Big Basin RedwoodsI think this area was devastated by the Big Basin fire, because the visitors' center was just a short walk to the left of where this photo was taken. Heartbreaking. Today, I added four more of my Big Basin photos. It's quite sad adding them, but I had such enjoyable times there. Missing the ancient redwoods of my home turn, in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, where I lived and worked for almost my entire life up to that point (42 years), Big Basin was a short drive from Cupertino, our home in the Valley of Heart's Delight (also known as the Santa Clara Valley).

I've seen friends and others say that fire is natural and that the CZU Lightning Complex Fire that burned more than 18,000 acres second- and old-growth redwoods is just part of nature and that it should not be viewed negatively. 

Big Basin RedwoodsA beautiful area of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. While I realize lightning-caused fires are a part of nature, I also realize how much humans still have to understand about fire management. California's wildfires cannot all be blamed on the very real changes to our climate. What is causing climate change, I'll leave to the hateful mobs that love to debate that issue.

When I think of the trees I photographed, some that I know were most likely destroyed and damaged, I cannot accept that the fire was a positive. I cannot accept the thousands of animals that may have been burnt alive was a positive.

Gone are the iconic and historic Big Basin Visitors' Center, a much-loved place remembered by generations of California families and families from throughout the world who were mesmerized by California's first state park.

Gone are the staff homes, the museum with stuffed animals and so much more.

While Big Basin will eventually recover, the Big Basin I remember will not recover for at least 1,000 years.