I had a lovely hike with my family on Friday in the burn zone up Fall Creek. The Clark Fire burned the upper swimming holes and campgrounds in 2003, leaving behind skeletal black fingers instead of trees.
This area is a haven for wildflowers, particularly at this time of year.
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I was carrying @thingtwo in a frame backback carrier along with a gallon of water and 4 beers, plus our food, so it was a good workout for me. @thingone raced ahead on the (often steep and precipitous) trail much too fast for @dillemma's comfort, alternating these madcap dashes with sudden stops to exclaim over flowers or proclaim a particularly provocative stick to be a snake.
Oregon Swallowtail Butterflies (the state insect!) greeted us at our favorite swimming hole, but not before I picked up the agate featured in the post cover image above. It was sparkling in the sun and caught my eye the second we got down to the beach :)
We found some Rough Skinned Newts, AKA Fire-Bellied Newts, in a shallow muddy pool left behind by the lowering water levels in the creek as summer approaches. We had a great conversation about newt sex with @thingone, he seemed to have a pretty solid understanding that they were having sex so they could make babies. And then he started throwing rocks at them :(
After the terror known as Thing Numero Uno vacated the area, I took this awesome little clip of newt sex for ya.
Rough Skinned Newt Sex
Yup, Fall Creek Rocks
<3
Wwww I wouldn't mind some of those creek rocks, they look amazing!
If you are into rocks, check out this older post of mine - I have found some pretty cool quartz crystals and geodes at another favorite hiking spot: https://steemit.com/life/@carlgnash/mount-pisgah-rocks-with-video-of-an-oregon-alligator-lizard-crawling-up-my-leg
Awesome will check it out !
That burned area has a eerie beauty. It would be a cool place to eat a mushroom or two... as long as you don't have to worry about a bear or something lol.
Yeah it is beautiful in its own alien way and absolutely a wonderful place to trip. Before we had our two little things my wife and I loved nothing better than spending the weekend camped at one or another of our secret places along the creek, eating some mushrooms and forgetting about clothes and society and jobs and stress and everything else except how amazing life is.
absolutely wonderful photos! i am right there with you, peering at the rocks and sky..
Really nothing better than looking down and looking up when you are out in nature.
wow such a nice and colorful way to explain the adventure. I'm with @thingone here, those sticks were surely disguised snakes!
Such a beautiful family!
cheers
@greencross
Thanks @greencross! We did see one "real" snake sunning itself on the trail, which quickly slithered off on our approach. After that encounter, @thingone was seeing "snakes" in every other stick! LOL
LOL he's funny!!!
cheers
@greencross
It's really an adventure. And especially for this wonderful baby who sits so comfortably on your back. It's great when parents continue active rest with their children. I fully vote for such education.
Yes I agree that getting outside in nature is some of the best education you can give young ones :)
Oh my gosh, your kids are adorable. Looks like quite an adventure.
I hope the area recovers over time from the fire and its beauty is restored.
Yeah we always have a blast when we get outside in nature. The kids love it. The burn zone is recovering nicely and it is a totally normal and healthy part of the forest life cycle :)
Yes, it is indeed. In fact forest fires can rage out of control much quicker if burns are not allowed to happen in a controlled way. None of my Oregon family ever worked in forestry, but my brother-in-law here in Minnesota used to be in charge of controlled burns. As I recall they strategically drop incendiary ping pong balls from a helicopter.
I spend alot of time outdoors... Nature is home. We stumbledc upin a newts pool the other day too. It is sad to see the consequences of wild fires. Thinking of life lost gives me the shivers but then when you see life returning to it...
Life thrives...
I like to see forest fires. They are an integral part of the forest life cycle. The real shame is that the American Forest Service is still way behind the times as far as this goes and still subscribes to fire prevention as their primary philosophy, which has been proven time and again to be a terribly harmful strategy. Preventing the smaller wildfires that should naturally sweep through a region from time to time only makes the (eventual, inevitable) wildfire far more harmful than it should be, with so much tinder accumulated that even the largest trees die. Combined with the clearcut and monoculture replant philosophy of our timber industry, American forest "management" has resulted in a huge loss of ecosystem diversity, and far more damaging fires when they do occur.
A normal, natural and healthy forest will have sections in all stages of growth - old growth, newly burned zones, decade old burns dominated by wildflowers and pioneer species, and younger forest stands establishing dominance in the several decades old burn zones. This diversity of habitat is of course a boon for all animal life and also ensures that when a fire does sweep through, it's impact is not as harmful and there are colonizing plants nearby to quickly start the cycle over again. Burn zones are beautiful in their own alien way.
Wild fires that occur because of natural causes, one would think Nature can fight back, but sadly it is us humans boosting them, not Nature wether directly by negligence (or intentionally) or indirectly by climate change (longest draughts dry weeds).
So whatever over "natural" stats is at the ridk of loss.
A tree struck by lightning does not fall for the same cause a tree cut down.
Last year in my country a protected forest burned, home ti endangered close to extinction species like Iberian lynx (less than 50 in 2010) They were all provoked. Nothing natural in them. :(
I think I should make a wee article about this
Still life thrives
But loss is sad
Especially in cases like the lynx which is critical.
The scenery looks amazing! I really want to travel around America soon!
Yeah Fall Creek is absolutely gorgeous. Nothing like getting up in the mountains and skinny-dipping in a creek :)
I bet. I grew up in the country, miss the small town life sometimes
Looks absolutely beautiful Carl. Wildflowers and butterflies is my idea of an awesome day out, there is nothing better than getting out in nature.
Ha ha, when I first saw the title I thought this might be a COM post, those newts were going at it man, rudely disturbed by a rock throwing child lol, kids crack me up. We get smooth newts where I am in Liverpool down in a park by the river where I used to work called festival gardens. They are much smaller than those monsters though :-)
Yeah that is a pretty click-baity, COM type headline huh :) I considered going the full on comedic route but really the newt sex was pretty beautiful and I felt like going the more serene and nature loving route after my last offering :) Much love - Carl
haha ... for a second there I thought your account had been hacked. I had to read your title a couple times before I it made sense. That is some click bait ... lol:)
Looks like you and yours had a wonderful day in a wonderful place. Beautiful photographic captures:)
LOL if you thought my account had been hacked after reading that title, I shudder to think what would happen if you watched my last post! Your brain will probably explode, fair warning. I can't even claim temporary insanity or that I was hacked. That was all me LOL. Much love - Carl
:)
What a fun trip! You really found a beautiful spot to enjoy. How long did you have to hike to get to the swimming hole?
You can basically make the hike as long or as short as you want, the trail runs for something like 7 miles along the creek but you can put in at a bunch of different spots. From where we parked and accessed the trail it is only about a half hour hike to that swimming hole. That spot is on the far side of the creek from the road and is usually a lot less crowded than the spots you can just pull your car along side.
Some really nice shots there and you made some nice finds :) how nice of the butterflies to pose for you :)
I have some great video clips of the butterflies. There were swarms of them. I am good at moving really slowly and smoothly, so I was able to just inch my way right up to them and take pictures from very close. I honed this skill catching lizards - if you move slow enough you can just reach your hand (sloooowly) right out and grab them and they don't even react to you. one fast movement though and they take off.
you must post the butterflies :D