Fires in Bob Marshall close key trails as hunting season nears
The Brownstone Fire in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
Three fires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness have closed several trails in and around them, as hunting season approaches.
A new fire, the 729 acre Juliet Fire, has closed or restricted several trails in the White River - Spotted Bear Pass - Larch Hill area. Trail 83 is closed from the junction with Three Sisters Creek Trail to Spotted Bear Pass. Trail 112, is closed from the junction with Pagoda Creek Trail 100 to its terminus at Larch Hill Pass. Trail 90, from the junction with West Fork Wall Creek Trail 229 to its terminus at the junction with trail 112 is closed. Trail 243 and Trail 739 are closed entirely.
The fire is burning in the Juliet Creek drainage and isn’t far from the upper end of the White River, a popular area for hunters.
Those trail closures will impact hikers on the Continental Divide Trail.
In addition, the Brownstone Fire near Big Prairie is causing backcountry travel closures. Trails closed include: Tillson Peak Trail 127, Danaher Creek Trail 126 – from Big Prairie to the Youngs Ford, Gordon Ford 126A, Wire Ford 126B, Catchem Creek Trail 269, Camp Creek Trail 233, Sandstone Creek Trail 743, Brownstone Creek Trail 465.
The Brownstone fire is 2,346 acres.
Another fire, the 250 acre Moose Fire, is burning on the ridge between Moose and Rock creeks and has closed some trails in the area.
While the fires saw some rain, Jim Flint of the Spotted Bear Ranger District said it wasn’t enough.
“We’ve had 10 hours of rain in the past 60 days,” he noted.
The fires saw about .25 inch of rain.
He said fire managers would wait and see how the wind events impacted fires before they could consider reopening any trails.
The fires in the wilderness typically don’t see any active suppression or perimeter control unless they threaten structures or threaten to leave the wilderness boundary, which, at this point, doesn’t seem likely for any of these fires.