After the Fire

I had thought about hiking up Huachuca Peak yesterday, but early rainclouds at 9am kept me at home. Instead, I took all three dogs with me to the Coronado National Memorial, the only area right now open to hikers and close enough for me to take the dogs for walks. The road west of the Visitor's center was closed due to mudslides so I parked the truck at the park entrance sign and meandered around the burned foliage, never straying too far from the truck. Both USBP and Forest Service signs saw me walking nearby and didn't stop me, which I hope means I wasn't trespassing.

The dogs were happy to be out of the truck finally and ran outside to sniff and pee. This gave them just enough exercise to burn off some excess energy. Barely an hour later they were hot and panting and glad to be back home.

I must say that the forest is looking better than I thought. Granted, the southern part of the Coronado National Memorial, where the fire started, did not bear the brunt of the fire; that was further north in Ash and Stump Canyons. But I was surprised at two things: how much green was already coming up, and how much water damage had already occurred. I drove past two black mudslides and we haven't even had a true deluge yet!

The soil here is heavily saturated. Water seeks its own level so new drainages are now being formed. I followed one drainage, well hidden from USBP, south toward the border. I made sure I didn't stay long in this drainage as I didn't want to alarm the USBP parked nearby. I had never walked off-trail here and thus wasn't aware of the many well-hidden terrain features illegals prefer. No wonder this place is heavily surveilled! The drainage I followed for a bit with the dogs meandered southward. Heavy soil erosion was evident here, and there was evidence of former hiding areas for illegals: melted plastic bottles still littered some of the burned areas.

I spotted one burned javelina skull with bones scattered in the sand. Had it died before the fire or because of the fire? There were also many burned mesquite and oak tree stumps, charred remains of cholla and prickly pear cacti. The hardiest of the succulents, the agaves and yucca, did well.

The first signs of regrowth are herbacous plants. Grass and soft-stemmed vines are already up and blooming. And so are those nasty fireants. The many burned yuccas and agaves will continue to regrow, with the burned outter spikes eventually dying off for the new growth. Many of the oaks will linger, but some are already shooting up new stems. With new grass will come the rodents and deer, and with that the raptors and coyotes. By next year new seedlings will have emerged and soon thereafter the forest will look the same, only younger and healthier, so all is not lost.

I do, however, fear more mudslides. If the mud that I saw has come from the few storms we have had this season, it won't be long before larger
tracts of land see more disasterous damage from one day of heavy rains.