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| From the top of Beachie Saddle |
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| Jawbone Flats, Ellen Incelli |
Love it to death
For the best portion of two years, I lived and worked in the
Opal Creek Wilderness in an off-the-grid educational center. The Opal Creek Wilderness is comprised
of old-growth Douglas fir, western hemlock and western red cedar. The last summer I spent there was
incredibly dry, I mean sword ferns, bear grass and moss were crispy and brown and our favorite
cliff jumping spot was a whole lot more of a fall due to low water levels. This area is not only a favorite of
mine, but growing in popularity with backpackers and day-hikers. You know the saying love it to
death? This is what I think a lot
of people are doing to the area who are uneducated in leave no trace
principles; not only are the number of visitors increasing but the random trash
off the side of the trails and initials-carvings in beautiful ancient
trees. So, during this hot, dry
summer, of the 10 employees, 7 were in town. A day-hiker comes running into camp telling us there’s a
fire across the creek. Apparently,
campers from over the weekend did not heed the ‘no campfire’ posting at the
parking lot a few miles back and their fire had caught a root mass on fire
(even though it looked as if they attempted to smother the fire with soil and
water). It’s tough to say how long
the ground fuels had been smoldering before the perfect combo of fuels, heat
and oxygen ignited into flames, just underneath 1000 year old trees and across
the 3
rd order creek from a historic mining town/now education center,
meant to educate the youth of our future on environmental stewardship and
science. After hours of attention
to the area, bucket after bucket of water and digging until our backs killed,
we were happy to call the fire out.
Unfortunately, this was the first of many of these instances that
summer, all luckily caught and cared for in time before they turned deadly. In the middle of the summer, when It’s
100 degrees during the day and 60 at night, is a fire really necessary?!?!?!?
Hi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI work on the Detroit Ranger District so I've spent a bit of time up at Opal Creek. This last summer was the worst yet as far as it being loved to death, the 3 pools area was overflowing almost every weekend. We also had a fire at Henline Falls that grew to be a couple acres in about an hour that had us worried about the people up at the Ancient Forest Center, luckily we got a handle on it that night. I hate to say it but I wish the newspapers in the valley would stop doing stories about how great it is up there because every time there's another story that place gets flooded with people for the next month.
Hey Chris, it's great you know the area, isn't it absolutely beautiful? I must agree with you on stopping the press. I have definitely noticed an influx in visitors at Three Pools and around the hiking loop that goes through Jawbone Flats. There's something lost to the excitement of finding a hidden gem like three pools on a quiet day, a new wilderness area or trail system all by oneself. All the information is out there on the internet regarding maps, photos, etc., lets let the public dig up their new favorite spots without putting the fragile ecosystems on the front page of a newspaper or in Sunset Magazine. The Ancient Forest Center is located in a type of box canyon, with steep topography on either side of it, any fire movement within the area would happen very fast. There is also a huge amount of organic material on the forest floor innocently waiting for a spark. Thanks for all your efforts fighting fire in that area and helping save an area with such history.
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