In the winter of 1985 I was driving through the Mojave Desert with a friend, talking about our apparent need for new river gear. As we passed the Twenty Nine Palms Marine Base, a man unexpectedly appeared on the side of the road selling used ammo cans. My friend and I laughed wildly and quickly came to realize that the moment was "All In A Days' Karma". This blog contains the occasional ramblings of a died-in-the-wool westerner who loves seeing, understanding, and being alive upon these landscapes. I cherish the moments of bliss and irony that come to all of us as we explore the planet and its residents (and perhaps visitors) in the short time we are here.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Slide Fire Reveals Archaeology Sites

The Slide Fire in northern Arizona is mostly history now but it is still making news for other reasons. The fire caused archaeologists with the Coconino National Forest to work with fire fighters to determine if certain sites should receive protections. An old cabin and railroad were revealed in the process. Read an LA Time article here.

Also, Ted Grussing has taken some really nice aerial photos of the burn. See them below, along with his commentary.



"The fire crews have done an incredible job and while I am normally no fan of prescribed burns the decision to manage this fire really looks like a great decision. A large percentage of the trees in West Fork appear to be in very good condition and only a few cliff faces have been charred leaving no vegetation on them. On the top, the ignited perimeter fires stopped the advance of fires that came over the top and the areas on top that are burned appear to be pretty small over all.

I'm attaching two photos that I shot early this morning of the area.

The first photo titled West Fork was shot from about ten thousand feet msl over the SW end of Long Canyon looking towards the North. Boynton Canyon is just out of sight lower left and Long Canyon extends to the NE to the right of the photo and ends at the mountain ridges; just over the ridges is Oak Creek Canyon, engulfed in smoke. Oak Creek Canyon extends northward on the right side and is marked by the smoke filling the canyon. The smoke line that cuts to the left side of the image is West Fork and the many little canyons and sub canyons of West Fork can be seen as smoke rises above the very deep canyon walls. On the horizon from the left to the right is Sitgreaves Mountain, Kendrick Peak, The San Francisco Peaks and Mt. Elden.

The second photo titled West Fork 1 was shot from the left side of the smoke in the first photo and is looking generally to the NE. This shot was taken from about twelve thousand feet directly over the TFR area. It shows the beauty of West Fork and the mystical beauty enhanced by the residual smoke in the canyons that will be smoldering for some time. Although there are quite a few trees that were damaged the vast majority seem to be in pretty good shape ... when you consider what it looked like last week when it was burning so intensely it seems a miracle that it came out so good."

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)