Red Shale Fire - 2013

[Ear Mountain]

Several folks have asked me about the Red Shale Fire burning in the Bob Marshall Wilderness just west of The North Fork of the Sun River near Gates Park.

Here's the link to the Incident Information System on InciWeb:
http://inciweb.org/incident/3550/

The trail closures as of July 29, 2013 are extensive and include:

• Trail #130- Red Shale Creek Trail: from its junction with Trail #111 to the Continental Divide/junction with Trail #174.
• Trail #108-Route Creek Trail (from jct #117 to jct #110)
• Trail #110-North Fork Sun River (from the pack bridge to Sun River Pass).
• Trail #111-Rock Creek
• Trail #116-Open Fork (Creek)
• Trail #117-Washboard Reef (from jct #108 to jct #110)
• Trail #125-Moose Ridge Lookout Trail
• Trail #130-Red Shale Creek Trail
• Trail #132-Moonlight Peak
• Trail #151-North Fork Lick Cr.
• Trail #162-Gates Creek
• Trail #163-Ray Creek Cut-off
• Trail #166-Gates-Moose Cr.
• Trail #174-North Wall Trail
• Trail #175-Wall Trail (Chinese Wall Trail)
• Trail #194-Rock Cr.-Moose Cr.*

This one might be a little confusing. Trail 194 connects Spotted Bear Pass at the head of Rock Creek (#111) with the Chinese Wall Trail (#175). It does not go all the way to Moose Creek. I'm assuming Trail 194 is closed then throughout its entire length from Spotted Bear Pass, past My Lake, to the Chinese Wall Trail just south of Larch Hill Pass. The Chinese Wall trail goes from Larch Hill Pass south to the Moose Creek jct.

Al in all that's a pretty big chunk of the Bob west of Choteau. The fire is presently being shown as 8,613 acres but given the type of fuels present it has the potential to expand greatly given a dry wind event.

Hope this info helps those planning trips in that area. The InciWeb site will be updated regularly as conduits warrant.

[Selkie]

Doing a rain dance, in my crippled state.

[orin]

I have a trip planned the last week of August up Spotted Bear to Pentagon Cabin, north to Shaeffers Meadows, south past Trilobite Lakes and Dean Lake and Lake Leval and back out Spotted Bear. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Red Shale won't move too far north and west.

[Ear Mountain]

The all day rain last Friday August 2 but quite a damper on the Red Shale Fire. It may perk up again as the weather warms and dries. But the rain did allow the USFS to open some trails. Trails 194 from Spotted Bear Pass to Larch Hill Pass and Trail 175 from the Moose Creek Junction to near Larch Hill Pass are now open. Camping in these areas is still prohibited, however.

[Heff936]

I saw that hiking was still allowed at the Chinese Wall but no camping was allowed. At least that was the case on Monday.


Heff

[Ear Mountain]

I saw that hiking was still allowed at the Chinese Wall but no camping was allowed. At least that was the case on Monday.Heff

Camping is always prohibited in the Chinese Wall No Camping Zone. This extends from the saddle near Cliff Mountain north to the saddle near Salt Mountain and down Moose Creek from the Chinese Wall to a point one mile east of the Wall. But the fire restrictions now prohibit camping north from the Salt Mountain Saddle all the way to Spotted Bear Pass. That stretch includes My Lake.