+Binrat Posted August 4, 2003 Posted August 4, 2003 Have not heard of any news due to the forest fires out there. How many caches have been lost out there. Anybody heard of any yet. Binrat "Blood is thicker than water.......Unless the water is frozen!" Quote
+despot&smitten Posted August 5, 2003 Posted August 5, 2003 Binrat, Fires are burning in the Kootenay National Park, Crowsnest Pass (Waterton Park area) and throughout the BC interior. There are over 300 forest fires burning in BC right now. We hear more in the media about fires that threaten populated areas and National parks of course. Although the fire burning north of Kamloops is getting the most attenion because of the loss of homes nearby - there are LOTS of other fires burning. I'm quite sure a few caches will fall by the wayside before fire season is over. The big push right now is to minimize the loss of habitat and property. Caches, love 'em as I do, are much easier to replace than forests. You can check out the Alberta fire situation at www.alberta.firebans.com (The site only gives very basic info.) I haven't got any info specific to BC, and I'm still looking online for a map of BC/Alberta that actually shows the burning areas, but have not been able to find one yet. If anyone else does - can you point me in the right direction? I'm hoping to head into the BC interior next week. Smitten Quote
Jamethiel Posted August 5, 2003 Posted August 5, 2003 I haven't seen any good maps but at www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Current you can sometimes find good satellite pictures of the fires & their smoke coverage. For areas in southern Alberta, try the pictures that have MT in their name as they cover the Glacier/Waterton Park areas quite well. -Jennifer Age does not bring wisdom, but it does give perspective. Quote
+Binrat Posted August 5, 2003 Author Posted August 5, 2003 Thanks for the info, images really bring it into perspective. It will takes years for the area to recover. binrat "Blood is thicker than water.......Unless the water is frozen!" Quote
+stimpy403 Posted August 5, 2003 Posted August 5, 2003 Hello all...looking for maps of the current fire situation in Alberta. Go to; http://envweb.env.gov.ab.ca/env/forests/fpd/index.html It's the Government of Alberta's Sustainable Resources Website. It has a nice big map of the current Lost Creek Fire in the Crowsnest region. Quote
+despot&smitten Posted August 6, 2003 Posted August 6, 2003 Thanks Stimpy - that's just what I was looking for. Quote
+seneca Posted August 6, 2003 Posted August 6, 2003 Jamethiel, that's a great site for satellite photos. This one is particularly informative. Comparing that photos to the cache maps it appears that there are only two caches that are close to the major fires north of Kamloops, Sunny Meadows and Lightning Strikes at Eagle Eye and I think those look like they are probably safe. There doesn't appear to be any caches in the Chilco Lake area. What does amaze me when looking at those photos is that the interior of B.C. is a very very large place and even though the fires are bad, they are miniscule compared to the surrounding green space! I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me. Quote
+PDOP's Posted August 14, 2003 Posted August 14, 2003 I visited those two caches the week before the fires and I'm glad to see that they appear to be safe. I had hoped to take some photos of the general area from Hwy 5 on my way back to Alberta but the highway was still closed when I came through on Tuesday. I ended up going home via the TransCanada and the Icefields Parkway. PDOP's GPS Pages Quote
+Yellowcode3 Posted August 16, 2003 Posted August 16, 2003 Having spent several days up the valley while both fires continued to burn I would also agree that from where I saw the burn those two caches are likely safe. Most of the devistation is north of McClure, or east of Raileigh. Quite a jaw dropping site to see in person. "Shhh....do you hear that?" Quote
Jomarac5 Posted August 20, 2003 Posted August 20, 2003 When I saw this photo that was taken today, I had to post it here as it is so incredible. It's of a fire that is raging in Okanagan Mountain Park in central BC (I suspect that this picture was taken from the Peachland area). I just heard on the TV that this particular fire burned an area of 36 square miles in 24 hours. There are more pictures on the web at this website. I sure hope the best for the people who are living in the paths of these fires. Frightening stuff. ***** [This message was edited by Jomarac5 on August 21, 2003 at 12:14 AM.] Quote
+MercRocks Posted August 21, 2003 Posted August 21, 2003 Scary pictures I heard that there is ( right now) a voluntary back country travel ban in BC from Prince George to US border/ Van Isle to AB border.. Please respect it, or be VERY VERY carefull... ... Pray for Rain ... Without your brain, a map is a piece of coloured paper, a compass is a glorified magnet, and a GPS is a waterproof battery case." " Foothills SAR " Quote
+MeeCachers Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 I can almost guarantee that this cache is burnt given where the fire on Okanagan mountain is currently. However, it is in an ammo can, so I guess it will be a test to see how well one of those can stand up to a forest fire. When we found the cache at the end of July, the whole area around was tinder-dry. The lichen at the cache site was all brown, and crumbled into powder if you happened to step on it. Quote
gadolinium Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 Well it may be a while before my husband and I get to visit the park again and search for our cache. It'll be interesting to see if it survived the fire! Quote
Jomarac5 Posted September 6, 2003 Posted September 6, 2003 From recent forest fire coverage in BC and from cache logs, I'm guessing that the following caches are now permanently archived: Kettle Valley RR KVR's Many Views McAleys KVR (Kelowna) Stash Trestle Tunnel As of this morning, 8 of the 18 Kettle Valley Railroad trestles are gone. Hope it rains soon... ***** Quote
+Pat Patterson Posted September 7, 2003 Posted September 7, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Jomarac5: As of this morning, 8 of the 18 Kettle Valley Railroad trestles are gone. Hope it rains soon... ***** I never thought I'd say this but WOOO HOOO IT"S RAINING !!!!!!!!! And dadgum it sounds like the whole summers worth of rain is going to fall in the next 1/2 hour! Pat Patterson Garmin 12XL 82CJ7 & 79F250 Herd of Turtles 4x4 club Quote
+canadazuuk Posted September 7, 2003 Posted September 7, 2003 Thank goodness (God) for rain. I never did hike the KVR... can you say 'loser'? Heading off to the US again for more caching. My time on the island was futile. Hopefully my pursuits in the US will continue to be better than in BC. Quote
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