the UC Davis Veterinary School got in ahead of her. Photos of the destruction look awful!