August 30, 2012

Three Months Later


We ride to the top of Mill Hollow, at the southern edge of the Church Camp Fire in Indian Canyon.  Bare tree trunks stand where a nearly impenetrable spruce and aspen forest once grew. 
In some places, extreme heat burned even the tree roots, leaving gaping holes. 
"What's in there?" Daisy wonders.
She checks it out, hoping to find a friend hidden in the depths.  No luck, though.
What's this strange shape?  Not a friend, Daisy concludes.  Could it be Sasquatch, the Ute version of Bigfoot, turned into a pillar of carbon?  
Some of the scorched tree trunks have a strange leapard  pattern, the result of bark peeling off in patches.. 
3 months after the burn, aspens are already making a comeback.  Some of the shoots are 3 feet tall.
On the ridge, this meadow was left untouched.  By next spring, tall, thick grass and colorful wildflowers will grown amidst the blackened trunks.  Phoenix rises from the ashes, life from death.

24 comments:

  1. Nature can be very resilient, it is amazing how fast regrowth can occur.
    Not always, though. Hubby and I often drive by a burn of what was pinyon and Chaparral. Only the Chaparral has come back. We wonder, has climate change made the area inhospitable to the pinyon?

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  2. Now Miss Daisy needs a bath.. and the forest renews itself again and again. Happily no humans were in harms way.

    We have several wildfires every year here in Florida most of which are started by lighting. Such is the way of nature.

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  3. It looks so barren but it's amazing how quickly everything recovers.

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  4. Fascinating to see the patterned tree bark and the holes where the roots burned, so great to see the aspens growing back!

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  5. Nature quickly reseeds and encourages new growth. I'm hoping the forest service cuts in the forests behind my house before a wildfire rages. It would drastically change the landscape but would stimulate new growth. We have so many beetle- killed pines in the mts of CO. It was interesting to see the burn hole from the roots. Daisy looks mesmerized!

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  6. Although burnt forest seems unsightly at first it always brings new life and growth.

    Daisy seems to understand that.

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  7. Isn't it wonderful the way Nature renews itself? I have never seen anything like the holes where the roots of the trees were burned out. It looks as if Daisy had a lot of fun exploring the holes.

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  8. Its amazing how fast the vegetation comes back after a fire. Watch out for the snags though!

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  9. Wow! Thanks for these pictures Janie. I've been wondering how it looked up there. There are some spots like that in Huntington but the fire kind of hippy hopped up there.

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  10. That must have been one hot fire! Interesting to see the aftermath close up.

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  11. Interesting to see the roots burnt out and the cavity left behind.

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  12. Looks like there had been a large bush fire visiting the place before. Beautiful captures through your lenses.

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  13. Those are some really cool pictures. That's interesting how the fire even burned some of the roots. I especially like the pics with the new green coming out of the ashes.

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  14. sad sights..but thats life..

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  15. Resilient and beautiful!
    Love that last photo so much.
    xo

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  16. Yikes! I guess Mother Nature knows what's best for her earth, but it takes so LONG for the forest to come back! Well, in our human scale of things.
    the leopard bark is way cool.
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

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  17. Hi Janie, I hate seeing forest fires like that ---but nature does have a way of coming back, doesn't it????

    Thanks for sharing.

    Have a great weekend.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  18. The blackened trunks are very eerie. Very interesting photos.

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  19. A friends husband was in Utah fighting fires this summer. Alaska has some of the best fire crews. A forest fire can be ugly, but beauty will rise from it.

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  20. These photos were amazing Janie. It is good to hear that there is new life after such a devastating fire, and it makes you really appreciate the people involved in putting them out. We saw several firefighters on a street corner by the traffic lights today, collecting money for Muscular Dystrophy. We always put our money in their boot if the light is red and thank them for what they do for us all out here. Fun to see Daisy exploring and that last shot was pretty special.

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  21. Interesting indeed. And remindfull of the blackened forests in Yellowstone after the great fire. And today you have to look close in places to see the evidence...

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  22. It looks so sad but the new growth will be very beautiful.

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  23. There was a series of forest fires in the mid 1990's borneo, my home island. I was just an elementary school child back then, everyday we had to pass by the burnt forest to get to school and each time I passed, I always tried to remember how green and full of life the forest was.

    I then moved to another place thousands of miles away. Years later when I came back, the forest was already healed. It was really pleasing to see it all looking green again :)

    This post is really special :)

    Btw, is that your horse?

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  24. It's truly astonishing to see the power of life regaining control.

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