St. Mary's Wilderness Fire 100% contained and ~White Rock Falls Trail~

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Took a ride out towards the St. Mary's Wilderness fire that is not listed as 100% contained at this time and found that the fires progress was halted at the Rt. 56 boundry as shown above. Evidence of the fire is visible along a good part of 56 when headed up the mountain towards the Blue Ridge Parkway...

Fortunately the above photo shows the surrounding woods covered with fog and light rain instead of smoke like the prior days we have seen. We have had a pretty good soaking rain and this has helped with containing the fire.

Continued up to the Blue Ridge Parkway which also acted as a boundry to halt the advance of the fire. Fire damage is evident along the parkway for a mile or so and I had the opportunity to talk with a person involved in the management of this fire incident. I found this Park Service person very informative and we spent a good amount of time talking about the surrounding area and the history of fire along the mountain ranges. He provided me with a good amount of information about how the forest responds to fires like this and the healing process which has already begun. Remaining fire crews are in the process of planting grasses along the slopes to help hold the soil in place...

Fire damage along Route 56 headed towards the Blue Ridge Parkway...

Fire damage along Route 56 showing the exposed soil and why the Park Service is in the process of planting grasses in areas like this to help prevent erosion.

After touring the fire damage area I decided to take a hike on the White Rock Falls Trail down to check on the falls which is only about 2-1\2 miles from the St. Mary's fire. The Slacks Overlook parking area was fogged in and a constant rain. The ground was pretty wet and numerous puddles of water were in the trail and had to be avoided.

White Rock Falls was running pretty strong and looks good at this time. I visited this spot several months back when the rain was scarce but nature has a habit of healing itself and all looks well now...