The pup and I started at the very cold Foggy Dew Trailhead and hiked up to Angel's Staircase. Most of the trail was snow covered and it became shin deep to thigh deep after heading off on the trail to Merchant's Basin. We saw no other human footprints in this section of the trail. The snow was soft and powdery and no traction was required for the climb. Usually, I prefer to make a loop down to Cooney Lake, but I decided backtrack so I wouldn't have to break more trail. On the way out, I used microspikes because I was wearing running shoes with very little traction. Back on the main trail, I saw that some horse riders had passed and cleared out the fallen trees! Very awesome.

Update for August 11: Fire is at and beyond Stehekin.  Excellent photojournalism and associated story in Sunday's Seattle Times.  The effort to slow, to divert, and to protect the structures associated with Stehekin and environs is remarkable from the standpoint of both the inhabitants as well as the fire fighters.

Update Status for August 3: Fire is above and extending north of Stehekin.  Heat and dry air have resulted in considerable fire growth.

Update Status for August 1: The cooler temperatures and cloudy weather enable fire fighters to work on and with the Stehekin community to make their structures and property more fire resistant (see Figure 3) for an illustration of the spot work occurring.  The next eight day plus stretch of hot, dry weather will be critical.  The fire is active and continues to expand.  The effort by both fire fighters and community members is amazing -- I do not think any of us can imagine how hard this is for all concerned.  In many ways, the stress and effort will only abate when it begins to snow.

Recommendation: Get the free app, Watch Duty (however, donations are appreciated as it is a non-profit).  It and its associated ‘reporters’ stay on top of almost all of the fires occurring across the west from Washington to California and from Montana to Oklahoma and Texas.  You can turn on and off notifications to specific areas (planning a trip to the Crazy Mountains of Montana, for example) or specific ongoing fires.

Updated Status for July 30: Cooler, moister (but no rain) weather has helped.  Anticipate heat and greater fire activity to return.

Updated Status for July 27: Level 3 evacuation for Stehekin ordered for 8:00 am, Sunday, July 28.

Updated Status for July 25, 2024: Fire size is over 31,000 acres, more trail closures on the Twisp River side of the Sawtooths, Level 2 Evacuation for Stehekin.

Update Status for July 16, 2024: Fire size is now 20,348 acres; most of the fire activity is east of Moore Point (see Figure 4).

Status for July 8,2024: Pioneer Fire has grown rapidly to 9,055 acres (Figure 1), smoke has greatly increased, and Figure Evaluation and Closures areas have increased.  USFS Roads 82, 8020, 8215, 8250 are closed; trails 1248.1, 1250.1, 1254, 1255, 1257, 1258, 1259, 1260, 1261, others (check local Ranger District).  USFS trail names do not always correspond with WTA's and many of the minor USFS trails are not found on WTA. Air Quality State wide has become poorer as a result of the heat dome and the fires.

Good sources of information

• The National Incident Information System (inciweb [https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/]) and the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center (has morning briefings [https://gacc.nifc.gov/nwcc/]). Maps in Figure 1 show the borders and hot spots associated with the fire.  It is important to realize that this is the best estimate and that the fire damage within this perimeter will range from no effect to total destruction.
• The Current Wildfire Incident Information for Washington State; this site is maintained by the WA Dept of Natural Resources (https://www.dnr.wa.gov/Wildfires) . Part way down on this page is ‘Active Wildfires in Washington’  and below that is the ‘DNR Wildfire Intel Dashboard.  Make sure you check the box that says next to it: “I recognize the intended use of this dashboard and wish t…” Check this and the box saying ‘Go to the Dashboard’ becomes active.  
• A source I discovered several weeks ago from the Kitsap Sun online Newspaper. This includes a map, heat, and  smoke and smoke direction (https://datacentral.kitsapsun.com/fires/).

All of these sources will have links to the closures, but there are separate websites for each US Forest Ranger District, for each National Park (e.g., for North Cascades: https://www.nps.gov/noca/index.htm), Recreation Area, or Monument.  WS Dot has a map of closures (https://wsdot.com/Travel/Real-time/Map/).

All these agencies or groups have twitter and Facebook pages.

Finally, there are no closures, and you can go.  Three  last things to check: avalanche danger (seasonally appropriate), weather (always appropriate), and air quality.   Two good sites for air quality:

• Purple air
• Kitsap Sun again is recommended.

Mt Mike provided these additional resources:

1. For smoke forecasts in WA state, I recommend the interagency smoke page at https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/. The Canadian smoke forecast at https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/ also includes the US.
2. For fire locations nationwide, you can also look at the ESRI Wildfire map that shows info from a number of sources at https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/wildfireaware/#.

There are many other sites, but I (and Mt Mike regarding the last 2) have found these to be consistently reliable and informative.

Let’s hope for a great summer and early fall with few or no fires.

The ascent to fall paradise via Foggy Dew Creek is as simple as it gets. The grade never steepens enough to be intimidating, but (with a few exceptions) is constantly uphill. The sweet smell of butterscotch—ponderosa—and the earthy smell of ceanothus swirled about. The sound of bubbling Foggy Dew Creek on my left and the chattering of busy squirrels on my right whisked me up-valley. I had my eyes on a Golden Loop of my own but left everyone else to fight for parking spaces at Crater Creek.

Cooney Lake was busy as to be expected for a Saturday so I walked up the trail and found a quiet high perch where I could look down upon the larch and pine. The sun danced with the clouds casting spotlights on the golden meadows of Merchants Basin (my destination for the next day). The trail up to the pass has areas of packed snow that get beaten into slush during the day and turn to ice at night. Later I headed to a high knoll near camp and watched the orange nighttime sun rise in the northeast through the hazy skies above the Okanogan Trench. After a while the cold began infiltrating my body, first at its weakest points—fingers and toes—then creeping upwards until chills began. I was already wearing my warm socks and gloves and was left no choice but to retreat to my sleeping bag.

The next morning dawned cold and windy. I wandered to the lake to gather water, pushing aside the armada of larch needles floating on the surface. The tiny waves slurping at the rocky shore had created coves and inlets crowded with needles. Many of the trees are well into their usual preparations, the winter cold and snow necessitating a long nap.

I gathered my things and headed back up the ridge just to lose all the hard work on the drop into Merchants Basin. The trail is again gradual and clear of obstacles. The way-trail (signed) to Sunrise Lake comprises of packed snow with one tree to duck under, another to climb over, and a third to end-around, all three classic tree avoiding moves. I circumnavigated the lake in sparkling snow and sat upon a sunny boulder for over an hour absorbing the scenery. After a while I returned to camp via the same route.

Early Monday morning the deep inhales and exhales of the wind woke me prematurely. I lay staring at the monotone landscape of my tent fly listening to the crescendos and decrescendos punctuated by the larch needle staccato on the thin fabric not more than a few feet above my head. It was warmer, and the lack of shadows being cast by the nearly full moon signaled a change in weather. Like a warm blanket on a bed, high clouds had moved in overnight. The cotton candy sunrise lasted for a moment before the faded light filled in what shadows existed around camp.

Unlike the stout trees and forest creatures I am only a visitor to these lands. Eventually the need for food other than cheese and trail mix, and (for convenience sake) a flushing toilet require I return home. And so I did via Foggy Dew, this time the sound of the creek on my right and the chattering squirrels on my left.

I did a slight variation on the classic Golden Lakes Loop. I generally traveled in a counter-clockwise direction. I saw Crater Lakes, Eagles Lakes, Boiling Lake, Sunrise Lake, and Cooney Lake in three days and two nights, Oct 1-3.

Road

The road is straightforward and passable by any car. I saw some reports complaining about the condition of this road. It is in fine shape. There are a few potholes, as there is sometimes one in the road, but generally, this is not the case, and it is smooth sailing.

Parking

I arrived around 9 AM on a Sunday, and the lot was full, full, full. There were many cars parked quite some ways down the road. I got lucky and nabbed one of the remaining spots in the actual parking lot. When I left on Tuesday afternoon, there was plenty of room in the parking lot, and any car parked on the shoulder was gone.

Trail

This is a mixed-use trail. That is, you will see mountain and motorized dirt bikes. I saw evidence of horses but didn't see any myself. I did, however, run into a man with four-pack goats! Mostly, people were reasonably courteous, except for a mountain biker or two who didn't seem to understand that they needed to yield to oncoming uphill foot traffic.

I saw quite a large number of people on Sunday and never really felt alone. I experienced much trail solitude on Monday and Tuesday, passing just a few parties each day.

I was glad to be mainly hiking mid-week as I wouldn't want to be on Angel's staircase with lots of mixed traffic as there is not much room to pull off the trail.

One of the benefits of the mixed-use nature of the area is that there were zero blowdowns! This is likely thanks to the local bike coalition that helps with trail maintenance. Thanks!

I was worried about snow/ice and carried micro-spikes, but I didn't need them. There was the occasional snow (less than 1"), ice, or frozen ground, but it didn't pose a problem and is quickly melting out. Read: Lots of mud in some places.

Camping

Even mid-week, multiple parties were camped about; 5 or 6 was the max I saw at Upper Eagle Lake. Fortunately, there was plenty of space to spread out. I think Saturday night is the main event; if you can avoid it, I would do so.

That said, while it was fairly pleasant during the day, it was cold at night, just around freezing. So, pack for lovely fall days and chilly nights. When I left my campsite on Tuesday morning, it was in the mid-30s; at the parking lot that same afternoon, it was in the low-60s.

Fall Colors

They are peak. It will hold through the weekend and begin to be past prime. Go, now!

Cooney, by far, has the most impressive display. You'll hit the jackpot with Cooney if you have to choose one.

Backpacked to Sunrise lake via Foggy dew creek trail.

Cold with snow on the ground at Sunrise lake. Below freezing overnight.

A busy trail with all kinds of happy people. Perfect weather. Camping at the lake was busy, around ten tents.

An amazing adventure.