Dollar Lake Fire

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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Charley
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by Charley » September 6th, 2011, 11:17 am

Here's the smoke from the Dollar Lake Fire from Dalles Mountain (I was on my way back from the Wenatchee Mountains, which are AWESOME!):
IMG_9802.jpg
I was planning backpacking last Monday night, and had planned on hiking to Dollar Lake itself, but was turned back at the Mazama Trail trailhead by a Forest Service truck and a warning sign. So I spent the night above McNeil point, and got photos of the smoke at sunset and during the night. It was surreal. I hope they get this under control, or that it doesn't burn too hot and just destroy everything. Last week was going to be my first trip to the north side. And now it looks like it won't ever be the same.
Believe it or not, I barely ever ride a mountain bike.

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Splintercat
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by Splintercat » September 6th, 2011, 12:51 pm

Beautiful scene up there, Charley, smokey or not.
Splinter, I think of the possibilities when I some of the very littered forest floors on some of the trails. Just a matter of time. I could only imagine the nightmare of fighting a fire on that side of the mountain.
Definitely! On the plus side, there are powerline strips, the Glade Trail and the various roads to Timberline that would serve as fire breaks, but if something got started on the west side of the Glade Trail, there's not much to stop it from running all the way across to Zigzag Mountain (if you had the same gusty east winds that we're having with this fire).

I expected the forests on the NE slopes of Lookout Mountain to burn long before now -- amazing that they haven't, though there have been a couple spot fires.

Tom

pdxgene
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by pdxgene » September 6th, 2011, 12:51 pm

They keep talking about how close the fire is to Bull Run but before it gets there, wouldn't it have to pass that massive powerline grid along Lolo Pass? And what happens if it hits that?

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Waffle Stomper
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by Waffle Stomper » September 6th, 2011, 1:04 pm

So maybe I missed something, is Lolo Pass Road open?
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

pdxgene
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by pdxgene » September 6th, 2011, 1:14 pm

Waffle Stomper wrote:So maybe I missed something, is Lolo Pass Road open?
From what I understand it's closed at ZigZag. It's on one of the local tv station sites. I can't remember which one.

andrew
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by andrew » September 6th, 2011, 4:25 pm

Charley wrote: Last week was going to be my first trip to the north side. And now it looks like it won't ever be the same.
I, too, was planning my first ever trip to the north side last Tues/Wed. Had planned to hike Elk Cove via Vista Ridge. For the past week I've been checking news reports and keeping tabs on the fire's spread while also mourning that I missed seeing the height of this area's splendor.

I'm hoping that it doesn't push over into the McNeil area, if the winds are right and Top Spur isn't closed, I'd like to check that area out this weekend. Seems like this area keeps going back and forth between closed and open, last I checked it's open.

I made it over to Three Fingered Jack yesterday and walking thru the burned area along Canyon Creek Meadows helped me come to terms with the inevitability of fires occurring in the forest and the beauty that can come with regrowth and rebuilding. I took lots of pictures of the juxtaposition of barren white and charred trees flanked by bright green foliage, new young trees, and wildflowers reaching up from the ground below. Maybe I was feeling overly dramatic walking in the woods, but I was filled with amazement at the beauty of an ecosystem rising from the ashes and experiencing growth that could only come from initial loss.

Image
Last edited by andrew on September 7th, 2011, 4:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Grannyhiker
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by Grannyhiker » September 6th, 2011, 4:42 pm

Closure list of roads, trails, campgrounds here: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/article/2563/12947/

Map of closure area: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ftp/InciWeb/OR ... 749-0.jpeg

Latest maps of what burned: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/maps/2563/

For the latest updates on the Dollar Lake fire: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2563/

We just have to pray that the fire lines will hold with the east winds expected.

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Waffle Stomper
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by Waffle Stomper » September 6th, 2011, 5:48 pm

Forest Road 18 closed, well that's it for Lolo Pass Road. Thanks Grannyhiker, I missed that link.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

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adamschneider
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by adamschneider » September 6th, 2011, 6:03 pm

Latest fire perimeter map: http://tinyurl.com/dlfire-9-6


I would be VERY surprised if Top Spur was open.

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retired jerry
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Re: Dollar Lake Fire

Post by retired jerry » September 6th, 2011, 6:15 pm

Your map of what's burned is interesting

It shows the trail that goes up to Barret Spur through Dollar Lake

It doesn't show the trail up to Barret Spur from WyEast

It shows the McNeil Loop trail to McNeil Point, and up McNeil Point ridge to that campsite carved out of the rock

It doesn't show the primitive trail down from McNeil Point to the Timberline trail

There's a trail that goes down from the Timberline Trail there, I don't remember that, gotta check that out the next time I have the opportunity

It shows a trail going up the West side of Eliot but doesn't show anything going across Eliot

There's a couple isolated burned areas, like it looks like Dollar Lake got burned

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