Bob and I were out to Big Cliff yesterday doing some annual brushing and looking for the continuation of the trail north out past the saddle and had a great day in the sun. There was some tread in areas and they seemed to connect together, but that will need more exploring. The good/bad news is that the peregrine falcons seemed to have come back early this year to nest. We cut out the blowdowns and brushed some, cut out poison oak, but the older big logs are still there. Too big for my saw. We usually only go on this trail in the winter months so as to not to disturb the raptors, but they are here early.
Don
I kinda worry about this one guys. With the bird people and extra scrutiny and all.
D.
Rob and I checked out Big Cliff last week. The trailhead "T" marker is still there, but the lower section is in really bad shape. The fire burned up all the brush except there are still some Himalayan blackberry canes in places. There's been quite a bit of rock rolling down the hill obliterating the tread on the lower section. Two of the larger fallen logs across the trail with a climbover notch cut into them survived, but I think one of them may have slipped downhill a little.
The upper sections are still intact. I hope the fire killed the Scotch Broom at the viewpoint, but I've heard the seeds are very hardy. Maybe if seedlings come up we can keep them in check by pulling them before they get too big to pull.
The fire burned up almost all of the ground plants. There was a very small patch of Oregon grape that survived up on top. It seems most of the mature trees will survive, but not all of them. There was quite a carpet of tree needles on top of the burnt ground that fell from the bigger trees that were killed.
It was interesting to see the results of the fire.