Black Forest Fisheye

Last time I went to the Black Forest Park, I took my fisheye lens along - you saw one of the shots posted a couple of days ago. You can still see the devastation from the wildfire a few years ago - that will take decades to completely heal.

Nevertheless there's plenty of natural beauty to be found here (and of course my dogs always come with me on my walks and hikes and sometimes end up in the photos).

And here's a final shot, taken at one of the park's pavilions looking straight up, a classic fisheye shot.

Our World Tuesday

Black Forest Park

One of my favorite nearby places is Black Forest Regional Park.

It's 385 acres of rolling hills and forests.

Unfortunately it was scarred by a serious wildfire a couple of years ago (a fire which destroyed almost 500 homes and killed two people), but it's still a wonderful place to go for a walk with the dogs.

It's even got a couple of ponds.

I'm sure I'll be back many more times.

Our World Tuesday

Black Forest Park

I've posted from the local Black Forest Regional Park before, and I'm sure I'll do so again because it's easy to get to and is rather pretty.

The dogs love it too.

Unfortunately parts of it were burned in a massive wildfire a couple of years ago, but it won't stop us from visiting.

Our World Tuesday

Firewood

When I was hiking in the Black Forest Regional Park, I found these pieces of wood from last year's wildfire.

Click on the wildfire link to see more photos related to that fire. Or visit Our World Tuesday to see lots of different things.

Black Forest Park Post-Fire

Those of you who have followed my blog will know there was a terrible wildfire in my area each of the last two summers; each destroyed hundreds of homes and thousands of acres. The one last year burned within a few streets of our house. Here are some more photos from my walk in the nearby Black Forest Regional Park, parts of which burned in last year's fire.

The burned area can be dangerous because in places the roots burned away, leaving the trees subject to falling at any time. However, where I entered the park (in the far southwest corner) no evidence of the fire was visible.

It didn't take long to reach areas showing signs of ground fire; these trees survived.

Walking further into the burn zone, there is a mixture of destroyed trees and those that survived.

But deeper into the fire zone, everything burned. These areas will take decades to regenerate.

You can see new vegetation shooting up through the ground.

I guess it did make the Pikes Peak views easier to see.

Our World Tuesday

Signs, Signs

More Black Forest Trees

Here's another photo taken in the nearby Black Forest Regional Park, which is unfortunately too well-named since last year's wildfire.

Lew asked me last week whether these trees would sprout new growth. They will not - they were killed in last year's wildfire and will eventually topple. There is some growth on the forest floor, but it will be decades before trees of this size have replaced all the dead ones. And this is my Skywatch Friday entry for the week.

Burned Trees

They finally opened Black Forest Regional Park; much of it burned in last year's wildfire and it took a long time to make the trails safe. Here's a shot of a couple of burned trees. I've got more to post from this walk. (Click on the Wildfire link to see more from that fire.)

Skywatch Friday

Terrifying Skywatch

This was the view from our house yesterday afternoon. It's a classic pyrocumulus cloud from the local wildfire.

And here was the view as we evacuated this afternoon.

Homes were burning a few streets from us this afternoon. We're all safe, but I won't be responding to comments on the blog this week. Visit Skywatch Friday for more sky photos.

Scenes From Drive Home

There's a wildfire burning near us, we're on the edge of the evacuation zone. Here are some photos I took driving home today with an old Cybershot.

After last year's disastrous Waldo Canyon fire this area doesn't need another wildfire. Wish us luck. If you leave a comment on this post I will not be able to respond.

Destruction

While I was volunteering at that Mountain Shadows concert a couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to see some of the destruction from the wildfire. In places it's like nothing happened.

And 50 yards up the street you see what used to be a neighborhood.

Some of the scenes were surreal - here's something I saw on the sidewalk, a half-burned page from a book. How?

This is an unfortunate part of Our World this summer. And I'm stretching to make it work for Tina's PicStory's theme of I, "incredible destruction."

Mountain Shadows Community

I was a volunteer at a concert yesterday for the community of Mountain Shadows which was so hard-hit by the recent wildfire (almost 350 homes were lost). The sign below is based on the Colorado state flag.

It was held in a local park, and I think the several hundred people there had a good time. Several area bands performed, vendors were selling various delicious foods, and there was a really positive spirit in the air.

Slowly the area is starting to recover. Trees are green where they aren't burned, and houses are starting to be rebuilt - I know one family that lost their home and they are hoping to be back in a new house by Christmas!

The atmosphere was festive and fun.

And there was plenty for the kids to do with face painting and this wonderful lady making huge bubbles for them!

This is an early Our World Tuesday post. I have quite a few more photos from this event which I'll post over the next few weeks. All today's photos were taken in the park at the concert.

Wildfire Results

We were finally allowed back into our office this week after it was professionally restored and declared fit for people (it survived the wildfire but had some serious smoke damage). Here are some photos I took. First are a couple on the drive in - in the first one you can clearly see where the fire was stopped on the mountains (notice the line where everything to the left is blackened). I pulled over to take these as I didn't want to try using the camera on a busy highway at 75mph (120kph).

Here's a closeup of the worst-affected part of the city, at the base of the charred ridge.

This ridgeline is directly behind the office and you can see burnt trees.

The fire came onto the office property, as these photos are right next to the parking lot. Notice the houses in this shot, their fences were burned down.

 I don't think this tree in the parking lot will live, too much was burned.

And the real toll - all that's left of this house is the foundation, and you can see the remaining stumps of what used to be a fence for another house (that survived) in the foreground. This is right behind the office.

Several people where I work lost their homes in this fire. It's very strange how some trees are still green in the middle of all the devastation. Hopefully this is my last wildfire post for a while; visit Our World Tuesday to see wetter parts of the world.

Thursday's Wildfire Update

The fire is officially at 18,500 acres (approximately 29 square miles, or 75 square km). According to the mayor it has destroyed hundreds of homes; a more accurate count may be available later today. Containment is still at 5%.

These photos were taken early yesterday evening overlooking the Air Force Academy and the far northwest side of the city. You can see the fire getting into a housing development in this next one.

This last one gives a sense of how much is burning - literally miles of the front range around Colorado Springs.

At this time our house is still safe. Tomorrow I'll have a more normal, cheery post to put up for Scenic Sunday.

Nighttime Wildfire Photos

Rumors are that 100 homes may have been destroyed yesterday. Here are a couple of photos I took yesterday evening, both with a telephoto lens. The first one shows the fire beyond the ridge. The photo is straight out of the camera, no editing or special effects.

Here's a photo of a neighborhood from another vantage point. You can see several fires burning. This one is cropped.

Today's supposed to be another hot, windy day.

Wildfire Update

The wildfire on the west side of Colorado Springs got into the city this afternoon and an unknown number of houses have burned. I'm watching houses burn near my office on live TV. 32,0000 people have been evacuated including many friends and coworkers. I want to thank everyone for their concern - we live miles away from this fire and our house isn't in any danger from it at this time, but here's a photo from this afternoon from our deck, showing the plume of smoke rising and drifting over our house. That's all smoke - at times all I could see was smoke.

This is my sad entry for Skywatch Friday this week.

Wildfire

There's a nasty wildfire on the west side of our city. It's burned 2,500 acres, and over 7,000 people have been evacuated, including some within Colorado Springs city limits. We can only hope that the weather forecast is wrong - it's supposed to be a windy day with record heat.

This photo was taken near our house, which is on the other side of town from the fire. The office where I work is within the evacuation zone.

Smokey Sun

I'd planned on a Seattle Skywatch this week, but these photos are more topical. Our skies have been very hazy due to smoke from wildfires in Arizona and Colorado - bad enough that they issued health advisories for a couple of days. I took these first two shots last Thursday at sunset, and the smoke was thick enough it was easy to smell.

And this last photo was Saturday's sunrise, when the sun was a faded red. It almost looked like the moon!

Hopefully we'll get some precipitation and get these fires under control, but the forecast continues to be dry for the next week. For more sunny, cloudy, and smokey skies, visit the always fascinating Skywatch Friday meme.