Backpacking--Part 2

I have had a few more thoughts after the recent backpacking trip.  It took me a while to have it really sink in that it was just over 25 years ago I was at the same lake. I feel that I am pretty observant, but there were many changes in the appearances of the lake and surroundings.

Two of the final three miles into the lake reminded me of a cemetery.  Within the last few years a fire had burned through the area and the dead trees were standing like grave stones.  Some had fallen, but the charred and partially burnt totems made for an eerie walk. The amazing thing though was the birth of the forest underneath.  Brightly colored flowers were abundant, and a botany lesson was alive showing the life cycle of the forest. The trail sections before and after didn't have as much color because of the forest canopy blocking the flowers.  We were treated to a scene that doesn't happen often with the splashes of color and different shades of green.

The bigger surprise was the time it has taken for me to remember the lake. Or more precisely, the realization that with the 25 years between trips, nature has continued to grow and evolve.  We have been experiencing drier years lately and the mountains show this.  The lake level was down and some of the creek beds were dry as we walked to the lake.  What struck me was at first was the lack of a beach at the lake.  There was once a sandy beach of sorts that was a great way to enter the lake for a swim.  In its place, and surrounding most the the perimeter was a fringe of reeds.  I noticed more trees had fallen into the lake; in fact we walked along the trunk of one to get our water.  Then the thought hit me that we were seeing the "meadowization" of the lake.

That is my term and I don't know if it is really a word.  But the idea is that over time a lake becomes a meadow as the water level drops, fills with sediment and trees fall into the lake further displacing the water.  We had been talking about the process earlier as we walked through some meadows and this lake was an example of the first stages.

If you remember me writing of Mt. Veeder and Lampyridae Vineyards, they appear to have a similar event happening with their pond.  They have a natural spring that feeds a pond. A recent earthquake shifted the underground path of this spring and less water is flowing into the pond.  Reeds have grown around the rim of the pond and it is starting to fill.

The biggest realization for me was I have visited this lake over such a length of time that I can see the differences.  I can see nature happening. It also gives new meaning the my children's nickname for me, Old Man River.