In the Bute Lakes Burn
On a September day I hiked in a remote area accessed by the McConnell Forest Service Road, a forested plateau equidistant from Ross Moore Lake and Lac le Jeune. Trails and tracks link to both lakes, used mostly by snowmobiles and ATVs. I have hiked it before, but this was the first time since the Ross Moore Forest Fire of 2023.
The forest was mostly burned, but the double tracks could still be hiked. Single tracks are gone, burned or covered with deadfall. Some were obliterated by the machinery used to fight the fire and bring down smoking trees.
The Bute Lakes are a group of small lakes, ponds, and marshes. I had a loop route I used to hike, which included an old trapper’s cabin. I did hike a loop route, but some bushwhacking was required, and so any return hikes will need a different loop. After only a year, the succession growth is just getting started. Even the grasses and fireweed was not yet fully established in the area (1265m or 4150 ft. in elevation).
There were a few things to see – slender hawksbeard (Crepis atrabarba), showy aster (Eurybia spectabilis), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), common liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha), fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), and rosehips (Rosa sp.).
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Also spotted were more asters, rosehips, Canada mint (Mentha canadensis), common liverwort, heart-leaved arnica (Arnica cordifolia), and prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola).
