Burned off

View easterly from near Lookout Rock on the Pacific Crest Trail, in the vicinity of the Middle Fork of the Feather River, in the vague northern part of the Sierra Nevada, California. The prominent left-right trending canyon in the middle distance holds the Middle Fork, and the Pacific Crest trail more or less follows the outlined ridge to its right. The trail crossed the Middle Fork on a steel footbridge (center insert) and follows a route that ends up traversing the near ridge to the right. It comes up to the photo point. We did much of this part of the PCT as day hikes last fall. The Middle Fork is a so-called Wild and Scenic River, so is completely undeveloped, and much of the area is effectively wilderness.
Or rather, this view is how the area looked last fall. Most of this area was burned off in the last few weeks by the Bear Fire, part of the North Complex of California wildfires. The fire started from lightning on Aug 17 in the upper Middle Fork canyon (see note), and didn't grow much initially. Since it was burning in wilderness and no structures were threatened, only minimal attention was paid to it--other wildfires had first claim on resources. However, on September 8 a cold front moved in from the northeast, bringing strong katabatic winds blowing southwesterly, and the fire exploded in that direction. It was reported at one point to have spread 30 miles (50 km) in 24 hours. Several small communities were obliterated, and the fire got all the way to Lake Oroville, even jumping it on the south. There were also a number of fatalities. Containment is currently around 80%, and total acreage burned is over 300,000 acres (>120,000 ha), making it the 5th largest in California history.
Last July we tried to access the PCT at a point beyond that ridge on the right. We were defeated by steep terrain and lots of deadfall, and thought that the forest was seriously at risk for fire (right insert). Well, we (alas) were right. All the forest litter in that pic, as well as the trees, are completely burned off now, to judge by the fire maps.
We're glad we got to see the area before it burned, but it's depressing to contemplate its current condition. I don't know at this point if the wooden planks on the bridge over the Middle Fork survived.