Big basin was what got me into hiking the forests. I’m thankful I was able to see it before it burned. I hiked it for the first time in 2018 right after the rain and it was amazing. The smell and the water running was beautiful. To this day I have not seen a place that gave me the feeling of hiking big basin for the first time. Not even Yosemite. There was waterfalls all over and 3 creeks that flowed into one right after the cascades falls, truly nothing like it in the world 😢
It feels like part of my childhood is burned to ashes never to be seen again. Big Basin was always a magical and special place. I hope someday to enjoy it again in some form. Getting ice cream at the store (and dodging the wasps) after a hike, getting my Jr ranger badge on the camp fire stage, walking on the old fallen tree, hunting crawdads in the creek.. all good memories. It was always a tradition to get my annual poppy pass at Big Basin as well. Mother Nature decided it was time for a reboot and this is just the cycle of our forests.
Oh my goodness. I bawled my eyes out through this whole film. I have childhood, teen and adult memories for many of my 57 years born and raised in the area. This is absolutely gutwrenching. Thank you for the update, even as my heart is broke.
Fire has been normal in most of the redwood parks for thousands of years. Mature learners of redwood forests understand the history of fire if they pay close attention to all the charring scattered in the redwood parks. Even yesterday, a visitor from back east asked us what all the black was amidst the trunks of Jedediah Smith park. We mentioned that only fire suppression was abnormal in the park.
The Reimaging Big Basin Project will engage the public and stakeholders to define a renewed vision for Big Basin! We encourage you to keep an eye out for updates on the park’s conditions and recovery efforts: www.thatsmypark.org/fire
Thank you for this really excellent report! The images and commentary together tell a powerful story of the Big Basin we knew, the awesome force of the fire, what's been lost, the beginnings of recovery, and thoughts on the path going forward. The signs of recovery are especially encouraging.
Very nicely done video but painful to watch. Westridge trail and the chalks were my favorite places to go in San Mateo county. The views from chalk mountain are amazing and I was never happier than when I was out there. My heart is broken but I’m glad I got to experience that. I understand this is a natural process. Thank you for the update.
A thoughtful, intelligent, passionate film by the very best forest-loving folks...Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. This non-profit is a standard setting group that has earned our support in the past, and now more than ever. Thank you Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. Fred Keeley, for Speaker pro Tem, California Assembly.
Wow. I spent so much time in BB while at UCSC and later working at SCOE (Santa Cruz Outdoor Ed) and came to know almost every corner from the skyline to the sea. Many memories! Now it's time to fully factor in surface fuels and plan for climate change in redesigning Big Basin State Park. Another excellent 11 min. video is "Big Basin's Story: The CZU Lightning Complex Fire" th-cam.com/video/P-aamcsB16I/w-d-xo.html
I was wondering if the Berry Creek, Silver and Golden Falls area of Big Basin got burned up? I can't seem to find any info about those falls and the fire? I have had many wonderful walks over the years to the falls and I would like to go see them one more/last time. (burn or no burn) I'm 70.
trail's closed as of now. They're slowly reopening trails though (meteor trail just reopened a couple weeks ago!). I'll be sure to reply here if I find out that they reopened that area!
Thank you for this, it's a sad fact of life, but that's life - the places where memories take place don't stick around forever. Big Basin was a sanctuary for me for the time I lived in the Bay Area - I took lots of photos and videos there (like this Berry Creek Falls video: th-cam.com/video/5qmSQQuaQww/w-d-xo.html). It was a place for me to escape to and also a place to bring visitors to. Sadly there are also special hikes from other areas in California which have also burned down (San Gorgonio South Fork trail in particular in Southern California). I'm curious if anyone has scouted out some of the highlights of the trails, particularly the waterfalls - are those areas accessible to crews yet? I'd also be really interested in a "then and now" book that shows comparisons with what things look like today. I remember the jigsaw topographic map, curious if there's any fragments from that that could be distinguished.. although I understand a lot of the HQ area has been swept pretty clean by now.
Was the topo jigsaw puzzle three dimensional or a flat topographical jigsaw map? Thank you. I wonder if anyone remembers the old school 3rd project of making a wheat paste map of CA. Possible for BB?
It is difficult to find 3D topo maps now, wondering if it can be recreated with clay or material from "miniature" railroad supplies. Stanford University has a large 3d topo globe in their geology center and NASA Ames visitor center in Mountain View had one but the center is now gone. Hope you find your photos.
So sad. We pay huge taxes and when it comes to doing something to help the people the state is does nothing. The deal was we pay taxes and the state will in return provide roads that are not falling apart, decent schools, manage the water supply, control crime, and manage the parks. They are failing at on eof those things
@@erjgnerkjgkjewrngjew Yes, camping at Portola is closed for the season because of the drought. You can camp at Henry Cowell or in the backpacking sites at Castle Rock right now.
Big basin was what got me into hiking the forests. I’m thankful I was able to see it before it burned. I hiked it for the first time in 2018 right after the rain and it was amazing. The smell and the water running was beautiful. To this day I have not seen a place that gave me the feeling of hiking big basin for the first time. Not even Yosemite. There was waterfalls all over and 3 creeks that flowed into one right after the cascades falls, truly nothing like it in the world 😢
It feels like part of my childhood is burned to ashes never to be seen again. Big Basin was always a magical and special place. I hope someday to enjoy it again in some form. Getting ice cream at the store (and dodging the wasps) after a hike, getting my Jr ranger badge on the camp fire stage, walking on the old fallen tree, hunting crawdads in the creek.. all good memories. It was always a tradition to get my annual poppy pass at Big Basin as well. Mother Nature decided it was time for a reboot and this is just the cycle of our forests.
Thanks for sharing your memories. We hope you will be a part of the rebuilding conversation this year.
Really enjoyed this update on the park and would love to see more about the recovery process.
Check out these 3D virtual tours of six favorite spots in the park: reimaginingbigbasin.org/bigbasintoday (scroll down).
Oh my goodness. I bawled my eyes out through this whole film. I have childhood, teen and adult memories for many of my 57 years born and raised in the area. This is absolutely gutwrenching. Thank you for the update, even as my heart is broke.
Fire has been normal in most of the redwood parks for thousands of years. Mature learners of redwood forests understand the history of fire if they pay close attention to all the charring scattered in the redwood parks. Even yesterday, a visitor from back east asked us what all the black was amidst the trunks of Jedediah Smith park. We mentioned that only fire suppression was abnormal in the park.
The Reimaging Big Basin Project will engage the public and stakeholders to define a renewed vision for Big Basin! We encourage you to keep an eye out for updates on the park’s conditions and recovery efforts: www.thatsmypark.org/fire
@@TallTreesClub Yes, this is true. Redwoods are built to survive fire and scientists believe 9 out of 10 redwoods at Big Basin will make it!
Thank you for this really excellent report! The images and commentary together tell a powerful story of the Big Basin we knew, the awesome force of the fire, what's been lost, the beginnings of recovery, and thoughts on the path going forward. The signs of recovery are especially encouraging.
We are hopeful!
Very happy to have some of my taxes going towards this recovery/restoration. Thanks to everyone for your efforts.
Thank you 💕
Heartbreaking yet hopeful. This is a great video.
thank you for this update. I've run and hiked most of the park over the past 20+ years and look forward to being able to experience it again some day.
We look forward to that day too!
Nicely done video. Thank you! I remember chaperoning school camping trips to Big Basin.
It's a special place. We are enjoying hearing people's memories of the park.
Very nicely done video but painful to watch. Westridge trail and the chalks were my favorite places to go in San Mateo county. The views from chalk mountain are amazing and I was never happier than when I was out there. My heart is broken but I’m glad I got to experience that. I understand this is a natural process. Thank you for the update.
We hope you will be able to return to your special place. Thanks for sharing your memories.
A thoughtful, intelligent, passionate film by the very best forest-loving folks...Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. This non-profit is a standard setting group that has earned our support in the past, and now more than ever. Thank you Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. Fred Keeley, for Speaker pro Tem, California Assembly.
Thank you!
Wow. I spent so much time in BB while at UCSC and later working at SCOE (Santa Cruz Outdoor Ed) and came to know almost every corner from the skyline to the sea. Many memories!
Now it's time to fully factor in surface fuels and plan for climate change in redesigning Big Basin State Park.
Another excellent 11 min. video is "Big Basin's Story: The CZU Lightning Complex Fire"
th-cam.com/video/P-aamcsB16I/w-d-xo.html
Heartbreaking
It's hard to watch, but we have hope for the future of this forest.
I was wondering if the Berry Creek, Silver and Golden Falls area of Big Basin got burned up? I can't seem to find any info about those falls and the fire?
I have had many wonderful walks over the years to the falls and I would like to go see them one more/last time. (burn or no burn) I'm 70.
trail's closed as of now. They're slowly reopening trails though (meteor trail just reopened a couple weeks ago!). I'll be sure to reply here if I find out that they reopened that area!
Thank you for this, it's a sad fact of life, but that's life - the places where memories take place don't stick around forever. Big Basin was a sanctuary for me for the time I lived in the Bay Area - I took lots of photos and videos there (like this Berry Creek Falls video: th-cam.com/video/5qmSQQuaQww/w-d-xo.html). It was a place for me to escape to and also a place to bring visitors to. Sadly there are also special hikes from other areas in California which have also burned down (San Gorgonio South Fork trail in particular in Southern California).
I'm curious if anyone has scouted out some of the highlights of the trails, particularly the waterfalls - are those areas accessible to crews yet? I'd also be really interested in a "then and now" book that shows comparisons with what things look like today. I remember the jigsaw topographic map, curious if there's any fragments from that that could be distinguished.. although I understand a lot of the HQ area has been swept pretty clean by now.
Was the topo jigsaw puzzle three dimensional or a flat topographical jigsaw map?
Thank you. I wonder if anyone remembers the old school 3rd project of making a wheat paste map of CA. Possible for BB?
@@lauriem5118 It was a three dimensional one if I remember right, I have some cell phone photos of it around somewhere.
It is difficult to find 3D topo maps now, wondering if it can be recreated with clay or material from "miniature" railroad supplies. Stanford University has a large 3d topo globe in their geology center and NASA Ames visitor center in Mountain View had one but the center is now gone. Hope you find your photos.
Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park has a topo 3D map of the area in their main visitor's center-at least they did years ago.
So sad. We pay huge taxes and when it comes to doing something to help the people the state is does nothing. The deal was we pay taxes and the state will in return provide roads that are not falling apart, decent schools, manage the water supply, control crime, and manage the parks. They are failing at on eof those things
you really love your trees and weed in california dont you
a good alternative is Portola Redwoods State Park
Portola is great for day-use right now. Butano also is open for day-use and has a some great redwood trails.
@@FriendsSCStateParks oh now I see the closure notice due to lack of water.
@@erjgnerkjgkjewrngjew Yes, camping at Portola is closed for the season because of the drought. You can camp at Henry Cowell or in the backpacking sites at Castle Rock right now.
Maybe the next buildings can be built of fire retardant materials that resemble wood. If these are eco.
The Reimagining Big Basin project will take ideas like this into account. You can learn more and participate here: www.reimaginingbigbasin.org.