The large valley seen below this point and to the north is the Pinhook Valley.  On August 27, 2008 lightning ignited a fire at the lower end of the valley. The fire started in pinyon pine and Utah juniper but quickly spread into Gambel oak. These shrubs and trees are extremely combustible and also fairly close to the ground, which allowed the fire to quickly gain speed and move up the Pinhook drainage into the mountains to the southeast.

As the fire gained elevation, it reached stands of aspen and Douglas-fir. Aspen and Douglas-fir tend to be less combustible than oak, pinyon pine, and juniper. The change in vegetation reduced the intensity of the fire, and it soon calmed down enough for firefighters to put in containment lines. Most of the fire spread that you can see from this stop occurred in less than four hours, which meant there was very little time for firefighters or visitors in the area to react. Two forest visitors were hiking from the Miner’s Basin trailhead when the fire ignited. They managed to climb a ridge to safety, but their vehicle was destroyed by the fire.

The mountains to east of this stop are Grand View and Horse Mountain. Much of the vegetation on the steep slopes of these mountains burned during the fire. The lack of  vegetation makes the risk of erosion very high. Because of this risk, a Burned Area Emergency Response (or BAER) team distributed woodstraw on these steeper slopes to stabilize the soil and speed post-fire recovery. The BAER team also laid out conventional, agricultural straw on the lower, less steep portions of the mountain.

If you drive about a mile and half further down the road, you will see a turnoff to the left (west). This is the Pinhook Valley road.  Drive down it to see the effects of the Porcupine Ranch fire up close. As you can see, almost all of the trees in the valley are burned from base to crown, illustrating the intensity of this fire. This is also the location of the historic Pinhook Battleground.