Last summer, my dad worked on thinning out the dense understory in the forest. Many decades of fire suppression disrupted the natural cycle of things. The brush was piled and will be burned at the end of the fall this year.
Looking up through the canopy at some big trees.
A big old cedar tree that had a fire burn through the trunk many years ago. It still lives.
The hole is big enough to easily stand inside.
Walking on a plank trail across the upper end of one of the meadows.
Looking down the meadow. In a few weeks, this meadow will be six feet deep in grass and flowers.
Looking back across the meadow at the cabin.
A snow plant just coming up through the forest floor.
Two snow plants showing off their red colors.
Walking back across the meadow.
Looking up toward the top of another one of the meadows.
Lush greenery.
Old no trespassing sign.
At the building site where we will put up a temporary storage shed.
My parents will have their 5th wheel trailer sit here in the summers.
Another meadow. The cows were allowed into this meadow for many years. They caused a great deal of erosion. In the next couple of years, we will work on restoring this meadow. For now, the meadow is fenced in with New Zealand fencing to keep the cows out.
Dusty and my dad walking across the meadow.
This meadow has a “Grand Canyon” cutting across the middle of it. Cows probably caused this, too. Old aerial photos from the 40s show the cut was present even then. We will work on repairing this meadow in the future, too.
Up in another meadow.
Old logging access roads crisscross the woods.
The upper meadow where we will be building a spring box for a water source. This meadow used to be much more lush but someone dynamited the bottom of the meadow decades ago. The government would allow a person to buy property for cheap if they “improved” meadows. We will eventually repair this meadow, too. It should be much more lush than it is at the moment.
Walking down through another meadow back toward the cabin.
Looking out into the lower grove.
Huge trees.
These two trees have been together many centuries. A fire burned out the area between the two trees but they remain close together even now.
A fallen giant.
A huge giant.
Big trees in the foreground and in the background.
