Colorado Grizzly Creek Fire

[JimP]

I know that there are a number of us from Colorado on here and while I don't believe that anyone here hunts the area north of Glenwood Canyon I thought that I'd post some of the pictures that are coming out of the Glenwood Canyon area off of I-70.

It is believed that a flat tire throwing sparks started the fire but that hasn't been confirmed yet. Around a month ago there was a small fire in the median strip in the same area but it got handled fairly quickly..

Right now if you want to head to area west of Glenwood Springs you need to take the long way around. They have no idea of when I-70 will be reopened.

 

[Winchester]

Bad fire but impressive pics !
Hope everyone is safe.
Thx Jim

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Down here in SW Colorado we have been pretty lucky. Most fires at this time of the year are started by lightning and we have had a couple that were handled pretty fast. Monsoons have been almost non existent for the last month. No monsoons....no lightning.

 

[hunter25]

Last I looked the fire was about a mile or so from where i typically do most of my deer hunting.
I was caught on the other side when it started as I was up by deep lake with my kids and grandson. Made it home over cottonwood pass before they closed that down.

 

[NE69]

I started hunting that area about 1980. Deep Lake is one I camped by a few times. Shot my first bull just southwest of Deep Lake and took a cow with bow in 2001. Haven’t been back in there since.

 

[Hilltop]

The view from the Laramie valley yesterday afternoon was impressive. The smoke from the fire looked like a large thunderstorm. With the high number of people up here in the mountains, I'm afraid we may see other fires started.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Like I stated in another post, the national forests here in SW Colorado are packed with people. In 20 years, I've never seen it like this. Hope it doesn't happen!

 

[JimP]

Nothing on the reports this morning but it appears that the fire laid down pretty good last night.

Usually by this time 11 am the valley here is clogged with smoke and I become a mole inside my home. I actually got the lawn mowed this morning without coughing and gagging. My vehicles do have a pretty good cover of ash.

 

[taskswap]

We camped near RMNP over the weekend and I got this shot of the Cameron Peak fire from the top of the trail above the Alpine Visitor Center. It's smaller than the others but still impressive how far away you can see these.

We have ash and debris all over the Front Range here from the fires west of us. Best wishes to anyone here who lives close to / is otherwise affected by them.

 

[mallardsx2]

Very cool pictures. Hate to see fires burning like this but they do seem to have their place in nature. Hopefully some knucklehead didn't accidentally start it.

 

[Hilltop]

The view from the Laramie valley yesterday afternoon was impressive. The smoke from the fire looked like a large thunderstorm. With the high number of people up here in the mountains, I'm afraid we may see other fires started.

 

[Bonecollector]

Hopefully September brings some moisture...

 

[hunter25]

Another fire just started in 444,
40 acres at the moment.
Upper red canyon fire, or Fisher creek fire
Getting called both right now

 

[JimP]

I believe that they are diverting air support from the Grizzly Creek fire to get the new one handled fast. There are also reports of smoke on New York Mountain east of where I live.

Then on FB they are linking to a fire that was called the Red Canyon fire back in 2018 south of Craig in north west Colorado

My phone is going nuts with fire reports and some of my relatives texting me the condition of my brother in law who went in yesterday for a heart procedure.

Is there a show of hands of those who want 2020 over with?????

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

 

[kidoggy]

I believe that they are diverting air support from the Grizzly Creek fire to get the new one handled fast. There are also reports of smoke on New York Mountain east of where I live.

Then on FB they are linking to a fire that was called the Red Canyon fire back in 2018 south of Craig in north west Colorado

My phone is going nuts with fire reports and some of my relatives texting me the condition of my brother in law who went in yesterday for a heart procedure.

Is there a show of hands of those who want 2020 over with?????

nah . no matter how bad this year gets ,I have no doubt next year will be much worse. and the wheels on the bus go round and round.

 

[mallardsx2]

Any updates? Last I hear as of sunday was that it was 30% contained and it was over 30,000 acres.

 

[JimP]

31% is right, most of the containment is on the north side of I-70 going up No Name Creek just into the canyon from Glenwood Springs. The west side containment line is north of I-70 up to the Deep Creek road. Most of the northern line is not contained yet but according to the briefings the fires are burning in steep canyons coming up to the north and they have dozer lines across most of the top but they are not going to commit fire fighters into the canyons. They'll just let the fire come to them due to safety.

The southern side of I-70 is much like the northern side the fire is coming up steep canyons where they do not want to commit manpower due to safety but they do have dozer lines over much of it and are waiting.

One bit of good news is that Cottonwood Pass is now open to limited traffic but you almost need a pass to use it. Also from what I read this morning I-70 reopened both east and west bound and according to CoTrip.org it is open for now. They are concerned about rocks and mud if it should rain. If you are familiar with the canyon and you are headed west, from the Shoshone tunnel west it is two way traffic on the east bound side. It has been this way all summer so nothing new with that.