Yellowstone Forest - After the Fire

We had the opportunity to do some hiking while we were out there. One of the areas that we had the opportunity to go through was a burnt out section around Lake region. These are two shots I took while there. Not necessarilly the best work I have ever done, but, interesting none the less, I think.

James

James,

My wife and I were in Yellowstone during the week that the fire was finally put under control. This picture was taken from the Lake Butte Overlook which is where your pictures appear to have been taken. We were driving on the East Entrance Road on the first day that people and vehicles were allowed there and stopped at this place. I was amazed and the amount of land that had been burnt during that fire.

Joe

Hey Joe,

You are completely correct, this was at Lake Butte Overlook.
Was this part of the 'big fire' or was this a separate one? There had been several parts of the area that had been on fire recently, though not this far north...and this area has been burned out for a long while.

James

James,

I'm not sure if this was 'the big fire' or not although it was pretty big. Total acreage lost in the East Fire was in excess of 18,000 acres. See this topo map:
2003 - Yellowstone National Park - East Fire

It was kind of eerie being there as you could still see smoke rising in areas that you could walk in. There were still plenty of fire fighters along the road. It was not uncommon to see a helicopter carrying a water bucket flying to Lake Yellowstone and returning into this area although we never saw an actual water dump.

Another strange thing that I had noticed from this vantage point was a clear delineation within the forest of trees between burnt and unburnt land almost as if the fire progressed to a certain point and just stopped - black on one side and green on the other.