Fire Damage in the Blewett Pass area

Here is a fire damage report from Tim Foss, Winter Rec. coordinator for the Cle Elum USFS district.

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Subject: Table mountain fire and recreationfacilities - what we know and don't know

Hey, everyone: I'm sending this message to as many people asI can, but I don't have a complete mailing list of everyone who might beinterested, so I ask you to please pass this information on to anyone else whoyou think might want to know about recreation and the Table MountainFire.

A lot of people have been asking about what recreationfacilities have been lost in the Table Mountain fire. We are just starting to get intothe interior of the fire, so here's my take on things we know and don't know atthis point:

The Table Mountain A-Frame rental cabin (formerly called the Boeing Cabin) burned to the ground. It's unclear whether theyhad time to wrap it in a fire blanket or not. The Ellensburg Ski Club hut, andthe historic "Riders Cabin" have also both burned to the ground.


The toilets in the area, including those at the Ken WilcoxCamp, seem to all be fine.
At Haney Meadow, the historic cabin has burned down, despite being wrapped in a fire blanket but amazingly there is little otherdamage to the Ken Wilcox Campground Only one campsite wasdestroyed, a few hitching rails broken, and of course the woods around the campare black, but not near the devastation we expected.

I've looked at a few of the trails in the area. I know the bridge across First Creek on the 4W329, right by the irrigation diversion, survived, and we know one of the new bridges on the Naneum-Wlison trail has burned, but we don't know about other bridges. There is, of course, much downfall everywhere we've looked. I'm also sure there will be epic logout needs next spring. We got some money toinstall drainage and remove burned bridges this Fall, but right now the snow iskeeping us from doing that. Hopefully it will warm up next week.

As to ski trails, I know that some of the Wilson Rim ski trails were used as firelines, and that some of the newly-installed junction signs and blue diamonds burned. Over on Tronson, the burn was fairly moderate in that area, and I do know the bridge built by the ski club last year survived, so I'm also optimistic that many signs may have survived,as well.

Same goes for the snowmobile trails. Some of these roads have been opened by the fire crews themselves, but not all. The District Ranger has decided the area will be open for winter recreation, and most routes will be groomed, but people will need to be aware that snags may fall at unpredictable times, especially on windy days.

I want to say that many, many groups and individuals have volunteered their time to help repair the damage next Spring (or this fall in the case of the ski and snowmobile communities). We greatly appreciate this, and will welcome your help when we can safely work on thesefacilities.

I will try to send out these periodic updates whenever welearn new information.

Tim Foss
Trails manager
Cle Elum Ranger District
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FYI:

The Ellensburg Ski Club folks are organzing a work party Nov. 17-18 to clear logs and replace trail signs. I'll post more details when I have them.

Great info, thanks for sharing.

Here is an update -- unfortunately it is bad news:

Our surveys of the Tronsen trail system have discovered massive blockage of trails by fire-felled trees. I’m not talking just a few big trees but literally hundreds. The Lilleby trail is absolutely un-skiable as is the upper road and the road up to Sidestep Hill. This is all big stuff that really needs a chain saw, and a big one at that, plus a strong crew to remove logs and slash. I have not yet talked with Dan Ritter, the winter rec. guy in Leavenworth so don’t yet know what hope we have of getting things cleaned up this season. All the FS districts are operating on shoestring budgets.
In light of this discovery, it is premature to get a volunteer crew rounded up for next weekend. I will send you a complete report on Tronsen trail status soon. It’s a BIG mess!

That is bad news. It looks like we've now missed the window of opportunity since the fires died out and the onset of snowfall. Another concern will be the subsequent fall of dead and damaged timber. Once skied up and down the Lilleby and had a sizable, seemingly healthy tree fall across the trail while we were higher up.

More details from Pico:


                On Saturday I did a survey of the summertime Tronsen Meadows Trail, the Tronsen Ridge Trail, the Haney Meadows Trail and the Lilleby Tie Trail.  I've attached an annotated copy of the trail map you sent me earlier.  I've also put up a captioned photo album on Picasa. 

picasaweb.google.com/1009790498390589599...ilScoutingNov102012#

                On Sunday,  another Ellensburg XC Ski Club member took a look at the Upper Tronsen Rd., the Sidestep Hill Trail and the Plantation Trail and has sent me a report on what he found. My annotated map includes his waypoint numbers which correlate with the numbering on the folder of captioned photos he took of problem areas on the trails. I have attached a copy of the e-mail he sent to me which is a written report on his findings.

                The bottom line is that the Tronsen ski trail system is a big mess.  There's LOTS of medium to large timber down almost everywhere you look.  Many trees are either leaning over or bridging the trails, making removal neither safe nor easy.  There are remaining weak trees which have not yet come down and may endanger workers.  I have decided that it's premature to schedule a volunteer work party for the weekend of Nov. 17/18.

Additional photos: www.flickr.com/photos/34866470@N00/sets/...189/with/8181194940/