‘Everyone’s been hopping sections’: Glacier Peak wildfires disrupt PCT

STEVENS PASS — About 40 to 50 northbound hikers may be entering Washington each day on the Pacific Crest Trail, according to the PCT Association’s best estimate.

Many of them may be unaware of the road and trail closures that await them.

At least three wildfires throughout the Glacier Peak Wilderness have forced numerous hikers to bypass different sections of the 2,650-mile PCT. It’s been a “highly unusual” year for thru-hikers, as record snow in the Sierra Nevada also forced many to reroute, said Scott Wilkinson, a spokesperson for the PCT Association.

The number of thru-hikers in Washington usually peaks around this time: late August into early September.

The Dome Peak and Blue Lake fires have closed about 33 miles of the PCT, while 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.

Combined, the three fires have burned 1,251 acres. The 2,300-acre Airplane Lake Fire, just a few miles east of the Snohomish County line, hadn’t closed any portions of the PCT as of Thursday.

There is a detour from Suiattle Pass that goes through Stehekin and Mazama. The downside is it’s 101.7 miles long, when the original trail is about half of that.

For days, a 50-mile stretch of Highway 20 was closed because of the Sourdough Fire, preventing hikers from reaching resupply access points along the road. It reopened to traffic Wednesday, with a pilot car leading vehicles and no stopping allowed.

The 502-acre Blue Lake Fire was about 15% contained as of Thursday, but PCT Association information advised the detour could change if the fire continues to grow.

The North Cascades fires are expected to burn until they’re put out by heavy rains in fall. So when the local stretch of the PCT will reopen is anybody’s guess.

Some parts of the Sierra Nevada received more than 58 feet of snow this winter, causing many hikers traveling north to skip the mountain range entirely and “flip” to Oregon, Wilkinson said. Most hikers will return to the Sierra Nevada portion of the trail once they reach the Canadian border, he said.

“Everyone’s been hopping sections,” said Jessica Smith, a trail angel — or person who assists hikers — who has been stationed near Stevens Pass this week, but is normally based in Redmond.

She said about 50% of the hikers she has interacted with were headed south and managed to dodge the road and trail closures. In a normal year, 90% of PCT thru-hikers travel northbound. Of the other 50% who are headed north, she said about a third are going home, another third are getting transportation to Mazama and the remaining hikers are doing the Suiattle Pass detour.

In the past week or so, Smith drove five hikers to two different cities. Two of the hikers had decided to head home, so she took them to Seattle, and the other three hikers planned to find transportation to Mazama, so she gave them a ride to Leavenworth. Smith said many thru-hikers who paused their journeys do plan to return to Stevens Pass next summer to finish the final northern portion of the PCT.

While the 101-mile detour avoids the Glacier Peak Wilderness wildfires, trail conditions “are not up to the standard” of much of the route from Campo, Calif. and Manning Park, British Columbia, according to the trail association’s webpage. Hikers were advised the new detour “may be challenging.”

Ta’Leah Van Sistine: 425-339-3460; taleah.vansistine@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @TaLeahRoseV.

Ta’Leah Van Sistine reports on the environment and climate change for The Daily Herald. Her journalism is supported by the Herald’s Environmental and Climate Reporting Fund. Learn more and donate: heraldnet.com/climate-fund.