I took a drive up to Cameron Pass yesterday. I had not been up there since the fire in 2020. With rain and snow the past few days and overcast skies in town, I thought I would find some wintery images. I really don’t venture into the mountains much anymore, preferring the open prairie to my east instead. However, I enjoyed my morning drive up there and back. Wonderful weather up there on the pass with blue sky and temperatures around 40 degrees. The above image is on the way up and shows the Poudre River near its headwaters. The melting snow was a dirty brown at lower elevations where up here it is still clear sparkling water.
This is the open meadow at the top of the pass. You get some idea of the height of those peaks in the distance as the pass I’m shooting from is at 10,249 feet. Plenty of snow so you would not think it was June 1st. Not all that familiar with this area but think the peak in the distance is Mt. Mahler. What a beautiful sky we had that day! There were some cross country skiers enjoying themselves up there.
This area was devastated by the Cameron Peak fire in the late summer of 2020. The fire began on August 13, 2020, and was declared 100% contained on December 2, 2020. In that time period the fire burned 208,663 acres (326 sq mi.). The wildfire was the largest to ever burn in Colorado’s history, and became the first wildfire to surpass 200,000 acres. Not the kind of bragging rights we want. The fire is thought to have a major impact on the wildlife, habitat loss, tree population, and many more elements over the next several years. The burn scar from the fire is expected to last and will take years to recover properly. Many areas within the burn scar burned intensely and will take many years for the native Ponderosa Pines to regrow. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Here is a link to information of the fire. The above was shot taken near Chambers Lake from my car.
4 Comments
Faye
Beautiful scenery! Is there snow here all year?
Monte Stevens
Colorado has 14 named glaciers, all along the Front Range, most significantly in Rocky Mountain National Park. So these glaciers do have snow/frozen snow all year. Snowfall throughout the year does not happen in Colorado. If you’re ever out here in August we can have a snowball fight. I’ll let you win!
Tom Dills
Beautiful scenery, and while I am not a big fan of being in snow, I love to see it as it makes for an awesome scene and great way to spend a day. I remember seeing all the Aspen in their glory when we visited a few years ago. I guess it will be a while before we head back that way in the fall.
I know that snow is not unusual there in June. On our first visit out, in June 2018 (that long ago?!?) we couldn’t get to Pike’s Peak because of a blizzard, and Trail Ridge Road had just opened. It was 95 here yesterday!
Even if the direct cause of the fire was not man-made, the conditions that contributed to the devastation certainly are. I’m currently reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s ‘Ministry for the Future,’ and even though it is fiction, it is fact and historical based and shows an interesting perspective of how we got to this point.
Monte Stevens
I’m more of fan of snow without cold, melts faster. I agree we can find some beautiful scenes with snow. It’s hard for me to comprehend the distance that fire traveled. It spread east, almost to Fort Collins, a distance of about 60 miles. I may have to check out that book. Thanks for the mention.