We hiked the Tracy Hill Loop (or at least our version of it) to check out the effects of last summer's Burdoin Fire.
It was a cloudy day with fog hanging below the Columbia River Gorge rim.
We started by hiking below the Catherine Creek Arch on the service road. The vehicle ford still was dry so we didn't have to use the "trail gnome bridge," which is looking pretty decrepit with rotten and broken stringers.
We hiked up the east side of Catherine Creek, ascending through the meadows to the rim above Major Creek on what I call East Tracy Hill. We saw several species of native plants sprouting in the burn scars from the fire. Amazingly, Rush Skeletonweed, an invasive species, survived the fire and the upper meadow is filled with its dried plants.
After lunch, we traversed over to Tracy Hill proper to check on a large Ponderosa pine overlooking the Catherine Creek canyon that our friend, Bev, long ago dubbed the "Friendship Tree" because we have enjoyed many hike lunches over the years in its shade or wind and rain/snow shelter.
The "Friendship Tree's" offspring were mostly killed in the fire and the tree itself had scaling bark that suggested it might not survive. The fire burned intensely in the deep duff of pine needles and appeared to have scorched the tree roots. We will have to watch it into the future to know its fate.
We descended Tracy Hill and took an old ranch road down through the oak woodlands. This route had been overgrown with poison oak in recent years but the fire set it back for at least a short time so the route is accessible again.
We closed our loop and returned to the trailhead without seeing anyone all day.
PRO TIP: The port-a-potty at the Catherine Creek trailhead has been removed. We used the Chamberlain Lake Rest Area on SR 14 as a restroom stop before and after our hike.
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