but it's still some distance to the summit.
| Loma Fire 2016 Santa Clara County, CA |
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| Grassy hillsides with outcrops of weathered rock. |
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| Lone oaks like this were once called stags. |
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| This one wears a crown of mistletoe. |
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| Rotting trunks of oaks long dead still support life. |
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| In addition to numerous wood-boring insects, lichen, molds and fungi are present. |
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| Steep hillside climb to the burn area. |
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| Skipped by the fire, this towering valley oak is already starting to leaf out. |
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| Ashes in foreground will enrich the soil, providing nutrients for the oak and other vegetation. |
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| Trees and shrubs in ravine are slower to recover. |
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| Hillside section of burn area. |
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| Patchwork of new growth show were fire skipped across the hillsides. |
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| Red-leaf Filigree is quick to colonize burned areas in grasslands. |
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| Rock outcrop, shrubs and young oak trees scorched by fire. |
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| Boulders blackened by fire. Stone is not impervious to fire and heat; it cracks and crumbles. |
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| Wavy-leaf Soap Root re sprouts quickly after a fire. Note blackened lichen on rock in front of it. |
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| An example of lichen burned in the fire. |
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| Large colony of Burn Site Ochre Cup fungi. |
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| This fungi thrives on burned ground or burned wood. |
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| This fungus begins as a tiny cup then expands to saucer shape. |
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| After the fire, vegetation returns quickly to open, sunny grasslands. |
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| A hot fast-burning fire will often damage but not destroy mature trees and shrubs. |
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| A lot of charred limbs and trunks in this grove. |
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| But the tree is still alive and hosting a Lions Mane fungus. |
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| The carmel-colored section of the Lions Mane shows where it was scorched by the fire. |
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| New growth sprouts among the charred limbs of this live oak. |
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| A variety of plants quickly sprout after a fire. |
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| Including the ubiquitously poison oak. |
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| Found side by side, two Big Berry Manzanita berries, one completely carbonized. |
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| Black-tailed deer antler so damaged by fire it crumbled when touched. |
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| Beyond the blackened grove, landscape appeared to be recovering. |
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| A very pretty vale, hard to believe fire recently swept through it. |
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| As the fire climbed the mountain it consumed nearly everything in its path. |
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| Very likely this small grove of trees will recover. |
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| Manzanita and other chaparral vegetation once thrived on this hillside. |
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| This hilltop grove was my point of reference from below, but it's still some distance to the summit. |
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| Terrain in this area is incredibly steep. |
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| Winter Solstice, 21 December 2016. |
| Return to Top. |