Even though I'd prefer not to have some of my favorite mountain landscapes burn - especially on the massive scale of the fires we had this past summer - I find myself drawn now to these areas in a new way. In fact, I discover a stark, desolate kind of beauty that wasn't present before. Some philosophers would call it "The Sublime." On this particular day in my hike up Hewlett Gulch, I was stunned by the beauty I encountered there. Here are some of the things that drew my attention:
Doug-fir cones roasted to a bright, fluorescent orange by the fire, as though they still contain some of the original flames bursting out from inside.
A whole meadow full of new Ball Cacti growing on top of the fire-scorched portion of the plants. Imagine what that meadow will look like next Spring, when all of those cacti sport hot-pink blooms!
A sunflower blossoming against the backdrop of an entire hillside blackened and reduced to sticks.
Areas like the one in this photo, where the sky now seems even more intensely blue than before.
I am excited to hike into these areas next Spring, when crocus-like Pasqueflowers will cover some of the freshly-burned meadows with a carpet of purple-blue!
Photo: Hewlett - High Park Burn, Poudre Canyon, CO; October 12, 2012
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