Icicle Fire Observations

[Uncle_Tricky]

Spent a couple days climbing in the burnt over area on the N. side of the Icicle last week. At JY crag, it appeared that the fire had swept down over the rock like an avalanche. All the uphill sides of the trees had been charred to 5 or 6 feet high, but many survived, including some of the douglas maples that provide welcome shade at the bottom.

 

Someone was kind enough to replace the crispy, melted slings at the anchors. Unfortunatly they used neon orange webbing as a replacement, and simply tossed the burnt old slings into the bushes. (yes, I packed em out)

 

The next day my friend M and I decided to check out Condor Buttress. After taking a bad head-first lead fall a couple years ago, she was ready to get back on the sharp end.

 

The walk up passed through a variety of burn zones. In some places, the fire had crowned out and everything was torched. There were large holes in the ground where the fire had burned down into the root systems of big old trees, leaving nothing but a black crater where the tree used to be.

 

In many places, the smaller granite boulders along the trail appeared to have split open from the heat of the fire, revealing clean, white, freshly-cleaved surfaces. Interesting phenomenon.

 

In others spots, the fire burned less intensely and some of the trees have survived. Everywhere there were signs of new life. Morels, Avalanche Lilies, Chocolate Lilies, Blue Bells, Ballhead Waterleaf, Lupine, Fringe Cup and Rock Rose were some of the species currently blooming in the burnt areas.

 

The route itself was entertaining, with the 5th pitch being particularly fun. As others have noted, it would still be plenty safe and more exciting with many fewer bolts. Still, it was a good confidence builder for M, who got her first leads in a long while on well-protected pitches of 5.4, 5.6, and 5.8. I took the 5.9 and 5.10 pitches. Halfway through the 6th pitch, the raindrops started falling, so we rapped off and headed to town for a beerverage.

Tick count: a measly 1

 

[ 05-05-2002, 01:48 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]