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*Pics* Pah Rah Dry Lakes Trail and wildfire damage

3K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  JeniorNV 
#1 ·
It seemed like a good day to get out of the house so I took my truck on a little adventure to check out the aftermath of a grass fire that started near my neighborhood earlier this summer and burned over 40,000 acres before it was out. For those of you in Nor Cal who attended my trail run in January 2016 when it snowed, this is one of the trails that we did (looks a lot different now, doesn't it?).










The wildflowers were a welcome sight as I had just expected to see a barren landscape.






This trail has two dry lakes. I've wheeled in this area numerous times and have never seen water in either of them. But we've had a record breaking water year and I was astonished when I came over the crest approaching the second lake and saw that it contained water.




The trail skirts along the edge of the lake. From the driver's seat, it looked dry. Boy, was I surprised when my truck suddenly quit going forward and started dropping down.






No worries because I have two lockers and the rear tires hadn't started to sink yet. I was able to back out of this spot.




Forward wasn't an option, so I turned around and explored some more trails in the area.










I was surprised by the amount of wildlife I saw amidst all the burned vegetation - including a few wild horses and a huge herd of antelope in a meadow that was spared from the fire. I wasn't able to snag any pics of the animals, aside from this fellow.




It's a little hard to see but downtown Reno is in this picture, above the left portion of the dark green patch.




Dropping back down into the neighborhood near the end of the trail.




When I set out this morning, I hadn't planned on taking nearly this many pics or creating a trip report. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much cool stuff I saw.
 
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#2 ·
Super cool pics Jen. As devastating as wildfires are, they end up re-booting some pretty cool ecosystems. It's kinda neat to watch the land rebuild itself. I can't wait to get out and explore all the areas around here that burned this summer. Makes for some interesting wheeling and really cool photos.
 
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