First Hike After the Fire, Bastrop State Park

BastropSP2011-12-1

New trailhead sign. Note the large area still closed due to the burn.

BastropSP2011-12-2

American Beauty Berry sprouts

BastropSP2011-12-3

Along the Yellow Trail. Unfortunatelly, this is what much of the park looks like.

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Seems like many of the benches survived in this area.

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You'll see lots of signs like this. However, I suspect more trails will be opened within a month or two.

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Luckily, there are patches of surviving pines, like these along the Red Trail

BastropSP2011-12-8

Mala Mujer! Bullnettle is making a quick come back.

BastropSP2011-12-9

Bracken fern are doing very well!

BastropSP2011-12-11

Sue and Millie at a CCC fountain, still a survivor.

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Frost weed making a comeback.

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A long-hidden CCC firepit, revealed after the Burn

BastropSP2011-12-15

Water flowing in Coppperas Creek-good to see after the drought, but erosion is a real danger.

BastropSP2011-12-16

Mustang grape vine

BastropSP2011-12-17

A large ash pit, where the roots of a tree burned underground. Note the Swiss Army knife for scale.

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Trees cut where they might fall on the trail.

BastropSP2011-12-21

Millie is happy to have water in the streams! A bridge at this site burned completely.

BastropSP2011-12-22

And of course the Yaupon holly is growing back!

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And Virginia Creeper, too

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Quite a few pines survived on the east side of Copperas Creek

BastropSP2011-12-25

The lake is still quite low, but better than this past summer.

BastropSP2011-12-26

Trees marked with blue are likely to survive and won't be cut

BastropSP2011-12-27

How this cedar survived almost untouched, while most around it burned, is a mystery.

BastropSP2011-12-29

Eastern Red Cedar logs, stockpiled to replace water breaks on the white trail.