On the Forest Service Facebook page, part of today's update included:

"The Forest continues to evaluate the closure areas to determine next steps. At this point permits have been cancelled through Friday, August 6 and guests have been fully refunded.. The closures will be in place until fires in the region are controlled and pose no imminent threat to visitors."

Last I had read, they were sending information about the closure about a week in advance and then cancelling three days before. But I received a closure update yesterday and my group has a Mudro EP for Aug 12. Was there an announcement about the change that I missed?

I had heard they were doing pre-warnings about a week before and cancellations 3 days before. That standard pre-dates the Fourtown Fire, which may well have changed their timelines.

If you have a permit for any of the entry north of the Echo Trail in the next month,
I would try and find another entry point. My guess is that these entry points will not open for the reminder of the season. I hope I’m wrong.

egknuti: "If you have a permit for any of the entry north of the Echo Trail in the next month,
I would try and find another entry point. My guess is that these entry points will not open for the reminder of the season. I hope I’m wrong."

Sadly - looking at the long range weather I would agree.

My LIS permit was for 8/3. Forest service sent me a "heads up" email on 7/23. Then on 7/28 I got a cancellation email and on 7/29 I got a call from USFS to confirm cancellation and refund. I thought the phone call was a nice idea. Fortunately I saw a permit for Snake River suddenly appear for 8/3 so we scooped it up without delay and are still able to trip next week.

WhiteWolf: "

egknuti: "If you have a permit for any of the entry north of the Echo Trail in the next month,
I would try and find another entry point. My guess is that these entry points will not open for the reminder of the season. I hope I’m wrong."

Sadly - looking at the long range weather I would agree. "

I've been checking for different entry points since the closure without any luck, but I'm really only familiar with the Ely side. I know the chance of EP 23 opening is basically zero, but I do all the grocery shopping in advance for my group and I would rather have my last glimmer of hope dashed sooner than later.

All of the tips on this site have been great for alternatives. My group will have a meeting this weekend to discuss options (aka, reason to drink beer together). Plan C is to portage from our vehicle across a driveway and up some stairs to one friend's cabin.

We had an Aug 1 Mudro permit. On July 21, I got the heads up email. On July 28, I got the cancellation email. Fortunately, VNO had picked up a Farm Lake permit for us, and the trip was salvaged.

On Aug 3, a Forest video announced that the closure would extend through at least Aug 13. I would think that announcements with similar lookahead periods will be coming weekly.

So do you get your reservation fee back? Or can you just change it to another EP on the same fee paid? I know it’s not a bank breaker, but it would be only fair I’d think. Sad to see the closures. But sometimes not all bad to give some areas a break.

For me they gave me a full refund. Then they charged me the fee for my new EP. I don't think the system lets them just transfer the old fees to the new reservation.

Well that is all you can ask. Good for them!

nctry: "So do you get your reservation fee back?"

Yup. It was obvious that ours was going to be cancelled, so waiting for them to do it rather than ending it myself saved me the whopping 6 bucks. Felt just a little queazy holding two same date permits for those 6 days, tho. :-)

schweady: "

nctry: "So do you get your reservation fee back?"

Yup. It was obvious that ours was going to be cancelled, so waiting for them to do it rather than ending it myself saved me the whopping 6 bucks. Felt just a little queazy holding two same date permits for those 6 days, tho. :-)
"

These are the times that try men's souls :)