Howdy, to preface this - i know nothing about forest fires and you should probably follow the advice of the forest service.
For hikers south of the Lake Georges fire (McKenzie Pass going north) i walked from McKenzie to Big Lake this am, little smoke, some smouldering logs and a couple mounds of ash - nothing that should stop anyone from going through there (again, my opinion. The forest service still has the area closed) I didn’t see any crews though.
I’m looking at a Situation Map (8/29) of the Puzzle fire right now. I see a detour around the fire past carl lake, junction lake and patsy lake, rejoining the pct south of cathedral rocks. Though the fire hawk shows spot fires west of this detour (and fairly close) the east margin of the main fire seems to have hit treeline (or otherwise treeless areas). There are lots of bailouts to the east.
I’m curious if anyone has other info, like whether or not the FS is serious about that $5,000 fine - b/c my detour goes right through their heliport. Without some more info, looks like i’m hitching to ollalie.
Best, be safe.
Zach