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Tagged: winter

Winter on the Chicago Lakes Trail

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Why did the #easttroublesomefire burn so fast and Why did the #easttroublesomefire burn so fast and furious on Oct 21? The answer is behind these elk. Beetle kill. And, yes, also a perfect storm of weather conditions. But the fuel of possibly the worst beetle kill forests in the state was the tipping point. The forest up here is unfortunately unhealthy. I hope someone smarter than I has a solution for this problem that plagues our state...the San Juan’s and the Gores have horrendous beetle kill forests as well. Assuming the fires didn’t burn so hot so as to kill the soil, these forests in time....looong time...will recover healthier and happier, not in my lifetime though. #kawuneechevalley #rmnp #beetlekill
Places gone. Another view that the #easttroublesom Places gone. Another view that the #easttroublesomefire stole that will never look the same in our lifetime. This is the headwaters of the Colorado River, swollen with snowmelt looking toward the Never Summer range in the background. I used to be able to run to this spot from the front door of the cabin. The novelty of the tiny baby Colorado River, her clear water, not yet red from the desert never grows old to me. Each quiet drop not knowing it’s destiny to form some of the biggest and most intimidating rapids in the world, and help shape one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon. (And yes, to also get locked behind dams and wasted in casino fountains in Las Vegas - but that’s another natural disaster for another day). Recovery donations to residents in need and the land can be made to @grand.foundation #coloradoriver #rockymountainnationalpark #rmnp #kawuneechevalley #neversummerrange
If Grand Lake has a mascot, here he is. Though we If Grand Lake has a mascot, here he is. Though we humans live there, these guys really call the shots. In 3 days alone this summer I saw 29 different moose - if that gives you an idea of how many there are in the area. I desperately hope they all escaped the fire - because they are beloved, and one of the reasons I fell in love with this place. This is Harold, (or Hal if you’re feeling casual) probably the most famous Columbine Lake community resident. He hates big dogs, he likes lounging in the lake, and I’ve never seen such a giant and SILENT animal. Many times I’d be on a run, or walking the dogs and be startled to find this dude just standing there like a silent statue suddenly right next to me (as having been charged by a moose in the past, and seeing my life flash in front of my eyes - I’d always have a slight heart attack) or the night I thought the dogs were barking at #FionatheFox and I was completely startled to find this guys giant mug staring in our backdoor. Everyone in the community has their moose stories - and it’s kinda the small talk on the street “moose with babies around the corner!” “You see any moose up ahead?” “I saw a moose earlier and...”. We love our moose. So here’s a nod to our giant neighbors, hoping they made it out and find their way home. Also a nod to the @grandlake_golfcourse which is very close to our place and suffered likely tremendous damage. #easttroublesomefire #grandlakecolorado #grandlake #columbinelakecolorado #moose
I’m sorry for your loss. Here is a piece of your I’m sorry for your loss. Here is a piece of your national park land that is now lost. A scene that will never be what it was again in our lifetimes.
Most of you, unfortunately, have never laid eyes on the Kawuneeche Valley, on Grand Lake, on the Never Summer Range, possibly never on Rocky Mountain National Park, or even Colorado. Ive been thinking a lot about how I can help people understand what is happening here. How can I help people to care about recovering what is being lost in this fire (and all of the fires across the west), and to care about protecting what remains? Because you should care, because it’s yours. What I lost is replaceable fortunately. And while some here are losing their homes, lives, dreams, livelihoods, while the wildlife is losing the land that sustains them - YOU ARE LOSING TOO. And what we are all losing can’t be replaced. This is the tragedy that has been keeping me up at night. Maybe you never experienced the magic of these mountains and landscapes, and now you never will. Your kids never will. This is a loss of connection and possibility and awe. 
I’m going to be posting photos of the places gone in the upcoming weeks, because I want you to know the things and places we can’t rebuild. I’m also researching organizations that are going to be working on the recovery of the land and animals, as well as preserving what remains. When I figure this out, I’m going to be selling prints to both benefit these organizations - and to give people a memory of a magical place that is no more. In the meantime you can help the community and residents in need by donating to the grandfoundation.com. #EastTroublesomeFire #rockymountainnationalpark
In some good news, it snowed beautifully today aro In some good news, it snowed beautifully today around coloRADo. It helped the firefighters, it quieted the fire, it gave coloRADo the first real precipitation in nearly 2 months. So needed today. Currently -2 degrees...Duke Fox and the other animals I saw today were not as thrilled about the weather as the rest of us are.🥶 #DUKEFOX #coloRADo #snowday #easttroublesomefire #cameronpeakfire
Thinking of you, Fiona. So many tears for you. I k Thinking of you, Fiona. So many tears for you. I keep replaying and replaying and replaying the video here - from 5:59 PM on Oct 21. Our last glimpse into the world around our cabin, which was Fiona, looking frantic and fearful, and gulping water. I can tell she was preparing to flee...and as I have since learned, unbeknownst to us at the time, flames were probably already visible to her in the moment and rushing in. And more ominous, the power went off during this video. I’d like to think her making herself visible right then as our last memory is a sign or message - of her saavy survival rather than a goodbye. Hoping more than anything that even if we show up to a pile of ashes where it once stood...that there are fox prints moving through them. ✨ 🦊✨#FionatheFox #EastTroublesomeFire
*Not my photos - credit to John Schenk* of the sce *Not my photos - credit to John Schenk* of the scene in Grand Lake when the evacuation orders went out on on Wednesday night. Total nightmare. Sadly from these views I can tell that the fire had already moved through our area when they were shot. #EastTroublesomeFire #grandlakecolorado
The night before last, the #EastTroublesomeFire ra The night before last, the #EastTroublesomeFire raged through Grand Lake, and likely burned our beloved cabin - what had become our part-time home, and full-time heart. Luckily we and our animal family are safe, but despite that, there is so much loss. While the likely loss of the cabin is tragic, its not really about the cabin. It never was. Its about the place, it was always the place. It was the fox den under the house and the real owner of the land, beautiful Fiona the Fox and her babies that would play on our deck - who I imagine didn’t survive. It was herds of hundreds of elk, whose bugles would serenade me in the morning as I walked the dogs. It was the moose that would look in our windows and drink from our bird bath. The bears that would wander through at night. It was the headwaters of the Colorado River that I would run along everyday, always being amazed that the quaint steam of water would go on to carve the the Grand Canyon. The bald eagles that have been nesting along the river for eons. It was Rocky Mountain National Park just .5 mile away, and the countless animals that lived in the Kawuneechee Valley between the Never Summers and the Continental Divide…the most wildlife rich area in the contiguous US outside of the Yellowstone area. All of that can’t be rebuilt. In my lifetime it will never be close to what it was. I spent all yesterday crying and feeling like I might throw up - crying for the incomprehensible number of animals that died that night, for the animals that continue to die and be displaced as I type this. For the loss of human life we’re just beginning to find out about. For the loss of homes, of livelihoods, of history, and others dreams and connections to this place. I will share more photos in the upcoming days and weeks of pristine, special, places that are forever gone. I’ll share more updates as I learn more. I’ll share soon how you can help the humans the animals and the land recover…YOUR land, as most of the loss is public lands. Your loss as much as mine. I’m so sorry for YOUR loss…and what you are still losing. Heres some photos and videos from a little corner on a dirt road that used to be magic.
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