Rubicon River from 11 Pines Rd. bridge showing how 2014 King fire consumed timber on both sides of the river.
The motivation for the hike into the burn zone of the 2014 King fire in El Dorado County was to hunt for morel mushrooms. My son, who enjoys mushroom hunting, had read morels flourish after forest fires. While we found no morels, we were able to experience the desolation and destruction by one of El Dorado County’s worst wild fires in decades. (Picture gallery at end of post with video.)
Georgetown to Rubicon River
It is a short drive out of Georgetown, CA before you first encounter the path of the King fire that roared thought the area in September 2014. After we purchased our foraging permit from Eldorado National Forest Service office in Georgetown, we traveled up Wentworth Springs Road and then turned onto 11 Pines Road and went down to the Rubicon River. The Rubicon River was flowing pretty well for a drought stricken late May afternoon.
Burned landscape of King Fire, El Dorado County
We hiked over numerous hillsides, hilltops and creeks, but found only sparse numbers of mushrooms. Since all the foliage had been burned from the trees it was actually warm in the sun. The ground is soft and one wrong step near a creek and you’ll sink up to your ankle in muck. I did come across one little snake, a yellow striped garter, that seemed to be as curious about me as I was about him. He let me put the camera right up to his head while I took pictures and recorded him. While we heard plenty of birds, we never saw any flying around. Of course, our eyes were mostly focused on the ground looking for mushrooms.
Scorched earth blooming
The forest is coming back to life less than a year after the ravaging King fire. There is plenty to see in the burn zone and the logging roads make for easy hiking. As you hike around you can see the forest begin to heal itself as new wildflowers and shrubs sprout from the scorched earth. Even my old nemesis poison oak has begun to sprout along the trails. I guess nothing kills that stuff.
