Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Topic Author's Reply - May 18, 2012 - 02:51pm PT
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For those who are interested here is a website Linn Gassaway created about Fire Archaeology. Some great stuff there!
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BrassNuts
Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
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May 18, 2012 - 07:53pm PT
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Appreciate the updates KS. Keep up the good work!
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peggo
Trad climber
Carpinteria, CA
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May 21, 2012 - 01:37pm PT
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Its a "no-brainer" to at least pick up the trash bag and clean up the fire ring that shouldn't be there in the first place. The insult to injury is that these climbers mindlessly created a negative image upon the rest of us who care about such special areas. Those two guys should not have bothered with putting up the new routes, because enough of their type of bad representation of the climbing community will lead to closure anyways. Let's be a voice to protect these vital places and our privilege to climb out there.
And, thank you KS for reporting, your positive actions, working with the FS towards resuming access.
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Peter
Trad climber
San Francisco
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May 22, 2012 - 08:32pm PT
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Looking for a little clarification on access to the Needles this Memorial Day weekend...
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Peter
Trad climber
San Francisco
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May 23, 2012 - 10:30am PT
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I'm hoping to climb the Needles this weekend and will be driving down from San Francisco. I'm having no luck getting a definitive answer from the Forest Service about when the gate might be open, or even if it is already open. Does anyone know for sure if the gate is open and if not when it will be open?
If the gate is not open is it possible to bike the road to the trailhead and hike in? Is the trail open around the Magician?
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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May 23, 2012 - 11:29am PT
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Assuming there's no closure around Magician, it's totally possible to bike in on the road and even ride most of the trail in. It's a pretty gradual climb but if you don't bike much you might be kind of tired by the time you start hiking, which is still a pretty involved hike. If you're a decent biker the ride in won't be bad depending on how heavy your pack is. Still, great time of year for Voodoo or Dome Rock.
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Peter
Trad climber
San Francisco
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May 23, 2012 - 11:35am PT
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Thanks for the reply and to Kris for the very useful updates.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Pebble Wrestling.... Badly lately.
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May 23, 2012 - 01:04pm PT
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Weather at Dome will be 60ish all weekend. Perfect temps to get slabbed out!
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kev
climber
A pile of dirt.
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May 23, 2012 - 01:43pm PT
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From last Friday until the cleanup is finished all routes on Magician are closed.
Posted on may 16th in this thread.
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Peter
Trad climber
San Francisco
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May 23, 2012 - 04:34pm PT
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I know that the routes on the magician are closed. However, my conclusion after a long talk with the Springfield ranger station this morning was that the trail past the magician is open.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Topic Author's Reply - May 23, 2012 - 04:35pm PT
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I just heard from Linn Gassaway up there at GSNF. She does not have a specific opening date for Needles Road 21SO5 but says they are trying to have "all the roads open by the holiday."
You will see signs which prohibit:
"Going into or being upon the Needles Lookout closure area, which includes the Needles Lookout, The spire known as The Magician, and a 100 foot buffer around the base of the spire."
The good news is that the District Ranger is okay with my recommendation allowing use of the climbers trail around the north side of Magician to access the rest of the formations, all of which are open to climbing.
So please do not climb anything on Magician, rather enjoy the many great routes on everything else for now.
The access trail will be closed during the short 3 to 5 days when a hazmat crew is working at the lookout site. I will post the exact dates when they are set, but figure weekdays in late June. Having seen the amount of junk precariously perched up on the site I completely understand the safety concerns while work is being done. Linn tells me they are bringing in a large professional outfit accustomed to this kind of work, for whom this is a small job, and it will require 3 to 5 days to complete.
When the work is done all closures will be lifted.
Linn has done a great job for us by hiking out and examining the trail with me to ascertain that it does not need to be closed, except during the short time workers are actually on the summit, and getting the District Rangers OK on this recommendation. Basically they are being flexible in the interpretation of the 100 foot buffer in the closure notice, which was written by lawyers in DC.
I'll post more when I get it...
edit... If you're planning to go up this weekend you can try calling
Tule River Ranger District
Springville, CA
(559)-539-2607
about the status of the road (21sO5.)
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Peter
Trad climber
San Francisco
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May 23, 2012 - 04:53pm PT
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Awesome!
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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May 23, 2012 - 05:01pm PT
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nice job, ksolem.
reasonable rangers are turning up all over. what's going on?
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peggo
Trad climber
Carpinteria, CA
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May 24, 2012 - 03:53pm PT
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Many thanks to you K.Solem for the update and all good work with Linn on seeing access open.
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ec
climber
ca
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Any word on how the George Fire, just north of The Needles is impacting conditions?
 ec
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rfshore
Trad climber
Ventura, CA
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Jun 26, 2012 - 08:35am PT
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Kris,
Any updates on the lookout cleanup closure? I know a 3-5 days during end-of-June was discussed, but has anything been done yet? Was hoping to get out there this weekend.
Thanks
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