I came across this excellent blog post of someone hiking Humphreys when the fire started through Jeff's blog today. Check out the photos in the blog!!! Wow!
More amazing photos of the fire.
Below are a couple photos of one of the most beautiful high elevation trails in Arizona and one of my favorite places to run, the Waterline Road. I'm posting these photos in memory of this trail because the Shultz Fire has completely destroyed (burned to a crisp) all 9 miles of it from Shultz Pass to the Inner Basin, along with most of that side of the Peaks. Seeing these photos again and realizing that I will never see the amazingly beautiful, inspiring and peaceful HUGE Aspen groves, fir forests and big views that it has to offer makes me want to cry. I feel great loss right now. Some of those groves and sections of trail feel like family to me. Now they are all gone because someone couldn't put out a camp fire. It just doesn't seem fair to the forests and animals of the Peaks or the Flagstaff residents who go there to recreate, recharge and find peace to be that lazy and stupid. Horrible...how someone can be that careless.
In memory of the Waterline Road...
(My parents riding bikes at the tunnel, 3 miles out the Waterline Road)
(One of my favorite sections although it is typical of most of the Waterline Road. Simply beautiful.)I'll miss you Waterline.
R.I.P. June 2010
so sad, but wonderful memories of that area. Thanks for sharing that place it with us. That is where I officially fell in love with Aspens. I'm glad we have our pictures from that day.
ReplyDeletevery sad ... but if it is of any condolence ... pick up the recent issue of Nat Geo showing 30 years past St. Helens and how that area has come back. You will get to live and enjoy the rebirth of this area.
ReplyDeleteVery positive attitude! The only thing is that I am going to be 66 by the time I see that kind of rebirth!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Washington and have witnessed the explosion and then the rebirth of St. Helens. I am not surprised by the regrowth because of the extremely wet climate that allows things to grow very quickly.
The only problem we have here is that the fire is at really high altitudes in an extremely slow growing, dry climate. The Mt. Elden fire that burned most of Mt. Elden, in Flagstaff, in 1977, destroyed miles of forest that, 30+ years later, hasn't grown back. It is all little bushes, grass and burned sticks still to this day. 0% of the trees have grown back (it used to be a thick fir forest). Just a few aspens in one part of the burned area and they are still only 10-15 feet high. How long will Mt. Elden take to recover? 100+ years? I hope it doesn't take that long for the peaks to recover...
Don't mean to sound depressing, it's just the reality of the situation. I hope I'm wrong and things recover quickly... Thanks for the positive attitude!!! Maybe in time I will share your optimism…