I headed out to one of my go to local places to stretch my legs. I have posted about this gem of a hike recently and just wanted to visit again. When I got there, I discovered that all of the barricades and signs around the area that was effected by a wildfire last summer had been removed. I had to check out the “burn zone”.
Last summer a wildfire driven by extreme southwest winds exploded into a stand replacement event and expanded to about eighty acres in Qemilin Park before it was contained. The smoke plum dominated the sky on my way home from work that day to the point that I called one of my kids who lives south of the river to make sure it wasn’t close to her.
Heroic efforts by local wildland fire fighters contained the inferno almost completely within the boundaries of the Post Falls Community Forest saving numerous private residences located just outside.
That came at a cost. Resources had to be pulled from a major wildfire in the Hayden Creek and Chilco Mountains area where no one lives. That is why I can’t hike North Chilco Mountain this year. My hiking verses someone’s entire life is a small price to pay. Dozens if not over a hundred houses are just outside the “burn zone”.
This is what’s left of the Avatar Tree. This giant ponderosa pine has been on the ground as long as I have hiked Qemilin Park. It had it’s own tag on Google Maps. I measured it out to be over one hundred and twenty feet tall before it fell many years ago. The trail passed right by it and it was a place lots of folks snapped photos.
The grasses and forbs are already coming back. A few trees in the middle of the “burn zone” due to tiny variations in the topography survived. It will be interesting to see if some day they will grow in to forest giants due to the lack of competition.
I hiked up to the “hanging ponds” to see how they were effected. Obviously water bodies aren’t “killed” or burned down by wildfire, but the views have definitely changed.
The staff of the City of Post Falls has been very busy cutting down and bucking up hazard trees along the trail so that the public can safely access the site. Based on what I saw, they probably cut down over a hundred trees, mostly those directly over the trail. Thanks guys.
It started to rain on me while I was checking out the “hanging ponds”. I came across this place about fifteen years ago while hiking with my oldest daughter. At the time we were technically trespassing. I was delighted when years later my home town acquired the site and opened it up to the public.
These isolated wetlands/ponds sit at the top of a bluff over a hundred feet above the canyon right next to them. They are a true local hidden gem. The trail is just far enough away that most people walk right by them without ever knowing they’re there.
The view may have changed but it is still beautiful. I’ve always hated the term “the land was destroyed” when news outlets describe the results of a wildfire in the woods. The land has not been destroyed, only changed. Just because we don’t like the results doesn’t mean it is lost forever.
On my hike, I noticed that the City of Post Falls had very recently completed significant fuel reduction projects to mitigate the possibility of catastrophic wildfires in the future. This involves thinning the forest and getting rid of ladder fuels that that can turn a minor ground fire in to one that endangers people and property. This will pay dividends in the future.
Some plants benefit from the fire. In places there was an explosion of wildflowers.
It will be interesting to check in over the years to see how the “burn zone” recovers. This is a rock formation just outside of it that I have photographed before. Today I discovered that the granite column on the left had fractured and much of it had collapsed. Nothing, even granite last forever.
No matter what, Qemilin Park/the Post Falls Community Forest will always be a special place. It is an amazing place to explore and it’s only ten minutes from my house. God bless North Idaho and Post Falls.
