Back in 1988, the wildfires that were sweeping across Yellowstone National Park largely were doused in early September by an early winter storm. Unfortunately, the current forecast contains no mention of a similar event that might knock down the "Antelope Fire," which is nearly 4,000 acres in size.
Just 20 percent of the fire was contained as of Thursday morning, according to a park release, and the forecast called for "slightly warmer temperatures" and humidity levels in the low to mid-teens, a recipe for good burning conditions.
The Antelope Fire, one of 11 fires reported in the park this summer, is located between the footprint of the 1988 North Fork Fire and that of the 2002 Broad Fire. As the accompanying photo taken Tuesday shows, at times it is kicking off a lot of smoke.
Firefighters planned to work on the fire's southeast corner Thursday with help from water-dumping helicopters if needed.
"As long as warm weather continues, the fire is expected to be seen from the web cam and the Grand Loop Road along Dunraven Pass," park officials said.
The fire, which was touched off by a lightning strike, was spotted back on September 14 near the Mount Washburn Fire Lookout.
Meanwhile, another fire in Yellowstone reared back to life Wednesday. Park officials attributed the flare-up of the "Arthur 2 Fire" to "unseasonably hot, dry weather."
This fire was spotted August 18 inside the perimeter of the 2001 Arthur Fire. The lightning caused fire is southwest of the East Entrance to Yellowstone. After its initial ignition, the fire burned for several days, growing to 200 acres, according to park officials. However, a third-of-an-inch of rain that fell between August 22 and 23 knocked down the fire.
Firefighters have continued to monitor the Arthur 2 Fire since that date. While occasional smoke has been observed, the fire remained quiet until Wednesday, when it became active. The Arthur 2 Fire moved outside the perimeter of the 2001 fire and grew by three acres on Wednesday.
Due to the increased fire activity, some firefighting resources that were assigned to the Antelope Fire have been reassigned to the Arthur 2 Fire, and an additional engine from the neighboring Shoshone National Forest is also being brought in, the park announced. Three wildland fire engines and a structure protection group have been assigned to the Arthur 2 Fire. Firefighters also have access to two helicopters if needed.
The National Weather Service forecast for the area of the Arthur 2 Fire calls for sunny skies and daytime highs in the 60s through the weekend.
When actively burning, the Arthur 2 Fire will be visible from the park’s East Entrance road. The Arthur 2 Fire poses no threat to park visitors or area residents. All park entrances and roads remain open. No visitor facilities or services are impacted by the fire.
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As you know, we spent September 9-18 in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. While the other two couples in our party of six had never visited a national park before, no one was more excited than I since it would be my first visit to my personal favorite park in 15 years. Furthermore those previous six trips had been as the director of the school Outdoor Education Program that brought small groups of students on summer cross-country, travel-camping trips for over 20 of my 35-year teaching career. Suffice it to say I was looking forward to visiting after the summer crowds had dwindled (although the visitation was larger than expected because of the larger number of older visitors coming at this time of the year) and my focus could be solely on the spectacular scenery and wildlife found in our first national park.
We had planned to climb Mount Washburn during our visit, but only after we had acclimatized to the higher elevation and worked our way up by taking some progressively more difficult and longer hikes in the park. The Canyon Visitor Center had indicated that the weather forecast for Wednesday would be optimum for the climb. However, after a sunrise "wildlife photo hunt" in Hayden Valley in which we ran into wolf specialist Rick McIntyre and his yellow Nissan Xterra at Slough Creek and the retinue of wolf spotters who tend to congregate with their spotting scopes wherever he happens to be. Our group was nearly euphoric when we were able to see four of these elusive creatures through our binoculars and more closely with the spotting scopes that members of the group were more than glad to share.
It was still early and on our way back, we stopped at Tower Fall and had our pre-packed breakfast our of the back of our rented SUV. As we drove back toward our lodgings at Canyon and were enjoying the mountain panoramas, we approached the sign for the Chittenden Road. Impulsively, the group unanimously decided that we were ready for the climb and the few, puffy clouds on this otherwise cool, sunny morning shouldn't deter us from our goal. We had previously decided that we would take this northern slope route because the gravel (service road) route made for easy walking/hiking on this big, wide trail. So, we followed the gravel road for a mile to the locked gate and the large, busy (with cars and hikers) parking lot to the left.
The hike is in the open slopes of Mount Washburn all the way and is, as Roger & Carol Anderson described, "a journey back in geologic time as you hike to the top of an ancient volcano that erupted 50,000,000 years ago". There was enough sun to see yellow-bellied marmots lying out on the rocks, Clarke's nutcrackers and gray jays. We passed a group in a one of the few remaining healthy stands of whitebark pine who had just been looking at pine martin with their binoculars when a large grizzly sow "filled their view" with her presence. They mentioned that she had two cubs and their description sounded like it was the same trio that we had read had been spotted in the area during the previous two weeks. As we began to climb we started taking off, one by one, the layers of clothing that we had dressed in for our early-morning escape and putting them in our backpacks. Passing large meadows, we could only imagine the summer wildflower display that those who had make this trek earlier in the season enjoyed. As we reached the subalpine tundra and the switchbacks indicating we were approaching the summit, the accompanying wind and cold had us scurrying to put those earlier-disgarded clothes back on. We finally began to spot the square fire tower that sits atop Mount Washburn and came across a small herd of Rocky Mountain bighorn, undisturbed, despite grazing close enough to the trail that they provided a "Kodak moment" for every passing hiker.
At the summit an observation room beneath the lookout tower provides shelter from the wind and cold. There is also a outdoor deck upstairs. The panoramic view from the top is superb. There is a high-powered telescope, room-length signs identifying landmarks on all sides, a visitor log (be sure to document this momentous occasion), benches and restrooms - even a public telephone.
We didn't stay long as we had been made aware of the fact that we should be prepared for sudden, drastic weather changes and that afternoon thunderstorms were typical here. As we left the shelter or the fire tower, we noticed one of the uniformed men who manned the lookout tower taking readings at the summit. We engaged him in some ideal conversation, but his very short answers indicated that he didn't seem to be interested in talking. Since everyone else was inside, we waited until a nice couple from the United Kingdom came along and agreed to take a picture of our group at the summit sign - in return for one of them, of course. While we were filled with a sense of accomplishment for having made this strenuous climb, we also wanted photographic evidence standing next to the "Mt. Washburn, 10, 243 ft." marker. At 70 years of age, and 15 years older than our companions, "The Olde Ranger" could conceivably have made his last trip to this point where Colgate Hunt, a Park visitor in 1878 was said to remark, "If I could only choose one sight, in this wonderland that is Yellowstone, by all means, thast view from the top of Mount Washburn, for you can see there the entire park spread out before you in a single picture."
It was only after we drove back to our lodgings at Canyon did we hear about the Antelope Fire in the park which had been spotted and reported by the spotters at the lookout tower atop Mount Washburn! Another example of timing being everything!!!
Les & Jill Taylor