DARRINGTON — The U.S. Forest Service reopened about 20 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail last week as wildfires in the Glacier Peak Wilderness began dying down.
The Dome Peak fire in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, which sparked in late July, originally caused the Forest Service to close the PCT between Suiattle Pass and High Bridge.
At 1,076 acres Tuesday, the Dome Peak fire received significant rain last week, the Forest Service noted in a press release.
Forest Service officials said the Chocolate Creek and Kindy Creek fires, at 38 and 197 acres respectively, also benefited from recent precipitation. Officials expect increased humidity, lower temperatures and possibly more rain to continue tamping down fires.
PCT closures in Washington caused hikers to skip sections of the trail this summer. Hikers had been taking a roughly 101-mile detour bypassing the closures, hitching rides to Mazama from Stevens Pass or heading home.
The Huckleberry Flats fire east of Darrington also led to an immediate closure of Suiattle River Road — a major access point to the PCT in Snohomish County. The Forest Service reopened the road and said the fire was 100% contained last week.
About 14 miles of the PCT remained closed Tuesday between the McAlester Trail junction near Twisp and the Snowy Lakes Trail in Winthrop.
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