Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Almost Half of Glacier National Park Wildfire is Now Contained

The following are some key updates on the Reynolds Creek Fire in Glacier National Park. The information comes from the Inciweb website, which was updated last night. Here are a few items:

 * The Reynolds Creek Fire is burning along the north shore of Saint Mary Lake, in rocky, rugged terrain and burning in timber, brush, and grass. Some areas of the fire received heavy thundershowers yesterday, while firefighters paid close attention to the potential for flash flooding and debris movement in the burn area. The weather is expected to return to seasonable temperatures by Thursday. Firefighters will continue to protect structures at Rising Sun.

* There are currently 691 personnel fighting the fire at this time.

* The official size of the fire is now estimated to be 3170 acres. The fire is now 45% contained.

* The Going-to-the-Sun Road remains closed between the St. Mary entrance on the east side and Big Bend on the west side. In a public meeting over the weekend, the park has indicated that they intend to open the road to Logan Pass from the west side.

* The St. Mary Visitor Center is now open to the public. Hours are from 8 am to 6 pm. The St. Mary Campground, the Rising Sun Motor Inn, and the Rising Sun Campground remain closed.

* The Sperry Trail is open from Lake McDonald Lodge to Sperry Chalet and Gunsight Pass. Travel beyond the pass is closed due to the fire. Lake Ellen Wilson Backcountry site is open. The Loop Trail to Granite Park Chalet is also open.

Although the fire continues to burn in the St. Mary Valley, the rest of the park is still open, with tons of outstanding hiking opportunities available. Remember, the park is more than one million acres in size. The Two Medicine, Many Glacier, Belly River, Bowman Lake and Lake McDonald areas all provide hikes that offer epic Glacier National Park scenery. For more information on many of the hikes in these areas, please click here.



Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikingintheSmokys.com

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