Forest Fire - Appalachian Trail

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#1

Just thought that people would like to know about a section of trail that is closed due to a forest fire.

For the last week or so, hikers were pulled of the trail at Petites Gap (USFS 35 Blue Ridge Parkway,mile 71.0) and shuttled around to the James River Foot Bridge. This is about a ten mile section of trail near Glasgow, VA.

The Forest Service is being very accomedating by shuttling people around the area. They also provided snacks and water while waiting for the shuttle.

I have heard of a few hikers that decided to hike the section anyway, saying that that they had committed to a thru-hike and nothing was going to stop them and then bragging about what they had just done on the other side.

To other hikers- please don’t do this as it puts yours and others lives in danger. The fire fighters have enough to worry about without us hikers putting them in more possible danger when they have to go in to save someone’s sorry a** when something happens.

Thanks and hike safe.

Pushing Up Daisies

#2

Go here for an update.

http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/afternoon/

Hikerhead

#3

as of 5pm,the area remains closed including the AT. However,the fire is now 90% contained. We got a fair amount of rain yesterday which should help. This info is from NFS daily fire report. Best guess containment by this weekend and opening of trails soon after. 600 acres are involved which is actually quite small. the steepness of the terrain is hampering efforts. No structures have been reported lost so I think the AT shelters are fine but I am writing from written reports and do not have visual confirmation. hope this helps.

Wyoming Skateboarder

#4

I believe the closest shelter to this fire would be the Matt Creek shelter.

Hikerhead

#5

This morning there have been no major developments from yesterday. The morning report lists the fire as" backing into the Hellgate area."I was off on the acrage involved.Currently there is roughly 1700 acres involved.Matt’s Creek shelter is the closest and is in the danger zone(thanks “Hikerhead”). It does sit to a large stream so it could be protected. I would not be surprised if it was a advance camp for the firefighters.Hopes this helps those hiking in the area. The AT is still closed with the rest of the area though the FS thruhiker shuttle continues.

Wyoming Skateboarder

#6

For what it’s worth, I saw the wildfire from the overlooks south of the James Face Wilderness. At that time, there was no notice at Petites Gap, so I hiked on through, spending the night at Matt’s Creek, along with “Beatnik” and 4 other thru-hikers. I saw the notice about trail closed after I crossed the James River Foot Bridge the next morning.

Pete (Peaks)

#7

This morning I got confirmation the forest fire known the Marbleyard Complex was completely contained.This fire is located south of Glasglow,VA near the James River on its south side. It is still an active fire so some of the side trails are probably still closed. Based on my info and “Peaks” the AT has probably been reopened to thruhikers.Fire danger remaines extreme.

A new fire has broken out in Shenedoah National Park. It is mostly uncontained but spreading slowly. The fire is located near RockyTop Mountain in a very remote area. At this time this fire is far from the AT and does not appear to pose any threat at this time to the AT which remains open and without additional restriction. Fire danger is high in SNP. Open fires should be strongly avoided,if they have not been banned by the park already. I’ll update if conditions or new fires break out

Wyoming Skateboarder