Yeah - both. I was up on Red Peak the afternoon prior. Saw the plumes of smoke from behind Starr King that had been burning for the last two months - nothing else. It was really windy Saturday night into Sunday. I thought that had sparked up.
The wind had been changing directions fairly dramatically, the typical winds from the west, then winds from the north (high pressure zone up in OR/WA) and next from the south (Mexico hurricane). I was planning on heading up Merced after Ottoway. It went from "hmm" to "holy moley" real fast. Prudence is a acceptable excuse. And an excuse to go back.
I want to give a shout-out to the douchebag impressing his girlfriend with a bonfire at Lower Ottoway Lake. When I greeted you with "nice bonfire!" I was being sarcastic.
That night my AM radio told me the fire was on the other side of the Merced so I should have no problem hiking out. But the other fellow I met (and warned) at Lower Ottoway would be hiking right into it....