Donnell Fire damage

We're just back from a short trip into Saddlebag Lake, and we'll post a trip report on that soon. But in the meantime, we drove back to our cabin via Sonora Pass and Highway 108. It's really sad. They wouldn't allow us to stop along the way to take photos, but the section of 108 by the Dardanelles resort is total gone. The resort is gone, and the whole southern side of the highway up along Eagle Creek is a wall of blackened sticks.



Further down, the Clark Fork Canyon is a single chimney of charcoal. This is home turf to us. We took one of our first backpacking trips up Clark Fork, and have hiked every trail along this road, from the short hop over to Sword and Lost Lakes, Arnott Creek, Disaster Creek, Boulder Lake, and even up through Paradise Valley to the PCT and beyond. All of that is burned to a crisp, and from the highway you can see the Iceberg of the Caron-Iceberg Wilderness through one long tunnel of blackened landscape.



It is very sad indeed, and it will take years and years to recover.

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We just returned from the east side as well this weekend, and since 108/Sonora Pass was (finally) open, we opted to head back that way despite it being longer.

It was just tragic. I snapped some shots along the way but yours will likely be better. Dardanelles was totally destroyed, with only water heaters and chimneys and such remaining. There was a crew there harvesting timber (for safety I presume). I didn't realize it was just reopened this year after renovation by new owners. I can't imagine they will rebuild though. Unlike places such as Evergreen Lodge near YOSE that survived the Rim Fire with some trees remaining around the property, Dardanelles was completely destroyed along with all the natural features, which will take decades to come back (if at all).

It was very sad to see.