Granite Mountain Wildfire?

Green, for now everything is closed presumably due to the risk of flash floods ripping away soil from now mostly barren hillsides and killing or injuring hikers and climbers. News reports have said that crews with the Forest Service are currently working to stabilize as much as they can with erosion control/ new plantings. But it seems the Mountain will likely be closed for a while longer. Here's a link to the Prescott National Forest site with closure information.
fs.usda.gov/recarea/prescot…

any local news other than above link as far as closure status?

is it too early to talk of passing the hat 4 restoration? I hope the monsoons are merciful, hang in there GM :{sniff}

Nasa satellite photo of the burn scar & retardant trail

Prescott Natnl Forest -- Contact Ph# with closures listed ---Map of closed area

I called the forest service about two weeks ago with regards to closure status. The guy on the phone was not super helpful but said it is closed until crews clean up the trails and restore safety. He would not estimate when this would be happening and kind of said "it will happen when they do it". Maybe the forest service would be open to some help from some chainsaw and shovel wielding dirtbags to help clear the area?

they have been waiting until the end of monsoon season to assess the trail damage and what is required for cleanup. This could be as late as end of September.

Just wanted to give an update on this, for those that are curious.

I was MTB'ing along the wilderness area yesterday and came across signs that blocked off certain trails:

USFS Order

As stated, the wilderness area is expected to be reopened on September 30th at the latest. Another note, the monsoonal thunderstorms have really kicked in up here the last week and have been hitting GM just about everyday. Obviously there are pros and cons to this, such as the rock will be (heavily) washed of most ash, but the erosion will definitely be significant etc. etc.

I, once again, hope that at least one of the many climbing organizations in NAZ, and around Arizona in general, will offer to assist in the coordination of getting climbers to volunteer their time to help restore this area. That would be just so awesome for everyone.

-Mac M

Has anyone heard anything new? The forest service site still shows the area being closed.

Noel Fletcher at the Prescott National Forest

relates that

Granite Mountain is now open for climbing!

Thanks for the update Scott!
such sweet, sweet words...

I was able to get up there on friday afternoon and there is noticeable damage from erosion caused by the previous rains..
Took a few pics for those that may be interested and can't exactly get up there easily to see for themselves.

Distinguished burn line.

On the trail, entering the burn area.

Looking up towards the wall from Trail 261.

A washed out Trail 261 in the burn area.

After being up there and making the approach up to the main wall It's safe to say the approach is still as much of a pain as it was before. However, instead of bush-whacking you'll be trying to avoid sinking into the fresh ash on the hillside. One plus is that this may be an opportunity to establish a new route for the trail. I went up what was left of the original trail, but came down the "second" significant wash (closest to the west of the front porch) to intersect Trail 261 from the main wall.

Since the wash was completely burned out it was very easy to follow and almost seems a better alternative over the old, original, climber's trail to get up to the wall with minimal impacts from climbers on erosion. Just a thought. It was interesting to see the massive boulders that have great potential in that wash as well, even though they are now flaking from the heat of the fire...

The main wall has torched trees below it, but the wall itself is completely untouched. The single tree at the Front Porch is still standing, yet more-than slightly burnt.

Another note: Waves of Rock does have a massive red Slurry streak across the whole top half of it, guess they missed.

Other than all that negative, GM is back open and re-growth has already started happening. Super stoked to be getting out there for another season!

-Mac

Thanks for sharing the photos MacM. It looks like a different world down there....

So what about access with the current federal shutdown? I called the forest service office in prescott and they are not working. Hoping to get out there this weekend.

Micah Kurtz wrote: So what about access with the current federal shutdown? I called the forest service office in prescott and they are not working. Hoping to get out there this weekend.

granite mountain isn't a national park, access is now "unlimited"... I would still respect the falcons however..

Larry Coats wrote:And let's hope the juniper in the above news clip is indeed this old specimen....

With a most heavy heart, I am sad to report that this juniper is nothing but a big charcoal stick now.

It looked like lightning got it. Its literally in three big pieces spread all over, and the granite up there is shattered into pieces as well.

That makes me really sad.
RIP tree.