Late September Update

The colors are changing here in Utah. Yellows, oranges, reds, and even pink leaves are adding more hues to the all ready colorful environs of the Dixie crew. As the leaves drop, it threatens to make identification of living or dead aspen very difficult. Nonetheless, we have been cruising along, finishing 78 plots over the month, taking our total number of plots to 293.

On a normal work day, we can typically drive to a central point within a set of plots and work from there for the entire day. This past work week and the upcoming work week are different, though. We are working on plots that were burnt over by a high profile fire (Mill Flat) last year in the Pine Valley Wilderness. Being a wilderness, there are no roads near the plots so we hiked into the backcountry with all of our equipment and food for the past week and for a portion of the upcoming week. The weather was great, albeit cool, and the food was great, making for a nice break from our normal routine.

As the season winds down, we will finish with plots burnt by last year's Bridge Fire and the Mill Flat Fire.