MSJac Park is closed. C2C or Skyline this weekend in doubt.

[cynthia23]

I know many people are planning on doing skyline/C2C this weekend. I just checked FightOn's excellent link (major props to you, FO), which he put in the Apache Fire post. It links to the Firefighter's info. According to this, the fire is only 5percent contained and containment is not expected until May 7. More relevant to board members--the State Park and Wilderness are "closed until further notice". I called the Idyllwild Ranger station and she confirmed the park is closed and hiking is not permitted. It appears that the tram is still running, and the Ranger I spoke to said "tourists can still do the Long Valley nature trail" which suggests that at the moment, at least, they haven't locked the back doors of the tram station. So, in theory, one could still do Skyline and sneak across Long Valley. But it seems to me that C2C is definitely out unless you are willing to truly flout the law.

If the fire is somehow completely contained by tomorrow, Friday, then of course the situation would change. I don't know how reliable the prediction on the link is of a May 7 containment. Presumably the fire commander gives the most conservative possible estimate. So maybe the fire will actually be over sooner. ON the other hand, maybe it will suddenly get much worse. Obviously, a big fire is unpredictable. Everyone thinking of hiking anywhere in the park this weekend should most certainly check FightOn's link and/or call the Ranger Station tomorrow afternoon.

Air quality here in the valley is not very good currently. It's not visibly terrible, and the fire is no longer visible from the valley, but there is sort of a general diffused haze. Mostly it is blowing southeast, which is good. However, certainly someone with asthma would want to be aware of this issue. The wind is predicted to die down today. I am not sure how this will affect air quality but it seems to me it's likely to make it smokier.

Bottom Line: people considering hiking on or near Mount San Jacinto this weekend should most certainly keep checking for up to date info on the fire situation and park closure.

Anyone who has any more info, ideas, or thoughts, please post ....

[drndr]

Hope this isn't too stupid of a question. If tram and Long Valley are still open, do most regular hikers of Skyline still do it, assumming all is safe. Does Skyline fall into the official closed sections of the mountain.

D

[phydeux]

This sucks. I had a two-night permit for this weekend thats now defunct. Guess I'll have to find something to fill the void. Maybe this will do:

http://web.avp.com/index.jsp

[tinaballina]

If i am hearing this correct we can still hike from the museum to the tram and take the tram down? the air quality won't be the best but doable, correct?
thanks for any input.
thank you to cynthia for posting this. cynthia, i am hoping to meet you and mark tomorrow on the trail.

[mknuth]

Greetings.

I did the trail from the museum to the tram yesterday. The air quality was very good.

As posted up there, a wilderness permit is not needed until you pass the Ranger Station, which you do not need to do to reach the tram. So, it is my understanding that you can indeed go from the Museum (or the end of Ramon) to the tram, but you could not camp out up there or go to the summit while the wilderness area is closed.

Cheers,

Margot

[cynthia23]

Hi all. To clarify: doing Skyline when the State Park is closed is definitely not legal. The upper part of Skyline is within the boundaries of the State Park and the lower part is part of the San Jacinto Wilderness, which is also closed. However, as a practical matter, it's quite unlikely you would be 'caught' on the sections of Skyline below Grubb's Notch, since they are not patrolled. I honestly don't know what the likelihood of someone being caught on the top portion is. I suppose it depends on how hard-case the rangers feel like being about it. During the big fire closure they had in the fall, they were definitely very, very serious about catching people. In this instance, when there is not the same level of danger or concern, perhaps they're just covering themselves in a bureacratic sense. But If they wanted to, they could, I suppose, hang out around the top of Grubb's Notch and just wait for Skyliners to come out and bust them. Or, I suppose the tram operators could see us, recognize us at Skyliners, and "turn us in". (get out your Japanese tourist disguise?) I doubt these are likely scenarios, but on the other hand, I don't want to advise anyone to do anything that could possibly result in a ticket and a largish fine (I think I heard it's a couple hundred bucks? Anyone have any info on that?) I myself am unsure what to do. But there's no question that doing C2C is completely out of the question. Skyline is questionable. People have to decide on their own whether it's worth risking a potential fine. Also, if, God forbid, anyone had any problems or required rescue, the Rangers would no doubt be seriously pissed off.

However, maybe the situation will change. Keep continuing to check FightOn's link throughout the day. As of last night, there was a press conference with the fire commander in which he said the fire was now 25 percent contained and he was expecting full containment by Sunday. Since he's no doubt conservative, it's possible the fire could be fully contained by tomorrow, and the park reopened. I don't know. Just keep checking FightOn's link, or calling the Ranger Stations. Air quality now seems quite good, btw. No visible smoke.

[cynthia23]

Small addendums: Steve/Osama called the Idyllwild station also, and specifically asked the ranger about doing Skyline. She confirmed it's illegal during this closure. Permits are not the issue. It's simply being in the San Jacinto Wilderness. But again, I can't say how serious they might be about enforcing this. I just don't know.

The cause of the fire has been confirmed as a cigarette butt. How on earth they can know this, I dunno. Nor can I comprehend how a smoker could get himself halfway up the PCT to this distant location. There was no mention at the press conference if they know who it is, so I guess they don't.

I mistakenly credited FightOn for the InciWeb link, when it was actually HikeUp who posted it. My apologies to you both. Thank you for a great link HikeUp. And thank you for being you, FightOn.

[Cy Kaicener]

The direction of the winds will be a major factor. The Town Crier of Idyllwild had an update of the fire.
http://towncrier.com

[Marknhj]

I just took a look at Skyline. It looks perfect, there is no wind and zero smoke (none visible south of here either, where the fire is located). I woud be shocked if they targeted Skyliners tomorrow, as potential danger simply does not exist right now. But, I know nothing of the attitude of the local authorities in the context of how strictly they enforce rules.

[cynthia23]

Yeah, that is indeed the question. I'm pretty sure some of the officials lurk on this board from time to time, so I sure wish one of them would drop us an unofficial clue (hint, hint) on this posting as to whether they are going to be ticketing violators, or looking the other way ...just hard to guess, really.