Into The Burn Zone

Sunrise at Cub Lake. This was my first visit to photograph Cub Lake after the Fern Lake Fire. The scenery has changed since the fire but Cub Lake remain a place of beauty. Even in destruction, beauty remains in nature. Technicial Details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 24mm TS-E F3.5 L II
Sunrise at Cub Lake. This was my first visit to photograph Cub Lake after the Fern Lake Fire. The scenery has changed since the fire but Cub Lake remain a place of beauty. Even in destruction, beauty remains in nature. Technicial Details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 24mm TS-E F3.5 L II
Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park have been feeling the effects of a prolonged drought for over a decade now. Combine that with the pine beetle outbreak that has been ravaging are evergreen forests and you quickly comprehend the powder keg our forests and Rocky are sitting on.

Up until October 9th, 2012 it had been not a question of if a major forest fire, but when. Significant fires had broken out in close proximity Rocky Mountain National Park prior to the 9th of October but the park had been spared from a large fire within its boundaries.

Everyone’s fears were realized on October 9th, when what is believed to have been an illegal campfire on the rocky ledges above The Pool and Big Thompson sparked what would become known as the Fern Lake Fire.

The fire spread quickly through the rocky and difficult terrain just west of Moraine Park in Forest Canyon. While the fire was the most significant blaze in Rocky Mountain National Park since the ‘Ouzel Fire’ was sparked by lighting on August 9th, 1978 burning almost 1100 acres in the Wild Basin area of Rocky. The vestiges of the Ouzel Fire are still very evident even today in Wild Basin, nearly thirty five years later.

The charred remains of a spruce tree make for and interesting subject for photography near Cub Lake. The metallic like sheen and patterns made for a reptillian like resemblence. Technicial Details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 100mm Macro F2.8 L IS
The charred remains of a spruce tree make for and interesting subject for photography near Cub Lake. The metallic like sheen and patterns made for a reptillian like resemblence. Technicial Details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 100mm Macro F2.8 L IS

While the thought of the Fern Lake fire burning in Rocky was disturbing, most of us figured it’s start so late in the season would cause it to be quickly extinguished by the early snows that typically cover the high country by October.

The snows remained absent through much of October and November but firefighters had been able to keep the Fern Lake fire contained. Some hot spots remained here and there in the rocky crags of Forest Canyon but everyone was confident the snows would soon be coming to finish the firefighters work.

By December 1st the Fern Lake fire had mostly become and afterthought. High winds during the night raked Rocky and the Estes Valley on December 1st. The nearly dormant Fern Lake Fire exploded once again with the help of the high winds.

Within a few hours the fire had sprinted through Moraine Park and had made it all the way to Bear Lake Road. If the fire jumped Bear Lake Road, there was nothing to stop it from running outside the park boundaries and right into the town of Estes Park.

Another photographic study of the side of an evergreen near Cub Lake. The outer bark has been charred by the fire and mostly flaked off exposing the redish hue of the inner bark of the tree. Technical Details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 100mm Macro F2.8 IS L
Another photographic study of the side of an evergreen near Cub Lake. The outer bark has been charred by the fire and mostly flaked off exposing the redish hue of the inner bark of the tree. Technical Details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 100mm Macro F2.8 IS L

Fortunately, Bear Lake Road acted as a natural fire break. Firefighters were able to setup a fire line at Bear Lake Road and prevent the fire from moving any further east. The snows eventually came and although the Fern Lake Fire smoldered in small areas late into winter, it was finally put down by heavy spring snows.

3500 acres later, the Fern Lake Fire stands as the largest wildfire to burn through Rocky Mountain National Park in modern times. The damage from the fire is significant in the Forest Canyon, Cub Lake and Moraine Park area of the park.

Like all things in nature, wildfires are part of the cycle and though destructive are a necessary means to refresh and renew old forests. The burn area will not look the same during our lifetimes. In the long run however, the burn areas will be healthier and will eventually return to their former beauty.

Last week I took my first hike up to the Cub Lake post fire. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I knew the area around Cub Lake had taken on some serious fire damage. Cub Lake has always been a favorite place in the park to photograph for me. The last few years however, the area around Cub Lake had been inundated pine beetle damage. To be frank, the trees around Cub Lake were already in transition before the fire burned through the area and Cub Lake through still spectacular has lost some of its beauty due to the loss of many of its trees.

Wildfires have a positive effect on the areas they burn out. They act as a fertalizer and help to renew the soil, grasses and trees. The blackened soil in Moraine Park is already producing vibrant green grasses and wildflowers will be budding through the burn area in the next few weeks. Technicial Details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 70-300mm F4-5.6 L
Wildfires have a positive effect on the areas they burn out. They act as a fertalizer and help to renew the soil, grasses and trees. The blackened soil in Moraine Park is already producing vibrant green grasses and wildflowers will be budding through the burn area in the next few weeks. Technicial Details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 70-300mm F4-5.6 L

As I neared Cub Lake, the fire damage became more evident. Pines and aspens were scorched along the creek and trail near the outlet to Cub lake. Arriving at Cub Lake it was humbling. To look upon the landscape and see the burnt tree’s and ash all around the lake and hillsides felt almost like being on another planet.

I took some time to wander around the lake and within the forest just before sunrise. Sad as it was to see the changes that had occurred due to the wildfire, I could see beauty in what was left behind. Fascinating patterns had formed on the burnt out trees, and the charcoal stumps and logs flittered with metallic like colors and patterns.

After shooting sunrise at the lake, I headed up into the hillsides to photograph the shapes, textures and patterns along left over from the fire. Change is difficult, but it only took a little while before I was enjoying the experience and documenting the changes.

Change is part of mother nature’s bigger picture. I certainly wont see the area around Cub Lake rejuvenate in my lifetime, but I feel privileged enough to have witnessed both the before and after effects of the fire. Cub Lake is still a beautiful location to visit and photograph just make sure to keep an open mind when wandering trailside.