The Fires of Hell

It has been another disastrous fire season in the Sierra, and this one has hit close to home. A few years ago the Rim Fire burned much of the area between our cabin near Twain Harte and Yosemite National Park. This year the Donnell Fire has burned much of the forest between our cabin and Sonora Pass, including most of the Clark Fork area and a big section of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness.

How sad.

Clark Fork was the destination of our first backpacking trip as an older couple, and it will always have a special place in our hearts. It was wonderful and scenic, but also quite untrammeled and isolated. While most people went to other, more glamorous parks, this little section off Highway 108 seemed like our private corner of the Sierra. We've hiked the Boulder Lake Trail, the Disaster Creek Trail, the Arnot Creek Trail, and Clark Fork itself. And now all of those are badly burned, along with the campgrounds, cabins, and resort at Dardanelles.

With cooler weather and hard work by the firefighting crews, both the Ferguson and Donnell Fires seem to be slowing down. But the damage from them will last for years.