Closures
Starting on Monday, July 31, portions of Baker Creek Road (FS Rd #162) and Norton Creek Road (FS Rd. #170) will be impacted by road work. The Ketchum Ranger District Road and Construction Crew will be working on Baker Creek Road and Norton Creek Road. Traffic will be minimally impacted on Baker Creek Road. People using Baker Creek Road can expect moderate delays.
Work on the narrow Norton Creek Road is a different story. Once work begins on it, it will be closed to all traffic until work is complete. This is because the work will involve the use of rock grinding resurfacing equipment, which can sometimes throw rocks a considerable distance. During the work, Norton Creek Road and the trailhead at its end will be closed. Additionally, there will be no access onto Norton Creek Road from any trails during the period the road is being worked on.
Warm Springs Road (FS Rd #227) is torn-up out near Packer Gulch and heavily rutted on the approach to Dollarhide Summit. The road remains closed over Dollarhide Summit. A sandwich-board sign is installed at Placer Creek advising motorists towing large trailers that they will need to turnaround at the Placer Creek corral area.
West Fork Warm Springs Creek Road (FS Rd #049) remains closed where roadway/slope failure is occurring on private property. No connection is available between Warm Springs Road and Eve Gulch.
At Galena Lodge, Spring Creek Trail between Cherry Creek (FS Rd #216) and South Cherry (FS Rd #218) is closed until approx. August 6. Northern goshawks are a Forest Service sensitive species. Adult nesting goshawks can be very aggressive in defense of their nests. The pair in this area are exhibiting extremely aggressive behavior. To protect the nesting birds and to ensure your safety and that of other users, the trail will be closed until the nestlings fledge.
Closures on Hwy 21 between Mores Creek Summit and Lowman are underway. For info about the construction project visit the department’s project website or call the Idaho Dept. of Transportation at (208) 398-3263. You can also email them at info@SH21construction.org.
KRD Trail Crew
This last week the Ketchum Ranger District Trail Crew performed maintenance on Fox Peak Connector and Adams Rib trails. The route is cut-out from East Fork of Baker Creek Road to Sunnyside-Lane’s in Adams Gulch. The crew also cut-out the slide-path that was holding on the west end of Shadyside. There is still some snow, and more trees will likely be melting out, perhaps making passage more difficult again. Next week the KRD crew will be working in Deer Creek with a crew from the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation on Kinsey and Wolftone trails. They are performing heavy maintenance on portions of Kinsey and finishing up a reroute on Wolftone that was nearly completed last year. Expect crews and equipment at work through the middle of next week.
Vol news
The next Wood River Trails Coalition volunteer trail work party is tomorrow, Saturday, July 29 on the Mill Lake Trail. For info visit the group’s web site at:
https://woodrivertrailscoalition.org/events/7-29-23
Rebecca’s Private Idaho, a world-class gravel cycling event welcoming riders to Sun Valley Aug. 31 – Sept. 3. For info on volunteer opportunities visit the RPI volunteer web page at:
https://www.rebeccasprivateidaho.com/volunteer
Recently, JR and Dembergh re-cut-out Imperial, clearing two large trees from the trail. From Imperial they went down Greenhorn to the slide area. There is still a little snow in that avalanche debris zone, but they cut it wider and straighter, so it should be good to go for all trail user groups. They then went back up Greenhorn Trail and all the way over to Lodgepole, and then down to the TH. All clear. Also, Kinsler and Romanchuk recently re-cut-out Osberg Ridgeline Trail. Thanks Wood River Trails Coalition chainsaw-packing motorcyclist volunteers.
Sheep
Here is location info regarding sheep bands on forest allotments in the Wood River Valley (An updated KRD range staff report came in on 7/27):
– A band is in Greenhorn between Mahoney and Lodgepole trails. This may put the band near those trails, or in the vicinity of the Mahoney-Lodgepole Connector Trail. Late last week we had a report from a trail user that this band was in the vicinity of the Mahoney Trail near its high intersection with Greenhorn Trail.
– A band is in the Lake Creek drainage and is reported to be in the next drainage above the corrals and grazing on south facing slopes above Lake Creek Road.
– On Tuesday sheep in Oregon Gulch were about 1.5 miles west of the TH. Range staff reports that they are now at the top of Oregon Gulch.
– The Deer Creek Band is on the ridge between Lick Gulch and Poison Flats.
– A band out Warm Springs is in the head of Little Placer Creek/Left Fork Placer Creek.
Sheep guard dogs and sheep herders protect sheep from predators. The guard dogs sometimes act aggressively in defense of their flocks, especially, it seems, toward humans with pets. For info on recommended best practices when interacting with bands of sheep visit the Trail Alerts section of the BCRD Summer TraiLink site.