The Future of Colors in the Gorge

[AlanLichty]

As I was looking through some drone images I captured in the Columbia River Gorge in late October this one caught my attention for its view of how close the Eagle Creek Fire of 2017 came to the area around Wahkeena Falls. The fire burned along the top of the Gorge cliffs and extended down the cliffs and slopes in sort of finger looking lobes but didn't make it down to the bottom where you can get a glimpse of the parking area through the trees in this wide view.

What struck me in this case were the nice fall colors of the maples that are starting to take over the burn areas where tall conifers once stood. In the long run tall pines will once again take over but until they do we will be seeing more and more fall colors on the maples that are taking advantage of the areas the Eagle Creek fire opened up. Almost everywhere in the Gorge that was impacted by the fire are now showing fall colors like the slopes in the scene below and will continue offering us even more autumn displays for at least the next ten years or so before the conifers grow tall enough to start shading them out.

C&C always welcome.

 

[JimFox]

That's a good observation Alan. And while the fire was devastating, it looks like there will be some benefits in the coming years. I look forward to the fall color show.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Nice view from this vantage point. Nature does have a way of charting its own course often in ways we don't expect.

 

[AlanLichty]

That's a good observation Alan. And while the fire was devastating, it looks like there will be some benefits in the coming years. I look forward to the fall color show.

Thanks Jim - the current trend is really only noticeable in the fall with the leaf colors but should increase for several more years to come.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice view from this vantage point. Nature does have a way of charting its own course often in ways we don't expect.

Thanks Jameel - I have been noticing how the colors really only show up in disturbed areas of our forests for some reason I haven't been thinking about that with the Gorge and the Eagle Creek fire. Not sure why that didn't sink in sooner