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Category Archives: carlton complex

Nine Months Later

The Carlton Complex Wildfires started nine months ago tomorrow. It was a devastating event – burning wildly and consuming trees, shrubs, hillsides, wildlife and homes for people and animals. Nine months later, I took a walk through Pipestone Canyon, a favorite area for walking and bicycling and birding. Like our hillside, it is beginning to recover but some areas burned so hot, there is no sign of life. I heard a Canyon Wren from the rocky cliffs above and heard raptors screeching at each other or maybe at me. I was surprised to encounter numerous Dusky Grouse. I wonder what they are eating? Wildflowers and grasses are thriving in some areas. Shrubs and trees that did not burn too hot are slowly recovering.

New grass growing on the hills above the canyon.
The canyon walls
Buttercups
Lomatium sp
Small balsamroot plants
This balsamroot is in an area that didn’t burn so hot.
Imagine the heat
Rolling rocks are a potential problem.
Home for someone
Dusky Grouse
Spring beauty
Growing out of a crack in a rock
Grass growing on top of a rock.
Moss cups
Currants
Aspen buds
Serviceberry bud

Walking Through the Fire

Many of my favorite walking areas burned this summer so most of my images these days reflect the effects of fire. I apologize if you’re tired of them. Think how I must feel, seeing this and smelling this everyday; wiping ash from the dogs’ feet before they come in on a wet day.

It will be better when the snow falls and next spring I look forward to lots of green grasses and vibrant wildflowers.

These photos are from near the start of the Cougar Flats Fire, part of the Carlton Complex.

Eerily beautiful on a sunny fall day.
Imagine how hot it burned through here.
Some areas suffered patchy ground fires and the trees survived.
These elderberries did not survive
Guthrie
New grasses sprouted this fall from areas that didn’t burn too hot.
Fall colors contrasted with burned trees.

Views from our Porch

The reality is that these wildfires are going to continue til the snow falls. More than 250,000 acres have burned already and while some areas of the fires are contained, others are not. Fire managers will probably let some areas burn up to the Tripod fire where no homes or roads are threatened. Tripod burned nearly 200,000 acres in 2006 and we thought that was the biggest fire we would see around here. Other areas of the fires are being fought with forces – helicopters, water trucks and ground crews – to keep them from spreading towards Twisp, Chelan and Okanogan. Anyway, I need to get used to smoke in the air and flames on the horizon. At night, the fires are mesmerizing. It’s hard to tear my eyes away from them. Of course, after dark is the nicest time to be outside since recent high temperatures during the day have been over 100 degrees, fahrenheit.

As darkness settles in, the smoke lifts and flames become visible
Sunsets are colorful