Suttle Lake has survived

We hiked around Suttle Lake in central Oregon today, all 3.7 miles, and have photos to prove that while the B & B Complex fire may have scarred the area, its beauty survives. Last fall we attempted the same hike but were stymied by “trail closed due to fire damage” signs. A lot of work has been done since then on the trail that circles the lake, for which we’re most grateful.

As soon as we parked the car and walked to the lakeshore we could tell that Suttle Lake was still its beautiful self. In places the fire went all the way to the edge of the lake, but in general the trees and vegetation that immediately surround it are much more green than gray.

Well, not only green this time of year, red and golden also. We were afraid that all of the red leaf maples along the shoreline had been burned up. Thankfully, most of them were still alive and kicking color.

Serena found this hike much more fun than walking around on a leash at the Harvest Faire (see yesterday’s posting). We managed to coax her back from chipmunk chasing for a red leaf maple photo opportunity (don’t worry, the chipmunks are quicker than she is; plus, they can climb trees and she can’t).

This is a fire-blackened snag lying in the water. You can see a mixture of living and dead trees on the other side of the lake. A friend told me that when he took his Japanese in-laws on a tour of this area they were inspired to create some artwork of the blackened forest. Yes, death by fire is as much a part of nature as is the vegetative life that we normally celebrate.

It just takes a different eye to appreciate it. I haven’t yet developed that eye. When Laurel and I looked away from Suttle Lake, up the slope that the fire came down, we didn’t like what we saw.

Still, it is a law of nature that sometimes things are up, and sometimes things are down. These geese bobbing for food at The Lodge at Suttle Lake end of the lake reminded me of that. Geese bottoms and geese heads were equally in evidence as we walked by.

The resort is in the midst of an impressive building boom that we were told should be completed by Spring 2005. A new several-story Cascadian Style lodge with a great room overlooking the lake is described in the brochure we were given. They serve lunch from 11-4 every day except, sadly, Monday. Next time we’ll take our hike on a day that lets us feast on pizza rather than power bars during our halfway around-the-lake break.