Fire map and update

The ash is starting to settle a bit, and the firefighters have released a map showing the perimeter of the Range Two fire that burned Lamoille Canyon, Seitz Canyon, and Right Fork Canyon, and portions of Thomas Canyon, Hennen Canyon, Snell Canyon and Talbot Canyon.

The good part is that the highest parts of Seitz and Lamoille Canyons didn't burn, protecting the fisheries in Seitz and Lamoille lakes, as well as the incredible mountain ecosystems there.  The top of Right Fork Canyon survived the blaze, as well.  The bad part is that four trails were badly burned, including the Secret-Lamoille Trail, the Seitz Canyon Trail, the Right Fork Canyon trail, and the old guide trail that runs between Pete's Corner and Talbot Canyon - the Talbot-Lamoille Trail.

Joe Doucette from NDOW tells me that the ash from the fire will have a significant negative impact on the aquatic life in the effected area, which is disturbing.  Snell Creek is home to endangered Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, and Lamoille Creek has always been a popular fishing stream.  All of them drain into the Humboldt River, which waters much of northern Nevada.

NDOW and the USFS have their work cut out for them assessing and mitigating the damage.  Josh Nicholes, the USFS district ranger, tells me that the existing closure through Nov. 30th is to give them time to get started with that process, but that the closure may be lifted earlier than that based on conditions.

There is a volunteer move afoot to help with reseeding, deadfall removal, and other necessary recovery activities.  I'll post up information as it becomes public.

Watch this space.

Black is the color of my heart today

Lamoille Canyon burned.  This photo is from around 3:30 PM, September 30, 2018.

The canyon was sacrificed to stupidity. To people who didn't have the common sense to put a rifle range someplace where a fire could be contained, and to close it down - or at least staff it - during extreme fire danger. To people who ignored another, smaller, fire started by shooters using the range a couple of years ago, who ignored another, smaller fire just west of the range a couple of weeks ago.

To people who ignored red flag after red flag after red flag.

The people who started the fire were the apex of a huge heap of people making stupid, selfish decisions all based on their BY GOD given rights TO SHOOT THEIR GODDAMNED GUNS ANYWHERE AND ANYWHEN THEY BY GOD FEEL LIKE IT.  High winds and extreme fire conditions be damned.  And reality be damned, too - it's been amply demonstrated that many, many people in this area aren't at all responsible when it comes to firearm ownership and use. People who consider themselves responsible firearm owners have a responsibility to face the FACT that a large percentage of people who own guns AREN'T responsible.  DON'T make good decisions.  Since our Constitution says that any Tom, Dick and Harry can buy a gun, responsible gun owners need to be responsible enough to establish and maintain boundaries that safeguard the rest of us from these asshats' complete fucking stupidity.

The Second Amendment crowd goes on and on about onerous firearm regulation.  Bullshit.  I fail to see the regulation, here.  Whoever started this fire likely bought their gun legally by flashing a drivers license and passing a laughable joke of a background check.  There was no requirement for education, no requirement for the most rudimentary demonstration of skills and knowledge.  No requirement that this idiot show that he knew enough to not be out there shooting in high wind in dry grass on a red-flag fire condition day.  On a day when we hadn't had rain in months.

Spring Creek Association posted a few rules for their rifle range, assuming these idiots would read and follow them.  Well, guys, they didn't.  Nor did they use an iota of common sense.  And that, my friends, was entirely predictable.  As were the consequences.

Lamoille Canyon burned.

Road at the mouth of the canyon.  The Secret-Lamoille trailhead area burned, as did the remains of the historic flume.  Firefighters saved Ruby Dome Ranch... the fire burned down to the corrals where cowboys were scrambling to finish the work they'd started early in the day before the fire overwhelmed them.

Right Fork Canyon

The access point for Terminal Cancer Couloir.

Scout Camp, including the ruins of the lodge built during the Great Depression.

What remains of the historic lodge.  It makes me want to cry.  So many memories there.

See a single word about fire safety or extreme fire conditions? 
I don't either.

As of today the USFS anticipates the canyon road will be closed through November 30th.  The Spring Creek Rifle Range and Campground are closed until further notice.  That means access to the following trails is closed:  Secret-Lamoille Trail, the Ruby Crest Trail (Lamoille Canyon trailhead), Island Lake Trail, Right Fork Trail, Talbot-Lamoille Trail, Thomas Canyon Trail, Hennen Canyon Trail (accessing Griswold Lake and Ruby Dome), Seitz Lake Trail.

Seitz Lake Trail beta

Why is it that every time I go up Seitz Canyon I end up in a rainstorm? Today's drenching was actually pretty welcome - no lightning and I was beginning to get a bit ripe. In the past, though, I've been caught up there in "Holy SHIT find cover FAST" kinds of lightning storms. Nevada - don't like the weather, wait a minute. ;)

Seitz Canyon holds some good memories for me. Waaaaaaaaaay back when, Seitz Canyon was the scene of my very first backpacking trip - as well as my very first "Holy SHIT find cover FAST" backcountry experience. When I was sixteen years old, the trail up this canyon was in good shape. Now, not so much. It's there, but it's a "Where's Waldo" hide-and-seek-fest.

Flowers are putting on quite a show right now, and there's no need to die of scurvy - currants are everywhere. The serviceberries are just starting to generate fruit, not close to ripe. There'll be a lot of chokecherries this year, too (if Seitz is any indication).

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Figured I'd throw up some beta for those Californians looking for Ruby Mountain trail info.

SEITZ LAKE TRAIL

Length: 10 miles RT from Spring Creek Association 4WD "trailhead"

Elevation gain: 2700'

Difficulty: Class C-R (moderate with route-finding)

Time required: Day hike or overnight

The Seitz Lake trail is a great day hike or overnight for those interested in getting off the beaten path. Literally - the trail is very faint and there's a high probability that you'll spend at least part of the trip routefinding. Be that as it may, Seitz Lake is one of the most beautiful destinations in the Ruby Mountains, and that's saying a lot.

The Seitz Lake trail is a non-wilderness, non-motorized trail, meaning it's open to hikers, horsemen, mountain bikers, skiers, etc. That said, it is not even remotely SUITABLE for mountain bikes, and unless you have legal access you'll have a hard time getting a horse in there. And, once you do - this is no trail for a $30,000 sandbox horse, or for a horse that stands around six months at a time. This is a trail for a steady, strong, self-confident mountain horse. Be advised.

The hike is rated moderate due to the necessary route-finding. The hike itself isn't difficult - there's not much elevation gain in the scheme of things, it's not that long, there's no scrambling or exposure. That said, you will be spending much of this hike off-trail, and will need to be comfortable with cross-country travel. Not only that, but you will need to be comfortable out there on your own - there's no highway up this canyon, cell phones don't bounce, and the cavalry will NOT be coming. I doubt more than a couple of dozen people make this tour every year.

GETTING THERE:
Seitz Canyon can be accessed three ways without getting into mountaineering, none of them particularly easy. You can travel overland legally from Lamoille Canyon, starting your hike by the pulloff for the Powerhouse Picnic Grounds. That makes for a long day. You can ask for access from Ruby Dome Ranch - you're not likely to get it, but you definitely won't get it if you don't ask. Don't trespass, these guys will not put up with it.

The easiest way to access Seitz Canyon is through the Spring Creek Association campground. If you're not an SCA homeowner, you'll be trespassing, but I've never heard of SCA having problems with it. Be a good guest, stay low profile and it's likely that they never will. That's how this trip will be described.

To reach the SCA campground - from Elko travel SE on Lamoille Highway (5th Street) approximately 17 miles to Pleasant Valley Road, a dirt road that takes off straight as an arrow towards the Rubies. The road will make a 90-degree turn - at this corner you'll see a locked green gate to the left. If you have a key to the gate and a high-clearance 4WD vehicle, you can save yourself some walking by driving in. Otherwise, park here and climb over the gate.

From the gate, walk or drive up the section fenceline (it'll be on your left). The road will very quickly turn into a rutted 4WD road. If you're adventurous you can take this road almost all the way to the ridgeline and save yourself a bunch of hiking. You are here to hike though, right? The road will bear right away from the fence and you'll come to a convenient wide parking spot. Leave your vehicle here if you've driven in.

You'll start the trip cross country. Find a nice contouring cow trail and head north east towards the section fence. There are plenty from which to choose and there's no reason to turn this into a brush bash. Make your way uphill to the ridgeline... you'll likely want to follow the contour trails and make switchbacks for yourself. When you get close to the ridgeline, be near the section fence, where you can pick up another nicely contouring cow trail heading into the canyon.
An altimeter or GPS comes in handy here. You'll need to cross Seitz Creek at right around 7000', otherwise you'll be tangling with a hell of overgrown chokecherries. Stay climbers right of the creek and contour your way along the hillside - it's a pretty walk and, again, there are plenty of cow trails and game trails to keep the brush-bash to a minimum. When you get to about 7000', look for a portion of the creek bank that's been cut away by the water. There are some deer trails through the trees about here, and the creek's comparatively shallow at that point. Once you cross, walk straight ahead and you'll be able to get onto an old jeep road that goes another 1/2 mile or so up Seitz Canyon.

As you walk up the road, keep an eye out for the "trailhead" - a rock cairn by a mahogany tree. If you get to the end of the road, at a hunting camp, you've gone too far. Backtrack about 150'.

Once you get on the trail, it becomes very lush, very overgrown, very beautiful. The route largely sticks with the route shown on the USGS topo... if you get that route into your GPS you'll likely stay pretty close. If you don't have a GPS or can't be bothered with trying to find this ephemeral trail, don't worry. Stay climbers left of the creek, stay out of the beaver ponds. The trail will skirt climbers left of those ponds.

There'll be two big benches you'll want to climb... it's best done by getting above the rimrock shelves on your left. There are a fair number of rock cairns, as well as other routefinding friends - sawn deadfall and branches, a few blazes, bent/broken grass. There aren't a lot of tree carvings, but there are a few.

Once you top out on the second bench (past a couple of truly lovely waterfalls), you cross a large field of slickrock as you make your way to the lake. Take some time and savor this - it's beautiful and it gets more so with every step you take.

After about five miles, you'll be at Seitz Lake.

Keep your eye out for critters, I've seen river otters up here (very cool). There are also a lot of ducks and plenty of the other usual suspects for the Rubies.

Heading down, you'll find that it's a whole lot easier to stick with the trail. Don't miss the creek crossing, it comes up faster than you expect. There's a big glacier-remnant erratic boulder with a rock cairn on it, that's your clue to leave the jeep trail for the creek.

Map: