Hampton Fire Aftermath-Early August 2014

 In early August we went out one afternoon to see what Hampton Creek looked like after a recent wildfire. The clouds had settled over the tops of the mountains.

The road down into the canyon showed us our first burned trees.


We stopped a few times to take a closer look. The yucca had burned, but should be back soon. One of the most interesting features was a rock-lined ditch I had never noticed before.

This ditch continued a long way, across springs, through the trees. The story I heard is that a one-armed World War I veteran lined the ditch to get more water down the canyon, so it wouldn't sink into the alluvium.

That sure would have been a lot of work!

The other thing that really surprised me was all the springs that were close to the road that I had never noticed before due to the thick vegetation. Now they are much easier to find, and vegetation was already growing again.

We saw a variety of insects, including this charismatic fly. I found the feet particularly interesting.

The springbrook looked orange because apparently that's what color moss turns when it burns.

Up at the old garnet mill site we found the structures still intact.

We also took some time to look at the old equipment, which I had never noticed before.

The trailhead sign had burned and some indication of channeling was evident.

We kept looking for signs of life, and Desert Girl was pleased to find this fresh deer track.

It was an interesting afternoon checking out the burned area. We're going to have to do it again soon because last week a storm cell stalled over the watershed and dumped rain, causing a flash flood that washed away parts of the road. The landscape has changed once again.