Mt. Whitney trailhead will reopen Wednesday evening, says Forest Service

Show Caption Hide Caption Raw video: Super Scooper air tankers skim water from Pyramid Lake Two Super Scooper air tankers fighting the Aspen fire skim water out of Pyramid Lake on July 9, 2017.

Update 12:46 p.m. Wednesday: Access to the Mt. Whitney trail from Whitney Portal will resume at 6 p.m. today, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The trail has been off limits to incoming hikers since Monday due to the Georges fire, which has burned more than 2,800 acres.

In addition to allowing hikers to return to Mt. Whitney, the evacuation for Whitney Portal campgrounds, residences and the Whitney Portal store is lifted.

The openings are tentative and subject to change depending on fire behavior, the Forest Service reported.

The Shepherd Pass trail will also reopen. Day and overnight hikers with reservations for the Mt. Whitney Trailhead can go to the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center in Lone Pine. The center will also re-issue permits for hikers who were unable to complete their trips due to the fire. The center will be open until 8 p.m. to accommodate hikers and will be fully staffed with a fire information officer, the Forest Service reported Wednesday afternoon.

Hikers can reach the Wilderness Permit Office at (760) 873-2483 or (760) 873-2573.

Update, 6:30 a.m. Wednesday: The Georges fire is at 2,883 acres and 30 percent contained, according to an update from the Forest Service at 8:08 p.m. Tuesday, July 10.

On Tuesday firefighters focused on the southern flank to protect the Whitney Portal area. The greatest challenge is thick brush in steep terrain. There is also potential for thunderstorms on Wednesday.

Whitney Portal remains evacuated and hikers are not allowed to head up the trail. The Forest Service will evaluate access daily based on containment and fire behavior.

Hogback, Whitney Portal. Foothill and Moffat Ranch Roads remain closed.

Update, 7:50 a.m. Tuesday

Access to Whitney Portal and its popular campgrounds and trails remains closed Tuesday as the now 2,500-acre Georges Fire continues to burn in the area.

The closure means permit-holders to hike Mt. Whitney cannot begin their hikes (including those who have already picked up their permit), and future access to the area will be determined on a day-by-day basis.

Hikers also cannot bypass the closure by attempting to access Whitney Portal via the National Recreation Trail.

Forest officials are also working with campers holding reservations at Whitney Portal.

Erratic winds challenged firefighters Monday and challenged the initial fireline they had dug in the night before. Firefighters have focused their effort on suppressing the southern flank of the fire, as it is the closest to Whitney Portal.

Containment is at 10 percent as of Monday evening.

Update, 3:06 p.m.

Authorities have evacuated Whitney Portal due to increased activity on the southern end of the Georges fire. The evacuation includes campgrounds, residents and the Whitney Portal store. Hikers exiting at Whitney Portal are being advised to contact shuttle services to leave the area, according to the Inyo National Forest.

A 2,000 acre wildfire in California has closed access to the Whitney Portal area of the Inyo National Forest, a popular camping spot and trailhead that serves as the gateway to Mt. Whitney.

Known officially as the Georges Fire, the blaze is zero percent contained and was caused by lighting.

The fire coincides during the peak season for hikers and climbers departing Whitney Portal, the most popular jumping off point for summiting Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states.

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About 20,000 people attempt to summit Whitney from Whitney Portal annually, according to a report by the National Park Service.

No evacuation orders have yet been issued, but the national forest has notified campers and residents in the Whitney Portal area to be prepared for an evacuation.

The forest is also contacting permit holders for the Whitney Portal Trailhead and Shepherd Pass Trailhead and notifying them that they cannot begin their hikes today. Future access to the trails will be determined on a day-by-day basis.

Hikers currently on the Whitney Portal and Shepherd Pass trails are safe and should be able to complete their treks as planned, according to Inyo National Forest spokesperson Debra Schweizer.

But the suspension of access for future permit holders is affecting a large number of people, she added.

Whitney Portal is the Inyo National Forest's most popular destination by a longshot, Schweizer said. The forest issues roughly 160 permits a day for the Whitney Portal Trail and roughly 20 to 30 permits a day for the Shepherd Pass Trail.

It's unclear when the forest might restore access to Whitney Portal and the trails.

Chris Chater, owner of the Mt. Williamson Motel and Base Camp in Independence, Calif., said lack of access at Whitney Portal will be a letdown to hikers who apply for permits months in advance.

“If you were in the lottery and can’t do it, big disappointment,” Chater said.

Chater said she’s also trying to warn hikers who planned to exit via Shepherd to consider coming out at Kearsarge instead, as Onion Valley remains open and accessible.

“I had two guests, they had to change their trip,” Chater said.

The Hogback and Whitney Portal Roads — the primary access roads for the two trailheads — are closed to uphill traffic. Additional road closures affect any other roads that access the area, according to the Forest Service, including Foothill Road and Moffat Ranch Road.

Hikers who were planning to end their trips at Whitney Portal will still be able to do so, though Schweizer encouraged anyone with the means to change their exit point to do so.

Backpacker John Ladd said officials are making the right decision to stop more people from hiking in if it helps people hiking out.

"People exiting at Whitney Portal are coming from everywhere," Ladd said. "It is really important to let those people out. They are tired, they have to make flights, they are running out of food."

He also said fire can be a major hazard for Sierra Nevada hikers. In 2015, for example, more than 30 percent of John Muir Trail hikers reported smoke as a significant problem.

"Things like bears are not even on the list, cold was well below that," Ladd said.

While hikers don't know where or when a fire will start or which way the smoke will blow, Ladd says it's worth thinking about in advance, especially people who have respiratory problems.

"I think it is an under appreciated common problem," he said. "It could be quite nasty, asthma attack kind of nasty."

It's not expected that the flames will physically reach Whitney Portal, but the concern is the fire may block access to the narrow, single-lane roads that serve that area.

The fire is currently located north of Lone Pine, west of the Manzanar National Historic Site and south of Bairs Creek.

While not expected to reach the physical Whitney Portal area, the fire is burning in the popular Alabama Hills. Alabama Hills is a popular climbing, hiking and camping spot, and is listed as one of the Bureau of Land Management's top-10 climbing destinations in the United States.

Firefighters battling the blaze were able to begin initial line construction Sunday night after winds driving the flames died down.

A number of crews from the Inyo National Forest, the Bureau of Land Management, CALFIRE and local fire departments are responding. A Type II firefighting team is expected to arrive this evening.

The forecast for today calls for additional lightning activity, erratic winds and dry conditions.