Remembering a Fall Canoe Trip

At the beginning of October Andy and I set out with our good friends Dave and Nancy to explore the footprint of the Cavity Lake Fire.

We had a wonderful time. These are still the woods that we love. When the 1999 wind storm occurred, we were afraid the woods would never be the same. We were right. The thing about the wilderness is that it NEVER is exactly the same.
I believe this blowdown area photo was taken in one of the Kek ponds.

We visited many lakes that were touched by the fire, but the impact was minimal. In this photo taken on Little Sag, it is hard to make out the burned areas, the brown fall colors, and the green areas. The fire was like a mosaic on Little Sag---some of the northern shoreline was affected, most of the lake was not.

There were a few lakes—Peter, Jasper, Paulson (Jap) that were burned. Initially we quietly mourned the loss of the trees on these favorite lakes. As we explored, we found ourselves amazed at the ability of nature to recreate itself---it truly felt like spring -even in October. Some of these areas are likely to be closed for camping next year—we won’t know until further evaluation in the Spring. Definitely a sense of renewal and rebirth.