Detour: Wildfires, risk of more close numerous trails
(Updated to include impact on hikers)
Fires across Central Oregon and the danger of more are closing down trails by the dozen, and that includes popular spots up and down the McKenzie Pass and Cascade Lakes highways.
To some, wildfires pose all sorts of risks to lives, homes and wildlife. But to others, they’re just frustrating.
Especially for people hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, including Wesely Tills.
Wildfires can pose all sorts of risks.
“Extremely inconvenient — that’s the frustrating part, is the inconvenience, the obstacle of it. You want to just go from point A to point B,” Tills said.
“I want to walk the whole trail, I don’t want to hitch around. I have to walk every single bit of the trail,” he added.
Early Tuesday morning, the Willamette and Deschutes national forests closed more than a dozen trails ,and there’s no word on when they’ll reopen.
The closure affects all trails south of the McKenzie Pass into the Three Sisters Wilderness, as well as popular spots including the Obsidian Trailhead, Devil’s Lake, and all of the Pacific Crest Trail from Elk Lake, north to the PCT trailhead near the Lava Lake Campground.
For Sisters outdoor store Hike-N-Peaks, it means offering new options for hikers, Hogan Hernandez explained.
“People are super-open to that,” Hernandez said. “They’re out here because they love the outdoors and want to see new things, and they’re not going to be disappointed, because everything around here is super-beautiful and remarkable.”
Fire officials are asking the public to use caution when hiking in the Three Sisters Wilderness or near Mt. Jefferson while crews work to put the fires out.
————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Earlier release:
The Willamette and Deschutes national forests announced Monday evening that due to several wildfires, they are implementing an area closure that will cover a large portion of the Three Sisters Wilderness beginning at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
The Willamette National Forest will close all trails south of Highway 242 into the Three Sisters Wilderness on the Willamette National Forest, with the exception of Proxy Falls, which remains open. Also closed is the Obsidian Trailhead and Obsidian Limited Entry Area.
The area closure also includes Deschutes National Forest-managed lands within the Three Sisters Wilderness that are threatened by fire activity.
The northern closure area border includes trails south of Highway 242 and west of Forest Road 1018 and east of the Three Sisters Wilderness Boundary on the Willamette National Forest down to approximately Scott’s Pass Trail, which is also included in the closure.
In addition, the closure area contains trails north of Cascade Lakes Highway, west of the South Sisters Climber Trail and includes all of the Pacific Crest Trail from Elk Lake north to the PCT Trailhead near Lava Camp Lake Campground.
While the closure includes all trails east of the PCT from Elk Lake to the South Sisters Climber Trail, the South Sisters Climber Trail and Elk Lake Trail remain open. Popular areas like Wickiup Plains and Sisters Mirror Lake are closed.
Recreationists should be aware of these additional trail closures: Black Crater Trail #4058, Millican Crater Trail #4066, Scott Pass Trail #4068, North Matthieu Lake Trail #4062, Trout Creek Tie Trail #4067, Millican Crater Trailhead, Scott Pass Trailhead, Green Lakes Trail #17 to Pole Creek Trail #4072 to Scott Pass Trail #4068, Moraine Lake Trail from South Sister Climber Trail to Leconte Crater Trail, Leconte Crater Trail, Devils Lake Trail, Mirror Lakes Trail, Elk-Devils Trail, and Horse Lake Trail.
Forests in the higher elevations are very dry and firefighters in the region are responding to numerous fires ignited by recent lightning storms, officials said.
As hot, dry and windy conditions persist, fire managers anticipate that more undetected lightning fires will surface in the coming days and weeks.
“This area closure has been put in place for the safety of the public recreating in the area while firefighters work to suppress the fires in the wilderness,” the notice said, adding, “The order will be in place until rescinded.”
The public is urged to use caution in the Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson Wilderness areas as there are now two large area closures in effect for active wildfires and firefighters continue to respond to new starts around the Cascade Crest.
As always, if you are planning to visit the National Forest, it is a good idea to KNOW BEFORE YOU GO by contacting 541-225-6350 for Willamette Fire Information or calling 541-316-7711 for Central Oregon Fire Information. For Pacific Crest Trail information, visit: https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/trail-conditions-and-closures/
For additional information visit on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/deschutesnationalforest/, https://www.facebook.com/willamettenf/) or on Twitter (@DesNatlForest, @willametteNF ) call 541-225-6350 or visit their webpage at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/willamette/alerts-notices
