Auburn SRA is burning, Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!

rxsenduro · 06-30-2008

Auburn SRA is on fire. It was described as starting near Mammoth Bar and heading toward Lake Clementine, affecting the Confluence area etc. Anyone with more info let us know. Bummer man.

William42 · 06-30-2008

yah just saw this, i'm bummed! home trail!

And even if the trail isn't totally trashed by the end of the fire (which i'm guessing it will be) come winter rains its gone

rsquared28 · 06-30-2008

http://www.news10.net/news/local/sto...=44030&catid=2

According to Ch 10, just south of the FH bridge, cutting off the road.
Sounds like Fuel Break, Culvert, and Clementine trails may be affected.

badjenny · 06-30-2008

Looks like they are fighting it from ground and air. That link says 20 acres so far.

Yikes, I'm bummed.

bstyle74 · 06-30-2008

No lightning strikes in the area... I'll rattle the hornet's nest and say this was man made.

chairthruster · 06-30-2008

Watching this one from my house. Huge kudos to the fire dept, they have been bombarding it with water, retardant planes for two hours, now (around 7:30p) it appears they have it mostly under control? I saw a lot of engines heading down there as well. The smoke is now mostly white, has been for while now. Hopefully they'll put it out for good soon. Really lucky the winds are very light. My guess is it is between old foresthill rd and clementine road, right around culvert, stone wall area. I'm guessing a cigarette or fireworks from old foresthill rd. Great.

sactojesse · 06-30-2008

That sucks!

39n, 121w · 06-30-2008

I was just riding out there this evening from 6:00-8:00 and it did look like the amount of smoke was dwindling, so I think they have control of it. I stayed on the Stagecoach side of the canyon due to the fire, but I think it was between the confluence and the Mammoth Bar OHV park along the middle fork. There was another fire there about 2-3 years ago.

Mark

nachomc · 06-30-2008

oh no

Brainstump · 06-30-2008

They jumped on this one from both the ground and air. Contained it at only 40 acres. They're just mopping it up now.

Internal14 · 06-30-2008

sweet....no time like right after a fire to cut new trails.....:devil advocate:....flame suite on!

jeng · 07-01-2008

Craaap! Someone please post a damage report.

cohenfive · 07-01-2008

this is terrible, especially if man made....kudos to those working on getting this (and all the fires) out....hopefully not too much damage to the trail system.

voodoochild · 07-01-2008

So they've got 49 blocked at the bridge to Cool. The signs say "road closed". I saw some walkers going through so "ass-umed"...

I rode up the climb and was passed by one civilian truck with boat coming down the hill. He must have dodged the barricades coming from the other direction. He was headed down to the lake/reservoir.

Forgive me for not knowing all the names of the trails but I'll try my best to describe where I went. From the turnout at the top where folks drop off when shuttling, I climbed on up, no fire damage at all at the top of either of the two small climbs. Down at the bottom of the second climb, where there's a collection of jumps, all that is still intact. No fire signs anywhere.

Continued all the way down to the culvert without seeing signs of fire. Then I exited the culvert. The CDF used a tractor/bulldozer to create a road for the their vehicles which means that the log jump/double right out of the culvert is gone, as are the two berms immediately after it. The 'dozer track continues for maybe another 100 feet or so, maybe a bit more right along where the trail should be, then the tracks stop and the trail resumes. The surrounding terrain is not completely burned just in spots. The trail was red with fire retardant -- hope it's not toxic... The trail is intact all the way down to the road.

As I rolled out on to the road one of the CDF guys started talking to me, not shouting, which was very nice of him, considering. I don't recall his exact words but they were to the effect that the area is being treated as a possible crime scene, only because they simply do not know the source of the fire. And until they know, they've got to treat it as such.

Bottom line: I was NOT supposed to be there. He said this as he pointed down the road to the approaching CHP and said, "He's going to tell you the same thing, but he may not be as nice." The CHP was very kind to me, too, again considering. They both instructed me that the ohv park area was closed, too. I meekly agreed to just roll down the road and get on my way. Again, both guys were very cool to me considering how stupid I'd just been...

So folks, the road closure signs don't explicitly say, "and that means no bikes!" but that's what it means.

The good news is that there won't be that much work to do getting the trail back to full rideable condition.

Finch Platte · 07-01-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by voodoochild

So they've got 49 blocked at the bridge to Cool. The signs say "road closed". I saw some walkers going through so "ass-umed"...

I rode up the climb yadda yadda yadda...The good news is that there won't be that much work to do getting the trail back to full rideable condition.

Cool- thanks for the detailed report!

fp

Fast Eddy · 07-01-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finch Platte

Cool-

No man, it was over by Auburn. Culvert trail, I think. Can't you read?

Finch Platte · 07-01-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fast Eddy

No man, it was over by Auburn. Culvert trail, I think. Can't you read?

Hey, I heard about you at Downieville. Can't you drink?

fp

piaadoll · 07-01-2008

oh no!!! is that near the forestville trail?! i was supposed to head up there with my bf on friday. darn!!!!

voodoochild · 07-01-2008

I would imagine that by Friday, ahem, the smoke will have cleared and you'll be able to ride there. I can't imagine that it'll be closed for that long, though I could be wrong. Perhaps there are readers who are affiliated with the law who can comment on how long an "investigation" might/could/should take?

And I'd also guess that there's got to be a web site where you can find out about road and/or park closures.

Since the confluence and the ohv park are rather popular sites I can't imagine them both being closed for the upcoming holiday weekend.

sactojesse · 07-01-2008

Here's the Auburn Journal article and video commentary regarding the fire:

http://www.auburnjournal.com/detail/87760.html

piaadoll · 07-02-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by voodoochild

I would imagine that by Friday, ahem, the smoke will have cleared and you'll be able to ride there. I can't imagine that it'll be closed for that long, though I could be wrong. Perhaps there are readers who are affiliated with the law who can comment on how long an "investigation" might/could/should take?

And I'd also guess that there's got to be a web site where you can find out about road and/or park closures.

Since the confluence and the ohv park are rather popular sites I can't imagine them both being closed for the upcoming holiday weekend.

Thanks!! I'll check again tomorrow. I might have to find a plan B trail closer to my Moms (she lives in Citrus Heights) since I'm visiting for the long weekend and wanted to get a ride in. Never ridden in Auburn so I wanted to try. May be I'll look for trails in Folsom or something.

Oh goodness, I called it Forestville, but it's Foresthill Divide huh?

ATBScott · 07-02-2008

piaadoll - fun trails in the Granite Bay area of Folsom Lake. Not a long ride, but some wayyyyy fun S/T that rolls and rips through the hills there. Sneak in a ride even if you do FHDL or something else as a "big" ride.

Redlinerex · 07-02-2008

x2 on what ATBScott said. The trail system in Granite Bay has a good mix of everything and is a good closer option. I was able to sneak in 14mi yesterday but you will not get the same steep climbs as on the FHDL. But at least it's closer to home.
When you do make it up to the FHDL, make sure you sneak in the Connector Trail (at least one way towards the Clementine Loop) to rip the fast, winding singletrack.

Steam007 · 07-02-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by voodoochild

I would imagine that by Friday, ahem, the smoke will have cleared and you'll be able to ride there. I can't imagine that it'll be closed for that long, though I could be wrong. Perhaps there are readers who are affiliated with the law who can comment on how long an "investigation" might/could/should take?

And I'd also guess that there's got to be a web site where you can find out about road and/or park closures.

Since the confluence and the ohv park are rather popular sites I can't imagine them both being closed for the upcoming holiday weekend.

CHP has a decent web site: http://cad.chp.ca.gov/ The Auburn area is dispatched out of Sacramento, so when you get to the page choose "Sacramento" in the upper left "Areas" drop down menu. There's some other customization if you wanna. The info's pretty up-to-date.

piaadoll · 07-02-2008

ooooooh you guys are awesome!!!! right after i posted i started looking for a plan B trail and i sent some 12 mile loop in Granite bay for my bf to approve. LOL. i guess i was lucky in my pickings!

will definitely hit up FHDL sometime soon though! Thanks for the tips!!

I'm still trying to navigate on how to respond on this forum, so pls bear with me as I get familiar.

chairthruster · 07-02-2008

Piaadoll- If you are referring to the popular foresthill divide loop trail, I don't think you have anything to worry about. The recent fire was limited to the immediate canyon area around the confluence, I'm pretty sure it did not affect the FHDL. I will be around there tonight and report back if I'm incorrect.

piaadoll · 07-02-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by chairthruster

Piaadoll- If you are referring to the popular foresthill divide loop trail, I don't think you have anything to worry about. The recent fire was limited to the immediate canyon area around the confluence, I'm pretty sure it did not affect the FHDL. I will be around there tonight and report back if I'm incorrect.

Thanks, I really appreciate it! I better look on yelp or somewhere for local yummy restaurants for the post ride grubbin fest at both Granite Bay and Auburn.

will bike for french fries!

Roger___ · 07-03-2008

I was about to post the same as I scrolled through.

chairthruster · 07-03-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger___

I was about to post the same as I scrolled through.

How did Creampuff go!!!

Roger___ · 07-03-2008

trails were epic! Such a great race, should consider it in the future, if you haven't before.

Todd tore the race up, finishing 3rd in the Vet class and probably a top 20 or top 15 over all.

Me, I enjoyed my whole 12.5 hours on the course.

Widgeontrail · 07-03-2008

Any update on trail damage???

voodoochild · 07-04-2008

I was up there this morning. I have to make a correction to my previous post -- the jump (double) as you exit the culvert is actually intact. The berms are gone. And the tractor-widened trail only really goes for about 100 feet or so. Then the trail resumes. So not much really got messed up. You can already see where riders are starting to ride the same line. It'll be nice to get those big berms rebuilt.