Hiking thru a burned forest...

[maineguy]

Yesterday I hiked to Blue Lake Pass in the Roosevelt NF and Rawah Wilderness. This area was thoroughly burned in the Cameron Peak Fire of 2020, the largest wildfire in CO history... something like 208,000 acres. It was very different from anything I had ever experienced. The burned area stretched from just a little beyond the TH parking lot to about a mile from the lake (total of 4 miles of burn). From there on, the area was basically untouched including the area around the lake to the alpine zone (about another 1.5 miles or so). There were no signs of life in the burned area save for the occasional chipmunk. No birds were to be seen nor heard. Near the lake I did run across two moose, including a large bull. Too close!! Altitudes range from approx 9500 ft at TH to 11000 ft at the pass. Here are a few pics.

 

[skiguy]

Very interesting. Great Pics! "Toto we are not in Maine anymore"!

 

[sierra]

Very interesting. I too enjoy hiking through burn areas and did so in Yosemite and CO. When I lived in CO, I lived near the Hayman fire. I watched it burn for weeks and my car would be covered in ash every morning. After it finally went out, I talked to a ranger and asked about the extent of the damage. The Ranger told me, think Moon dust. The fire burned so hot, that the soil was scorched as to not be any use for re-growth. This was back in 2002 and from what I have researched, not much has come back.

 

[maineguy]

"Toto we are not in Maine anymore"!

That's exactly what a friend of mine back in NH said when I emailed him some pics of my "neighborhood"

 

[maineguy]

The fire burned so hot, that the soil was scorched as to not be any use for re-growth. This was back in 2002 and from what I have researched, not much has come back.

I read somewhere that that is what happened to the summit area of Chocorua due to a series of intense fires from about 1880 to 1920.