Above Dunedin from East and West.

There is a very steep hill behind my house. If you go up to the first level place, that's what we call the White Cliffs.  Above that is the mountain shoulder that joins all the other shoulders on the wide flanks of the Bald Eagle Mountain "range".  The other day, Brenda and I did a scramble up that slope, seeking the very top.  We didn't quite reach the summit, but we certainly reached the heights, and so I share with you some more burnt-world shots; this, of a world formerly impenetrably brushed and treed.

We were interested to see, and I was somewhat gratified to find,  that we do not have the huge boulder clumps hanging over Dunedin that I expected to find.  A few scatterings, with more as we headed southward over towards above the Tobin Resort.  More exploring is indicated while it's still accessible.

Jeffery took this photo for me at the right time of day so that I could show you the mountain above our home place - Dunedin.  We are the white patches above where the two bridges come together.

At the White Cliffs, we made an art exhibit using the melted chrome puddles near the two burned cars.

Standing on the White Cliffs looking north.  Please note the elevation, since we'll be going up, and I'll be showing you the same view from the heights.

This area still has quite a bit of just scalded brush; not the sterilized burn we'll see higher up.

This is more sterilized, as you can see.  We head towards the brush above us, but that is not the top of the hill, as you can tell from the first photo on this post.

The slope is so steep, we often have to use our hands to climb straight up.  Mostly, we did a switchback path up the hill.

Different colors of earth help us decide how to go, since there are dangers lurking beneath the surface; like where roots have burned out.

Sun beams thrill us, and it was around this place that we sat for almost 10 minutes while two red-tailed hawks taught their juvenile offspring how to fly, turn, float, swoop, and dive.  Thrilling.

We had received .04 inches of rain that morning, and we got a few sprinkles while we climbed.

I call this broken crust.  I'd like to know more about its formation.

This crust was revealed after Brenda walked across the slope and broke the surface doing so.

My muse!  and she helps lend perspective to my photo-stories.

We are traversing the hill in a southward direction, looking west in this shot to the Tobin Ridge.

Looking northward again.  Isn't it weirdly colored?

Looking directly down toward the Tobin Dump gravel landing.

The tree ahead, having been burnt badly at its base, will eventually just fall down.

One last view toward the north, with sunshine highlights lending the hills their true shape.

Another view of the Tobin Ridge and the switchback road over the top.

See the Tobin Bridge at the bottom?  Jackass Creek waterfall flows down the left side of the sunlit patch on the hill.

The bridge; not a much better view, is it?

Life's resurgence

The Octopus Tree reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes.

One of the giants.  RIP old grandfather.

These boulders are some of the first we've seen, which comforts us.  We figured the denuding of the hills above us would mean boulders bouncing down on us in the future.  Not so, it seems.

Now, you've seen the mountain above Tobin, I'm going to show you our trek today across the river and up on the Tobin Ridge, as we climb up the mountain beside the Jackass Creek waterfall.  We thought it would be sterilized and easy to access, but we were wrong.  That buckbrush and manzanita is fire-hardly and very resistant to humans trying to find a path through the tangles.

A view of the Tobin Bridge and Mary's yard from the Dump Road.

This hill was scorched barren, but our trail was not.

The view of the Jackass Creek waterfall from the Intake landing where we get our Fire Line water.

We encountered many such obstacles on our path.

This is what happens to granite when the heat really gets hot.  It shatters and crumbles, and becomes decomposed granite.

The boulder in the view is another Darth Vader's Helmet landmark.  There's one on the Ben Lomond hike, too.

Brenda with the waterfall ahead of her.

This is as close as we could get to the waterfall.  To get closer, we'd have to drop down into the foreground brushery, cross a dry creek, and scramble up another steep bank.  We didn't do that.

Alder bark after being baked.

There.  You can say you've seen my home world from both sides now.  I need a shower!

 

The Dixie Fire - A few views of the rest of the world.

 Today, August 30, Day 48 of the Dixie Fire.  I've been a little busy, so I haven't shown the world around me in a larger way.  So, here is a Catch-all of images of the canyon after the fire has gone by and left us to clean up after it.  It shows that we survived, and that we are fortunate.

Caribou Crossroads got scorched, but stood strong.

The signs that fire came here at the corner of Caribou Rd. and Hwy 70

Brenda and Laurie's house made it.

This yard was scalded, but the firefolk saved it.

Potatoes made it.

Cleaning up the highway

The giant tree I stood by is being removed.

Why our phones don't work.  Even now, we still don't have phones.

One of the Tobin generators.  Our village has five now.

Here's our generator.

The high end of Little Indian Creek got scorched badly, but not the rest of it.

The firefolks saved this little cabin.

The Belden Annex (aka: Brookehaven) is okay AGAIN 

Yay, the Maple Leaf is okay, too.

Little Indian Creek looks vegetatively LUSH.

The trailhead up to the PCT at Little Indian Creek.

Trees and slopes being groomed.  This is the Tobin Vista/Tobin Dump Rd. "split".  I will be showing this after the work is done farther down in this post.

They're cutting the trees out of Tobin Vista, which is where the fire crossed the river.

The tree stack grows at Tobin Vista.  This makes us sad.

Brenda and Laurie came to check on their house and found the chickens still alive.

View of Rich Bar from the big pullout.

A little more perspective of Rich Bar.

There are many such "sterilized" places along the highway, but we also see much that remains "healthy", too.  This view is just east of Rodger's Flat.

There's a train in this photo.

Tree piles and rocks at the Rock Creek Dam.

The Eby Stamp Mill at the Belden Rest Area

The trailhead up past the Belden Cemetary and on to Indian Springs.

The Belden Town Resort made it, and actually offers a calming green view to us.

It is so nice to have the working rest stop after the years of bridge work kept it closed.  Thank you firefolk for keeping it safe and usable.

The Caribou Bridge seen from the RV park.

This is the Ghost Tree in the Belden Campground.  It's base is burned badly, so I'm going to watch to see how long it remains standing.

This photo, taken by my sister Sara from the Grizzly Forebay high above Tobin, shows the fire scar, theTobin Bridges and Dump, and a tiny helicopter, too.

Approaching the Chambers Creek passing lanes, our beach is the green patch on the right, and it is unscathed!

This are got burned terribly.  That's Bald Eagle Mountain and Rodger's Saddle in the background.

The bridge over to Rodger's Flat.

A view of the Tobin Ridge from the RR tracks east of Tobin

This is the clearest day we've had.

This is the road to the Tobin Dump.  It will be denuded of trees even more than this.

The view of the tree-cutting at the Dump Rd/Tobin Vista area, seen from The White Cliffs of Tobin.

This is the slope that we get to drive along as summer ends.  Kinda nervous-ifying.

I liked this view of the highway bank with its cut trees and rocky structure.

Sand spills line the highway, and show us that the canyon is slowly "melting".

Uh oh.  This is a new feature.

View of the Tobin Bridges.

Slope denudement really shows.

Another sand spill shot

Art shot of tree and rocks

Here is the comparison shot of the Tobin Dump Rd and Tobin Vista.  It is NAKED!

The Tobin Dump Road after tree removal.

Tobin Vista after tree removal.

They cleaned all along the edge for a long ways.

What remains.

Old infrastructure revealed.

This is where the Felix house used to be on Caribou Road.  Thinking of all the folks who lived in that house through the years.

Along Caribou Road.

Tree removal along Caribou Rd. just below where the penstock crosses the road.

So much black destruction

To those familiar with this area, see the penstock in the right-side background?  You hardly recognize where you are along Caribou now.

At the foot of Red Hill.

Waller Creek, which I've shown in years past.

Downed power pole and lines.

This is one of my "Rock Stores" and a great place to pick blackberries before Dixie.

A view of Gansner Bar Campground.  All the picnic tables survived.

A view of the North Fork and hill leading up to Humbug Valley.

Burnt bushes.

The rock wall and stairs at the old Brewery site

The stairs look a bit frazzled, but they're still hanging in there.

The old Brewery site.

At the Chambers Creek passing lanes, our "space alien" has been vanquished and eradicated.

Rolling up and stowing all the hoses we had at the ready in Tobin.

They have electronic stop signs at the road work sites now.

The Reflecting Pool at Milepost 11.  Tree removal happening there, but it's not starkly visible.

It's a sign and a bug box

The denuded pullout at the Reflecting Pool

So many trees removed!  I am sad.

Jeffery on a stump above the Reflecting Pool.

This tree had to go, looks like.

Things are still smoking and smoldering in places, a month after the fire burned through here.

See the green ferns already sprouting up?  Life is determined!

The faint green is so exciting amidst the burnt scenery.  Can you see it all?

Grapes and blackberries live to grow and grow to live.

A carpet of green along the North Fork, and a view of the bridge that takes us to Humbug Valley.

The bridge to Humbug has been destroyed.

This bridge still has it's hose lay, and the bridge is safe to drive over.

sign snapped off somehow

The sign at Queen Lily Campground is gone.

This sign remains.

This is all.  Sorry if it's too much, but things are changing so fast, and it's all so disorienting and interesting, I must capture a sense of it for the future.

Hope we can move on to better topics and healthier views, but as of today, Dixie is still threatening several Plumas County communities and many beloved folks we know.  We live to see it all END!