hat do you do when your favorite campsite has burnt? This is the reality for many of us who live out in the North and West. Not only do we have to deal with smoke when we do get to go camping in the summer but sometimes the next year we find that many of our favorite places are now gone or will take years to be rehabilitated back to where we can enjoy them again.
But it’s not all doom and gloom there are some silver linings. For instance there are new trails that you can now see, small creeks that you didn’t know existed, beach areas along your favorite creek or river or sometimes even a tree that fell and now has opened up a new fishing hole. I know it's hard to see some of these things at first, but make notes in your maps of these areas, and as the area grows back, be sure to keep a footpath open to these spots.
This was recently the case for a buddy and myself as we explored some recent burn scars that were once our go to areas for day trips, camp gear testing, evening fishing trips, and family camping excursions in the forest. On this short trip up to one of our favorite mild overlanding and dispersed camping areas near Kybyrz, CA, as we crested the first hill, we didn't even recognize where we were. The fire from the previous fall had turned the entire landscape for as far as we could see or even drive into a martian or lunar landscape.
While much of the area at first glance was burnt to a crisp that may never look the same at least in our lifetime, all was not lost as we began to spend time and take a hard look at all parts of what we once knew so well. Yes, much was now an open waste land, but there were pockets of trees and brush here and there. As fire has a way of leaving little green oasis’ we noticed that spring was trying to get a late start. Some of the downed blackened trees had new mushroom growth, and ground squirrels had either survived or already moved into the area. A few early campers had even pitched their tents, or set up their campers in and around the burnt fringes, gathering shade from remaining green trees. Some portions of the river were so densely brushed that we never noticed the deep fishing hole,or the calm beach areas that even now had some shade and green grasses growing.
So maybe fire isn’t all bad from a recreational point of view. While it’s very devastating to the landscape and to our memories of how we remembered it, now we can build new memories, and watch the area re-birth into its next chapter. So while the once forested areas that we grew to love and enjoy still exist, we now have to change with them. Maybe take this opportunity to let the burn scars in us heal and allow us to explore new areas, and find ways to help the old areas become a new kind of place in our hearts.
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