[pct-l] Kennedy Meadows/Clover Fire Update

[Donna "L-Rod" Saufley]

The following is from a first-hand account; I took some hikers up to Kennedy Meadows today and got an on-the-ground update.

The trail remains closed (although "restricted" is the word the authorities are using).  According to the gal at the KM General Store cash register, the fire more than doubled overnight.  A backfire in the vicinity of the South Fork of the Kern River along the PCT got out of hand and jumped the river.  That branch of the fire has burned to within several miles of Hwy 395, and involved approximately 2,900 additional acres.

Al and Leona, the owners of the store, were home packing to evacuate.  The fire was within four miles of their home this morning.  The locals reported that the USFS fire crews were departing, and BLM crews were coming in.  We observed the water dropping-copters fighting the fire; the sound of them was everywhere.  The area directly below the store where Sherman Pass crosses the Kern River is now a storage area for truckloads of Phos Check.  The smoke is filling the sky, and everywhere is the pall of concern.

They've posted a large map with lots of information at the KM Store, along with copies of maps of the recommended alternate.  There were still hikers camped around the General Store, making their way on the alternate, or making other plans. We drove up the Jackass Trail jeep road (as officials suggest) and found it to be upwind of the fire and smoke, at least for the time being. I know that there are still pockets of hikers behind this crew, though not many.

May God watch over the firefighters everywhere, the good people who have been so kind to so many at Kennedy Meadows, and all hikers along their way, and keep them safe.

L-Rod