I made my way back to Bastrop and the Colorado river again last Saturday to find the river had turned to chocolate milk with all the rain last week. A minor change of plans for Gary, Bill and I found us on the north shore of lake Bastrop to do a little fishing and kayaking. The fishing was not so good and the lake was very busy so I left the park to visit my brother at their new house in what use to be a pine forest before the wildfires last September.

To see all the damage up close and personal is still very upsetting. Much of the forest is completely void of living trees with just the slim tall blacken dead pine trees reaching skyward. Only the oak trees are showing signs of life as green leafy sprouts grow from the base of the trunk in stark contrast to the bare exposed earth and black burnt timber.



I had not driven the park road between Bastrop State Park to Buescher State Park in several years and was very curious to see the terrain and what was left of the parks forest.

To say the least it will be a very long time before there is a pine forest growing in that part of the country as most of Bastrop State Park looks like this below. Just a whole lot of bare ground and dead pine trees.

That fire sucked.

We took the drive a few months ago. Reminded me of some burnouts we'd see in the backwoods of Ontario.

When the dead pine trees are cleared and enough of the oaks bush up a bit more, the ground will begin to grow weeds and plants again replacing the black and brown bare earth with green life. In a few years there will be something in place where all those tall pines once stood..