Methow Valley Fires, Washington Pass, and Me?

[JDCH]

Howdy Friends,

 

We were planning to climb in Washington pass this weekend, and now there is a big ol fire in the winthrop area with strong wings blowing it around and making for a red flag warning.

 

Think the climbing will still be ok?

 

I hope one of you has a better sense of where these fires are and how they are evolving than i do. Because I can't seem to make up my mind.

 

Thanks!

[mthorman]

It appears that most of the big fires are east and south of Winthrop. WA Pass is another 15 miles west of that. The weather forecast is for winds out of the west so my guess is that most of smoke will be moving towards the east (which is VERY apparent out my window in Spokane). I think you should be fine to climb on the pass. It is definitely far enough away to not worry about the fire itself, and hopefully with the winds you shouldn't have to worry too much about smoke.

[telemarker]

I would think the 50% chance of showers Saturday and some chance on Sunday would be the bigger hazard at the pass this weekend.

 

Edited July 18, 2014 by telemarker

[fas]

It depends on which way you are approaching the pass - you may not be able to get there from the east.

Edited July 20, 2014 by fas

[jrock]

Winthrop is closed. This fire is devastating to Methow Valley. I just climbed Liberty Bell on Thursday, and Kangaroo Temple on Friday. By the time I got back to the cabin in Mazama after my climb on Thursday, the power was out. We were eventually evicted from our rental cabin on Friday.

Point is: Washington Pass climbs should be fine this weekend. Just dont go east (i.e. Mazama, Wintrhop) for apres climb refreshment/lodging as the entire county is without power and essentially closed.

[num1mc]

The Winthrop Blues Festival claims that they are still continuing

[olyclimber]

How much of the burn areas include the swaths of beetle-dead trees you see up there? I seem to recall a lot of dead trees on the eastern side after you get past the pass. Probably not much, eh?

[olyclimber]

Burn area looks huge.

[Joseph_E]

The link below starts Gmap4 (I am the developer) and shows an online map and will always display the most recent publically available data for the Methow area fires. This fire data comes straight from the GeoMAC server. GeoMAC is an interagency group whose main purpose is to prepare specialized maps for the fire teams. The GeoMAC data also feeds the InciWeb site.

 

To see the high resolution topographic map, change the basemap to "t4 Topo High" and zoom in. To see wind data from 3 hours ago, open the basemap menu, go down to the overlay section and turn on the wind layer. You can also view a layer showing the weather radar.

 

For some info about using the map and to see the map legends, click the “About” link in the upper left corner.

 

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/fires/wildland_fires_basic.txt&ll=48.260527,-120.000744&z=10&t=h,Fires

 

Joseph, the Gmap4 guy

Redmond, WA

[JasonG]

Gmap4 just got even better. Amazing site you have Joseph, I use it all the time!

[olyclimber]

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/07/okanogan-county-fire-now-largest-in-state-history/

[Minkadoo]

Joseph E. Thanks for the fire map. I too was planning on going up with a group to Mazama crags but I just don't feel right being up there when there is so much devastation and so little supply for the people who really need it. I don't want to be a burden on anyone in that area. I know tourism can help but I think its too early to go. Washington Pass climbers should be just fine safety wise in my opinion and barring any new lightening strike fires.