Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

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drm
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Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by drm » September 4th, 2017, 3:10 pm

I have not seen mention of this so thought I should add that the new East Crater Fire (currently listed as 1000 acres on inciweb) has resulted in the closure of the entire Indian Heaven Wilderness area (and more, like Forlorn Lakes) and all of the PCT within it. No perimeter map is yet posted for the fire itself, just the closure.

East Crater fire on Inciweb

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retired jerry
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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by retired jerry » September 4th, 2017, 3:15 pm

maybe easier to list the places not closed to fire :)

Katherine
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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by Katherine » September 4th, 2017, 4:03 pm

So sad. And weird the Oregonian isn't covering it. I only know cause I follow the PCTA and Gifford-Pinchot on Facebook.

If not for the holiday weekend crowds I would have taken a friend and our kids there this weekend. June Lake on Mt. Saint Helens was mercifully not on fire.

Aimless
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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by Aimless » September 4th, 2017, 4:37 pm

I'm impressed at how quickly this one blew up to 1000 acres. :o It won't be easy to contain until we get some real rain.

More and more I am thankful that I've visited these wonderful places, often many times, before they've burned. I'll go back again and hike there, but it's nice to have all those memories and photos from beforehand, too.

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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by justpeachy » September 4th, 2017, 6:12 pm


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xrp
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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by xrp » September 4th, 2017, 7:16 pm

Katherine wrote:So sad. And weird the Oregonian isn't covering it. I only know cause I follow the PCTA and Gifford-Pinchot on Facebook.

If not for the holiday weekend crowds I would have taken a friend and our kids there this weekend. June Lake on Mt. Saint Helens was mercifully not on fire.
They aren't covering it because they are the Oregonian and not the Washingtonian.

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drm
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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by drm » September 5th, 2017, 5:53 am

It was covered on KGW last night. The main reason it isn't getting more coverage is that it is too far from homes and towns.

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BigBear
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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by BigBear » September 5th, 2017, 11:19 am

It saddens me that Indian Heaven will be closed for the remainder of the season due to this fire, which must be human-caused since there was been no natural fire starters such as lightening. Fortunately, I did get one visit in this summer (2 weeks ago).

With all of the fires lighting up the Cascades from the British Columbia border south past the California border, it's difficult for many to recall the record wet/cold winter and spring we had. It's ironic that ash from a dry summer is falling on our tomato bushes with small fruit from the cold spring.

Correlation between how much rain/snow falls in the winter and the forest fires int he summer: zero.

Another irony, in the thirty years I have hiked and backpacked Indian Heaven, there had been no forest fires (until now). The meadows of IH are the result of intentionally-set fires over the previous several thousand years.

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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by Webfoot » September 5th, 2017, 11:46 pm

BigBear wrote:Correlation between how much rain/snow falls in the winter and the forest fires in the summer: zero.
Not true, sadly, from what I've read. Reportedly the wet winter caused lots of low plant growth, e.g. the amazing flowers we had, that then dried out and acted as tinder. I hardly know what to hope for now. I suppose we'll get a torrential rain after it is too late to do any good, resulting only in mudslides and more destruction.

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drm
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Re: Indian Heaven Closure due to fire

Post by drm » September 7th, 2017, 8:38 am

Th closure map now has a red blotch on it indicating fire extent. It goes mostly south towards Blue Lake (but not including it) and southeast from the crater and a bit west, probably including lakes Toke Tie, Umtux, maybe Rock Lake too. But it doesn't appear to have gone north at all to Junction Lake, let alone Bear or Deer. The East Crater trail itself is probably burned most of the way.

I've learned to take the boundaries on these maps with a grain of salt and we don't know intensity either. Until rains arrive and the area is reopened so we can visit, we just won't know for sure.

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