HikeArizona.COM

And so it begins... in February....

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5682/

Colorado: "Durango, CO - In an extreme move due to continuing fire danger, the U.S. Forest Service plans to close the entire San Juan National Forest to most public entry starting on Tuesday."
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/sanjuan/ ... EPRD583149
http://www.westernslopenow.com/news/loc ... 1230848678

@skatchkins Just read that myself, kind of a bummer was heading there next week...the summer of discontent in the SW continues...sigh

It's still a long way out to be reliable, but the early forecast includes some rain that could prove extremely beneficial to reducing the extreme fire danger, especially next Sunday and Monday.

Head to Utah! Lots of great country up there, some of it very similar to Colorado.

Not on inci yet, but Adot reporting a growing wildfire N of Clint's Well off the 87 and a brush fire requiring closure of a stretch of the 89A near Cottonwood.
https://tinyurl.com/yd4szu6g

https://www.paysonroundup.com/forest_cl ... 5635d.html


https://www.paysonroundup.com/news/fore ... 67c05.html

Drove I40 from New Mexico yesterday and overheard the following conversation at a gas stop. "If it gets any dryer the Petrified Forest will become off limits as well."

skatchkins wrote: ↑Jun 13 2018 4:23 pm Not on inci yet, but Adot reporting a growing wildfire N of Clint's Well off the 87..

The "Tank Fire" - Location Map as of 6-13-18

Grasshopper wrote: ↑Jun 14 2018 1:32 pm

skatchkins wrote: ↑Jun 13 2018 4:23 pm Not on inci yet, but Adot reporting a growing wildfire N of Clint's Well off the 87..

The "Tank Fire" - Location Map as of 6-13-18
Tank Fire at 6-13-18.Map.jpg

Status of the "Tank Fire" as of 6/15/18am:
"The Tank fire is 176 acres and is 75% contained. The Tinder Fire was declared controlled at 7:00 am.
Also, an update on the other 5 lightning fires that started on the 13th:
Blaze – 4 ½ acres – Contained
Lost Eden – 1/10th of an acre – Contained
Blue Ridge – ½ acre – Controlled
Miller – 1/10th of an acre – Contained
Montana – 1 acre – Contained"

So what if anything is open in the high country? I did check the closure maps and it looks like a majority of the forests up north are closed. Would love to get up north for a hike this weekend but not even sure if it's worth going.

It looked like up until recently the area around Young was open but that now looks closed too.

@pixelfrog
Sierra Ancha

@CannondaleKid are you sure? I looked and that appeared closed too. Let me check again.

pixelfrog wrote:So what if anything is open in the high country

West side of 87 north of 260.
FR3/Lake Mary Road both sides north of 87. (Tank fire may impede travel on some roads to the east)

This site says the Anchas or at least part are closed. I guess I would trust the Tonto NF website more though.

https://firerestrictions.us/az/az-usfs/ ... -district/

@hikeaz it scares me to go down into the WCC. Even driving through those areas when it's this dry freaks me out. Maybe I'll just wait for the rains.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/tonto/al ... ?aid=46630

The southern boundary of the closure will start at the Fossil Creek Trailhead and head southeasterly along the powerline corridor to Arizona State Highway 87 into Payson and then follow Arizona State Highway 260 east from Payson, along National Forest System Road (NFSR) 405 (Bear Flat Road) and NFSR 405A to the National Forest System Trail 178 (Bear Flat Trail) east along Haigler Creek to the White Mountain Apache Reservation.

pixelfrog wrote: ↑Jun 15 2018 2:41 pm @hikeaz it scares me to go down into the WCC. Even driving through those areas when it's this dry freaks me out. Maybe I'll just wait for the rains.

"Rain starting in 66 minutes"..... https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/clint ... st/2133997
https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/clint ... st/2133997

hikeaz wrote:Rain starting in 66 minutes

pixelfrog wrote:This site says the Anchas or at least part are closed. I guess I would trust the Tonto NF website more though.
https://firerestrictions.us/az/az-usfs/ ... -district/

Note: The AREA shown on the map at the above link is just the part of Tonto administrated by the Pleasant Valley District!
If you READ the text next to the the red square (denoting closure) you will see it does not include the Sierra Ancha.

Yes, by all means trust the agency responsible for the area, Tonto National Forest. Here's the latest update PDF:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 583462.pdf

Hopefully there will be a few inches of rain in Flagstaff this weekend -- it would be nice to be able to go hiking there on some of the trails that are currently closed!