[pct-l] Trail Conditions Report Mt Jefferson Area Fires

[Bighummel at aol.com (Bighummel@xxxxxxx)]

The PCTA asked me to post the following report to the list.  I hope this 
helps anyone thru-hiking in the area or section hiking.  

FOREST SERVICE NEWS
                     www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette

211 E. 7th Avenue                PO Box 10607-2607                   Eugene, 
OR   97440                Ph  (541)-225-6300
Date:       August 21, 2003
      
Contact:    Julie Cox, 541-225-6301


B and B Complex Fire Closes Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area
PCT Hikers Offered Shuttle Service

The Willamette National Forest has closed the entire Mt. Jefferson Wilderness 
Area west of the Cascade ridge line due to potential danger from the Booth 
and Bear Butte Fires.  The Deschutes National Forest has also closed all access 
roads to the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, effectively closing the east side of 
the Wilderness. 

In addition the Willamette National Forest has closed the Pacific Crest Trail 
(PCT) through the Mt. Washington Wilderness.  The Forest will offer shuttle 
service to PCT through-hikers going both north and south.  

Hikers who are already on the PCT and hiking north can meet at noon daily at 
the PCT trailhead on Highway 242.  A shuttle will pick them up and take them 
to Breitenbush Lake trailhead north of the Mt. Jefferson closure.  Hikers going 
south will be picked up at the Breitenbush Lake trailhead and shuttled to 
Highway 242 to continue their hike south.  Other hikers who may have already 
entered Mt. Jefferson and have had to leave will also be picked up and shuttled 
south. Employees are stationed at Pamelia, Marion Lake, Duffy, Whitewater, South 
Breitenbush and Breitenbush Lake trailheads to inform the public that the 
wilderness is closed and find out if they need a shuttle ride.   

Many PCT through-hikers use Big Lake as a drop point for supplies.  These 
supplies can not be recovered until the area is reopened to visitors.   

While fire has closed portions of the Wilderness in the past, it is very rare 
for the entire Wilderness to be closed to visitors.  The last time this 
occurred was in the mid-1990s when fire danger was extreme for an extended length 
of time, yet no fires actually threatened the Wilderness.

All trailheads into the Wilderness have been posted and Forest employees, 
along with the Linn County Sheriff's office have been hiking into the Wilderness 
to find visitors and help them leave the area.  According to Ray Crist, public 
information officer for the Detroit Ranger District, many visitors have 
already left the wilderness after seeing and smelling the heavy smoke from the 
fires.  "They didn't know what was going on, but they knew it wasn't a good idea 
to stay," he said.

Crist said Forest employees and the Linn County Sheriff's office will be in 
the Eight Lakes Basin area today to see if any people remain in that popular 
recreation area of the Wilderness.