Saddened by the fires - Class of 2017 will hike through a battlefield

[Venchka]

I hope nobody is hurt by blowdowns.
I'm most amazed by the stupidity of people building fires in an area without sufficient water for proper extinguishing. That is a flogging offense.
Wayne


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[Tipi Walter]

I dont mind walking through burnt forest. I just want to know if ill be able to walk through the areas or will i need to yellowblaze it around the closed areas next year.

Closed areas will reopen. It's one thing to walk thru a burnt forest, it's another to set up camp in the stinking ashes even after they're long out.

[egilbe]

Closed areas will reopen. It's one thing to walk thru a burnt forest, it's another to set up camp in the stinking ashes even after they're long out.

Not to mention the erosion that will happen with the Spring rain and Winter runoff.

[Venchka]

Ashes and erosion are inconvenient and annoying. A dead standing tree falling on you as you hike past it will ruin your whole day.
Wayne


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[pilgrimskywheel]

Change remains the only constant. Adapt, or cry. The trail won't have been reduced to a Terminator "wasteland" - it'll be fine. Firebuggery has been a problem in that area for some time. The big old barn out Behind Standing Bear was torched in '12' or '13'. I think the really sad part is that they are running out of the antique barns which used to define the landscape of a time gone by down there, and truly they are lost forever. 200 year old barns NEVER grow back.

[Engine]

...200 year old barns NEVER grow back.

...and that's the point I was trying to make in the OP. Much of what will be lost, like old fire towers, cannot be replaced for future hikers to appreciate. I think we all understand the need for fire to cleanse the forest on occasion, it's the natural way of things. But, when we go too long without fire, the fuel load gets too large and small fires turn into conflagrations which decimate the forest instead of just clearing out the lower growth.

This isn't usually as big a problem in the west as fire is almost a seasonal occurrence there. In the southern Appalachians, fire is less frequent and when you couple large amounts of fuel with a significant drought, it becomes very difficult to get ahead of...

[coyote9]

"The fact that someone would use a fire within view of smoke is unbelievable." Why would that be wrong?

[YoungBloodOnTrail]

It is very sad. The PCT had the same problem this year, I feel for the hikers behind who will have to deal with even more burn areas than there already are. Hopefully it will serve as a reminder that fire is no joke, even though most of the fires aren't started by thru hikers we all need that reminder sometimes.
On a positive note it's all part of the natural cycle, beauty will one day emerge from the burn.

[Praha4]

maybe those fires will help get rid of some of the invasive species that have already decimated the southern Appalachian forests, like the hemlock and balsam wooly adelgid, among many others. Seems that the stronger trees will be more likely to survive fires, and the weaker trees will burn off.

healthy long term for the forest

[Oventoasted]

Starting to look like hammocking was a poor choice, haha!

[egilbe]

Starting to look like hammocking was a poor choice, haha!

Oh wow thats funny

[freys]

Being out west I don't know the land well enough to understand where and what. It would take me hours to map it all out. I know someone has the skinny on all this. Roughly what are us 17 nobo's looking at? Will there be parts of miles and miles that is burnt, few miles here and there???

[Oventoasted]

Being out west I don't know the land well enough to understand where and what. It would take me hours to map it all out. I know someone has the skinny on all this. Roughly what are us 17 nobo's looking at? Will there be parts of miles and miles that is burnt, few miles here and there???

From the ATC site its looking like good chunks of the trail are getting hit.

From just doing some math from the reports it is hundreds of miles now.

[freys]

From the ATC site its looking like good chunks of the trail are getting hit.

From just doing some math from the reports it is hundreds of miles now.

Well sheit. I'm having a hard time grasping this. I understand what it does on the PCT but not that area. Only time I have been out that way to hike was in GSMNP. I just can't picture that type of growth fried. You can look at pictures all day long but when you see it in person you really get it.

[Engine]

Active fires for the southern 300 miles or so, as of 11/30. The stretch from around the GA/NC line up to Wesser looks bad.

AT Active fires 11_30.png

[Ladytrekker]

Any reports on shelter damages. On ATC says GA, NC, and TN trail sections are closed. Praying all hikers that may have been on trail are safe and counted for.

[JC13]

Any reports on shelter damages. On ATC says GA, NC, and TN trail sections are closed. Praying all hikers that may have been on trail are safe and counted for.

I feel really bad for all the SOBOs that have been holed up in Hot Springs, be a hard decision to make on how to proceed.