[pct-l] Fire closure info for Hat Creek area

[Mary Kwart]

Howdy:

I just came off the trail August 8, section hiking from Belden to Burney. The fire closure was posted at road 32N12 about 3 miles south of Old Station post office. We road walked on 32N12 west to Highway 89--only about a mile or so. We stayed at Firefly and Firewalkers place. There were no other hikers there--they had all moved on above the fire closure.

The official trail closure is for about 35 miles between road 32N12 and Baum Lake, not starting at Highway 36, which is what some forest service info implies. I stayed at extra day at Firefly's place and gave a ride to a thru hiker to Cassel, where he road walked north from the post office through the campground to Baum Lake. You can finish up the last 11-12 miles of this section that way.

The roads are all open--so it should be easier to hitch. Firefly and the owner of the Old Station Resort are trying to get the Forest Service to extend the open part of the trail to at least the Old Station Resort and PO area because the fire is actually north of there. This would allow easier access to the post office and the resort store.

The tentative date for control of the fire was August 16 as of last weekend. This may be changed now, but the Forest Service order said the trail would be closed until the fire was declared controlled.

--Fireweed