The Dixie Fire Aftermath - The World around Tobin

We are safe.  Now it's time to see what is out there beyond the Tobin perimeter.  We'll start with our wend up the Tobin Trail on July 31.  This is Day 19 of the Dixie Fire.

The trailhead is unburned

Right around the corner it got back-fired, so it's like entering an unfamiliar world.

We are amazed to see the trail still evident, despite to fire's fury

Trees finish burning on the hill and the ground is still hot.

This tree is still smoking hotly and dropping ash powder.  I skirted it to come up the trail.  Jeffery hopped over it on the way up, but not on the way back down.

Just love how the trail shows itself.

Up through The Glen.  Won't have to do as much brush trimming as in the past few years, but already, Roger has done a little.

Jeffery on the approach to Ponderosa Knoll.  He had done some trail clipping a few weeks back.

Enjoying our lunch, and wishing we were brave/fool enough to go further, but the heat of this zone and the obstacles deterred us.  We were overjoyed just to find the bench, the sign and the Ponderosa still intact.

Spider webs coated the base of this tree.

At the foot of this plant barrel, which is at the foot of my stairs at my house, a tiny red drip of retardant remains after the planes flew right over our heads while fighting the fire last week.

It's a message they sent us.

On August 1, we decided to go hike along Hwy 70 down to Storrie

This is the highway's edge right where the Tobin Trail begins

Lots of debris lines the highway, which will require cleanup, which means lots of travel delays for a long time to come.

Burnt hillside shows how tumbling rocks could easily become a problem on the highway below.

The entire edge of the road has been blackened.

Jeffery enters an area hit hard by the retardant drops.

Tree coated with retardant.

This photo shows how where the retardant falls, the fire doesn't burn as devastatingly.

It's like being on the other side of the Looking Glass.

Looking towards Rock Crest Camp

This is one of the oaks in Oak Alley along the Tobin Trail, seen from below

Retardant guardrail.  Looking towards Tobin.

Looking towards Rock Crest and Storrie.

Site data sign.  Tobin has one, too.

Rock Crest survived.

Jeffery looks up Colby Creek, which is bone dry.  The bridge on the Tobin Trail crosses this creek higher up, but the bridge, Roger reports, has been burned.

Colby Creek is scorched terribly.

Big Rock got burned bad!

Perhaps this is why our phones don't work?

That's a Big Tree down as we near the Storrie Bridge

Here it is from the other side.

We crossed the Storrie Bridge (fear response is trained into us), and found that Storrie was okay, too.

Hard to see, but this is a view of the deck by the fish pond at Storrie, with the back-fire scar right beside and around it, yet greenery remains!!

No cars coming at the moment, so Run!  Okay, stop and take a photo.

Guardians are posted all along.  At Storrie, we saw them doing mop up.  At Tobin, they are cutting trees above us and walking patrols.

This too shall pass.

The old familiar view, seen for the first time in "clear air".

The view of Blowout Creek shows a tree-less mountain-scape.

Zoom up.  It reminds me of my Erik Weber framed photo print "After the Burn".  See the little smoker?

Map of the areas I'm watching as of Aug 1.

View from Wheelock Rd. on the way to Oroville on my most recent escape from the canyon.

Ah, blue skies!  I had to come almost to Marysville to get free of the miasma of smoke.

Henceforth, my posts will be about Recovery, and there will be other more pleasant events shown as we begin to go forward.  However, our County,as well as Lassen, Tehama, and Butte Counties are still fighting to keep Dixie at bay, so I will not be "giddy" for quite some time to come.

A moment of Honor and Sorrow for the August 4th loss of the town of Greenville, and the August 5th loss of the hamlet of Canyon Dam, both beloved areas to the north of us in Plumas County.  We also lost most homes in Indian Falls, and as I write this, our poor neighbors in Indian Valley are awaiting the fire's decision regarding their fate.  

We are fine in Tobin, comparatively.  We are grateful for our survival, and now, we are ready to get to work to help our entire county and beyond make sense of the losses, and regain our health and sanity.

Thank you all for listening to my stories.  Bless you all.  As the saying goes, STAY SAFE.