It gets better

The old Coat Tree, RIP
there is a snazzy new one up the trail 

I finally got off my hind end yesterday and went up to the cross country area. Frankly, I've been deliberately avoiding it after the fire. But with Super Bowl Sunday ensuring plenty of parking by mid afternoon, I headed up the hill with my skis to finally get past my bad karma.

The first section reinforced my worst fears. You climb up from the trailhead and turn the corner at A to find some of the worst of the burn, which continues past the old Coat Tree to nearly point C on the XC club's map. Amazing amount of outcrop there, too, which was previously hidden. The lower road looked pretty grim. But as another skier told me as I looked painfully at the dead and burned trees, once you get past C on the upper trail, it was beautiful again. Canada Bonita too escaped the worst of the fire and the trees in the meadow looked nice. Through much of the upper trails, you can't really tell there was a burn. Beyond the fenceline along the rim of the caldera was more serious fire damage.

If there is a metaphor here (and I guess I am straining to find one) its that with all the negativity going on around the House Transportation Bill, possibilities for a Trinity Superhighway, and a political season that has developed into the dirtiest ever and which will probably get worse, one has to keep pushing on. Something wonderful can be right around the next bend, if you push beyond the immediate devastation to find it.Plus, people obviously worked like dogs to fix things up that were broken.