[pct-l] Angeles Crest Highway Reopens

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Dec 1, 2009, at 12:24 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> Today I drove up highway 2 to Three Points (mile marker 403 on the  
> PCT) to see the trail.  The trail looked better than I expected.   
> Fire damage was bad but it was nice to see unburned areas.

As someone who has endured 4 big wildfires burning up my local hiking  
places over the past three or so years, I must say that this is  
usually the case. Fire damage is never as bad as expected, lots of  
places are unburned, sometimes the conditions are improved because  
now you can see the views. The chaparral bounces back pretty quickly  
and the first couple of years have great wildflowers. Usually there  
are all kinds of dire warnings about rain, but the problems they warn  
of hardly ever materialize. Usually the worst is right after the fire  
because the plants had been holding back the soil and now they are  
gone. The rain brings back the plants and things improve.

I'm not trying to say there wasn't any damage and won't be. But you  
can be assured that it won't be as bad as expected. Just stay away  
from the pretty purple poodle dog bush!