A Photo Tour of South Fork up to Dry Lake
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:15 pm
I went up Saturday and found a very different wilderness. The forest is largely going to turn into either meadows or brush for a while. I'm hoping it turns out to be meadows. Anyway, without further ado, we will start above Horse Meadow. There is severe burning before you get to Horse Meadow, but the meadow and cabins seem to have had no damage at all. The buckthorn area above Horse Meadow burned, and the brush is rejuvenating quickly, but the intensity of the flames seems to have killed most of the trees. Here is a view of the area:
IMG_0069 by zippetydude, on Flickr
And here is the old wilderness sign at Poop Out Hill:
IMG_0009 by zippetydude, on Flickr
And here is the trail leading out into the wilderness from the sign.
IMG_0010 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Poop Out Hill as seen from the trail.
IMG_0011 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Remember all the tumbled dead trees that used to lie in the avalanche chute? No more!
IMG_0063 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Wildflowers amongst the burned out trees.
IMG_0062 by zippetydude, on Flickr
The sign at the turn to the Lost Lake trail is all burned out but the South Fork Meadows area has only spotty damage. The sign is still fine:
IMG_0057 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Just before the trail leading up to Dry Lake:
IMG_0044 by zippetydude, on Flickr
I prefer to take the xc route up the ravine because in good rain years like this one there are two delightful springs about a quarter mile up on the right hand side.
IMG_0042 by zippetydude, on Flickr
IMG_0019 by zippetydude, on Flickr
A couple snags that won't be standing much longer:
IMG_0015 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Dry Lake as seen from the trail as you arrive from South Fork:
IMG_0021 by zippetydude, on Flickr
There is still water in Dry Lake:
IMG_0039 by zippetydude, on Flickr
And the view from the other side of the lake shows some burning took place above the north side of the lake.
IMG_0036 by zippetydude, on Flickr
I went up to see if there is water at Lodge pole Spring. Yes, there is. It is fairly high up and you first find a little standing pool. Maybe 100 feet or so farther up it is actually a small, gurgling creek with decent flow. Going on up the hill, the manzanita has been burned out, so the route is now navigable.
IMG_0025 by zippetydude, on Flickr
There are many "smoulder pits" where a fallen tree continued to smoulder until even its stump was turned to ash, then the winter washed even that away. It looks like the tree just evaporated! Note the hole in the foreground and the blank line leading away. In the second picture you can see the top of the log where it did not burn.
IMG_0024 by zippetydude, on Flickr
IMG_0023 by zippetydude, on Flickr
From way up on the ridge above Lodge pole, I zoomed in to see the damage to the west of Dry Lake.
IMG_0029 by zippetydude, on Flickr
That's a fairly clear picture of what I observed. I ended up going xc from the ridge above Lodge Pole over to the ridge that has the Fish Creek Trail just as it comes together with Mineshaft Saddle. Fish Creek Trail is still closed so I did not explore eastward on that trail.
The entire east face of San G and all the area around Mineshaft suffered no burning whatsoever as far as I could see. The area appears to have been untouched. All in all, there was much more damage up the SF drainage and in the ravine going toward Dry Lake than I had expected, with near total burning. Everywhere else that I traveled it was only intermittent and many areas were untouched. Surprisingly, even the burned areas still come across (at least to me) as beautiful wilderness, just in a different form than before.
z
IMG_0069 by zippetydude, on Flickr
And here is the old wilderness sign at Poop Out Hill:
IMG_0009 by zippetydude, on Flickr
And here is the trail leading out into the wilderness from the sign.
IMG_0010 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Poop Out Hill as seen from the trail.
IMG_0011 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Remember all the tumbled dead trees that used to lie in the avalanche chute? No more!
IMG_0063 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Wildflowers amongst the burned out trees.
IMG_0062 by zippetydude, on Flickr
The sign at the turn to the Lost Lake trail is all burned out but the South Fork Meadows area has only spotty damage. The sign is still fine:
IMG_0057 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Just before the trail leading up to Dry Lake:
IMG_0044 by zippetydude, on Flickr
I prefer to take the xc route up the ravine because in good rain years like this one there are two delightful springs about a quarter mile up on the right hand side.
IMG_0042 by zippetydude, on Flickr
IMG_0019 by zippetydude, on Flickr
A couple snags that won't be standing much longer:
IMG_0015 by zippetydude, on Flickr
Dry Lake as seen from the trail as you arrive from South Fork:
IMG_0021 by zippetydude, on Flickr
There is still water in Dry Lake:
IMG_0039 by zippetydude, on Flickr
And the view from the other side of the lake shows some burning took place above the north side of the lake.
IMG_0036 by zippetydude, on Flickr
I went up to see if there is water at Lodge pole Spring. Yes, there is. It is fairly high up and you first find a little standing pool. Maybe 100 feet or so farther up it is actually a small, gurgling creek with decent flow. Going on up the hill, the manzanita has been burned out, so the route is now navigable.
IMG_0025 by zippetydude, on Flickr
There are many "smoulder pits" where a fallen tree continued to smoulder until even its stump was turned to ash, then the winter washed even that away. It looks like the tree just evaporated! Note the hole in the foreground and the blank line leading away. In the second picture you can see the top of the log where it did not burn.
IMG_0024 by zippetydude, on Flickr
IMG_0023 by zippetydude, on Flickr
From way up on the ridge above Lodge pole, I zoomed in to see the damage to the west of Dry Lake.
IMG_0029 by zippetydude, on Flickr
That's a fairly clear picture of what I observed. I ended up going xc from the ridge above Lodge Pole over to the ridge that has the Fish Creek Trail just as it comes together with Mineshaft Saddle. Fish Creek Trail is still closed so I did not explore eastward on that trail.
The entire east face of San G and all the area around Mineshaft suffered no burning whatsoever as far as I could see. The area appears to have been untouched. All in all, there was much more damage up the SF drainage and in the ravine going toward Dry Lake than I had expected, with near total burning. Everywhere else that I traveled it was only intermittent and many areas were untouched. Surprisingly, even the burned areas still come across (at least to me) as beautiful wilderness, just in a different form than before.
z