{"id":2448311,"date":"2019-09-03T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T03:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=312263"},"modified":"2019-09-12T08:50:31","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T14:50:31","slug":"pockets-of-upper-basalt-mountain-are-slow-to-heal-from-lake-christine-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/pockets-of-upper-basalt-mountain-are-slow-to-heal-from-lake-christine-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Pockets of upper Basalt Mountain are slow to heal from Lake Christine Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8399296394019\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-312263-727\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | A stretch of the Basalt Mountain Trail on the upper mountain shows pockets remain mostly lifeless after last summer's Lake Christine Fire.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A stretch of the Basalt Mountain Trail on the upper mountain shows pockets remain mostly lifeless after last summer&#8217;s Lake Christine Fire.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419.jpg\" alt=\"A stretch of the Basalt Mountain Trail on the upper mountain shows pockets remain mostly lifeless after last summer's Lake Christine Fire.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | Fireweed provides a vibrant contrast to the blackened tree trunks on a section of the Basalt Mountain Trail.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Fireweed provides a vibrant contrast to the blackened tree trunks on a section of the Basalt Mountain Trail.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-1.jpg\" alt=\"Fireweed provides a vibrant contrast to the blackened tree trunks on a section of the Basalt Mountain Trail.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | Fireweed and arnaca line a stretch of the Basalt Mountain Trail. It remained in bloom Saturday despite the hot, dry weather of August.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Fireweed and arnaca line a stretch of the Basalt Mountain Trail. It remained in bloom Saturday despite the hot, dry weather of August.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-2.jpg\" alt=\"Fireweed and arnaca line a stretch of the Basalt Mountain Trail. It remained in bloom Saturday despite the hot, dry weather of August.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | A meadow along the Basalt Mountain Trail was unscathed by the Lake Christine Fire last summer. Terrain on the east end of the trail was beyond the fire line.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A meadow along the Basalt Mountain Trail was unscathed by the Lake Christine Fire last summer. Terrain on the east end of the trail was beyond the fire line.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-3.jpg\" alt=\"A meadow along the Basalt Mountain Trail was unscathed by the Lake Christine Fire last summer. Terrain on the east end of the trail was beyond the fire line.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | A contractor for the U.S. Forest Service cleared hazard trees within 100 feet of the centerline of Basalt Mountain Road last month.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A contractor for the U.S. Forest Service cleared hazard trees within 100 feet of the centerline of Basalt Mountain Road last month.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-4.jpg\" alt=\"A contractor for the U.S. Forest Service cleared hazard trees within 100 feet of the centerline of Basalt Mountain Road last month.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-5.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | A sign marks the boundary of the clearing zone for hazard trees along Basalt Mountain Road.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A sign marks the boundary of the clearing zone for hazard trees along Basalt Mountain Road.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-5.jpg\" alt=\"A sign marks the boundary of the clearing zone for hazard trees along Basalt Mountain Road.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-6-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-6.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"U.S. Forest Service\/courtesy image | The red ares show the highest burn severity on Basalt Mountain. Three popular trails partially cross through high burn severity terrain.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The red ares show the highest burn severity on Basalt Mountain. Three popular trails partially cross through high burn severity terrain.<\/strong><br \/>U.S. Forest Service\/courtesy image<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/upperbasalt-atd-090419-6.jpg\" alt=\"The red ares show the highest burn severity on Basalt Mountain. Three popular trails partially cross through high burn severity terrain.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pockets-of-upper-basalt-mountain-are-slow-to-heal-from-lake-christine-fire\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pockets-of-upper-basalt-mountain-are-slow-to-heal-from-lake-christine-fire\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While parts of Basalt Mountain have experienced a remarkable recovery this year from last summer\u2019s Lake Christine Fire, some pockets on the upper mountain need more time to heal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Stretches of the Basalt Mountain Trail and Cattle Creek Trail remain charred and mostly lifeless. There are pockets along the 3.5-mile Basalt Mountain Trail where there is nothing but charred trunks of standing and fallen conifer trees. The path is a ribbon through ash and blackened soil. In the most extreme areas, only a few scattered green plants poke up from the gray landscape here and there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In other pockets, the <a id=\"N0x1a220c0N0x1a1d620:N0x1a220c0N0x1989900\" href=\"https:\/\/edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk\/html5\/reader\/production\/default.aspx?pubname=&amp;edid=0183b280-c168-4395-9869-355059fe54b4\">ubiquitous fireweed is staging a comeback<\/a> and its telltale fuchsia flowers pop in contrast to the black scene.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Roughly half of the trail, on the eastern end, is untouched. The meadows scattered among conifer stands remain as wildflower-filled as ever.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote p402_hide\" readability=\"1\">\n<blockquote readability=\"5\">\n<p>\u201cWe had some high burn severity pockets up there.\u201d \u2014 ecologist Liz Roberts<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Cattle Creek Trail, a rollercoaster descent that loses 1,845 feet in 3.7 miles after connecting with the Basalt Mountain Trail, crosses a mosaic of scenery. Some stretches of forest are untouched, others singed and some charred but already bouncing back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The charred portions of the Basalt Mountain Trail didn\u2019t recovery as rapidly as the Miller Creek Trail at mid-mountain. While the Mill Creek Trail traveled through a burned-out landscape in mid-June, by mid-July it was nearly neon green with grasses, wildflowers and thousands of new aspen saplings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s been a vibrant year,\u201d said Liz Roberts, an ecologist with the White River National Forest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Basalt Mountain is providing a textbook display of a mountain recovering from wildfire, she said. That recovery was aided by a winter with bountiful snow and a wet spring and early summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The recovery process isn\u2019t uniform because of a variety of factors \u2014 elevation, aspect, vegetation types and severity of the fire, Roberts said. The Mill Creek Trail tops out at nearly 8,900 feet. The Basalt Mountain Trail is about 1,000 feet higher.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Basalt Mountain ranges from montane shrublands at lower elevations that feature a lot of pinyon and juniper trees and oak brush, a transition zone blanketed with aspen trees and a high zone with spruce and fir.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The fire moved slower and at higher intensity at the upper part of the mountain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe had some high burn severity pockets up there,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hotter burning areas of the fire <a id=\"N0x1a220c0N0x1a1d680:N0x1a220c0N0x1989f30\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/mitigation-and-communication\/\">destroyed the organic material<\/a> in the soil and removed nutrients necessary for plants to regenerate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIf it burns hot enough, you lose your seed source,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As the thousands of charred tree trunks decompose, they will replenish nutrients and help vegetation recover. Seeds of the fireweed and arnica plants \u2014 among the first to proliferate on Basalt Mountain \u2014 will blow around the burn scar and take hold in another year or two, Roberts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Forest Service will monitor the spread of invasive weeds such as thistle and houndstongue, and it will act accordingly with treatments, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Another aspect of the recovery <a id=\"N0x1a220c0N0x1a1d740:N0x1a220c0N0x198a200\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/forest-service-proposes-project-to-help-basalt-mtn-heal-from-lake-christine-fire\/\">featured removing hazardous tree trunks<\/a> that were dead but still standing alongside Basalt Mountain Road. The White River National Forest hired a contractor to remove trees within 100 feet of the centerline on both sides of the upper Basalt Mountain Road. Thousands of trees were felled in early August along a little more than 2 miles of upper Basalt Mountain Road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Forest Service staff expected the project would take as long as four weeks. The contractor whipped through it in a week. The road was reopened late last month for motorized travel. It also remained open to pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The project was \u201c100 percent\u201d a safety project, said Deputy Forest Supervisor Lisa Stoeffler. It was best to remove all the hazard trees at once. \u201cOtherwise you\u2019re sending a crew out there every week,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams said the vast stretches of burned forest that weren\u2019t cleared along the road will go through a natural clearing. The roots of the dead trees will rot and they will tumble.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYear eight to 10 (after a fire) is when you see a difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The fire already opened up the dense overstory on the mountain. Now nature will open it up even more. The Lake Christine Fire <a id=\"N0x1a220c0N0x1a1d7a0:N0x1a220c0N0x198a560\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/lake-christine-fire-in-basalt-100-contained-after-rain-and-snow\/\">swept across about 12,500 acres<\/a> of land. About 8,500 acres was in national forest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:scondon@aspentimes.com\">scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pockets-of-upper-basalt-mountain-are-slow-to-heal-from-lake-christine-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A stretch of the Basalt Mountain Trail on the upper mountain shows pockets remain mostly lifeless after last summer&#8217;s Lake Christine Fire.Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times Fireweed provides a vibrant contrast to the blackened tree trunks on a section of the Basalt Mountain Trail.Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times Fireweed and arnaca line a stretch of the Basalt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2448311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 04:28:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448642,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448311\/revisions\/2448642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}