Tieton River Nature Trail — Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024

Ethan & I went to the Tieton River Nature Trail on this mostly cloudy, mild day, to see what it looked like after last summer's Retreat fire.  We were also looking for fall color if there was any to be had.  We started at the feeding station and walked up as far as the big meadow, where we had lunch under the giant oak.  We stayed our usual hour or so before heading back.  Though there was some sign of the fire, the color was very nice up to the suspension bridge, but from here on it was mostly desolation.  A majority of the oaks seemed to have survived, but most of the cottonwoods, aspens, douglas firs, and even ponderosa pines, as well as all the understory, were torched.  The ground was gray and black and still smelled of charcoal and ash.  Despite this, there were many signs of regeneration:  new leaves at the base of the burned oaks and rabbitbrush, new shoots of wild rose, and aspen suckers.  At the big meadow, many of the aspens on the south side survived, but most of the trees between the meadow and the river were burned.  The big ponderosa pine in the middle of the meadow had fallen over and burned, but the big oak survived.  Above the suspension bridge there were a number of blow-downs, but they were all easily stepped over or walked around.  There were quite a few others on the trail today, especially between the feeding station and the suspension bridge.  It was a sad sight, almost like being in a new location.  It will regenerate, of course, and even by next year will be a nice walk, but it will never be the same, at least in my lifetime.