50 hikers hunkered down at this high Sierra resort. How they plan to evacuate Creek Fire
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About 50 hikers hunkered down overnight Sunday and into Monday morning at the Vermilion Valley Resort awaiting a way to evacuate the growing Creek Fire.
The hiker-friendly wilderness resort, popular as a way station for people following the Pacific Crest and John Muir trails, is located in the high Sierra near Edison Lake northeast of where the Creek Fire is burning.
Jim Clement, the resort owner, told The Bee on Monday afternoon that Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies decided to hold off until Tuesday morning to evacuate the hikers.
The resort Facebook page shared updates, including the names of the hikers and how they planned to leave the resort. People from as far away as Connecticut and South Carolina were there. Many of the hikers were local, from places such as Fresno, Clovis, Madera or other parts of California.
“Everyone is in good spirits and we’re even seeing a bit of blue sky this morning,” one post read.
Volunteers helped cook and set up a burger bar Saturday morning and make burritos on Monday morning, Clement said. A few additional hikers straggled in Monday, and a few cars were left at the trailhead lot.
While the sky was mostly clear Monday morning, by the afternoon it turned smoky and the people at the resort put on their N95 masks, Clement said.
So far, the Creek Fire has mostly grown westward, but winds began pushing it slightly east on Monday. If the fire reached Kaiser Pass or Kaiser Ridge, people at Vermilion will be trapped, Clement said.
“There’s no way out from there,” he said.
After the hikers are evacuated either by car caravan or by hiking out, Clement said he plans to keep a skeleton crew of four or five at the resort to keep an eye on everything. The resort has enough supplies to last five or six days.
“Then we’ll have to get creative,” Clement said.
While the resort provides food for hot-shot firefighting crews every fire season, the resort has never been under shelter-in-place orders until now, he said.
For anyone seeking information about the resort or the hikers there, email info@edisonlake.com.
This story was originally published September 7, 2020 at 2:42 PM.