[pct-l] Oregon Fire Info

[Wayne Kraft]

I'm surprised they would close the PCT for this fire.  I guess it is  
a measure of just how badly this tinderbox area has been mismanaged  
that the USFS has to contemplate this fire threatening McKenzie Pass  
and the west side.  Current policy regarding beetle killed forests  
seems to be to wait for it to explode and then run for your lives.  
Sad. We had a brief rain shower in Portland just as i wrote the  
earlier post, but that was it.  The media has not been covering the  
fire much today.


On Jul 30, 2006, at 9:07 PM, sue.kettles at comcast.net wrote:

> interesting news, since I spoke with the McKenzie ranger station  
> this morning and they told me the PCT is closed from McKenzie Pass  
> south to Obsidian Falls trailhead.  Maybe with the weather change  
> today it opened back up?
>
> Sue kettles
> -------------- Original message --------------
> From: Wayne Kraft <wayneskraft at comcast.net>
>
> > There are currently two fires of interest to PCT hikers in Oregon:
> >
> > Elk Lake
> > A small (80 acre) fire is burning just west of Elk Lake (lat 43.9767
> > lon -121.8258). It looks to me like this fire is less that 1/2 mile
> > east of the PCT and just about on top of the spur trails one would
> > use to access Elk Lake Resort from the PCT. This appears to be a mop
> > up operation and I don't think it will be a problem in the future,
> > but might prevent easy access to Elk Lake right at the moment.
> >
> >
> > Black Crater
> > This is a 5600 acre fire east of the Three Sisters (where the PCT
> > runs on the west side of the Three Sisters) and moving eastward. It
> > is a serious threat to structures in the T ollgate community west of
> > the town of Sisters, but should have no effect on PCT hikers EXCEPT
> > that Hwy 242, the east/west access to McKenzie Pass is closed. Until
> > it is reopened, PCT hikers would be unable to access the town of
> > Sisters via Hwy 242. It would be necessary to hike further north to
> > Santiam Pass and hitch to Sisters from there. Santiam Pass is the
> > same distance from Sisters by road as McKenzie Pass and is probably
> > an easier hitch anyway (busier highway).
> >
> > For updates on this fire go to:
> > http://www.nworegonimt.com/standby.htm
> >
> > Weather conditions in Oregon today are favorable to fire fighting
> > with cool, moist air streaming in from the Pacific. We just had a
> > brief rain shower here in Portland as I write this, but Portland may
> > be on the southern edge of the rain. Unfortunately, the firefighters
> > on these to fires may not get any actual rain.
> >
> > Wayne Kraft
> > _______________________________________________
> > pct-l mailing list
> > pct-l at backcountry.net
> > unsubscribe or change options:
> > http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l