Eagle Creek Fire Damage Photos (9/20/2017)
Posted: September 20th, 2017, 9:23 pm
My wife and I took a trip out to Catherine Creek today, and along the way, I took lots of photos of the fire damage. All were shot from Washington S.R. 14 south, to the Oregon side of the Gorge.
0. My deepest sympathy to the folks of Cascade Locks. After seeing upper Dry Creek, I can't imagine what it must have felt like to have hunkered down in town, or to have left all your belongings in town and split. I hope everything takes a turn for the better, and soon!
1. My photos were shot with an old, cheap lens and kind of old camera. I've bumped up contrast and saturation for purposes of figuring out what is burned and not burned, but a lot of these shots were into the sun (through clouds) and on a tall tripod in a little wind. It's not art.
2. I've been assuming that, if I see green trees, those trees will mostly survive. I know that some get killed by losing a lot of lower bark when a fire passes underneath, but I don't know how to judge which green trees are alive and which are actually dead, but haven't lost needles yet. I'm guessing it's not too many.
3. I think there's more good news than bad. The authorities were not kidding when they called it a "mosaic burn." There are acres and acres of what appear to be live trees, right in the midst of all the burned areas. I wasn't able to see very far up most of the drainages, but it looks like lots of old growth along Nick Eaton Ridge and Bell Creek was spared. There are also large patches of green trees in all of the Gorge facing areas that have trails on them. This fire looks very different from the B & B Complex fire: more variety and less complete burn.
Devil's Rest. Looks like a few trees burned up there. Lots of that area did not burn. Angels' Rest from Cape Horn pullout. Note green trees both above and to the east of the prominence. Also, I think I see one green tree in that summit area. Area just west of Angel's Rest. (West side of Coopey Creek drainage). From Cape Horn. Western most damage I could find (west of Angel's Rest), from Cape Horn.
0. My deepest sympathy to the folks of Cascade Locks. After seeing upper Dry Creek, I can't imagine what it must have felt like to have hunkered down in town, or to have left all your belongings in town and split. I hope everything takes a turn for the better, and soon!
1. My photos were shot with an old, cheap lens and kind of old camera. I've bumped up contrast and saturation for purposes of figuring out what is burned and not burned, but a lot of these shots were into the sun (through clouds) and on a tall tripod in a little wind. It's not art.
2. I've been assuming that, if I see green trees, those trees will mostly survive. I know that some get killed by losing a lot of lower bark when a fire passes underneath, but I don't know how to judge which green trees are alive and which are actually dead, but haven't lost needles yet. I'm guessing it's not too many.
3. I think there's more good news than bad. The authorities were not kidding when they called it a "mosaic burn." There are acres and acres of what appear to be live trees, right in the midst of all the burned areas. I wasn't able to see very far up most of the drainages, but it looks like lots of old growth along Nick Eaton Ridge and Bell Creek was spared. There are also large patches of green trees in all of the Gorge facing areas that have trails on them. This fire looks very different from the B & B Complex fire: more variety and less complete burn.
Devil's Rest. Looks like a few trees burned up there. Lots of that area did not burn. Angels' Rest from Cape Horn pullout. Note green trees both above and to the east of the prominence. Also, I think I see one green tree in that summit area. Area just west of Angel's Rest. (West side of Coopey Creek drainage). From Cape Horn. Western most damage I could find (west of Angel's Rest), from Cape Horn.