The official notice of the forest closure is here: [
www.flickr.com]
The Forest Service people have been great. They will be giving an update to the Silverton Town Council tonight, they have put up an excellent bulletin board in our local post office with maps large enough to see detail with other information. They keep both town and county people updated daily. 550 is now closed starting at Molas Pass, just south of Silverton. And it appears to be closed with no convoys going through as in previous days.
Our tourist situation is understandably grim. Everyone is taking a big hit, numerous layoffs, reduced schedules, and several restaurants will be closing entirely.
The D&S operates mainly on USFS lands from about Hermosa up to the lower bridge south of Silverton, and there is a mix of private property between Hermosa and Rockwood.. From the map at the post office, it appears that much of the railroad line from Hermosa to the 550 overpass is the fire line, which puts that line above most of the homes and businesses. The closure does not include county, state, or federal highways but it does include the D&S which would preclude operations past Hermosa or south out of Silverton for an Elk Park turn, which is a nice ride--have done it behind the 315 and Goose 5. We have yet to hear from the BLM whose lands adjoin the San Juan National Forest on the northern boundary. They may also do a closure but they operate out of Montrose and they have been quiet. For example, the road from Silverton to Animas Forks and beyond is BLM, whereas South Mineral Campground is USFS, and it is closed.
It may be hard to understand how bad the smoke from the fire is unless you are in it. Sunday in Silverton was awful--it affects your breathing, stings the eyes, makes everything murky--plus we had a lot of ash covering the place. Monday not so bad, but then Durango gets it. My business partner came back by plane to Durango Sunday and because the road was closed, had to drive the long way via Dolores and Rico, but took the short cut over Ophir Pass. We were told tonight by the Forest Supervisor that Ophir Pass will remain open, but that Black bear from the top of Red Mountain to Telluride has been closed. There was a large contingent of people from the Forest Service for the meeting tonight and they stressed their main concern was human safety, both the public and their own people. They acknowledged the critical importance of the train and access to the forest, but said it all remains shut down until the rains come and it is safe.
The one cause for alarm was the Supervisor received a text message during the meeting telling him that they had just dropped a team of firefighters into the area between Highland Mary Lakes and Whitehead Peak because smoke was coming from that area. That's getting close to home.
