Creek Fire: Smoke Plume Casts Martian Like Glow Over Yosemite National Park

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (CBS SF) — Thousands of visitors flocked to Yosemite National Park for a Labor Day Weekend filled with clean mountain air, nature hikes and pristine views of the park’s grandeur.

But the fast-moving, massive Creek Fire miles away near Shaver Lake changed all that. A massive smoke plume draped itself over the park bringing with it unhealthy air and casting an eerie golden haze.

A quick update from one of our short-term smoke models. Note that most of the smoke overhead is due to several wildfires in Northern California and the Central Valley, while smoke from the Dolan fire down in Big Sur is also picked up on this run. #CaliforniaWildfires pic.twitter.com/3KTa5wlLo5

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 7, 2020

Visitors took to social media, posting images and comments about the weather condition.

#CreekFire This is what #YosemitePark looks like. @YosemiteNPS pic.twitter.com/DnJO603do0

— Viviana Tirado 🌸 (@VTiradoM) September 7, 2020

Naureen Malik posted: “Rained ashes all day. It looked like sunset on Mars for 7 hours.”

View of wildfires from Sentinel Dome in Yosemite at ~8,100 feet. It was about 3pm. #creekfire #wildfires #YosemiteNationalPark pic.twitter.com/ZixKy8JXpf

— Naureen Malik (@naurtorious) September 6, 2020

Violeta Yas posted “My friend and colleague Pablo has been at Yosemite for a week and taking incredible, but sobering pictures.”

My friend and colleague Pablo has been at Yosemite for a week and taking incredible, but sobering pictures. #wildfires #yosemite @NatGeo #yosemitenationalpark https://t.co/pdzUSZ1WRU

— Violeta Yas (@YasT62) September 7, 2020

Josh Nguyễn posted: “After 24 hours, I start to go crazy under this beautiful Martian sky.”

After 24 hours, I start to go crazy under this beautiful Martian sky. #CaliforniaHeatWave #CreekFire #YosemiteNationalPark pic.twitter.com/faz8LJPgnz

— Josh Nguyễn (@joshuanguyen) September 6, 2020