The Mendocino National Forest boundary sign is located at the mouth of Powder House Canyon and is a good location to begin the Staff Ride. It offers a good view of the point of origin and terrain layout. This site also has suitable parking and is easy to find.

This optional stand is located .5 miles up from the mouth of Mann Gulch, near Gisborne’s Memorial Plaque. This stand is particularly pertinent if the Staff Ride is for fire managers, since that was Jansson’s job. From here you can note the fire origin and the spot fires that Jansson could see in the bottom and on the north side of Mann Gulch.

Ranger Jansson preformed multiple fire duties during August 4th and 5th, including making patrol flights, mobilizing and supporting firefighters, and dispatching.

Here at the top of the ridge separating Mann Gulch from Rescue Gulch is a flat area large enough to gather a group for discussion. People can see much of Rumsey and Sallee’s escape route, some of Rescue Gulch, and many of the monuments placed where bodies were found.

Approximately 400 feet higher and .4 miles northeast of Stand 3 is where Dodge lit his escape fire at 5:55 PM. At this time no fewer than eight members of the crew were close to him. Dodge thought he tried to explain to the crew that he intended to wait a few seconds to let his fire burn down before entering the blackened area, and that he wanted them to follow. About 100 square feet had burned when a crewmember said: “To hell with this, I am getting out of here,” and everyone except Dodge continued up the gulch.

300-500 yards back to the northeast from Stand 3, on this slight bench on the upper third of the slope, people can notice how fire was likely to have behaved as well as how difficult it is to negotiate this top part of the ridge, where there are rockslides and where several outcroppings block escape.

From mid-slope and contouring on this spur ridge, a half mile southwest from Stand 2, people can note the main fire’s progress, the development of a spot fire below and the steepness of this northern canyon side.

While at the cargo spot Dodge and Harrison saw the fire “boil up,” and determined to get the crew out of the canyon as soon as possible. They caught up to the crew - which had strung into smaller groups - around 5:40 PM; Dodge took over the lead, pushing the pace towards the river.

About 1 mile from the mouth of Mann Gulch, this open bench where Dodge and Harrison rejoined the crew provides a view which includes most of Mann Gulch, the jump spot, the cargo spot, and the main fire. It is also a good location to discuss fuel type and arrangement on this terrain in 1949, as compared to today.

Stand 1 gives an overview of agency, firefighter/smokejumper training, policy, culture and values, as well as fuels and weather in August of 1949. How did the culture, attitudes, training and environmental conditions set the stage for the events of Mann Gulch on August 5, 1949?

The fire continued to advance on the Mack Lake Subdivision at a spread rate of almost 3 miles per hour with spotting ¼ of a mile in advance of the head. The fire hit the edge of the subdivision at approximately 1310 and had burned through the whole subdivision by approximately 1325. Forty-four structures where lost, many more survived the fire and were saved or spared for one reason or another.