Crown Fire - The Aftermath

Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

The burrowing spiders survived the fire too!

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

I just can't get over the rocks. This is really high up on the stream bank, so you tell me, is it smoothed/rounded because of water action or because of the fire melting it?
Although, quartz usually explodes when it gets too hot. Hmmmm . . . .

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

We think this cow was already dead when the fire swept through. Although, any surviving predators could have scattered the bones, judging from all the ash on top of them we think it died before the fire. You may not want to look at this one if bones gross you out. This is the skull, which is mostly intact.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

DH still wants to see where the bees are going to get water, so he is leading the way up creek.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

DH observing the water tank for the cattle. The tank is dry, and the pipes are on the ground, some have come undone from the next pipe.
Still following the bee line to the water.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Gee, if you could lift it, wouldn't that make a great planter? LOL.
Got to find some humor in all this devastation.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

As we continued along the cow path, we finally found a place where the bees had found some water. I took this with the telephoto, even though the bees were calm, I couldn't climb down the bank to get closer. The bees are clustered around a break in the pipe.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

DH insists that there should be open water in that creek. He's still looking for it in this photo.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Hard to tell even from this angle, but he insists there is water, so I'm going over to where he is standing to see if I can get a photo.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

DH was right! You can see my shadow too!

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Water, the stuff that makes life possible. : - )

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Another view as it heads downstream.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

If you look past the sticks and brush, behind them you'll see what appears to be a man made rock wall along one side of the stream.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Look we found a live lizard! : - )

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Better photo of lizard. He didn't seem scared of us at all.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Looking upstream, this is where I told DH I was tired and we needed to hike back to his truck.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

And wouldn't you know it, the cactus in the center of this photo doesn't look scorched or burned at all. Go figure!
Maybe the circle of rocks protected it?

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

We'd hiked further than I thought. You can see Palmdale/Lancaster in the center, at a distance.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Used the telephoto to give you a better idea of what I was seeing.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Just over that blackened ridge is a bunch of houses. You can see them in the distance.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Fried wasp nest. I'm surprised it kept it's shape and the wax didn't melt. It must be different than beeswax. Doesn't look like they survived the fire and smoke.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

You may not want to look at this photo, but I feel compelled to post it. This is a bird that did die in the fire. For some reason, it was not able to escape. No predation apparent, and all the feathers are under that coat of ash. A casualty to the fire. : - (

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Finally back at the truck! But now DH wants to go downstream closer to his hives. Sigh . . .
A long drink of water revived me.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

There DH goes. Do you notice the dry grass on the cow path on the left side of this photo? Why didn't that grass burn?

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

I can't explain it, but I think it's amazing.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

DH is walking on the other side of the creek from me. He says he's looking for something in particular.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

It wasn't this partially burned bush.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Looking up slope on the side of the creek away from the bees. Fire came so close to this location too. Somebody was looking out for us that day.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Still walking down that creek.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Scorched bush and boulders.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

DH found what he was looking for.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Yup, we're in Indian Country, and that is a grinding stone. This is a different view of the same grinding hole. Some people call them cupules, some call them metates. I consider metates to be movable. You'd need a crane to move this boulder.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

The fire came through here so fast that the tops of some of the bushes are still greenish.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

I just liked this quartz boulder.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

This boulder is really tall for the area. I like it's shape.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

A different side of the same boulder above.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Can you see the wavy lines in the boulder. This area is right on top of the San Andreas Fault, so you can see lots of twisted rocks aka metamorphic rocks. Endlessly fascinating to me.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

Another big piece of quartz buried in the ground.

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

My DH calls this the survivor tree. The wind over the years have shaped it, and providence or the Creator's grace allowed this tree to survive. Wow!

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Menifee, CA(Zone 9a)

We've gone down the road a bit to check on the last location. This area did not burn, and I thought you'd appreciate seeing what it used to look like before it did.

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