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captainstatic
Jun 28, 2010, 5:55 PM
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In response to a black bear attack (http://www.lex18.com/...ing-in-wolfe-county/) the US Forest Service has temporarily closed the Red River Gorge Gorge Geologic Area. This affects all Red River Gorge proper crags except those located in the Indian Creek drainage plus Long Wall, Fortress Wall, and Phantasia that remain open. Crags affected by the closure include, but are not limited to - Funk Rock City, Wall of Denial, Sky Bridge Ridge, the Small Walls, Frenchburg Overhangs, Military Wall, Left Flank, and Raven Rock.
Black bear attack prompts temporary closure of Red River Gorge Geological Area
WINCHESTER, Ky., June 28, 2010 – On Sunday, June 27, the Daniel Boone National Forest issued a temporary emergency closure of the Red River Gorge Geological Area. The closure resulted after a hiker was attacked by a black bear.
The closed area includes all national forest system lands north of Natural Bridge State Resort Park to U.S. Highway 460 in Menifee, Powell and Wolfe counties. The area will remain closed until further notice.
“Public safety is our highest priority,” said Forest Supervisor Frank Beum. “We are coordinating this temporary closure with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. The officials with that agency will help us determine when the gorge can be reopened to the public.
“Anyone who sees a black bear in the Red River Gorge vicinity is encouraged to call 1-800-25-ALERT to report the sighting,” said Beum.
For more information about the closure, contact the Cumberland Ranger District at 606-784-6428 or the Gladie Center at 606-663-8100.
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jomagam
Jun 30, 2010, 2:29 PM
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Sh*t, I've got plane tickets to climb there this weekend. Does anyone have updates ?
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lena_chita
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Jun 30, 2010, 2:58 PM
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Only a small percentage of crags is affected. Roadside/Zoo, Muir Valley and Southern region are still open and accessible, as far as I understand.
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jomagam
Jun 30, 2010, 3:07 PM
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lena_chita wrote: Only a small percentage of crags is affected. Roadside/Zoo, Muir Valley and Southern region are still open and accessible, as far as I understand.
Cool, so all Red River Gorge proper crags except those located in the Indian Creek drainage plus Long Wall, Fortress Wall, and Phantasia does not really mean all. Not sure where Indian Creek drainage is...
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camhead
Jun 30, 2010, 3:12 PM
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jomagam wrote: lena_chita wrote: Only a small percentage of crags is affected. Roadside/Zoo, Muir Valley and Southern region are still open and accessible, as far as I understand. Cool, so all Red River Gorge proper crags except those located in the Indian Creek drainage plus Long Wall, Fortress Wall, and Phantasia does not really mean all. Not sure where Indian Creek drainage is...
You've actually still got a LOT of options; personally, I would not call off even a major trip to the Red on account of a closure like this. When the NFS says "Red River Gorge Proper," they only mean climbs that are in the immediate drainage of the Red River. Like Lena said, crags in the roughly to the south of Miguel's (which are also largely NOT owned by the NFS) are still open.
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jrathfon
Jun 30, 2010, 4:12 PM
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jomagam wrote: Cool, so all Red River Gorge proper crags except those located in the Indian Creek drainage plus Long Wall, Fortress Wall, and Phantasia does not really mean all. Not sure where Indian Creek drainage is...
I love how people who say they regulary climb in the Red River Gorge, never actually climb IN the RRG...
The closure is basically Gray's Branch (Military, Left Flank) and things upstream on the Red from about Raven Rock and the steel bridge.
PMRP, Muir, Roadside, etc. are all in the southern region and privately owned by climbers, hence not closed. Those crags host the majority of sport climbs in the Red, save Funk Rock, Sky Bridge, Phantasia (which apparently is still open) and Gray's Branch. PMRP, Muir, Roadside are not actually IN the RRG proper, if you are talking about drainage.
Indian creek is forest road 9 and 9b. It hosts a lot of trad crags: purple valley, indian creek, muscle and pebble beaches, pistol ridge. I believe it's the "lower gorge" section of the guidebook, without having it in my hand.
(This post was edited by jrathfon on Jun 30, 2010, 4:13 PM)
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captainstatic
Jul 1, 2010, 3:03 PM
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In regards to the guidebook terminology the Tunnel Ridge Road, Middle Gorge, Upper Gorge, Eastern Gorge, and Gray's Branch Regions are affected by the closure. In the Northern Gorge Region, only Fortress Wall and Phantasia are outside of the closure area and remain accessible. Hopefully the closure will be lifted by the holiday weekend. I will post an update as soon as I receive any new info from the Forest Service. But until then the closure remains in effect.
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MS1
Jul 1, 2010, 6:46 PM
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captainstatic wrote: In response to a black bear attack ( http://www.lex18.com/...ing-in-wolfe-county/) the US Forest Service has temporarily closed the Red River Gorge Gorge Geologic Area. This affects all Red River Gorge proper crags except those located in the Indian Creek drainage plus Long Wall, Fortress Wall, and Phantasia that remain open. Crags affected by the closure include, but are not limited to - Funk Rock City, Wall of Denial, Sky Bridge Ridge, the Small Walls, Frenchburg Overhangs, Military Wall, Left Flank, and Raven Rock. Black bear attack prompts temporary closure of Red River Gorge Geological Area WINCHESTER, Ky., June 28, 2010 – On Sunday, June 27, the Daniel Boone National Forest issued a temporary emergency closure of the Red River Gorge Geological Area. The closure resulted after a hiker was attacked by a black bear. The closed area includes all national forest system lands north of Natural Bridge State Resort Park to U.S. Highway 460 in Menifee, Powell and Wolfe counties. The area will remain closed until further notice. “Public safety is our highest priority,” said Forest Supervisor Frank Beum. “We are coordinating this temporary closure with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. The officials with that agency will help us determine when the gorge can be reopened to the public. “Anyone who sees a black bear in the Red River Gorge vicinity is encouraged to call 1-800-25-ALERT to report the sighting,” said Beum. For more information about the closure, contact the Cumberland Ranger District at 606-784-6428 or the Gladie Center at 606-663-8100.
Fuck; now I have to worry about BEARS?
I have enough problems dodging the copperheads.
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lena_chita
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Jul 1, 2010, 7:53 PM
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MS1 wrote: captainstatic wrote: In response to a black bear attack ( http://www.lex18.com/...ing-in-wolfe-county/) the US Forest Service has temporarily closed the Red River Gorge Gorge Geologic Area. This affects all Red River Gorge proper crags except those located in the Indian Creek drainage plus Long Wall, Fortress Wall, and Phantasia that remain open. Crags affected by the closure include, but are not limited to - Funk Rock City, Wall of Denial, Sky Bridge Ridge, the Small Walls, Frenchburg Overhangs, Military Wall, Left Flank, and Raven Rock. Black bear attack prompts temporary closure of Red River Gorge Geological Area WINCHESTER, Ky., June 28, 2010 – On Sunday, June 27, the Daniel Boone National Forest issued a temporary emergency closure of the Red River Gorge Geological Area. The closure resulted after a hiker was attacked by a black bear. The closed area includes all national forest system lands north of Natural Bridge State Resort Park to U.S. Highway 460 in Menifee, Powell and Wolfe counties. The area will remain closed until further notice. “Public safety is our highest priority,” said Forest Supervisor Frank Beum. “We are coordinating this temporary closure with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. The officials with that agency will help us determine when the gorge can be reopened to the public. “Anyone who sees a black bear in the Red River Gorge vicinity is encouraged to call 1-800-25-ALERT to report the sighting,” said Beum. For more information about the closure, contact the Cumberland Ranger District at 606-784-6428 or the Gladie Center at 606-663-8100. Fuck; now I have to worry about BEARS? I have enough problems dodging the copperheads.
Luckily for you, the bear is slightly bigger, so it is harder to step on it without noticing.  It also doesn't hide inside small slot pockets and rock cracks.
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MS1
Jul 1, 2010, 8:15 PM
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lena_chita wrote: MS1 wrote: Fuck; now I have to worry about BEARS? I have enough problems dodging the copperheads. Luckily for you, the bear is slightly bigger, so it is harder to step on it without noticing. It also doesn't hide inside small slot pockets and rock cracks.
What you say is true. I almost goosed a copperhead that was sleeping in a crack over at Fortress once, and I doubt I'll have that problem with a bear. On the other hand, I feel much more confident in my ability to escape from a bad encounter with an angry copperhead than a bad encounter with a bear. Call me a worrier, but the phrase "mauled to bits" just keeps coming to mind.
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captainstatic
Jul 1, 2010, 11:43 PM
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WINCHESTER, Ky., July 1, 2010 – Forest Supervisor Frank Beum of the Daniel Boone National Forest announced that the Red River Gorge Geological Area will reopen on Friday, July 2 beginning at 8 a.m. The gorge was temporary closed last Sunday after a hiker was attacked by a black bear along the Pinch-Em Tight Trail. The emergency closure was issued in the interest of public safety.
The Natural Bridge State Resort Park will reopen hiking trails on Friday morning at the same time. While the lodge, sky lift, and bridge remained open, the park took precautionary steps by closing all of its trails.
Officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are continuing their search for the bear that attacked the hiker. The bear believed to be involved in the attack was last seen Thursday, June 30, south of Beattyville in Lee County. The sighting occurred some 17 miles from the attack site, indicating the bear is no longer in the Gorge area.
“As a result of incoming information and sighting reports, traps and bait have been removed from the Daniel Boone National Forest,” said Steven Dobey, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s bear biologist.
On Wednesday, the Daniel Boone National Forest issued an order for the Red River Gorge that prohibits open food storage or leaving food accessible to bears. This order is applicable to all national forest lands north of Natural Bridge State Resort Park to U.S. Highway 460 in Powell, Menifee and Wolfe counties. In Kentucky, it is against the law to intentionally or unintentionally feed a bear.
“Public safety continues to be our highest priority,” said Beum. “We want our visitors to be aware that black bears have returned to Kentucky, and we want them to know what to do in case they happen upon a bear.
“Forest visitors can help prevent bears from becoming a nuisance by not feeding them or allowing them access to food or garbage,” said Beum.
Red River Gorge campers must store food, including pet food, in a bear-resistant container, inside their vehicle, or in an enclosed hard-body trailer. Backcountry campers must suspend food and garbage at least 10 feet off the ground and four feet away from any tree or pole.
All food leftovers and trash must be properly disposed of in a bear-resistant trash receptacle provided by the U.S. Forest Service. Burning or burying food trash is prohibited. Any odorous items that may attract a bear, such as soap and toothpaste, must also be stored.
“We will have an increased presence in the gorge this weekend to provide additional information to the public regarding safe camping practices,” said District Ranger Dave Manner.
Commissioner of State Parks Gerry van der Meer commented that the park is seeing little to no impact in travelers changing their plans. Guests having reservations at the Natural Bridge lodge and campground were contacted during the week and informed of the bear attack, in the event they wished to make other plans. The lodge and campground are expected to be full for the upcoming Forth of July weekend. Additional ranger coverage and communication with guests will transpire over the weekend, including necessary precautions with regard to food storage and how to avoid a bear encounter.
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