From the ATC, Wildfire overview

[moldy]

Wildfire overview: sections of Trail directly affected
(1/10/2017) Below is an overview of confirmed areas where wildfires directly impacted the Trail (burned over or up to Trail).



State
​A.T. miles
Section


GA
1.3
Plumorchard Gap (73.8) to Blue Ridge Gap (75.1)


NC
13.1
Deep Gap (85.1) to Mooney Gap (98.2)


NC
3.1
Wallace Gap (106.4) to Winding Stair Gap


NC
6.4
Wayah Gap (115.4) to Licklog Gap (121.8)*


NC
7.9
Tellico Gap (128.9) to Wesser/Nantahala River (136.8)


VA
~5
US 60 (806.7) - Hog Camp Gap (813.0)



*Significant damage to the historic Wayah Bald Observation Tower (mile 119.6) built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, in this section.

[Starchild]

WOW 13 miles of trail in one section, early on some don't make that in a day.

[MuddyWaters]

WOW 13 miles of trail in one section, early on some don't make that in a day.

standing indian and carter gap ( old and new) shelters are in that stretch.

If they all 3 happened to burn (no idea..they probably saved them with backburns) , it would leave 21 miles between shelters. What would the poor souls do?

Im sure ATC would have posted something if they were closed, so they must be OK, even if a bit sooty.

[Dan Roper]

When possible and safe, Forest Service firefighters (and federal mutli-agency crews) often start backfires from ridge crest trails. Ridge crest backfires burn downslope, usually more slowly and coolly than wildfires that burn upslope.

If firefighters were able to do that in the case of the Nantahala area wildfires it's possible that the immediate AT corridor suffered relatively modest damage. Where the fires didn't top out into the tree canopy, the forest will probably recover quickly. However, the drought of the summer and autumn months had already stressed trees, and killed some of them. Therefore, the effects of the fire could appear more damaging than it actually was.

One big problem will be fire-weakened trees. Even where the fire wasn't severe it may have eaten into the rot of weakened or rotten trunks. Those trees would fall, either during the fire or during subsequent storms. This was very evident in the Cohutta Wilderness Area when I hiked a 14-mile loop in late December, and that fire did relatively little damage to the forest.

I'd expect there to be a lot of trees down across trails, so maintenance and clearing will take some time.

Here's hoping the shelters weren't damaged. Carter Gap is one of my favorites.

[daddytwosticks]

standing indian and carter gap ( old and new) shelters are in that stretch.

If they all 3 happened to burn (no idea..they probably saved them with backburns) , it would leave 21 miles between shelters. What would the poor souls do?

Im sure ATC would have posted something if they were closed, so they must be OK, even if a bit sooty.

The old Carter Gap shelter has been torn down for years now. When I first hiked thru there in 2004 or 2005, it was barely standing on its own. Gone now for at least three or four years. :)

[burger]

I'm guessing that those estimates from the ATC came from overlaying "fire perimeter" maps over the trail route. In reality, fires burn very inconsistently from place to place. Parts of the areas that the ATC says were affected are probably fine; others are probably in much worse shape. It's hard to imagine, for instance, that every step of the 13.1 miles from Deep Gap to Mooney Gap was burned. It's going to be patchy and uneven, like all fires are.

But, as mentioned above, if there are fire-killed trees, they're going to be falling down. Is the trail even open in all of these places? Has someone been through to check for unsafe trees? I'm getting the impression that the ATC and the eastern national forests (unlike the western NFs and trail organizations that have lots of experience with fire) are somewhat at sea here.

[MuddyWaters]

The old Carter Gap shelter has been torn down for years now. When I first hiked thru there in 2004 or 2005, it was barely standing on its own. Gone now for at least three or four years. :)

Too bad. It was everything a shelter should be. And funny as hell when shelter dwellers arrived by accident and thought it was the only one.

[Lauriep]

No section of the A.T. affected by fires is opened without an assessment first by the land-managing agency (essentially the U.S. Forest Service, in all the areas noted above). Additional assessments have been made by the local A.T. maintaining clubs and ATC. We have more detailed reports in some areas than others, but hazard trees have been removed and treadway rehabilitation has taken place. However, hikers still need to be extra vigilant in these areas. Trees in the burned areas can present increased hazards for at least a year or two after the fire, even if the most obvious hazard trees are removed initially. I'm not sure how long the soil may be unstable, but hikers should be extra careful through these burned areas, especially on steeper slopes and where there are wooden steps or erosion devices in the trailbed.

And yes, it's true, the fires did not burn precisely up to every gap or road crossing mentioned. But these are the points where hikers might be accessing a section, and are provided for planning purposes as well as for those who are simply interested in where the fire impacted the Trail.


Laurie P.
ATC