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!