by D.A. Edwards
As many of you know California is pretty much burning up at the moment and fire season is a long way from peaking (usually in mid-September or so.) This shot is a memorial to the Cache Creek Wilderness, one of my favorite photo locations, which is ground zero for the Rocky Fire which doubled in size last night to 50,000 acres and is less than 10% contained at the moment. The entire wilderness is essentially being burned to the soil.
You can imagine from this photo how an intense fire with high winds will effect these grass, chaparral and oak wildlands in these steep drainages. While the grass and chaparral will come back fairly quickly, the slow-growing, statuesque oaks are gone for at least the rest of my lifetime and, based on what I've read, are not likely to get re-established here without the climate change pedulum swinging back the other way. Yes, it is part of nature's cycle but still....
I'm seriously bummed out about this. I've made over half a dozen trips into this area in the last 3 years, maybe never again. 
Comments
11 commentsThis is a lovely image. The intensity of the hues creates an engaging picture.
Sad story out your way, but a sweet shot. Nice intimate feel, especially like the window created by the tree to the distant rock wall.
This is wonderfully calm and inviting, Dave. One thing to keep in mind is that fires often leave unburned areas even in their midst, so although it will be drastically different a year from now, there may still be reasons to visit. Having said that, I'll also admit that there are quite a few spots in Yellowstone that still look bad from the fires in 1988...
Great shot, makes me curious about those rocks in the distance. Lovely autumn colors also. Sad story though, but unfortunately, that's indeed nature.
Real nice image and what a loss!! So sad to lose this area as it was.
Very nice image of oak woodland, Dave. The colors and textures are excellent. I hope this survives.
I just looked at the Cal Fire site--the Rocky Fire is 60,000 ac and is 12% contained. 24 residences and 26 outbuildings destroyed; 3 structures damaged. Thrs no estimate on full containment.
I am a retired fire fighter, and have been up close and personal with some of these ragers--I even had to 'cut and run', once. The fire fighters always do their best--and more!
--P
Preston, hats off to you... I can't imagine fighting a wildfire in that heat with all of that gear on and heavy protective clothing, hiking up and down steep terrain all day, cutting lines, risking a grisly death, etc. As you know, these fires are never really extinquished, they can only be contained until they burn themselves out.
I've been waiting for an updated map from Cal Fire to see if any of the Cache Creek Wilderness has escaped but there are so many new structures out there these days in the adjoining lands that the resources have to be dedicated to trying to save the folks that build out there where fire was always inevitable. It is logical, of course, that wilderness will be sacrificed. I would not want to rebuild in a desolate moonscape but that's just me.
Nice photo, sad story, Dave. It's a shame to loose the places we love to fire. My wood shop was located about a hundred miles from the Yellowstone fires in 1988. Some days there were huge mushroom clouds visible on the horizon, like nuclear bombs had gone off. On other days, smoke from the fires would limit our visibility to less than 100ft. Seems like a long time ago, but the reminders are everywhere in the Park.
This is a very fine capture of an ecosystem which folks who live in the bay area are very familiary with. I think you've captured it's essence very well here. This must be a late summer image because in April/May that grass is very green. We've all learned to love our golden summer fields. You have chosen to boost the greens of the oak leaves and that does add color but they're never quite like that. I might also have tried to drop the luminosity on that bottom grass to give them a bit more texture and color, even though this is how this really look in midday.
BTW, a couple of years I drove through a section of Yosemite that had just been burned and the photographic possibilities were endless. There was still smoke rising from a few trees and the entire landscape was a study of black tones mixed with gray ashes.
Yes, Igor, I might have boosted the greens a bit much... it's always been my favorite color so I frequently do that.
Beautifully composed. The colors balance perfectly.