August 5, 2020 we were allowed to return to Lava Beds National Monument. 70% of the park had been burned, but the upper management is trying to turn this into a positive – a chance to make the park healthier for flora, fauna and visitors. Everyone has duties associated with their position – resources, conservation, etc.
Driving back into the park was stark. At the northern entrance, the line drawn looks like this:
Across the main road from Gillems Camp. Looks like it must have looked after a few years after the lava had cooled.
At Gillems camp, across the highway from the previous picture. My truck and trailer are waiting patiently until we are allowed to leave. Notice there is nothing burned here.
Both pictures taken from the same place. What a difference two weeks makes!
Here is a picture of how close the fire came to the site where I am this summer. I had evacuated before it ever got this close, but it was scary – a few branches of the tree were burned.
A picture of truck and trailer in my site for the summer. No fire on the southern side.
The path to the amphitheater where in a normal year (no fire, no covid) the rangers would be providing weekly night time entertainment. You can see the lumber from all the trees cut down in the immediate area. There are piles of burned wood all over the place.
When we arrived, it was fairly clear, but a thunderstorm made its presence known fairly quickly. The rumbles and grumbles were more obvious than the lightning, but soon that was obvious as well. I was fascinated by the cloud structure during the thunderstorm:
We’re not accepting visitors yet, but once the various groups have done their work, we will open up again. We expect visitors who are going to be interested in how the park looks after this huge, 80,000+ acre fire.
