GraniteMtn

GraniteMtn t1_iub5irk wrote

Reply to Tells of fire; old and new. Highway 2 [OC]. by Jimmy_Scrambles

Many (most?) people don't realize past burns are necessary to prevent spread of forest fires.

After years of Forestry practices of stopping all forest fires, large swaths of timber became tinder boxes, leading to enormous forest fires.

When fires are allowed to burn (with the exception of populated areas), a patchwork of new/old timberlands forms, and fires within old forests don't spread across new (recently burned) lands.

Also, burned forest lands are an ecosystem unto themselves, providing more diversity of plants and animals.

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GraniteMtn t1_irph9bb wrote

Reply to Upper Cathedral Lake, Pasayten Wilderness by AliveAndThenSome

Stayed there a couple of nights 15 years ago (time flies). We took a rest day and day-hiked for one day beyond the lake - maybe the mountain in the background, I don't recall now.

One event I do recall is having to get across a large crack in the mountain near the top, it must have been 150 feet deep, with width at the top being about 4 feet; the other side was about 3 feet higher. Too awkward to jump, also too far to reach the other side's handholds without leaning out to the point of moving your center of gravity over the crack. After watching 4 of the other people in the group YOLO, I asked to be rudimentarily roped in (under armpits, no harness). There was no way I was going to move my center of gravity over that crack under faith that I'd get a handhold on the other side, or my feet wouldn't slip out from under me. I did it with a rope, but it remains one of those re-occurring PTSD life moments for me.

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