GaliWalker
Trail Wise!
Have camera, will use.
Posts: 3,677
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Post by GaliWalker on Apr 26, 2021 4:12:05 GMT -8
Two weekends ago when I went to try and hike the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail from Ohiopyle - my go-to section to get a good workout - I was dismayed to find the first 6mi of the 70mi trail closed due to a recent wildfire (just 3dys earlier, on April 8). I'm pretty certain some careless yahoo set it off. Yesterday, I returned and found out the damage for myself: between miles 2.25 and 3 the entire understory had been burnt to a crisp. Not a single fallen leaf or bush remained. Almost all of the beautiful, velvety moss that lines the edges of the trail in that section was either an unsightly brown or charred black. Thankfully, while the trees were scorched on their bottom 2-3ft they looked fine otherwise. I hope they're okay, because the understory is always the first to recover after a fire, based on my experience of hiking through quite a few burnt forests in the West. It was a foggy and misty type of day, especially in the morning. Walking through the burn in those conditions was particularly eerie. A few iPhone shots: My favorite tree on the LHHT - yes I have these - seemed to be okay and in Spring 'bloom', albeit scorched at its baseNot a single fallen leaf left
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GaliWalker
Trail Wise!
Have camera, will use.
Posts: 3,677
Member is Online
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Post by GaliWalker on May 9, 2021 17:19:10 GMT -8
I returned to the Laurel Highlands Trail today after a two week absence. I was elated to see the first signs of greenery poking out through the charred ground. I could even see the trees pushing leaves out at the very top; not as far advanced as the rest of the hillsides, but making a belated start nonetheless.
Unfortunately, on my way back I came upon a freshly downed tree across the trail (which had not been there on my way out) in the burn: it was extremely windy so it may have been a natural occurrence for that tree to fall, but I fear that not all the trees have survived.
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