Chinook pass closed FYI

[boneaddict]

40 mph winds tonight.  It is so smokey. 

[Slamadoo]

I can see the glow from this fire from my house in Enumclaw. There is a distinct orange smokey glow above the hills East of town. Crazy.

This could produce great results for elk/deer numbers up there for the next 15 years.

[Gringo31]

There are many spots in our state with old dead falls and disease that need a good fire.  Yeah, it sucks but until logging practices improve, it will need cleaned up.  The real crappy part is that while it cleans up the old dead falls, it will create more new ones with the current live trees.

[yakimanoob]

Cool pic Stein. We saw the belly dumpers come back to Dalles Port last night from that direction. I'd say that fire is nature started and nature should put it out.  Fire is a good thing in some circumstances.

Totally.  It's a lightening-started fire in a designated Wilderness, and they're just trying to keep it from getting out of control and burning the cabins near 410 as well as the Bumping and Ravens Roost areas.  I for one fully intend to place a camera up there next spring and watch the critters move back in .

[CarbonHunter]

Updated news on the website looks like the 19 road is closed. Still waiting to see the actual closure though.

[dreamingbig]

The closure posted at 9am


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[dreamingbig]

[IMG]


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[Stein]

Just read that myself and we cancelled our camping plans over there.  It's a real bummer, I can't imagine how many people were loading up for the weekend.

[CarbonHunter]

Never been so happy not to draw the peaches archery tag. Going to be a lot of guys piling into the north half of the hunt.

[bearhunter99]

Stein, your inbox is full.....

Sorry to jack the thread!

[Don_D]

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/5509/39515/

The Norse Peak Fire (13,637 acres) continued its northward movement yesterday, coming within a half mile of Raven Roost. A 700-acre fire that grew from a 5-acre spot fire on Tuesday afternoon to the northeast will likely merge with the Norse Peak today. Helicopters dropped buckets of water on other spot fires on the north side of Gold Hill ridge.

After painstaking consideration for public safety, fire managers have proposed closing Forest Road 1900 (aka: “Road 19” and “Little Naches”). An official forest order has been requested. Continued hot, dry conditions, significant fire spread potential, and lack of safe extraction routes for Forest visitors is prompting the proposed closure. Forest Service leaders and incident personnel will work to re-open this popular hunting and recreation area as soon as it is safe to do so. Crow Creek Campground is closed. Kaner Flat and Little Naches campgrounds remain open, as is the Little Naches Cabin Tract. There is no dispersed camping allowed in the area.An area closure south and west of Road 19 is also proposed. Law enforcement will be enforcing the closure.

[Sumpnneedskillin]

From the WSDOT facebook page

SR 410 east of Chinook Pass will reopen on Friday, Sept. 1. It had been closed due to fire danger since Aug. 16. Pilot cars will alternate traffic between Morse Creek (milepost 74.5) and Union Creek (milepost 79) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily as long as conditions allow, but expect at least 30-40 minute delays depending on traffic volume. This opening is for thru-traffic only and access to campsites and trailheads between Chinook Pass and Hells Crossing is still prohibited. The highway will continue to be open overnight to all traffic but please note that full closures could occur with little notice as fire conditions can change rapidly.

[HoofsandWings]

Here is the text.
Aug 31, 2017 9:00am Norse Peak Fires Update
Incident: Norse Peak Fire Wildfire
Released: 3 hrs. ago
Related Information
Aug 31 Norse Peak Fires Update - printable (pdf 221 kb)

Norse Peak Fires Update
Thursday, August 31, 2017 – 9:00 a.m.
After painstaking consideration for public safety, fire managers have proposed closing Forest Road 1900 (aka: “Road 19” and “Little Naches”). An official forest order has been requested. Continued hot, dry conditions, significant fire spread potential, and lack of safe extraction routes for Forest visitors is prompting the proposed closure. Forest Service leaders and incident personnel will work to re-open this popular hunting and recreation area as soon as it is safe to do so. Crow Creek Campground is closed. Kaner Flat and Little Naches campgrounds remain open, as is the Little Naches Cabin Tract. There is no dispersed camping allowed in the area. An area closure south and west of Road 19 is also proposed. Law enforcement will be enforcing the closure.
A Level 1 evacuation notice is being recommended to the Yakima County Sheriff for the Little Naches area. A Level 1 evacuation means you need to “BE READY” for a potential evacuation. Be aware of the danger that exists in the area; monitor emergency services websites and local media outlets for information. If you are in a campground and are unable to connect to the Internet or media outlets, look at the camp bulletin boards for information about the wildfire.
As of 6 a.m. the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is open from White Pass to Chinook Pass. The PCT remains closed from Chinook Pass to Government Meadow. Through-hikers avoiding the closure area should consider planning how to travel north of Government Meadow when they reach White Pass, as there is little cell phone connectivity at Chinook Pass. Hwy 410 is intermittently closed and the eastern access to Government Meadow (Road19) is closed. Other area closures on the Okanogan Wenatchee NF south of Hwy 410 are unchanged for now. Only trained firefighters working on the Norse Peak Fires are allowed in the fire area. For their own safety, hikers must avoid going into fire closure areas.
Beginning Friday, September 1, Hwy 410 will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. using a pilot car to guide drivers through the fire area. Firefighters will continue to work along the west side of the highway during this time. Drivers should be extra cautious. The highway will be fully open during the hours of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. travel through the fire area on Hwy 410 is open. Check Department of Transportation travel alerts at http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/trafficalerts/.
The Norse Peak Fire (13,637 acres) continued its northward movement yesterday, coming within a half mile of Raven Roost. A 700-acre fire that grew from a 5-acre spot fire on Tuesday afternoon to the northeast will likely merge with the Norse Peak today. Helicopters dropped buckets of water on other spot fires on the north side of Gold Hill ridge. Fire mangers plan to continue treating this area again today. Crews working along the Hwy 410 corridor were able to remove much of the felled dead trees and brush. This work continues throughout today and possibly into the weekend.
On the south side of Hwy 410 the American Fire (325 acres) continues backing downhill, making slow progression north. Crews are also making good progress removing brush and branches to improve a contingency fuel break along the Bumping River Road from Goose Prairie towards the Bumping Lake Dam.
Weather and anticipated fire behavior: A cold front that pushed through the fire last night will keep the cooler and moister weather over the area today. Meanwhile breezy west winds will continue, especially over exposed west-facing ridges. The cool and relatively moist weather will end Friday as a strong ridge builds over the area, resulting in significant warming and drying over the weekend.

[Thenewguy]

We have a cabin on the bumping, just up from "halfway flat". How close is this?

[yakimanoob]

We have a cabin on the bumping, just up from "halfway flat". How close is this?

If the cabin is on the road towards Bumping Lake, it's under a "Be ready" evac warning.  But everything they've posted so far says they don't expect the fire to move that direction.  They even sent in some smoke jumpers to put out a small fire that was threatening to move your way, and extinguished it quickly.