This was my 4th hike into areas impacted by the 2018 fires. The Gardner portion of the 2018 Crescent Mt fire was ignited by a lightning strike about 0.5 mile away from the trail and 1500ft above it. With the prevailing winds, only the first 2 miles of the trail was heavily burned. The upper part of the valley and North Lake were unaffected.
First, many thanks to the crew of folks that cut through all the downed trees - both the volunteers (see NWHiker.net) and the Backcountry Horsemen. The few remaining logs over the trail, near the lake, are not a problem.
In the first mile, the intensity of the fire varied significantly and the effects are obvious. In some areas, even the brush survived, while in others all that's left is ash and charcoal. There are some flowers blooming, but they are sparse in this area. On the plus side, the reforestation has begun. In places, the new tree seedlings are so dense they look like grass.
About 1 mile in, the trail turns into the North Creek valley, and the widespread devastation is obvious. Most of the trees were killed in the second mile of trail. This near shadeless section will be a hot hike in summer for many years to come. There are pockets of flowers blooming, fireweed, lupine, paintbrush, tiger lily, forget-me-nots, and yarrow to provide color to the black, brown, and grays.
Between 2 and 2.5 miles, the trail was affected by spot fires, but it's mostly a walk in the forest.
The camps at the North Creek crossing/ford are both usable. The informal log crossing upstream from the ford is underwater, but the rock hop at the ford is usable.
The mosquitos get progressively worse as we hiked up the valley. Between the Cedar Creek Trail junction and the meadow crossing above the pond, they were the worst. Things got a little better after that, bug-wise.
The fishing was good and a slight breeze kept it cool, while reducing the bothersome mosquitos. While we ate lunch and fished, two marmots were watching us from a rock about 100ft away.
Now for an editorial comment...
This trip highlighted what one should not see in a wilderness setting. At the camp on the east side of the lake, a large lean-to had been constructed a few years ago, and now people were putting fresh cut boughs on it. So, we took it down as much as we could, as part of my volunteer job for USFS.
What was even more disturbing was found at the campsite by the tarn & waterfall. A 4ft tall tepee and 3ft tall lean-to had been constructed by kids, using fresh cut branches and each had a small fire pit inside. While cute, and a useful skill for an emergency, the Wilderness Area is not the place to practice this. Obviously, the "Leave No Trace" notice on the trailhead sign did not register with the parents nor did the potential for a fine for all the wilderness violations. Dismantling these took a while. We had to disperse all the branches in a way that would look natural as they dried out and turned brown, without trampling too much of the meadow area around the camp. We also had to restore the fire pits to look more natural.
Comments
hikingwithlittledogs on North Lake
Thank you for taking care of the wilderness.
Posted by:
hikingwithlittledogs on Jul 14, 2019 12:17 AM
outdoor girl on North Lake
thank you
Posted by:
outdoor girl on Jul 16, 2019 05:50 AM
roundtrip on North Lake
Thanks
Posted by:
roundtrip on Aug 22, 2019 03:13 PM