Tom's Basin : Photos, Diagrams & Topos : SummitPost

Comments

Sarah Simon - Jun 6, 2010 11:35 pm - Voted 10/10

Wide open spaces

This picture just makes me want to set off and walk toward those mountains. Great capture - thanks for sharing! -Sarah

calebEOC - Jun 7, 2010 9:37 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Wide open spaces

Thanks, the desert is always nice when its green in the spring!

lcarreau - Jun 7, 2010 9:37 am - Voted 10/10

Yep ...

I was going to say Nevada - the sagebrush tipped me off!

I remember when I fought fires in northern
Nevada and eastern Oregon. Those were the days.

calebEOC - Jun 7, 2010 9:39 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Yep ...

They've had a few range fires here and there in the desert the last 5 years, and it always amazes me how healthy the terrain looks a couple years later without sagebrush.

lcarreau - Jun 7, 2010 9:55 pm - Voted 10/10

Re: Yep ...

That was back in the 1980s when we put out all
those smokes, and the public's outcry was deafening.

Today, with the "let it burn" policy, the
range fires are allowed to burn, thus opening
up some land for the native flora & fauna.

You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the
people all of the time!

calebEOC - Jun 7, 2010 10:00 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Yep ...

Were you on any of the fires in the Malheur Forest in the 80's?

lcarreau - Jun 7, 2010 10:38 pm - Voted 10/10

Re: Yep ...

Short answer - yes!

Our crew was called to the Unity, Monument,
and Halfway, Oregon complex areas ...

I vaguely remember looking up at a "big rock"
,(in the middle of nowhere), on one of the
larger fires. Monument Rock? Bull Run Rock?

I especially enjoyed fighting fire in the
Wallowa-Whitman area, because the peaks were
so jagged and pristine to look at.

And, we always got a "grand reception" in
La Grande, Oregon! I loved that area!

Still do, 25 years later !!!

calebEOC - Jun 8, 2010 9:47 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Yep ...

That big rock was undoubtedly castle rock, trying to find driving directions to it and a route up it is what led me to summitpost to begin with about 5 years ago. The Malheur burns every year, and I remember the 80's being especially prone to forest fires.