Berley Lakes, Craig Lake, and the B&B Complex Fire
The B&B Complex fire swept up the east side of Santiam Pass, and over the top of the Cascades in the summer of 2003. On July 10 2004 Danita, myself, and neighbor/friend Dave Cox took a day hike to see how extensive the burn was.
We went to our traditional family camp site near Upper Berley Lake ... swung around both Berley Lakes ... climbed the butte up to Craig Lake ...looped back to the trail near what used to be Jack Shelter ... and returned to the trailhead for a well-earned homebrew from the cooler in the trunk. I had some reservations about doing an 11 mile hike ... but the fact that my day pack was 60 pounds lighter than my normal 4 day camping pack (and I'm 25 pounds lighter than the last time I hiked this trail) made it possible.
The burn is pretty thorough for the first three miles of the trail ... then peters out before you get to the outflow stream from Lower Berley Lake. In the panoramic photographs if the trees look gray or brown - figure you are looking at a burned area.
I think we will skip the August camp out this year ... interest has been waning and those first three miles of trail would be brutal in the August heat without any real shade.
Here are some of the photos: