The National Smokejumper Association Colorado Chapter site for information on trail and work projects taking place in Colorado. Maintained by Bill Ruskin (CJ '58).
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Storm King / South Canyon Scouting Report
Following the completion of the report summarizing the current status of the Storm King/ South Canyon Memorial through conversations with the organizations responsible for preserving and perpetuating the memorial, Doug Wamsley scouted the incident site and prepared the following report:
Hello All
As most of you know at our last Colorado trail project we discussed what we might do to help maintain the memorial sites which are granite crosses placed where each of the bodies was found following the Storm King disaster in 1994.We have been told that BLM and the firefighter's families want the site to be left, as much as possible, as it was the day they died. With this in mind I will submit to all of you my report on my examination of the site on 8/17/09.
Access
There is a maintained trail from the I-70 exit (109) west of Glenwood Springs CO. From the exit one turns back east on the service road for about a mile to a parking area at the trail head. There is parking for 15-20 cars with a head but no water. THERE IS NO WATER ON THIS SITE AT ALL.
The trail is steep but doable from the tailhead to the Observation Point (about a mile). Minimum hiking time would be 25 min. With tools allow 1 Hour.
The Observation point is as far as most people go but it does provide a complete vista of the entire fire scene. It is an excellent point for a crew briefing.
From this spot the trail drops to the bottom of the canyon and begins climbing toward the memorial sites. Its steep and its rough but its climbable.
The sites
The trail brings one to a tail that run along a North-South ridge that connects to Storm King Peak. From this junction you can go north to Helispot 2 or right (south) to the Smokejumper-Hotshot memorials. The Smokejumper-Hotshot memorials extend down the hillside to the west only a couple of hundred feet.
The Helitack site is further up the mountain to the north. The last 200 feet to the memorials is tough. As you will see from the folder of photos the sites are not overgrown but do need to be cleaned up. Another problem in my mind is all the momentos left on the crosses by well-meaning visitors. Some are so covered that you can barely read the names. This however will not be our call. BLM and I'm sure the families will decide what , if anything, to do about that. If the decision was to collect all of these items and archive them I for one would be willing to collect them.
Mission Assessment
We could do what needs to be done with 7-8 jumpers. Tools would be simple--a couple of Pulaskis and some loppers and /or pruning saws.
I think it would be a one day job with an early start which would probably mean staying overnight in Glenwood the night before.
I would appreciate hearing from any of you but especially those who have been to the site. If you have a different view lets hear it now before Rich, Jimmie and I meet with the BLM people.
I have to add that this was a profound experience for me. It was heartbreaking to see how close they came to making it and how close together they died.
I am having difficulty attaching the photos. I will get them to you by the end of the week.
Doug
