'Nowhere to go but up.' Sierra National Forest packers, hikers blocked by Creek Fire

Fresno Bee, The (CA)

Sep. 7--Tracy Terzian was leading an overnight camping trip in the High Sierra when flames from the Creek Fire cut off his way down the mountain.

The lead packer, owner and operator of Minarets Pack Station was still in remote wilderness Sunday afternoon with four guests, two packers, and an unknown number of hikers, trying to find a way out.

His wife, Mikki Terzian, said there was nowhere for them to go but up Saturday. The fast-moving Creek Fire had burned more than 45,000 acres since it started Friday night near Huntington Lake.

"If they go up, they'll hit rock. Safest thing to do," she wrote in a concerned Facebook post, asking for prayers. "We hope and pray for their safe journey."

Around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Mikki said, all the packers and guests had made it down the trail safely without injuries and evacuated the station with some stock. She said they initially had thought about crossing the Sierra Nevada, heading for Red's Meadow near Devil's Postpile National Monument in the eastern Sierra.

That plan changed by Sunday afternoon, when she said fire officials told her husband he could instead return to the pack station, where he would be escorted out. Mikki managed to reach Tracy briefly by cell phone.

She and their 12-year-old daughter, Hannah, safely evacuated the previous night from the pack station located on Sierra National Forest land northeast of Oakhurst.

Tracy's group originally set out for an overnight trip at Cora Lakes in Sierra National Forest. They had moved to an exposed rock section known as the Niche on the Isberg Trail. She said there were no flames between there and the pack station, but some roads below the station were not passable. Tracy waited in the rocky section because of heavy smoke and until he learned which way was safe to go, Mikki said.

Others south of that area were trapped by the fire Saturday night. Dozens at Mammoth Pool Reservoir, some with injuries, were flown to safety after being advised to jump into the lake to escape flames if needed.

A Sierra National Forest spokesperson said he had been in touch with Mikki and was aware of their situation. He also referenced making contact with another packer with hikers, in the Kaiser Wilderness, who was rerouted to Rock Creek Road, with planned departure via Dinkey Creek Road.

The spokesperson didn't say how many people are still in the backcountry near the fire. Mikki said she heard some hikers whom her husband ran into headed back to a trailhead to get their vehicles.

Evacuating Minarets Pack Station above Oakhurst

Mikki said she let all the remaining stock out of their pens at Minarets Pack Station and evacuated Saturday afternoon with 30 minutes to spare. Burning embers fell on her vehicle as she drove down road detours in the remote forest.

Unknown to her at the time, their 30-year-old son, William Terzian, drove up the mountain to try to help them.

Mikki wrote this harrowing account Saturday night: "He (William) got stuck with fire all around him. Now he's sitting on the road with air planes dropping retardant. I can't help any of them. It makes me sick. So please pray."

She said Sunday that William was able to evacuate safely without injuries. Mikki said the pack station her family purchased three years ago is still standing.

They have about 30 stock there, mostly mules, and several horses: Daisy, Bertha, Lash and Skip. Mikki said the mules follow the mares "like they are Jesus," and that the mares know the way to safety up the mountain, along with a mule named Bo. She received a report that the mules and horses also appear to be OK. Some were in the Miller Meadow, where the pack station is located, and were transported out Sunday. Tracy had help collecting the stock from William; another daughter, Melody; and her husband, Ben.

The family-owned business leads pack trips in Sierra National Forest, the Ansel Adams Wilderness, and southern Yosemite National Park, which also was under a fire advisory due to the Creek Fire.

Mikki is used to wildfires living in the mountains. But the Creek Fire has become larger and more threatening than what's normal for her area.

"This is the longest flame front I have ever seen ... and the closer I got to the Mammoth Pool turnoff, the fire was just insanely orange," Mikki said of evacuating. "It was so sprawled out."

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