Ross Creek Fire Area

[ELKCHSR]

This fire was sitting in two hundred acres of very thick brush, just skunking around and really not doing any thing, there were a couple places it burned good, but for the most part was pretty quiet...

You can't see all of the camp, but there was about 200 people at any given time inhabiting this spike camp some seven and a half miles into the back country. This is a helicoptor arial of comming in...

Here is the Heli Spot that we would come into, it was an absolute alpine wilderness setting...very nice place to visit and live for two weeks...

This is one of the back drops that we had to look at every day. You could every once in awhile get a glimpse of goats and sheep on it. In the mornngs you could hear the sheep crashing together, the sound would echo thru the canyons...

This is another part of one of the back drops that we had to look at every day...Terrible huh

This is what it looked like back in the direction of the last picture at the bottom of the fire...
This whole area was beutiful no matter what direction you look in. You will notice the burned trees in some of the back ground.

This one is looking to the left of the last picture...

 

[Elkhunter]

Those are some great pictures Russ. Looks like a beautiful place.

 

[Nut]

Loved them as usual.

 

[ELKCHSR]

This area was probably the nicest looking area we have visited yet. All the big game speices were there.
Grizzly bear
Black Bear
Elk
Deer
Moose
Sheep
Goats...
Plus the ground squirrels that some of the crew members caught and roasted....

 

[Washington Hunter]

Nice pics Elkchsr. Thanks for posting them.

 

[mtmiller]

This area was probably the nicest looking area we have visited yet. All the big game speices were there.
Grizzly bear
Black Bear
Elk
Deer
Moose
Sheep
Goats...

Crazy what you get in a roadless area.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Thanks for the pictures Russ.

 

[BuzzH]

Which Ross creek was this?

NW Montana (cabinets)?

 

[ELKCHSR]

It was up by Troy...
The history of this area that the local FS told us was that when the big fire came thru some time in the late 1800 or early 1900's devastated the whole of Western Montana. There were a few valley's left with the native growth intact from the intense fires that ravaged the region. This was one. It is about 5-7 miles long and is just full of very large Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedar. They are some 4-8 foot thru on an average.
When we were up fighting the fire, I couldn't understand what the big deal with the 200 acre smoldering, skunking fire was really all about, especially for it's remoteness. Until we got to hike out, it was then shown me by shear number of "Old Growth" trees that were actually in this valley. If one wants to visit it, there is a very nice trail that you can "Walk" in on and see it. This whole area reminds me of the flora and fauna from the Olympic peninsula. It is almost identical to all the plants I knew from that region. It is definitely one of those places that those on the East side of the Cascades should put on their visit list. The walk is very easy and you can go as deep as you want to get a feeling of it...
Go to the Troy Ranger District in Troy Montana and they have maps and directions to it...

 

[BuzzH]

Thats the Ross Creek I was thinking of, pretty neat area.

Are you sure it was western hemlock? I'd bet it was mountain hemlock.

The fires that wiped out N. Idaho and W. Montana were either the 1910 or 1919 fires...probably 1910 in the Ross Creek area.

Nice pics.

 

[ELKCHSR]

When I was in School, I was told that there were two types of hemlock in the wild, but then the schools only tell some of what you need to know, I do know that it looked exactly like those I have sent to mills of that size.
Thanks on the fires thing, I keep hearing little bits here and there about them but haven't found any one that can really fill me in on what actually happened or the time lines. I just know that it hit around the turn of the 1900's and basically covered the area of Wa, Or, Id, and W. Mt. I have seen the remains of that fire in almost all the areas I have been in over all of the years of traveling. It is getting to the point where you only get little subtle signs, burnt stumps and logs still are around, but they have aged greatly and Mother Earth has almost swallowed them up. Rocks in some remote areas show signs of great heat, but that could have been from other sources of firey heat (volcanic) but still has the signs of going thru a camp fire.
You have any books or sites that would lead me to more info on this fire? It would be really appreciated...