Fireweed in Bloom
Two years after the devastating Swan Lake fire on the Kenai Peninsula things are slowly returning to normal. In those areas burnt by the fire the plant called Fireweed is rapidly taking hold and here it is blooming across acres of land. In the distance is Skilak Lake as viewed from the gravel Skilak Lake Road. We had not seen this view before and were taken by the oceans of blooming Fireweed we saw here. Fireweed can be made into a jelly and syrup and with bees you can get Fireweed honey. The plant is mostly edible - the flowers and new leaves - though the older parts might be tougher to digest.
Those burnt trees still standing will do so for a very long time as things don't decompose very quickly at all. There are still dead trees standing from the 1964 Good Friday earthquake.
Taken 27 July 2021 in Alaska
Fireweed in Bloom
Two years after the devastating Swan Lake fire on the Kenai Peninsula things are slowly returning to normal. In those areas burnt by the fire the plant called Fireweed is rapidly taking hold and here it is blooming across acres of land. In the distance is Skilak Lake as viewed from the gravel Skilak Lake Road. We had not seen this view before and were taken by the oceans of blooming Fireweed we saw here. Fireweed can be made into a jelly and syrup and with bees you can get Fireweed honey. The plant is mostly edible - the flowers and new leaves - though the older parts might be tougher to digest.
Those burnt trees still standing will do so for a very long time as things don't decompose very quickly at all. There are still dead trees standing from the 1964 Good Friday earthquake.
Taken 27 July 2021 in Alaska