Mirror Lake and surroundin area Closed

[fish_digger]

I hope this info helps anyone who might be heading up the Mirror Lake Highway this weekend.

The fire in Murdock Basin (started by lightning) is approaching 3000 acres and the Forest Service has closed just about everything on the right side from the turn off for the Murdock Basin all the way to Highline Trailhead at Hayden Pass. Yes, the Highline Trailhead is closed.

For more info checkout:
[url "https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6223/"]https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6223/[/url]

Some of the fishing holes that are affected by this closure:

Lost Lake
Fehr Lake
Mirror Lake
Pass Lake
Bud Lake
Bonnie Lake

For the time being, everything on the left side of the road, (coming from Kamas) is still open.

I just got back from a quick trip to the area. Trial Lake has been drawn down as low as possible. The same for Washington Lake. I hiked my pontoon boat into Wall Lake and it is nearly full. Fishing was slow.
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[fish_digger]

A quick update. Mirror Lake Highway is closed between the Murdock Basin turn off and the Ruth Lake Trail head.

Yesterdays strong winds pushed the fire 2.5 miles and burned an additions 1500 acres. Todays wind are forecast to just as strong if not stronger. A lot of fishing holes are now way to close for comfort.

The map below shows the boundary as of Sunday morning.


[inline "Screenshot 2018-09-30 10.00.43.jpg"]
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[GrillOrFry]

Thanks for the update. I was up that way a month ago. There is a lot of dead standing timber around Mirror Lake, so I hope the fire doesn't go there.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Sounds like you might have some problems getting back into your recently discovered float tubing honey hole.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Hate fires.
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[fish_digger]

There has been an army of about 100 big burly fire fighters in and around Mirror Lake taking down dead trees the last 3 days. The plan is to remove as much fuel as possible in case the winds push the fire in that direction. I hope it works.
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[fish_digger]

Yes, it could prove problematic... By the way, the Scadden Air Craft has worked great for pack in tubing. The biggest challenge has been to get everything I need strapped to the pack. Also I wish I had a pair of those ultra lightweight carbon fiber oars to supplement the finning. A couple of miles of finning is a bit much.
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[fish_hntr]

As someone who spends a bit of time in Murdock, part of me hopes it all just burns up the dead fall to make the entire ecosystem healthier overall. Sure, it will suck for a few years, but in the long run it will be better for new growth and reduce fire danger.
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[riverdog]

Couldn’t hurt long term but looks like the fires will be reigned in with the coming rain and snow. Hopefully TS Rosa is the beginning of the end of the drought. Got 3 or 4 days to fish later this month in Southern Utah and they need the recharge of water desperately. Murdock Basin will have to wait til next Summer. Fighting mud and more than 6 or 8 inches of snow in there isn’t my favorite thing.
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