Jonas Norkunas
Elk Lake 2006

        It was mid August 2006 and My girlfriend and I set off for a day at Cultus lake. It was a very wet winter with record rains in Bend Oregon on January 1. These rains were all snow in the hills above and Mt. Bachelor almost hit 200 inches of base in late March which was well above average. Total snowfall in the high cascades approached 600 inches but the spring was very warm! Average temperatures were well above average over the spring and summer. This melted the exceptional snow pack very quickly and accompanied by no snow or rain, fire fuels got to a dangerous level and the fire season was very active for such a snowy winter. As we made the turn heading to Elk lake, the trees on the butte above were burning with the crowns of trees lighting up with flames 20 feet above the trees! It was amazing and the police had to close the road as the fire was progressing downhill towards the lake. I hung out for a few minutes and watched a helicopter drop water on the northeast side of the butte less than a mile from the highway. We turned around and headed back to Mt. Bachelor and down the Sunriver exit the back way to Cultus lake. It took awhile but we enjoyed the water and some micro brews on the patio at the restaurant. That afternoon two more fires ignited on the west side of Cultus lake and we watched helicopters put out the fires. As for the Elk lake fire, there was nothing they could of done with the westerly winds pushing the fire across Cascades Lake highway and finally burning out when the flames hit the lake. Several vacation homes were burnt down and the damage is still visible today. The houses were rebuilt and now the area is thriving today but who knows what the future holds.