The Washington State Hiking Podcast

Fires and Smoke across Washington this summer

• Jennie Thwing Flaming and Craig Romano • Episode 128

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Welcome to the Washington State Hiking Podcast. I'm your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, and I'm your co-host Craig Romano. Craig and I are happy to have you here. We provide practical and timely seasonal hiking advice for hikers, trail runners, and potential hikers and trail runners of all skill and ability levels that is helpful, accurate, fun, and inclusive. Hey, thanks for joining us on the Washington State Hiking Podcast. This is Craig Romano here. And Jennie's still off in Alaska. Um, I'm sure she's having a great time. If you've been following her along, um, boy, she's been going to some amazing places, places that, um, boy, I, I hope I get to and, and perhaps you, you get to someday too. So you know, , this is kind of just , a reflecting on the summer, um, episode here. Uh, boy, this is... This has just been, um, tough, and we knew this was gonna happen this way we had v- very little snow, snowfall last winter. , And I think a lot of us were just dreading what was gonna happen this year. So it's no surprise, um, yeah, I'm recording this,, right around August 1st. And at that time, by the time you listen to it, these, these statistics are gonna be worse. And this is so sobering that between Oregon and Washington, just those two states, more than two million acres of forest ha- or and grasslands have burned so far this year. It's a record year, um, and not a record that we're trying to, to break., It's awful. And in Washington, um, over 425,000 acres have burned, and probably by the time you've heard this, we're gonna be getting close to a half a million acres. Over 1,000 individual fires. Now granted, a lot of them are small little lightning fires that are being, uh, put o- put out. Um, so that's good. But boy, there's a couple of big ones, and it's really affecting our trails, a- and our roads and just our backcountry in general. And ma- you know, compounding this, we've had just an incredibly rough winter too with this atmospheric river that washed out trails, washed out roads. So, so what you... If you, if you've been out on a few of the trails that you have access, you're probably seeing, no surprise, record crowds because, again, we have more and more folks out there enjoying, uh, the outdoors, hiking,, on less and less trails. And it's really sobering. I was-- I, I've been doing, you know, s- quite a bit of hiking this year, despite the fact is that so much of the, of our, uh, access i- is limited. And I r- it really got me thinking. You know, I moved out here in the summer of 1989, and so, you know, it was 37 years ago. And the state's population then was, less than five million. It's, it's over eight million now. And in that time, the amount of trails that I had access to, I really... I, I need to sit down someday and really figure out, like, the percentage of how many trails and roads and campgrounds we've lost in the last four decades. It's gonna blow you away, and it's, it's very, very depressing. Um, s- you know, you look at places like the Darrington Ranger District- which on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie Highway, not very far from Seattle. Some fantastic hiking. Just about everything is closed in that area to get there. The Seattle River Road is washed out. The White Chuck Road closed a long, long time ago. Um, it's, you know, so many of our trail, we're losing the maintenance because also within that time, not only have we been having these record,, weather events that are just wreaking incredible havoc on our trails, but also, um, the budget cuts. A- and it's been really bad on the federal level. This current administration is just, uh, the worst of any administration in the history of the Forest Service and the Park Service. The gutting of, of, of our, um, employees, , our park rangers, the parks that are remaining open and everything, they're, they're at capacity trying to manage the record crowds. There's all kinds of activity going on. You're not seeing rangers. I was over in Mount Rainier National Park, um, earlier this summer. Two of the main campgrounds are closed. So again, where are people gonna cl- where, where, where are they gonna camp? You got all these record amounts of people here. , Out on the trails between, be- out on the trails in Mount Rainier, and I was at Olympic earlier too, another wonderful, one of our wonderful parks, and I'm not seeing any, any, any rangers out there. It's sad. It's saddening most people out there, even with the crowds, are being good, but, but without a presence of rangers out there and such, you know, there's illegal activity, people bringing dogs where they shouldn't be, people tromping around in meadow, doing all kinds of things they shouldn't be doing, camping without permits, 'cause they know they can get away with it because there's nobody out there enforcing anything. So our parks are just, and our trails and our forests are just, uh, under a lot of pressure right now between, you know, the f- the, the draconian federal cuts, uh, just incredibly ridiculous. And, and our state has, has all kinds of budget problems too, so DNR is cut back. Washington State Parks have cut back. This is, this is insane. Uh, and then on top of our, our fires and, and And so, um, it's really important. So if you're still planning, we still have a lot of summer going on. Who knows how bad the air quality's gonna be, keeping us inside. So let's start with there. So if you're planning on doing some hiking, I'll tell you, if you're... You can go, I guess, look at other parts of the country, too, if you're frustrated. It- uh, what's, what's amazing so far, California seems to be doing a lot better, uh, than we're doing this year. You know, they- they've certainly had moments when they've had some really bad fires. Um, but Ore- Oregon, Washington seems to be the hotspot, no pun intended,, right now for fires. British Columbia, same thing, if you're heading up there. So what you need to do before you even-- you're even planning on going out hiking is, the first thing I do is check the air quality. What's happening so much, too, that even if a fire is not immediately in the area because of the way the winds, uh, are blowing and prevailing, you could be hiking... I was over in Eastern Washington, uh, not that long ago, and we were being affected by fires in Oregon. You know, they're coming up. So depending on the air quality-- So depending on where the wind is coming from, that's gonna have a lot, uh, yeah, a huge effect whether that air's gonna be safe to be out there. So you wanna go to airnow.com. If you've never been there, it's a great resource. You can go all-- any place in the US, find out what that air quality is. Um, and then you can judge depending on how... You know, there's certain, uh, levels that you're perfectly okay in for most people, and then you have to decide, do I wanna go out anymore? I've gotten to the point, too, I was doing an ultra run out, um, in Eastern Washington. The air quality was actually pretty decent, but the fire, the fires, um, the smoke has shifted. So I, I have an N95 mask that's in my pack right now, because all it takes is a, a quick shift of the winds, and you're out there, and you're gonna be breathing some pretty toxic stuff. So you may wanna consider throwing an N95 mask into your pack or, you know, a bandana. Certainly, you can wet a bandana and wrap that around your face, too. That, that can help if you end up in a, in a really bad situation. So check that. Another great resource is the Washington, uh, Smoke Blog. So check that out, too. It'll show the whole state. It'll show the air quality. What I like about it, too, is it gives predictions. Um, now of course, uh, forecasts change, uh, but, but, uh, it's still a great resource to see, to show a couple days out where if there's a weather pattern that's gonna change, it's gonna show where that smoke's gonna change. So that's really important, too. And then of course, go... You know, make sure you're visiting your national park and Forest Service websites before you go out to see what's closed. Um, the Pacific Northwest Trail Association, your Pacific Crest Trail Association are keeping on. And yeah, same thing, if you're hiking those trails right now, boy, not good for the Pacific Northwest Trail., Lots of closures in the Pasayten Wilderness., The Pacific Crest Trail, you know, another one of those bummers that the, the last part, um, the last 50 miles are closed. Again, there's a small closure in California down in the San Gabe Mountains, but the rest of it, uh, seems to be open so far. Um, Manning Park in, in British Columbia Big fires there too over the border. So yeah, if you're an ultra runner, trail runner, um, be prepared. This has been a, heartbreaking year. I was supposed to run the Oregon Cascade 100 down in the Bend area. Just awful fires going there. They had to cancel that, that event just, you know, days before we were all ready to go there. The Hood 100, which is, um, happening after that, they had to close most of the course. It was a beautiful course. I ran it last year. Forcing, uh, runners now to do seven loops at, at Mount, at, , at Mount Hood. Just a totally different experience. Cascade Crest here in Washington, another big 100-mile event. Uh, they had to close. The Three Queens Fire forced them to close half of that, so it became an out and back. There's a few other races. It's, it's just been really, really saddening. You train all this time and, and you're ready for this race, and who knows what's gonna, gonna happen another month from now. There's a lot more events. It's getting to the point, you know, I'm, I'm getting really discouraged, and perhaps you are too, that, I don't even know if I wanna even start planning for these events in the summers now, because this is becoming a regular thing. So, so maybe I'm gonna just have to do a lot of my big events other parts of the country. I'm looking at going into the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia to do the hun- to do my next 100 mile. But even there,, the race that I'm looking at, all right, I don't have to worry about fires, but my friend was signed up for this one a couple years ago, and a hurricane came in there and, and canceled the race, and they were trapped. It, it just seems these, these extreme weather events, we can't escape them anywhere in the country right now. So,, it's making planning and hiking very, very challenging. So, um, yeah, it's so important, again, check that air quality, check your, your resources about what's open, what you can do. And these things can change so rapidly. , So I, I'm curious, how are you doing out there? What are you finding? Are you... Uh, the Olympic- Olympics seem to be, um, pretty good, but here's the other frustrating thing, too. Right now, there's just a small fire that's burning in the Olympics. It's not really affecting too much, but two large fires from previous years still have a lot of trail closures. So what's hap- that's, that's the other thing. And likewise, in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, uh, although I found, I guess, some good news here. I, I, from what I understand, this might happen by the time you hear this, that a lot of the, the trails that were closed in the Teanaway, uh, should be opening soon. And I got more good news for you. I've, I've seen a report in that area, and a lot of the, the burning that went on there did what it's supposed to do. Just burning a lot of the downed wood and everything and leaving a lot of the standing trees up That's good news. Fires are part of our ecosystem and, and they're supposed to do a good thing. What happens when we have these extreme events and we have these fires just torch everything, that's not what they're supposed to do. So that might be good he- good news here. I mean, the, the reports I've seen in the Staircase area in, uh, the Olympics are, were not as encouraging, just seeing some serious burning there. The, uh, likewise, the, one of the big fires that's happening right now, uh, the Little Giant, and again, this is such an amazing area. It's closed off this entire area n- near Lake Wenatchee, one of my favorite places for, for hiking, closed off some incredible terrain. Uh, not to mention, you know, people are on evacuation, uh, notice and such. But what I'm hearing too, and again, you know, we have to confirm a lot, I'm hearing that the fire there for the most part is doing what it's supposed to doing, what it's supposed to do. It's burning a lot of the downed, uh, down wood and cleaning out the, the, the understory and such. And, and hopefully a lot of the old growth that's in there is gonna survive that, and it's gonna be a much healthier forest in the long run. And it will be able to get the funding and the, the work to, to reopen those trails. If you've never been up Little Giant Pass, that's one of my 100 classic hikes. It's amazing. And then across the way in the Chewala, uh, Valley there, there's some amazing trails that get very, very little use, and I hate to see these not being maintained and lost, and that's Basalt Peak and Estes Butte. Um, boy, if you go up there, the, there, there are places you can get away from crowds, Garland Peak and all that. And so that fire that's burning there, it's actually gonna jump the ridge and go down into, into the Entiat. And let me tell you that almost that entire valley is burned now. There's g- there's not gonna be one green tree left in that area. It has just been year after year after year burning. And if you've ever been up to the Ice Lakes, um, you're just gonna go through like 12, 13 miles of scorched earth, and this is a hot area too. So that's a place you're probably gonna wanna, uh, save until the fall in that area. And that's another thing you need to be concerned when, when, when, um- Some of these burnt areas are, are open again. You know, realize, there's gonna be very little shade in a lot of these spots, and that's gonna be very, very important when you're in places like the Antioch, which is a hot area anyways. And the other thing too is, um, weather. You don't wanna be out there on a windy day. When you're setting up a tent, setting up camp at night, you d- you know, you don't wanna be, uh, near these snags. And as those, as these snags are up there for a few years, you know, eventually they're gonna rot and come down. Um, so it's really important, uh, when you're setting up tent in windy areas and stuff, that you're not in these hazard zones. So that's gonna make it challenging too, trying to find that green timber, uh, s- a safe place to camp. So again, it's complicating things. And then the other thing too, we have these burns, you know, it scorches a lot of vegetation. Then we have these record rainfalls, and then here comes the washouts. So it just seems like a never-ending disaster story, uh, for so many of our trails. Uh, and you know, I hate to be a bummer, but I, it just seems like this is the way it's gonna be for a while unless we get a major change , in the climate where we start going back to wet and snowy winters and y- you know, um, not as hot summers. , In the four decades that I've been out here, the last 15 years or so, the, the change has just been substantial. We're gonna have to adjust to this, The coast seem to be good places to go so, so far this year. The Olympic Peninsula around Snoqualmie Pass, uh, you know, so far so good. I, I hope that that Three Queens fire dies out so that will open up a l-little more access to trails. They're just being closed right now, not because they're burning, because, firefighters and first responders and such need access and also, you know, we're, we're dealing with such limited personnel out there because we've-- I mean, we have to put so much of our our, uh, capacity, firefighting capacity of these fires that if something else breaks out again, we're not gonna have the people to come out there and, and, you know, evacuate and rescue people. So that's putting huge strains on, on our responders. Uh, and keep that in mind too. You- you've got some people out there. They're-- I mean, they are working hard right now. Uh, it's, it's incredible, the amount of people power out there and, and, um, and, and again, the toll it's taken on their health. They're out there in, in, in this incredible heat and, breathing in toxins. And again, not to mention the amount of money that's going into this, millions and millions and millions of dollars. It's been a very, very discouraging summer,, on the big picture. I've certainly had some highlights. I've been trying to make the best of it. I hope you are too. Uh, that's about all we can do, um, you know, is try-- is, is adjust. I hope, um, that in the fall, that, when we talk about, this year, the year 2026, , that I have some better news to be reporting to you. Meanwhile, , thanks, for listening and we really do appreciate, we appreciate you, listening to us. And, please write us a review wherever you get your podcasts from. That really, really helps us get our word out to people so that we can keep going strong. Jennie and I love, delivering, this program to you. It's a passion for us. And so please help us try to get the word out to more so we can keep producing these episodes for you. And likewise, please visit Jennie's site, sign up for her newsletter, check 📍 out some of her tours. She does some great tours in Alaska. And, if you're looking for great hiking information, You can support me by,, checking out and purchasing some of my guidebooks. I have books covering the entire state. I stay on top of things to keep everything updated. No AI garbage in there. It's all firsthand. I'm out there, doing the work and giving you reports that you can trust. , I hope the rest of your summer is wonderful and, hope to run into you out there, uh, in the backcountry or even the front country. All right. Happy trails everybody.

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Jennie Thwing Flaming

Host
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Craig Romano

Co-host