Just got back from a quick camping trip over the Continental Divide to Steamboat Springs and Steamboat Lake State Park. Many of you may not have heard yet of the death and devastation caused by the Mountain Pine Beetle out here in the West. They are slowly annihilating ALL of the old growth Lodgepole Pine trees in the Rocky Mountains!
We, of course, had heard all about this ravage of our forests, but a trip over to the Western Slope showed us in graphic detail how
ONE PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS:
It’s another unfortunate case of not fully appreciating what you have until it’s gone!
The beetles are making their way across the Continental Divide now. Cameron Pass is looking BAD and the beetles are killing almost every tree in their path except the youngest ones. Steamboat Lake has very few pine trees left around it. The Forest Service has been cutting down the dead trees and there are parts of the park that honestly look like ground zero!
It was quite disturbing to see…
