Bastrop State Park

Katie and I visited Bastrop State Park today (the park that got nearly completely ravaged by a wildfire last September - see my posts from early September, 2011, as well as: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/bastrop/fire/). By all accounts I have heard it is a shadow of its former self, and much of the park is still closed. The patchwork nature of the burn was interesting, some of the areas were much more burnt that others. Many areas had a litter of pine needles that fell off heat-damaged trees, but some areas were burnt so hard there were only standing black trees over gray ground. I have read that after the Peshitgo Fire in Wisconsin so many years ago that even tree roots burned - I think I might have seen that. We were confused by some hairy material on the ground until I realized that it was the reinforcing material (fiberglass?) leftover from burned composite signposts (Katie is next to an intact one in one of the pix). In one of the pix you can see Katie crossing a little stream - you can see the foundations of a missing footbridge nearby. It was a little chilling how the overall terrain morphology resembled areas around Peoria (e.g. Jubilee College State Park). There was also cause for inspiration. We saw a few green plants and there were some sprouts at the base of some of the the oak trees. The reservoir seems to have acted as a firebreak. Katie and I had lunch and played in a playground at some of the surviving cabins. When I realized how close the fire had gotten to those buildings, I realized that I was really looking at sort of a battlefield - where the firefighters won. One of the last places we stopped in the park was an overlook. The nice wood roof of the gazebo there was almost completely burned, but there are plans to rebuild. The weather is still dry, but there has been enough rain lately to allow campfires in the campsites.