Andy misses the old trails they used to walk before the fire. He’s decided the Ridge Trail they took two weeks ago was such a mess he won’t do it again.
The walk Beate and Tim took Saturday (down the del Norte Canyon Road and up Media dia Canyon) was a lot worse.
It used to be a pleasant 6.1 mile walk, but Saturday it took them 5.3 hours. That’s another walk Andy won’t take again.
The walk the three of them took yesterday was a lot better. It was mostly on roads but had enough of a climb that they had good views. The final climb to the peak was a bit of a scramble.
And they did some bushwhacking on a shortcut later on the way back.
But they enjoyed the views.
View of the Valle Grande, where they walked last week.
View of our house and neighborhood.
Thank you for the pictures, Beate!
June 24, 2019
O. My. GOSH.
I can’t even imagine climbing through some of that. or ANY of it!
but you’re right. the views are just spectacular!
yes! thank you so much for sharing with us Beate!
Yes, they’re impressive!
absotely gob smacking veiws – even with the broken and fallen forest…
I’m guessing there are places in the South Island that have even better views. They don’t call them the Southern Alps for nothing.
yep, I believe there are…but I didn’t really ascend any of them when I was down there, maybe next time…
Wow, that trail does look pretty rough.That would take a lot of work to clear that. Those views sure are spectacular though
The trails on Beate and Tim’s Saturday walk are impossible, and the rough part of the Sunday walk was only part of the hike. Most of it was on dirt roads. That hike was worth it for the views.
What hardy guys to walk those trails. It makes me sad thinking about what it must have looked like.
Yes, it is sad, but no sense dwelling on it.
I can’t help but wonder if there are any plans to clear off the fallen trees. Is it up to Andy and your family to do it? Can any of the wood be used? The world needs resources, yet it seems they are being neglected here.
All the fallen trees in these pictures are on Forest Service land, and no, there are no plans to clear them. None of the wood can be used. The trees fell because the wood is rotten, and as I recall the sawmills didn’t want to take the trees right after the fire because of the dirty burned bark. Some of our friends did come up for firewood.
Thanks, Jean. Hopefully. all of that rotten wood will not be a fire risk, and nature will eventually return the land to its pristine condition. I realize that may take generations!
Unfortunately it is a fire risk, and the predictions are we will have a lot more fires because of the long-term drought. But they shouldn’t be as intense as the one we had. Still, we’re trying to clear all the dead trees out of our 100-foot defensible space around buildings. Doing the best we can and keeping our fingers crossed.