White as Snow and Dark as the Human Mind
- Yosemite Me
- Mar 29
- 3 min read
About eighteen inches of sparkling snow blanketed the ground beneath the towering Giant Sequoias in the Mariposa Grove in southern Yosemite. A late winter storm during mid-March embellished the scene, highlighting the sequoia’s brownish-orange bark against the white understory.
During the winter, a two-mile hike is required to visit the Grove since no shuttles operate at this time of year. The shuttle road and the Washburn Trail can be hiked to reach the Grove (the road being the easier route since it gets plowed). Hiking the road allows for a good view of the forest that abuts this asphalt corridor.
Sadly, much of the dense forest that once grew along the way to the Grove now consists of blackened and fire-torched trees. The Washburn Fire burned through this section of the forest in July 2022. Ultimately, it charred about 300 acres of the Grove and 4,886 total acres within its footprint.
I was uncertain of the kind of visual effect the snow would have on my view of this burned section of the forest. It did not take long to find out. As I neared the Grove, dark, upright, matchstick-like timbers scarred the landscape. They stood out against the brilliance of the sunlit snow like vertical strokes of black paint brushed on by a childish artist venting a moment of anger.
The devastation caused by the Washburn Fire did not produce feelings of anger in me. I only experienced sadness when I viewed the charred landscape while walking toward the Grove. Yes, I am aware of the benefits fire brings to the forest, especially in a grove of giant sequoias, either by lightning or prescribed burns. However, the Washburn Fire did not start from a prescribed burn or a lightning strike.
In the darkness of the mind(s) of one or more human beings, the idea of purposely torching this portion of the forest took root. Carefully orchestrated planning related to the ignition site, the burn direction, and the likely escape route, the arsonist(s) successfully produced a wildfire that put human lives at risk and destroyed a precious forest ecosystem. Years of controlled burns within the Mariposa Grove helped the sequoias survive, but it still took much effort by firefighters to hold off the flames from the heart of the Grove.
The blackened trees now serve as a witness against the perpetrator(s) of this darkened destruction. The entire landscape has been altered to a significant degree and recovery will last well beyond the next generation of humans. A wild fire of this magnitude also impacts the wildlife. The only animal I heard or saw during my visit consisted of the occasional squawk of a Steller’s Jay.
I often wonder if my sadness is shared with anyone else. Despite the clear designation of the Washburn Fire being caused by arson, I have not found any newspaper articles or special reports that have publicized this fact (even the suspicious research article published shortly after the fire had been extinguished refused to use the word “arson,” preferring the words “unplanned wildfire” since arson falls into that category of fires). Oddly, my request via the US Freedom of Information Act for the National Park Service Investigative Report of the fire, submitted in February 2024, has yet to be granted.
Additionally, as more time passes and other “wildfires” come and go, the Washburn Fire and the details of its origin will fade into the background. New visitors to the park will know it only as a fire that burned through the forest “back in ‘22.” I won’t forget, though. Each time I visit the Grove the blackened trees will remain as witnesses of the dark mind(s) that purposefully brought carnage to this once verdant stretch of forest.
The purity of the white snow joins with the testimony of the blackened trees to proclaim the ugliness of a dark mind. With that in mind, I present to you some facts by way of photos based on information summarized in previous articles about the Washburn Fire on this website (See The Washburn Fire: An Inside Job? Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3).
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