FYI, I was up on Mt. Stone in the Olympics yesterday and the Mt. Hopper Fire has now closed the trails in this area. Once on the summit ridge I could see the plumes of smoke but it seemed like the wind was going the other way. Once up on top of the false summit though, the flames were up on the ridge extending over from Hopper and could be seen. Then the wind shifted and the smoke headed towards me so I bailed. By the time I was down to the ponds, Skokomish and Stone were covered in haze. Down at the old logging road they had posted signs that the trail was now closed.

That was an awful lot of work to get up there and turn back 300 feet below the summit. Keep it in mind if you are heading into this area and that this route up Stone is closed now.

I was in the Low Divide area for a few days this last week(end). On Saturday while we were climbing Mt. Christie the plume was blowing westward past Muncaster Mountain and the Colonel Bob Wilderness. On Sunday while climbing Mt. Noyes and Mt. Meany, the plume was blowing a bit more to the north and enveloping Christie, so that was nice to have picked Christie to do the day before. On Monday we went back to do a unnamed peak by Christie and the plume had shifted south a bit more and was less vigorous. Nice timing once again. On Tuesday morning I didn't see the plume at all from Mt. Seattle.

And there you have it.