Views of East Troublesome Fire

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434stonemill
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Views of East Troublesome Fire

Post by 434stonemill »

I had traveled to Oregon for Easter weekend. I love the flight back as its path crosses over the northern part of RMNP as you begin descent into DIA. Back in October I also was on this flight as it passed over the East Troublesome Fire, and could see the flames below. Seeing it this time, showed just how large an area it covered, as the snow clearly delineated the burnt trees from the unburnt.

First pic is of Parkview Mountain (from the north looking south), which was on the northwest boundary of the fire. You can clearly see the forest on the east face is completely burnt, whereas the northwestern side is still intact.


Parkview Mtn.JPG
Parkview Mtn.JPG (188.1 KiB) Viewed 2423 times

Further east, looking down the Colorado River valley as it flows out of RMNP towards Grand Lake, you can see the fire line.
(Sorry for having to tilt your head, can't seem to get the picture to upload with correct orientation.)


Colorado River Valley.JPG
Colorado River Valley.JPG (157.21 KiB) Viewed 2423 times

And then into RMNP and the slopes of Mt Patterson are completely burnt out.


RMNP.JPG
RMNP.JPG (200.88 KiB) Viewed 2423 times

I found it striking and thought would share.
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434stonemill
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Re: Views of East Troublesome Fire

Post by 434stonemill »

Oh and some views of Longs Peak as well.
Longs 1.JPG
Longs 1.JPG (247.24 KiB) Viewed 2421 times
Longs - Diamond.JPG
Longs - Diamond.JPG (198.57 KiB) Viewed 2421 times
Longs 2.JPG
Longs 2.JPG (135.32 KiB) Viewed 2421 times
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randalmartin
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Re: Views of East Troublesome Fire

Post by randalmartin »

Really sad looking at such a huge swath of land that will never fully recover in my lifetime. Probably takes 50 years for severe burning like that.
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habaceeba
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Re: Views of East Troublesome Fire

Post by habaceeba »

randalmartin wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 1:30 pm Really sad looking at such a huge swath of land that will never fully recover in my lifetime. Probably takes 50 years for severe burning like that.
If you go down to the Hayman fire burn area from 2002, there are places that have not recovered at all and that was 20 years ago so 50 years might be too conservative of an estimate for recovery. Although Hayman and ET fire are likely different elevations and biomes.
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Re: Views of East Troublesome Fire

Post by jibler »

yes thank you for the pics

I have been trying to find 'live satellite images' on google to no avail

I would like to see what the heck is going on up there! from all these fires.

I'm most curious about what everything looks like NE of Kremmling. for how fast it blew thru that area - maybe its not so bad? or burned to a crisp?


if only there were a news organization around here with some cameras and maybe a drone?
Keep looking up - Jack Horkheimer
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Re: Views of East Troublesome Fire

Post by prairiechicken »

jibler wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:10 pm I'm most curious about what everything looks like NE of Kremmling. for how fast it blew thru that area - maybe its not so bad? or burned to a crisp?
From what it looks like, there is little left in the way of surviving trees. The BAER assessment the USFS and NPS put out indicates that the soil in that area is mostly intact though- very good news for recovery.
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7267/

Also check out this for "live" satellite imagery:
https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/
habaceeba wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:41 am
randalmartin wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 1:30 pm Really sad looking at such a huge swath of land that will never fully recover in my lifetime. Probably takes 50 years for severe burning like that.
If you go down to the Hayman fire burn area from 2002, there are places that have not recovered at all and that was 20 years ago so 50 years might be too conservative of an estimate for recovery. Although Hayman and ET fire are likely different elevations and biomes.
I'm optimistic that the forest can recover a lot quicker than Hayman because lodgepole pines are adapted to large-scale crown fires, whereas the ponderosa ecosystem of low elevations in the Front Range is not. The soil burn intensity in the Hayman fire was also much higher than the East Troublesome.
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habaceeba
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Re: Views of East Troublesome Fire

Post by habaceeba »

prairiechicken wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:56 pm I'm optimistic that the forest can recover a lot quicker than Hayman because lodgepole pines are adapted to large-scale crown fires, whereas the ponderosa ecosystem of low elevations in the Front Range is not. The soil burn intensity in the Hayman fire was also much higher than the East Troublesome.
I wasn't here when the Hayman fire happened so thanks for the details. I'm sure the hotter the fire, the more soil damage and therefore much slower recovery too.
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